MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO

FACULTY OF EDUCATION

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

The Use of Translation in English Lesson

Diploma thesis

Brno 2017

Supervisor: Author:
Mgr. Martin Němec Bc. Olga Springorumová
Prohlášení

Prohlašuji, že jsem diplomovou práci vypracovala samostatně, s využitím pouze

citovaných literárních pramenů, dalších informací a zdrojů v souladu s Disciplinárním
řádem pro studenty Pedagogické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity a se zákonem
č. 121/2000 Sb., o právu autorském, o právech souvisejících s prámem autorským
a o změně některých zákonů (autorský zákon), ve znění pozdějších předpisů.

Brno, 13. února 2017 ………………………

Olga Springorumová
Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Mgr. Martin Němec for inspiring this work, his patient guidance
and constant encouragement and for showing me, that one’s mother tongue should
not be taken for granted but taken care of and cherished. I thank my husband and
my children for their support and sensitivity to my needs (like knowing when it was best
to stay out of my way). My gratitude belongs also to my mother for providing me with
a refuge and feeding me when I spent my days writing and my mother-in-law for
coming to the rescue regardless of the distance (half of Europe) and short notice.
Finally, I thank my colleagues and friends for their encouragement and unceasing trust
in me.
Annotation
The thesis examines the use and effectivity of interlingual translation in English
language lessons, both on primary and secondary level (with emphasis on secondary
level). It includes description of translation activities in stages, designed to challenge
the pupils to produce spoken and written forms of English and Czech languages.
Observations of the pupils’ activity, and the linguistic and socio-cultural issues arising
in the course of task-completion, are recorded.

Anotace
Tato závěrečná práce zkoumá možnosti a efektivitu využití jazykového překladu
ve výuce anglického jazyka na prvním a především druhém stupni ZŠ. Zahrnuje
podrobný popis překladových aktivit, které motivují žáky k použití anglického i
českého jazyka v psané i mluvené formě. Zaznamenává pozorování žáků v procesu
plnění překladových úloh a jazykových i socio-kulturních otázek, se kterými se žáci
v tomto procesu setkali.
Contents

Preface .........................................................................................................................6

1 Introduction ........................................................................................................8

2 About translation ............................................................................................. 10

2.1 What is translation? ....................................................................................... 10

2.2 Notable moments in the history of translation ................................................ 12

2.3 Considering translation as a teaching method ................................................. 13

3 Translation in aspects useful for ESL teaching purposes ............................... 16

3.1 Interlingual translation and its cognitive aspects ............................................ 17

3.2 Interlingual translation and its cultural aspects ............................................... 19

4 Translation activities in language lessons, case studies ................................... 24

4.1 Translating short prose - Description of activities used for the case studies .... 24

4.1.1 Famous quotes ........................................................................................ 25

4.1.2 Reverse translation as a teaching method on primary level ...................... 35

4.1.3 Translating jokes, translating proverbs – Assisted translation .................. 37

4.1.4 Translating in an authentic situation (French excursion) .......................... 43

4.2 Poems ............................................................................................................ 48

4.3 Audiovisual translation .................................................................................. 54

4.3.1 Subtitling trailers .................................................................................... 56

4.3.2 Translating songs .................................................................................... 60

4.4 Translating speech, simultaneous interpreting ................................................ 66

5 Assessment ........................................................................................................ 69

Summary ................................................................................................................... 71

List of figures ............................................................................................................. 73

List of tables............................................................................................................... 73

Abbreviations ............................................................................................................ 74

Bibliography .............................................................................................................. 75
Preface
(Author’s reasons for the choice of the subject)

In the course of the first year at Masaryk University I had the opportunity to
take part in two courses that inspired the work on this thesis. The first – the course in
interpreting (Interpreting Skills) and subsequently the online course in translating (Short
Text Translation) both led by Mgr. Martin Němec. I was challenged, exhausted,
exhilarated and motivated while attending these courses, never in my life have I had to
think so hard about the appropriate use of my mother tongue. I was able to rediscover
Czech words that lay neglected in the back shelves of my brain.
Another source of inspiration was my 10 years stay at a grammar school in
Prague, where I work as an English teacher. I have noticed a rising alarm of teachers
and parents concerning the decline in pupils’ ability to express themselves in their
mother tongue. The school in question is not by present standards a language school,
although it offers an increased number of English lessons per week and each year there
are several subjects taught by CLIL method. There is also a group of native speakers
who work with the children in lower primary grades. Overall, the mentioned methods
indisputably enhance English language learning, the standardised tests show that
students subjected to all this activity exhibit the same or better English language ability
than high school pupils. However, I have noticed the complaints of the Czech language
teachers. Having lost one Czech language lesson per week to English, they have been
concerned not only with the insufficient time to prepare pupils for high school and
secondary school entrance exams but also with pupils’ genuine deficiency while using
their mother tongue, whether it is in classroom setting or when talking and sharing
informally. Between the pupils’ decreased interest in reading and the rising influence of
English language in everyday life these concerns might truly be relevant.
Reflecting on this issue I realized that second language teachers and Czech
language teachers have one thing in common, both teach a language. I started to feel the
need to look into the possibilities of one language supporting the learning of the other
and vice versa; the need to research the “ban“ on mother tongue in English lessons as
we – teachers – were instructed in the past decades; the need to examine the influence
of translation activities in English lessons (considered somewhat undesirable) on
learning a second language and aiding in understanding how the mother tongue

6
functions as a language. Thus, the curiosity arose along with these questions: Is my
perception shared by other teachers or linguists? What will the pupils’ reaction to the set
of activities devised for this thesis be? Will the practical experience support the theory?

