TRANSLATION AND FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING: POSSIBLE APPROACHES

Abstract

This article attempts to present and discuss some ideas concerning the binomial translation / LE teaching and learning, in the sense of recognizing the approximation between these two issues. This idea came from a profound reflection on the experience on a Translation and Foreign Language Learning Course, taught by the authors of this article, at the Graduate Translation Programme (PGET for its acronym in Portuguese) at UFSC. Many points were discussed regarding the actual practice of teaching LE students, around the issue of translation. Thus, taking the translation as a centre of discussion and based on theoreticians as Atkinson (1993), Malmkjaer (1998) and Balboni (2002), important issues such as language and translation concepts, relationship between teacher and learner, learner's role in education (their expectations), relationship between LM and LE, use of dictionaries, text types, etc., were taken up and re-dimensioned. For graduates, to take up issues relating to the teaching and learning of LE, was of vital importance. Many of them, after their first training, had not had the opportunity to review theory or re-discuss their practice as teachers and professionals. Furthermore, the exchange of experiences on translation issues and language teaching was quite rewarding for both students and teachers of the discipline, as they put on the table very different experiences: students and teachers from different foreign languages, public education, private education, private courses in languages, experience levels beginner, intermediate and advanced, enters other.