Pedagogical Translation for Language Teaching - Bloomsbury Guidebooks for Language Teachers by Sarah Albrecht Hardcover

About the Book

Bringing translation, second-language acquisition and literacy together for a powerful approach to language teaching and learning, this book is an essential volume for teaching language and literacy.

Book Synopsis

This book combines translation and second language acquisition with literacy as a social practice for a powerful new approach to language teaching and learning. It provides the reader with transdisciplinary theoretical grounding, an overview of translation benefits and approaches, and sample translation activities as guidance for applying translation as a collaborative pedagogical tool in K-12 and postsecondary language-learning environments. These environments may range from monolingual with emergent bilinguals, bilingual, heritage, or world language (including English as a Foreign Language).

Recommended texts for translation across languages range from oral, written, and multimodal. Alongside these, all of the book's translation activities include suggestions for modification according to age, language level, and language-learning environment. Flexibility in formulation of language and literacy objectives and assessments is a key component, with potential modifications according to varying standards, such as CEFR, ACTFL, Common Core, and standards for biliteracy.

Readers from all language instruction environments will be able to understand the benefits of and need for pedagogical translation, incorporate pedagogical translation activities into already-established content, design and modify pedagogical translation activities, and develop standards-based objectives and evaluations for translation-based activities.

Review Quotes

"A timely and essential contribution for language educators seeking to integrate translation meaningfully into their practice. Written by a teacher with first-hand classroom experience, it offers realistic, classroom-based strategies. By focusing on the pedagogical use of translation as a plurilingual strategy, the text redefines it as a dynamic, communicative practice deeply connected to learners' identities and linguistic repertoires. Practical, insightful, and theoretically informed, this book brings much-needed, innovative ideas to teachers ready to use translation creatively and effectively." --Cristina Corcoll López, Ramon Llull University, Spain

"This guidebook heralds the return of pedagogical translation to the language classroom and to the field of translation studies. Complete with sample workshop activities, it offers theoretical scaffolding and practical advice that would benefit language teaching professionals." --Tong King Lee, The University of Hong Kong

About the Author

Sarah Albrecht is Assistant Professor at the University of Houston-Downtown, USA, where she teaches courses in bilingual education. Her research focuses on bilingual teacher preparation, heritage language development, biliteracy, and pedagogical translation.