7
1 Introduction

This thesis intends to show possibilities of the use of translation activities in

English lessons, as an aid in development of pupils’ Czech language skills and as a
facilitator of pupils’ understanding of the similarities and differences between the two
cultures. The author believes that learning one language does not have to exclude the
other. The motivation to explore this theme springs from authors’ love for both Czech
and English languages.
In the global world of today children are frequently immersed into English
through computer games and watching their favourite series online. Moreover, children
in larger cities sometimes chance upon native speakers of English quite naturally. The
Direct method, Conversation method and other methods of ESL teaching advocating
immersion into the second language are certainly interesting and valid, but perhaps not
so acutely necessary as they were 20 years ago, before the onset of digital era. One of
the mothers in our school stated, that she would rather have an English teacher for her
children who is able to teach fluency as well as accuracy – both features balanced, than
a teacher whose method is based predominantly on fluency.
There are three notable advantageous points about occasional translation
activities in EFL lesson. The first is enabling children to take a step back and realize the
meaning of utterances they were used to say in certain contexts without being aware of
what they were actually saying. It is crucial to add, that such activities are ideal with
linguistic items that pupils already master in the second language. The next advantage is
that of authenticity. Very often are we faced in our real life with a task of translating –
reading signs or advertisements, encountering tourists, etc. Last but not least, translating
helps realization of how languages work and challenges pupils to work consciously with
their mother tongue vocabulary.
The observed translation project consisted of three units of varried language
difficulty, several classes were chosen to work on these tasks according to their
language level and the difficulty of the task. The first unit consisted of translating short
prose and poetry. Among the texts chosen for this work were quotes, jokes and
proverbs. The pupils were also challenged to try translating short poems. A small,
impromptu reciting show of translated poems was organized during one of the evening
gatherings at our seventh-grade skiing trip. The second unit was concerned with English

8
of our everyday life – in the world of entertainment. Pupils translated a song and a few
minutes of film subtitles. The final unit was dedicated to the most demanding task –
speech interpreting.
Learning a language is a long-track run, it is not possible to produce measurable
results in improvement of the pupils’ skills in one or the other language. The primary
aim of the thesis is to provide observation of presented translation activities and of the
of pupils’ success or failure, in addition to the pupils’ observation of the process. The
secondary aim is adding another voice to the dialogue in English teaching society about
the value of translation in language acquisition and hope that enter-disciplinary attitude
in teaching languages might continue to be explored and considered.

9
2 About translation

2.1 What is translation?

There is a number of definitions available in the field of translation studies that

provide a certain, if not always a clear vision of what translation actually is. The
difficulty in finding one definition of the act of translation was noted by Jeremy
Munday (2009).
Translation (thus) refers to far more than just the written text on the page, the
product of the translation process. Defining what we mean by the word is notoriously
slippery...
Jeremy Munday
Shuttleworth and Cowie admit, that “...translation is an incredibly broad notion
which can be understood in many different ways “ (1997:181). Furthermore, some
linguists even abandon the idea of defining the word, like Baker and Malmkjaer (1998),
whose work – Encyclopaedia – does not even contain the entry of the word.
Nevertheless, for the purpose of this paper, there is a need to narrow down the
otherwise broad field and to try to glimpse into the scope of the discipline. Two
versions of the definition and some additions will be mentioned in this chapter.
A structural linguist Roman Jakobson offers a tripartite definition:
1. Intralingual translation or rewording is an interpretation of verbal signs by
means of other signs of the same language.
2. Interlingual translation or translation proper is an interpretation of verbal
signs by means of some other language.
3. Intersemiotic translation or transmutation is an interpretation of verbal signs
by means of signs of nonverbal sign systems.
Jakobson (1959/2004: 139)
However interesting would it be to engage pupils into all three forms of
translation according to this definition (translating from informal to formal English for
example; or changing the medium altogether in case of transmutation, like music into
words), this thesis will only attempt to examine what Jakobson called translation
proper.

10
 There is another way of defining the scope of translation – very eloquently
formulated by Hatim and Munday:
1. The process of transferring a written text from SL to TL, conducted by a
translator, or translators, in a specific socio-cultural context.
2. The written product, or TT, which results from that process and which
functions in the socio-cultural context of the TL.
3. The cognitive, linguistic, visual, cultural and ideological phenomena which
are an integral part of 1 and 2.
Hatim and Munday (2004:6)
This definition, on one hand, clearly highlights the cultural aspect of translation
which will undoubtedly be very difficult for pupils of lower – secondary grades.
However, a detailed examination of their work from intercultural point of view might
illuminate the differences in cultures of the two languages they would not otherwise be
able to see. On the other hand, Hatim and Munday narrowed translation down to a
written product, without taking spoken translation or interpreting (what the German
linguists called Dolmetschen) into consideration. Franz Poechhacker (2009) stated that
the difference between translation and interpreting cannot be simply viewed as written
vs. spoken production as there are instances where interpreters are routinely asked to
work with written documents as well as spoken word (formal speeches written to be
read etc.). He answered the question of the difference between the two by selecting two
key features of interpreting:
a) The single presentation of ST which does not normally allow review by the
interpreter.
b) The time constraint affecting the target text production, which severely
limits the possibility of correction and more or less excludes revision.

Franz Poechhacker (2009:133)

These key features make the interpreting experience radically different from
translation of written texts, children show a great interest in that kind of language
challenge, as it provides a certain adrenalin thrill and is indeed very unusual as a
classroom activity. Furthermore, interpreting plays an important role in translating
activities in the classroom as it provides a much-desired insight into real-life situations.
Although it is frequently seen as the most demanding discipline of translation studies, it
should not be omitted.

11
 In the world of translation studies dilemmas (see the next chapter) were faced
and divisions made. One of these was the division into theoretical – descriptive (also
called “pure”) and applied. Structural linguists explored questions of context of
situation and context of culture. Discussion of ethics in translating is continuously
taking place and consequently the question when a translation in fact turns into an
adaptation. Aspects and issues of translation studies are numerous and extremely
fascinating, nevertheless, in the classroom situation we tend to adhere to the basics of
the science. Therefore, many pressing matters of this vast field are irrelevant for the
frame of this thesis.
In conclusion of this chapter, let us specify that from the point of view of
Jakobsen’s definitions this thesis will examine practical activities of intralingual
translation (Translation proper), as it challenges the pupils to consciously use and
practise English as well as their mother tongue. From the point of view of Hatim and
Munday and their specification of aspects creating an act of translation, it is my hope
that in my work I will be able to focus on all three: the process of translation, the
product of translation and some of the phenomena (cognitive, linguistic and cultural)
which closely adhere to both the process and the product.

