Translation is still a prevalent method of English language instruction in Sweden, although the last three Curricula (Lgr89, Lpo94 and Lgr11) have tried to implement Communicative Language Teaching instead. Teachers are prone to teaching the same way they were taught, and parents are prone to demanding the same kind of teaching that they were used to at school. Many teachers face strong opposition when they try to implement communicative practices in their classes. WebEnglish.se has gathered some arguments for these teachers to use when talking to parents (and sometimes even school leaders and colleagues).
– Very few people will ever need translation in their daily work
– Practising translation in school makes the students believe that translating is easy and that everything can be translated word by word
– Very few – if any – English words have an exact counterpart in the Swedish language, as the homonyms, derivations, connotations, and usages are different
– Students are deprived of 75% of the English language, as that’s how many more words there are in English compared to Swedish
– Thinking in Swedish and translating into English results into Swenglish, which is often hard to understand by people with different native languages
– The word “translate / translation” does not occur in the Swedish Curriculum (Lgr11)
– It is extremely unfair for the bilingual students with a different mother tongue, as they are expected to understand the new English word via an often new Swedish word. They may learn them both without having a clue what either of them means.
To help teachers use various ways of practising vocabulary without translations, WebEnglish.se presents a list of 25 example activities that can be modified to suit any level and any topic. Link: Vocabulary Exercises
For English (ELL) Teachers
