Teaching translation into the

second language via the Wiki

tool of the Blackboard
Kazuki Morimoto
University of Leeds

01/09/2010

Languages for the 21st Century:

Training, Impact and Influence,

Objectives

To discuss possible benefits of

L1L2 translation exercises

To showcase our new translation

exercises using Blackboard Wiki,
and explain its merits over the
conventional methods

To examine students experience

of the Wiki translation exercises
based on a questionnaire
01/09/2010

Languages for the 21st Century:

Training, Impact and Influence,

Translation = L2L1 ?
In

the field of translation studies, translation into

the second language has been ignored or
discouraged:
() Translation should therefore proceed from foreign
language to ones mother tongue and never vice-versa, since
hidden essence of the target language is not attainable by
any foreign speaker.
(William von Humboldt cited in Pokorn 2005 (Undelined by
presenter))

() A foreigner appears to go on making collocational

mistakes however long he lives his adopted country () For
the above reasons, translator rightly translate into their own
language, and fortiori, foreign teachers and students are
normally unsuitable in a translation course.
(Newmark 1981:180 cited in Pokorn 2005 (Underlined by
presenter))

01/09/2010

Languages for the 21st Century:

Training, Impact and Influence,

Why L1L2 Translation?

1. Socio-cultural necessity

(Campbell 1998)

Immigrants in Australia
Forestry in Finland

2. Training of professional skills

3. Pedagogical merits

Acquisition of various writing styles

1998)

(Campbell

Pay more attention to linguistic forms than

for L2 compositions (Uzawa 1996)
Produce language of better quality than in
L2 compositions (Kobayashi and Rinnert 1992,
Uzawa 1996)

Collective feedback
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Languages for the 21st Century:

Training, Impact and Influence,

Conventional methods How to

teach

01/09/2010

Languages for the 21st Century:

Training, Impact and Influence,

Conventional methods Problems

No collaboration/comparison among
students while translating texts at home

Takes too much time to re-write his/her

translation(s) on the board/transparency

Less time available for teachers

feedback and students discussions
Some shy students dont want to
present his/her translation(s)

01/09/2010

Languages for the 21st Century:

Training, Impact and Influence,

Use of Blackboard Wiki

What are Wikis?

Wikis are websites that allow you to create and

edit pages in your web browser.
()

Students can cooperatively write, critique and

publish their work online, create shared
knowledgebases for their module/organisation,
upload multimedia, link to external websites, all
without touching a website authoring program.
In Blackboard, you can turn a wiki into a
challenging groupwork activtiy and use built in
tools to assess student participation.
(http://www.leeds.ac.uk/vle/staff/guides/wikis.htm )
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Languages for the 21st Century:

Training, Impact and Influence,

Blackboard: Login

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Languages for the 21st Century:

Training, Impact and Influence,

Blackboard: Creating
Wikis
Assignment
Select Wiki

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Languages for the 21st Century:

Training, Impact and Influence,

Blackboard Wiki:
Uploading STs

Source text
(English)

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Languages for the 21st Century:

Training, Impact and Influence,

10

Blackboard Wiki: Sending

translations
Other
students
translations
(Japanese)

Students can
upload their
own
translations
from here.
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Blackboard Wiki: Can be

anonymous

Date, Time and Writer (Full name, Given name or

User name)

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New method Use of

Blackboard Wiki

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Sample PowerPoint Slide

Student As
translation

Teachers
feedback for
the better
translation

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Languages for the 21st Century:

Training, Impact and Influence,

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Student Survey
5

Strongly
Agree

Agree

Neither Disagre Strongly

Agree
e
Disagree
nor
Disagre
numbereto each question

Please give a
according to the table above.

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Student Survey Results

1.

Did you like the English-Japanese

translation exercises?

Level 2 (3rd year

students)
5

Mean

8.5

10.5

4.06

25

Level 3 (4th year

students)
5

Mean

2.41

22

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Student Survey Results

2.

Did the translation exercise encourage

you to use more advanced grammar
and/or vocabulary than you normally use
in writing a composition?
Level 2
5

Mean

3.32

25

Mean

3.5

8.5

2.89

22

Level 3

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Student Survey Results

3.

Did you always contribute to the Wiki

translation on the VLE (Virtual Learning
Environment: Uni. of Leeds version of Blackboard)?

Level 2
5

Mean

3.58

24

Mean

3.41

22

Level 3

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Student Survey Results

4.

Was it easy to use the Wiki translation on

the VLE?

Level 2
5

Mean

12

4.13

24

Mean

12

4.27

22

Level 3

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Student Survey Results

5.

Did you often compare your translations

with others while writing?

Level 2
5

Mean

2.71

24

Mean

12

3.64

22

Level 3

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Student Survey Results

6.

Was the class time spent effectively?

Level 2
5

Mean

10

3.54

24

Mean

10

2.32

22

Level 3

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Student Survey Results

7.

Did you always learn something by

comparing with your classmates
translations?
Level 2
5

Mean

3.92

24

Mean

6.5

7.5

2.93

21

Level 3

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Student Survey Results

8.

Did you receive enough feedback on your

translations?

Level 2
5

Mean

4.00

24

Mean

2.09

22

Level 3

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Student Survey Results

9.

Please write any aspects you like about

the translation exercises.

(Level 2)

The teacher provided good advice about how to create

natural-sounding translation.

It is a good way to introduce new grammar into work.

It encouraged me to use vocabulary that I didnt already

know.

E-J translation is unnatural, and helps understanding of

Japanese in general.

The translation were a challenge, but pushed you to try

hard.

Translating into Japanese is good for our practical

Japanese skills.

Its nice to get writing exercises

having
to get
Training, Impact
and Influence,
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Student Survey Results

(Level 3)

Good way to prepare for the summer exam.

The (teachers) example translation was helpful.

Good for vocabulary and grammar practice, and picking

up some new vocabulary.

Being able to compare translation with other students.

It is an important part to studying the language and

useful tool in the future.

It makes the language learning more practical.

Translating sentences into Japanese helps me to learn

some useful phrases that are commonly used in writing
composition.

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Student Survey Results

10. Please

write any aspects you do not like

about the translation exercises.

(Level 2)

Sometimes English in the translation wasnt very good.

Feedback could be very vague sometimes. Learning why
certain grammar points have certain nuances would be
helpful.
Some students were constantly lazy about participating.

(Level 3)

Lack of individual feedback

Topics used wee either uninteresting, too difficult or
business-oriented.
You could easily copy others if you wanted.
Although comparisons with my fellow classmates were
good, I felt that most of us were writing similar answers
(i.e. usually based on what our dictionary told us.)
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Conclusion

The Blackboard Wiki can provide an effective

learning opportunity for translation exercises,
depending on the source texts and the students
interest and motivation.

Students should be encouraged to compare their

translations with others in order to enhance their
learning experiences.

Effective feedback methods need to be considered.

The possibility of students collaborative

translations, as well as L2L1 translations, could be
explored in the future.

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References
Campbell, S. (1998) Translation into the Second Language.
New York: Addison Wesley Longman.
Kobayashi, H. and Rinnert, C. (1992) Effects of first language
on second language writing: Translation versus direct
composition. Language Learning, 42(2), 183-215.
Pokorn, N.K. (2005) Challenging the Traditional Axioms:
Translation into a non-mother tongue. Amsterdam &
Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Uzawa, K. (1996) Second language learners process of L1
writing, L2 writing, and translation from L1 into L2. Journal
of Second Language Writing, 5(3), 271-294.

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