2.2 Notable moments in the history of translation

The greatest and possibly the oldest translation dilemma, that of translating
sense for sense rather than word for word, was addressed already by the first recorded
translators. The Roman poet Horace claims in Ars Poetica (c. 18 BCE) that a translating
poet should avoid word-for-word rendering. The ultimate goal should be writing a good
poem, adhering to Roman/Horatian style. In the ancient discipline of rhetoric, Cicero,
when translating Greek orators, advocated preserving the “general style and force of the
language “(Cicero1949:365).
An unusual, interesting case is that of St. Jerome, who was commissioned by
fourth-century Pope Damascus to translate the New Testament from the Old Latin
version into the New Latin version. St. Jerome defends himself against accusations of
errors:
Now I not only admit but freely announce that in translating ... I render, not
word for word, but sense for sense.
Jerome (395/1997:25)

12
 Jerome thought it better to preserve the sense as opposed to rendering word-for-
word in his translating of the papal letter. However, when it came to translating the
Bible, he strictly adhered to word-for-word translating as his belief was that everything,
even the syntax of the Scripture is a holy mystery. It would certainly be worth the
discipline of translation studies to examine what notable striking misunderstandings this
approach caused over the centuries in understanding the events described in the Bible.
This attitude changed about 1100 years after Jerome, when translation played a
completely different part in history. In the time of the religious Reformation, Bible
translators, such as Martin Luther, preferred to use language, that was clear, every-day
and understandable. Martin Luther defended this approach in his “Circular letter on
translation” (Sendbrief vom Dolmetschen) of 1530. In these circumstances, translating
becomes a political weapon.
There were also voices against sense-for-sense translation. German philosopher
and theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher claimed in his lecture “On the Different
Methods of Translating“ (1813) that: “the more precisely the translation adheres to the
turns and figures of the original, the more foreign it will seem to its reader”
(Schleiermacher 2012:53) And the feeling of reading a foreign text is what the translator
wants to achieve. His point of view was, admittedly, somewhat nationalist, which is
understandable for the historic context of Napoleonic wars.
In the classroom, this discourse perhaps does not happen on a scientific level
(with an exception of very few insightful pupils), children are usually content to
produce equivalents of ST words in TL. However, considering the sense of the ST and
finding culturally suitable equivalent in the TT, or - on the other hand – examining how
the meaning changes in TT if we translate ST word for word, is precisely the
intercultural exercise that learning a second language can and should provide. The
consequent discussions are very enjoyable, amusing and explain a fair amount of
cultural differences between SL and TL.

2.3 Considering translation as a teaching method

Throughout the course of teacher training, every student goes at some point
through a period of learning about methods. There is a generous number of methods,
usually chronologically mentioned in the order of appearance, as they did in history.
Unfortunately, they are seldom or never written about in connection with their historical

13
purpose or context. Hunter and Smith (2012:430) suggest that there is “a general
tendency in the profession to package up the past by assigning methods labelled to
bounded periods of history. Past methods are presented as fixed sets of procedures and
principles, with little attention paid to the contexts in which these were developed, the
way alternatives were debated at the time, or indeed the extent to which there was
continuity with previous period.” Thus, learning about methods, every aspiring teacher
is firstly and firmly faced with the description of the Grammar-Translation method,
usually depicted as obsolete and undesirable, regardless of the historical context. This is
not a place to dispute such claims, solely to say that, naturally, merely the word
“translation” may have negative connotation in teachers’ minds. This idea is often
strengthened by the succession of more amiable and effective methods, where the use of
the mother tongue is either strictly prohibited, discouraged or at least only exceptionally
tolerated. Teachers’ minds subconsciously add a new code: “Mother tongue – never!”
Fortunately, we appear to be living in the era that no-longer advocates the need
to glorify one method and shun the other, even though we learn about methods in
language teaching, we also encounter descriptions of second language teaching as a
complex process rather more likely to be ruled by the personality of the teacher and
needs of the students than a specific method. As Atkinson (2011: xi) comments: “It is
increasingly apparent … that Second Language Acquisition is an extremely complex
and multifaceted phenomenon. Exactly for this reason, it now appears that no single
theoretical perspective will allow us to understand SLA adequately.”
Teachers’ focus is presently - in accordance with a post-methods approach - as
Richards and Rodgers (2014) put it, on: “developing a framework of theory and
principles that can be used to support an individual and personal teaching
approach…this approach involves having teachers engage in critical reflection,
exploratory practice…they are encouraged to develop healthy skepticism concerning the
claims of methods…they identify and review the basis of their own knowledge, beliefs,
and practice and develop a personal methodological framework that is relevant to their
own teaching context.”
Teacher’s personality, experience, ability and knowledge of various methods,
students’ needs, teacher’s relationship with the students and, indeed, the number of
students in the class, school’s architecture and the variety of available resources all
contribute to creation of the lesson. In such creative context-informed atmosphere we

14
can safely and comfortably admit translation into teaching and learning process as one
of many activities that contribute to a well – balanced lesson.

15
3 Translation in aspects useful for ESL teaching purposes

According to Philip Kerr (2012), our students are translating in their heads most
of the time anyway, regardless of what we – teachers – want or envision. He argues, that
this is the most logical reason for promoting translation activities in ESL lessons. As
they are doing it already, why not use it constructively and put their semi-conscious
brain activity into effective use for language acquisition.
Kerr states six concise reasons for bringing translation into language lessons:
Epistemological: Authors of course books for teachers on methodology are
almost always native speakers with vast experience of teaching in private
language school setting, often situated in an English-speaking country. Their
classes were mostly multilingual, with paying, therefore motivated students.
It is indeed understandable, that such methodology course books did not
regard translation as something even remotely useful. The vast majority of
teachers in the world have quite a different work experience – monolingual
classes with number of students rising as high as 30 or even higher. Paul
Kerr calls this circumstance the real teaching and recognizes the shift in the
ESL methodology as it was formulated by Guy Cook (see chapter 3.2.)
Humanist: The mother tongue of our students has from the humanist point
of view its place in the educational process. We want our students to express
themselves and express their ideas. That is particularly challenging on the
A1 and A2 level of language proficiency. By banning the mother tongue
completely from our lesson, we severely handicap the pupils’ ability to
express who they really are. This does not make sense in educational
context. Translation may be used here as a “mediating tool to express their
(students’) deeper ideas” (Kerr, 2012)
Technical: We live in digital age and our students are digital natives (as
opposed to us, the teachers), they use the Internet for work and homework
assignments very frequently. English language is the most prominent source
of information online. That causes our students to use Google translate or
translate on their own or, in many cases, do both. Translation is already an
intrinsic part of many students’ work life.

