The Mediating Role of First Language during Reading Comprehension for Translation from Third Language into Second Language: A Practitioner Inquiry

Abstract

While the use of learners' first language (L1) in foreign language education has generated a plethora of research studies, the role of L1 during the process of interlingual translation seems to have been neglected. As an attempt to probe this form of pedagogical translanguaging, the present practitioner research focused on studying translation students' use of their L1 (Moroccan Arabic/Darija) as part of the cognitive process enacted during translation tasks from English into Modern Classical Arabic (MSA). The research adopted the principles of the Interpretative Translation Method (i.e. comprehension, de-verbalization and re-expression) as a pedagogical framework, and made use of Think Aloud Protocol, as a research method, to vocalize the cognitive process that students engage in during translation tasks. In addition, observations and notes were taken during these translation activities. The collected data indicate that students use L1 mostly to mediate the cognitive process of source text comprehension. Then they create mental versions of the constructed meaning in L1 first, before re-expressing it in MSA as a translation. In cases where the source text meaning could not be reproduced in L1 due to incomprehension, students' translation quality is impacted or even hampered, which calls for interventions and assistance. The findings also suggest that this use of L1 does not only serve as a scaffold for reading comprehension but also represents a key tool for translation pedagogy. The conclusions drawn also show that students' schema and identity seemingly influence their translation competence.