16
 Practical: All teachers in real teaching situation know that using mother
tongue to translate some types of information (certain grammar functions or
exceptions) saves valuable lesson time, which could be then dedicated to
practising essential skills, such as conversation and pronunciation.
Cognitive and Cultural: The last two reasons – cognitive and cultural - will
be dealt with in more detail in the following chapters (3.1. and 3.2.). The
reason for mentioning these two aspects of the nature of the translation act is
the direct benefit they have for pupils. The cognitive work the brain must do
to achieve the desired result becomes a very good brain practise in decision
making, which is a very useful life-skill. The cultural understanding needed
during the process may lead to greater understanding of differences between
the nations and thus to greater tolerance.
Last but not least, it might be appropriate to mention, that language, culture and
human cognitive functions are interconnected.

3.1 Interlingual translation and its cognitive aspects

As far as the connection between language and mind is concerned, a scholar and
a valuable source in this instance was Helen Keller. She lost her eyesight and hearing
completely at the age of 17 months, the only word she remembered from that time was
water. At the age of six she started learning to speak, read and write and with the help of
her talented and persevering teacher Anne Sullivan. She described in her book that
abstract, more complicated thinking is non-existent without language, her predicament
was – according to Keller – like living in the “sea of thick fog“ and she doubted that her
“wordless experiences“ could have been classified as “thoughts“.
This chapter is dedicated to considering the act of translation as metacognitive
activity, and the extent to which it may be beneficial to the training of the brain.
Learning a language is one of the best ways to train an individual’s brain, as it uses the
function of memory – both long-term and short-term and it also needs the ability to use
certain patterns and insert these patterns into specific situation. The process of decision
making is involved in the action of pattern retrieval as required by the discourse. In
short, languages are good for our brain training.
In the process of learning anything a person always builds on previous
knowledge of the matter. When learning a foreign language, we already have vast

17
relevant linguistic knowledge – our mother tongue. Referring to our mother tongue is a
logical tool for second language acquisition as the first language knowledge is firmly
rooted in place, ready to be used for both reference and comparison.
Translating is a great brain challenge. According to Wills (1996), translating is a
problem-solving and decision-making brain activity also involving two other types of
brain activity – intuition and creativity. Interlingual translation uses both types of
knowledge to conclude the process of transferring a text from one language into another
language. These are:
Declarative knowledge (knowing what)
Procedural knowledge (knowing how)
Inspired by Wills, the process of decision making can be best described by the
distinction of its five phases:
Clarification (description) of problems
Search and retrieval of relevant information
Problem solving strategies
Choice of solution
Evaluation of solution
Albir and Alves (2009)

Further focus on cognitive aspect of translation leads naturally to the theory of

sense, also called the Interpretive Theory of Translation (ITT). The following division
of the process into three phases was put forward by Seleskovitch and Lederer, two
prominent researchers in the field of ITT. According to their study these phases are:
Understanding: Obtaining sense from utterance requires brain activity
including knowledge and memory. As far as the knowledge is concerned,
the course of understanding involves linguistic knowledge as well as
encyclopedic knowledge and contextual knowledge. The two types of
memory recognized in ITT are immediate memory – storing a word for a
relatively brief period and cognitive memory, which creates and adds to
overall knowledge of a person. Apart from linguistic understanding when
translating, students also must involve non-linguistic and creative abilities to
determine what the originator of the utterance intended to say.

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 Deverbalization: To arrive at the final phase, this middle phase is essential.
In ITT, understanding naturally leads to creating sense which is non-verbal.
Only after this step the third phase – conclusion – can come in the form of
finding a word to describe the sense.
Re-expression: This is a process relatively similar to monolingual
communication, as it strives to use linguistic and non-linguistic mechanisms
to verbalize the intended meaning of the sender. As Albir and Alves aptly
point out:
Intended meaning is the preverbal origin of linguistic form and, therefore, of
sense. In the context of translation, the intended meaning of the sender of the source text
is the point of reference aimed at by the translator.
Albir and Alves (2009)
Apart from the cognitive processes that occur during the act of translating – as
mentioned above, another important cognitive aspect should be mentioned here.
Translators think about the source language and target language in a metalinguistic way.
And so, students who translate will be naturally motivated to do the same – they will be
realizing how languages work.
The ideal lesson is not only a place of information acquisition but also a place of
recognition how we learn. Through involvement of our various brain functions we train
our brain for the problems, decisions and further challenges ahead of us.

3.2 Interlingual translation and its cultural aspects

Guy Cook, a British applied linguist and a professor of Language in Education at

King’s College in London, said in an interview for Oxford University Press:
...For a long time, ELT has assumed that everyone is learning a language to
operate in a monolingual environment and it has not really taken account of students’
own languages or the differences between languages or different situations in which
students learn. For example, most methods of teaching or ideas about teaching have
been formulated as though they apply to everybody but there are big differences among
students, depending where they come from and what language they speak. So, what we
are seeing now, (I think) is quite a major shift in ideas about English language teaching.
To recognize the fact that we are now in the world where English is more dominant but
on the other hand we need to be more careful about people preserving their own cultural

19
and linguistic identities...now, quite a surge of ideas (is coming) about teaching which
acknowledge that – yes, everybody in the world wants to speak English, needs to speak
English, (well) at least a large proportion of the world’s population needs to speak
English but that does not have to be bought at the expense of your own identity and own
culture. So the current movement which advocates the return of bilingual teaching,
translation included in that, is really (I think) very important and very appropriate for
the contemporary situation in the globalized world.
Guy Cook (2010)
Language is not only means of communication but also a powerful tool in many
aspects of our lives and of the civilization as we know it. It is a creator and a facilitator
of countless processes in our society. In a person’s life language is an instrument of love
and hate, of bringing up children and passing on knowledge and thus passing on culture.
With it we define our life experience.
Language influences the way people think also according to Whorf (1956) who
argued that the eskymo tribes utilizing a large number of words for “snow“ think
differently about snow than English speakers, who only used one word. His hypothesis
was considered to be obsolete and far-fetched until further language-cognitive studies
revived it. One of these was carried out by Lucy and Gaskins (2001), who compared the
perception of similarity of objects in case of English speakers as opposed to natives to
Yucatan, who spoke Mayan language. English speakers are more likely to deem objects
similar on grounds of their shape, whereas in Mayan language objects are considered to
be similar if they are made of the same material. These scholars supported the idea that
speakers of different languages think differently.
According to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages,
the key competence we teachers are supposed to promote is intercultural understanding.
Our students learn English not only because they want to be able to communicate in
Britain, the USA, Australia, South Africa or New Zealand, they want to be able
communicate in the world. As they communicate with the world, they translate both
verbal units and cultural experiences in their heads.
Translation is an act of communication between cultures, SL is transferred into
TL through verbal units after determining the intended meaning of the originator. This
is where the clash of cultures may occur. Considering translation from cultural point of
view is, perhaps, the most exciting issue of the field. Translators are in this instance

20
cultural mediators. Goodenough‘s (1957/1964:36) definition of culture in language is
that of:
“an organization... It is the form of things that people have in mind, their model
of percieving, relating, and otherwise interpreting them.“
Goodenough W.H.
Translators approach the source text and work with it through a cultural filter. It
is applied by translators according to their capacity for intercultural mediation. House
(2006:349) defined it as follows:
“...a cultural filter is a means of capturing cognitive and socio-cultural
differences.“
House
Cultural differences can be as vast and deep as an ocean, therefore it is only
appropriate to consider the Iceberg representation of culture (Katan 1999/2004:43). This
representation attempts to illustrate categories of all aspects that need to be considered
when translating.
Table 1 Iceberg Model
Logical levels ICEBERG Water level
Music, art, food and drink, dress,
Above water
Environment - (when/where) architecture, institutions,
(obvious, visible
Behaviour - (what) geography, visible behaviour,
aspects of culture)
language
Appropriacy (what is normal), Shallow and
rituals, customs, traditions, medium depth
Strategies, Capacities - (how)
ways/styles (of behaviour, (semi-visible
discourse, art, dress) aspects)
Action, communication, time,
Beliefs, Values - (why) space, power, individualism, Deep water
Identity role(s) - (who) competitiveness, structure, (invisible aspects)
thinking

A practical example of finding the right balance in considering the levels of

culture while translating is this Italian source text (taken from Katan 2009). A
conventional, well-mannered woman, has just walked into into a bar for the very first
time:

21
 Un risretto, doppio, caldissimo, - disse al cameriere.
A concentrated, double, very hot, she said to the barman.
This foregnized translation causes confusion for English speaking readers, who
have no tools to recognize that the utterance is about coffee. Consequently, for a well
mannered woman, it would be unthinkable to ask for anything in such a rude and direct
manner. The source text was translated thus:
She asked the barman for an espresso, thick, double and really hot.
This version allows the reader to add politeness to the picture. At the same time,
not using the English “domestic“ expressions “large, strong“ instead of foreign
sounding “thick, double“ takes the reader away from English reality. Expressions thick
and “double“ evoke the aroma and taste of Italian espresso.
The real challenges of translation come with sentences such as:
1. Let’s have a nice cup of tea.
2. Let’s meet for tea at four thirty.
3. Would you like to wash the car?
These are two fine examples of culture learning tool as well as language. In the
first one the learner is made aware of the fact that tea in the culture of British Isles is a
beverage where quality is not only considered but also very important. In the Czech
culture environment tea is simply a tea - a hot beverage, where we usually do not
consider quality and are unlikely to give it any importance (unlike in the case of beer).
In the case of the second sentence, the translator needs to consider the fact that
tea is in British context also an expression for a light meal between lunch and dinner,
much like snack.
Translating the third sentence the students realize that understanding the
structure is not enough to capture the sense, in American English it would be impossible
to consider this sentence an inquiry after someone’s feelings or fancies. It is in fact a
demand, alhough a polite one, thus it would be improper to answer “No, thank you, I do
not feel like it right now.“ The speaker simply asks the listener to take on the chore of
washing the car. The politically correct nature of American English does not allow
imperatives in most contexts of social interaction (apart from, perhaps, such rare
exceptions like good friends’ communication, army discourse or a dog owner
communicating with his pet).
The obstacles the students have to overcome when translating such sentences are
the tool of intercultural learning.

22
 It is the difficulty of translating (sentences such as) – “Let’s have a nice cup of
tea“ that guides our students towards greater intercultural understanding.
Philip Kerr (2012)
In the act of translation, a sentence is not simply a semantic unit but a source
rich on cultural information. In the act of translation, we are naturally motivated to
compare the ST and TT and through that learn about the culture of English speaking
world and our own.

23
4 Translation activities in language lessons, case studies

4.1 Translating short prose – Description of activities used for the

case studies

Reverse translation
This is one of the oldest recorded technique of teaching languages to children.
The most famous historical record of it is the book The Scholemaster written by Rodger
Ascham in 1563 and published (posthumously) in 1570. Ascham (Askem) was a
personal tutor to princess Elisabeth I. It was a manual for private tutors concerned with
teaching Latin, particularly emphasizing the importance of using “the double translation
of a model book“.

Reverse translation in steps

Step one – Finding the source text: Find a text in English, appropriate for the
pupils you teach, the language level should be just right, not too easy and not too
difficult. An ideal piece of text would be from the course book the children are
currently using. The length of the text is unimportant, it depends only on the pupils’
ability to concentrate on the task.
Step two – Translation into the mother tongue: Instruct the pupils to translate the
assigned text into Czech, the target text should be written on a separate piece of paper.
At this stage it is advisable to use a dictionary, although it is important to focus on
translating the sense and not word-for-word. The aim should be capturing the real
meaning. At this point, the original English text is put aside for later reference.
Step three – Translating back into English: After a certain period of time, the
Czech texts are used as a source for the pupils, who translate these back into English.
Dictionaries can be used when needed, but it is absolutely necessary not to refer to the
original English source text at this stage.
Step four – Comparison and analysis: The pupils are now instructed to compare
their translation with the original source text with particular attention to differences,
those are the areas where additional (grammar) practice is needed. At some later point
they can be encouraged to look up the problematic grammar items in grammar reference
pages of their course books.

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Assisted translation
Philip Kerr demonstrated this activity in his lecture The Return of Translation
(2012). He asked his audience to translate three Latin expressions:
1. Experientia docet.
2. Docendo discimus.
3. Repetitio est mater studiorum.
At the same time a short glossary was given:
doceo = teach
disco = learn
Thus armed, the audience was ready to fulfill the task and translated the
expressions so:
1. Experience teaches.
2. We learn through teaching.
3. Repetition is the mother of learning. (Practise makes perfect.)
Kerr observed the motivation and involvement of the audience and noted that in
this way, language becomes exciting and adventurous. When we give our students a
small amount of additional information in form of a glossary, we make them work
harder.

4.1.1 Famous quotes

This particular project had two versions and was carried out in a monolingual
class of ninth-grade students. Most of the students in this class are fluent in
conversational English, use it freely and without hesitation. The majority is between B1
and C1 language level.
The students were divided into two groups of fourteen. These two groups
participated each in a different version of the project. The pupils fulfilled my tasks
willingly and with enthusiasm.

The first version (a pair work)

Stage one – linguistic

The task was choosing a quote from the pile and translating it into the Czech
language. At that point, the students were not aware of the identities of the speakers,
although in two cases they were able to guess, both correctly. Due to their high level of

25
language competence, they translated the quotes very quickly and without major
problems.
Minor difficulties arose with issues such as:
How to translate infinitive clause in case of the sentence: It takes two years
to learn to speak.
Overuse of pronouns in Czech in sentences where the subjects are
grammatically self-evident (Já to vím vs. Vím to).
Contextually correct translation of the verb can (umím, dokážu, mohu).
Translating the subject man (člověk, muž, ten)
Two versions of translation of I ask you (imperative, or I demand – žádám
vás)
The verb won’t in the sense of unwilling instead of expressing future.
At this stage, students were able to deal with these difficulties on their own, after
a brief discussion with their work partner.

Stage two – cultural

After translating, the students were asked to read their product out loud to the
rest of the class and the audience was given an opportunity to comment on the work.
Subsequently, the names of the famous speakers appeared on the board, the students
were encouraged to ask, if they did not know certain personalities. The quotes were read
out gradually in English and the children tried to match utterances to the speakers.
Knowing the identity of the speaker, some of the students felt that a slight
modification of their translation is needed. Usually, they changed the utterance from
colloquial to more formal language. It became most apparent in case of the quote by
Mark Twain about giving up smoking.

Stage three – metalinguistic

In the last stage of the first version of the project the class compared the
professional translations with their own. An involved discussion followed about dealing
with the issues mentioned above and the students themselves were able to compare the
problematic lexical units almost without prompting or hinting.

Teacher’s evaluation
The pupils were aware of the unusual nature of this particular lesson, as they did
not use their course book and did not continue with the topics previously studied. They
welcomed the change in the routine and started working on the project in the

26
atmosphere of mild curiosity. As the work unfolded, their feeling changed from
curiosity to self-motivation. They became interested in how the presented language
works in comparison and if they were correct in their translation suggestions.

Pupils‘ evaluation
All the students without exception welcomed the change. Most appreciated the
challenge and were surprised how relatively easy the task was (except for one, who
found it too difficult). All students in the group reported, that until this project, they
never thought of the language in the metalinguistic sense. Even though they were often
prompted by their teacher, they were not motivated to pay attention to it.

Table 2: Famous Quotes and Translations

Name ST TT, students´ production TT, original
Writers
Ernest Hemingway It takes two years to Trvá to dva roky, než Trvá to dva
learn to speak and se naučíme mluvit a roky, než se
sixty to learn to keep šedesát, než se člověk naučí
quiet. naučíme mlčet. mluvit a
šedesát, než se
naučí mlčet.
Mark Twain Giving up smoking Odnaučit se kouřit je Přestat kouřit je
is the easiest thing in ta nejjednodušší věc ta nejjednodušší
the world. I know na světě. Já to vím, věc na světě,
because I’ve done it protože jsem to dělal kterou znám.
thousands of times. tisíckrát. Vím to, protože
jsem to udělal
už tisíckrát.
William Shakespeare To be or not to be; Být či nebýt, to je Být či nebýt, toť
that is the question. otázka. otázka.
Oscar Wilde I can resist Umím odolat všemu, Dokážu odolat
everything except jen ne pokušení. všemu kromě
temptation. pokušení.

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Polititians
Abraham The best way to Nejlepší metoda, jak Nejlepší metoda, jak
Lincoln destroy an enemy zničit nepřítele je zničit nepřítele je
is to make him a udělat z něj svého spřátelit se s ním.
friend. přítele.
Martin Luther A man who won’t Muž, který není Člověk, který není
King die for something ochoten pro něco ochoten pro něco
is not fit to live. zemřít, si nezaslouží zemřít si nezaslouží
žít. žít.
Nelson In my country we V naší zemi jdeme V mé zemi se nejdříve
Mandela go to prison first nejdříve do vězení a chodí do vězení, než se
and then become pak se staneme stanete prezidentem.
president. prezidentem.
Barack Obama Money is not the Peníze nejsou jediná Peníze nejsou jediným
only answer but it odpověd, ale dokážou řešením, ale dokážou
makes a difference. mnoho změnit. dost změnit.
Franklin I ask you to judge Suďte mě podle toho, Žádám vás, abyste mě
Delano me by the enemies jaké jsem si udělal posuzovali podle
Roosevelt I’ve made. nepřátele. nepřátel, které jsem si
udělal.
George It is better to be Je lepší být sám než ve Je lepší být sám než ve
Washington alone than in bad špatné společnosti. špatné společnosti.
company.

Sportsmen
Michael I can accept failure, Dokážu přijmout Dokážu přijmout
Jordan everyone fails at selhání, každý v něčem neúspěch, každý
something. But I can’t občas selže. Ale nemohu v někdy selže. Ale
accept not trying. přijmout, když se někdo nedokážu tolerovat,
nesnaží. když se někdo nesnaží.

28
Filmakers, actors and musicians
Woody I’m not afraid of death, Nebojím se smrti, jen Nebojím se smrti, jen
Allen I just don’t want to be u toho nechci být až nechci být u toho, až
there when it happens. přijde. se to stane.
Walt The way to get started is Nejlepší způsob, jak Nejlepší způsob, jak
Disney to quit talking and begin začít je přestat mluvit začít je přestat mluvit
doing. a začít dělat. a začít dělat.
Bob Dylan There is nothing so Nic není tak stálé jako Nic není tak stabilní
stable as change. změna. jako změna.
Audrey You can tell more about Lepší představu si o Člověka lépe poznáte
Hepburn a person by what he člověku uděláte podle podle toho, jak on
says about others than toho, jak on mluví o mluví o druhých, než
you can by what others druhých, než jak druzí jak druzí mluví o
say about him. mluví o něm. něm.
John If everyone demanded Kdyby všichni chtěli Kdyby se každý
Lennon peace instead of another mír místo další dožadoval míru místo
television set, then televize, tak bychom dalšího televizoru,
there’d be peace. měli mír. byl by mír.
Sixto Hatred is too strong an Nenávist je příliš silná Nenávist je příliš
Rodriguez emotion to waste on emoce na to, abychom silná emoce na to,
someone you don’t jí plýtvali na někom, abychom jí plýtvali
really like. koho nemáme moc na někom, koho
rádi. nemáme moc rádi.

Scientists
Albert A person who never Člověk, který nikdy Člověk, který nikdy
Einstein made a mistake never neudělal chybu nikdy neudělal chybu nikdy
tried anything new. nezkusil nic nového. nezkusil nic nového.
Isaac We build too many Stavíme příliš mnoho Stavíme příliš mnoho
Newton walls and not enough zdí a příliš málo mostů. zdí a příliš málo
bridges. mostů.

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Businessmen
Bill Life is not fair, Život není spravedlivý, Život není spravedlivý,
Gates get used to it. zvykněte si na to. zvykněte si na to.

The second version – reverse translation – pair work

The other half of the ninth-grade class was faced with a slightly different version
of the project.

Stage one – linguistic

The children were divided into pairs and each pair, again, chose a quote.
However, this time only one pupil in the pair looked at the quote, the other pupil was
not allowed to do so. The informed student translated the quote into Czech, folded the
sheet in order to cover the ST quote but not the translation. The other pupil then
translated the TT quote back into SL.

I ’m not afraid of death, I just don ’t want to be there when it happens.

..........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

Figure 1: Example of a worksheet for translating quotes

Stage two – metalinguistic

Immediately after the completion of the reverse translation, both students wanted
to unfold the paper and compare the work with the original. When doing so they were
prompted to discuss what went differently and why. After the discussion in pairs, each
pair shared their findings with the rest of the class.

Stage three – cultural

The names of the speakers were produced and in this stage, similarly to the first
version of the project, the students tried to match each quote the author.

30
Stage four – analysis
One week after the pupils completed the reverse translation task an analysis was
carried out with focus on the cultural and the linguistic issues of this task.

Linguistic and spelling issues

It’s better to be alone than to be with a bad society.
Apart from the spelling mistakes (It’s better, with), the use of the word society was not
precise in the translation of this particular quote.
This expression is used in much broader general sense, whereas company has several
meanings – one of which – “a number of individuals assembled or associated together;
group of people“ would be much more appropriate in this instance.
Nothing is more just then a change.
The pupils were made aware of the difference between then (meaning afterwards) and
than (used in contrasting two semantic units). There was also a vocabulary mistake
noticed: just – spravedlivý instead of stable – stálý.
I can resist everything but temptation.
In the course of the reverse translation process the sentence changed into a slightly
different version:
I can resist anything but temptation.
The semantic difference between these expressions creates an interesting variation:
anything makes the sense of the latter utterance milder as it is used in the sense of
“randomly chosen items“, whereas everything implies clearly “all items“ and that
makes the meaning of the first quote stronger.
In our country, first you go to prisson, then you can become a president.
In case of this quote, the pupils were able to identify a spelling mistake “prisson“
(prison), they were informed that such spelling could result altering of the
pronunciation into a much sharper “s“ sound. The next self-correction occurred in case
of the difference between the original quote’s my country and the final version’s our
country. The brainstorming followed about the change in the sense of the altered quote.

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I could fail, everyone fails sometimes. But I can´t give up on trying.
As seen in the following figure (1.3.), it is a quote by Michael Jordan, who actually
said: “I can accept failure...“. The translation into Czech was “Můžu přijímat
neůspěch...“, hence the discrepancy occurred in the last stage, the actual reverse
translation. The pupils discussed how very different these two versions are: ”I could
fail” and “I can accept failure”. There was also a move to correct the expression můžu
přijímat to můžu přijmout as the pupils considered the latter form more frequently
used.
I beg you to grade me according to your enemies that I’ve made you.
The pupils recognized that this translation was a case of confusion of pronouns.
Therefore, a new version was suggested:
I beg you to grade me according to the enemies that I’ve made.
Observing this version, the pupils felt the need to consider the expressions grade (used
often in schools as a form of evaluation) and beg (sounding unnecessarily desperate,
especially when we consider the author of the quote – F.D. Roosevelt). Finally, the
pupils realized that judge would be more fitting and ask much more dignified. The
final version of the correction was created:
I ask you to judge me according to the enemies I’ve made.
The students compared this version with the original.
You can judge person about wath he says about other people, then whath other people
says abouth him.
Initially, the pupils corrected spelling (what, about, than), after that there was grammar
correction (people say, about was replaced with by). Finally, a semantic correction
took place: judge (too strong) was replaced by tell about.
A man who would never die for something, doesn’t deserve to live.
The difference was considered between wouldn’t die (implies the lack of willingness)
and would never die (means immortality or impossibility).

32
 Cultural difference issues
If everyone would like to have peace, not more television, then peace would be here.
Apart from the obviously faulty connection between if and would, a lively conversation
started about the contrast between demand and would like. It was agreed that a Czech
person is more likely to use the latter word in the context of the sentence, in connection
to television, whereas an English speaker has more semantic flexibility (using demand
is entirely possible). Furthermore, it became clear, that in Czech television signifies
both the object and the concept. However, in English, there is a clear distinction
between television (the concept) and television set (the object).

Teacher’s evaluation
The pupils were engaged, eager, obviously content and motivated to work as this
lesson was very different from the lessons they are accustomed to.

Pupils‘ evaluation
75 % of all pupils reported that the activity was slightly more demanding than
what they usually do, the rest felt it was fairly easy. 80 % of all pupils considered the
English – Czech translation easier that vice-versa. Overall, they reported that the
activity was engaging and amusing.

Table 3: Tables of famous people, quotes, translations and reverse translations.

Name ST TT, students´ production TT into ST, reverse tr.
Writers
Ernest It takes two years to Zabere to dva roky, It takes two years to
Hemingway learn to speak and sixty naučit se mluvit a learn to speak and
to learn to keep quiet. šedesát let naučit se sixty years to learn to
mlčet. be quiet.
Mark Twain Giving up smoking is Přestat kouřit je to To stop smoking is
the easiest thing in the nejlehčí na světě. the easiest thing on
world. I know because Vím to, protože jsem earth. I know that,
I’ve done it thousands to udělal několikrát. because I’ve done it
of times. many times.

33
 William To be or not to be; Být či nebýt: to je ta Be or not to be, that’s
Shakespeare that is the question. otázka. the question.
Oscar Wilde I can resist everything Dokážu odolat I can resist anything
except temptation. všemu, kromě but temptation
pokušení.

Polititians
Martin Luther A man who won’t Muž, který by za něco A man, who would
King die for something is neumřel, si nezaslouží never die for
not fit to live. žít. something doesn’t
deserve to live.
Nelson In my country, we V naší zemi se nejdříve In our country, first
Mandela go to prison first chodí do vězení, pak až you go to prison,
and then become se můžete stát then you can
president. prezidentem. become a president.
Franklin I ask you to judge Žádám tě, abys mě I beg you to grade
Delano me by the enemies ohodnotil podle me acording to your
Roosevelt I’ve made. nepřátel, které jsem si enemies that I´ve
vytvořil. made you.
George It is better to be Je lepší být sám, než být Its beter to be alone
Washington alone than in bad ve špatné společnosti then to be whith a
company. bad soseity.

Sportsmen
Michael I can accept failure, Můžu přijímat I could fail, everyone
Jordan everyone fails at neúspěch, všichni fails sometimes. But i
something. But I can´t někdy neuspějí. Ale can’t give up on
accept not trying. nemohu přijmout trying.
nesnahu.

34
Filmakers, actors and musicians
Woody I’m not afraid of death, Nebojím se smrti, jen I’m not afraid of
Allen I just don’t want to be nechci být u toho, až death, I just don’t want
there when it happens. se to stane. to be there when it
happens.
Walt The way to get started is Cesta k tomu, začít The way to start
Disney to quit talking and begin něco dělat, je přestat o somethink is stop
doing. tom mluvit a začít to talking about it and
dělat. start doing it.
Bob There is nothing so Není nic tak Nothing is more just
Dylan stable as change. spravedlivé, jako than a change.
změna.
Audrey You can tell more about Člověka můžete You can judge person
Hepburn a person by what he posoudit spíš dle toho, about waht he says
says about others than co říká o ostatních, než about other people,
you can by what others co ostatní říkají o něm. than wath other people
say about him. says about him.
John If everyone demanded Kdyby každý žádal If everyone would like
Lennon peace instead of another mír místo další to have peace, not
television set, then televize, pak by byl more television, then
there’d be peace. mír. peace would be here.

Scientists
Isaac We build too many walls Stavíme až moc zdí a We build too many walls
Newton and not enough bridges. moc málo mostů. and not enough bridges.

4.1.2 Reverse translation as a teaching method on primary level

This simple activity was carried out with the goal of comparing the pupils’ text
retainment ability with and without the process of reverse translation. The two trial
groups were fourth grade classes, sixteen pupils each. Their language ability level was
roughly compared and the slightly abler group received an assignment to learn a chosen
chant and recite it. The other – slightly less able group - did a reverse translation of the
chant. A selected chant contained useful vocabulary from the chapter “In the city“ of
the book Happy Street 2. The reverse translation activity included three stages.

35
Stage one – listening
At this stage, the pupils merely listened and discussed the meaning of the chant
based only on auditory reception.

Stage two – translation

The children were asked to translate the first verse from English to Czech and
write their translation on a sheet of paper, that they then handed to the teacher. Their
work was returned to them after three days and they were asked to translate it back to
English.

Stage three – correction

When the second stage was over, the children were encouraged to check their
second translation with the original in the class book and underline the mistakes.

Analysis of the reverse translation

There were two possibilities to translate a few phrases. The class discussed
which of the two versions were the better option, it is underlined in the following list:
Look all around. – Rozhlédni se. / Podívej se kolem.
Stop! – Stůj! / Zastav se!
There’s a car coming. – Přijíždí auto. / Jede auto.
The children made the decision based on their instinctive feeling of “what
sounds more normal“.
After the conclusion of the reverse translation activity, the slightly more
advanced children, who didn’t translate, recited the assigned chant. All their
performances were very good, in case of two pupils the recitation was slightly halting.
All the children in the second group recited the chant without hesitation immediately
after the conclusion of the reverse translation activity and also three days later, with
same success.

Pupils’ evaluation
The children reported the task was too easy. However, they were eager to check
their work when it was done and happy to see they did not make mistakes.

Teacher’s evaluation
The process was very smooth, however, the chosen text was too easy for the
pupils of the fourth grade. The text was a chant, so the children were able to draw the

36
original text from their automatic memory disabling the cognitive process of solving
a problem of transferring a text from ST into TT.

REVERSE TRANSLATION CHANT CZECH VERSION

Look all around. Stop! Don’t cross! Rozhlédni se. Stůj! Nepřecházej.
There’s a car coming, car coming! Jede auto, jede auto!
Look all around. Stop! Don’t cross. Rozhlédni se. Stůj! Nepřecházej.
Stop, don’t cross the road. Stůj, nepřecházej ulici.

4.1.3 Translating jokes, translating proverbs – Assisted translation

The following two assisted translation activities were devised with the aspect of
comparing cultures in mind. It is known that proverbs and jokes belong to cultural
traditions of languages, furthermore, jokes hint at the humour in a language. Finding
similarities and differences in these aspects of languages provides intercultural exercise
in learning a second language.
Translating jokes was an activity chosen for one of the seventh-grade classes,
7.B, whose language skill ability averaged on level A2. The assisted translation of
proverbs was assigned in eighth class, 8.A, where the average level of English
proficiency is A2-B1.

Assisted translation in stages

Stage one – linguistic

The pupils were divided into small groups of three and given sheets with source
texts and glossaries (see below). They fulfilled the glossary task and working in a group
translated the texts into Czech.

Stage two – metalinguistic and cultural

The whole class compared the translations, noted the differences in them and
discussed the best options. The children then answered the questionnaires individually.

37
 JOKES – TRANSLATION
1. A very drunk man comes out of the bar and sees another very drunk man.
He looks up in the sky and says, "Is that the sun or the moon?"
The other drunk man answers, "I don’t know. I’m a stranger here myself."

2. What do you get when you cross-breed a shark and a cow?

I have no idea but I wouldn’t try milking it.

3. A priest asks the convicted murderer at the electric chair, "Do you have any last requests?”
"Yes," replies the murderer. "Can you please hold my hand?"

4. Why is England the wettest country? Because the queen has reigned there for years!

5. Son: I am not able to go to school today. Father: What happened?

Son: I am not feeling well.
Father: Where you are not feeling well?
Son: In school.

6. Teacher to student: Make a sentence using the word “I”

Student: I is...
Teacher: No, that is not correct, you should say I am.
Student: Ok. I am the ninth letter in the Alphabet.

7. A man walked into a Florida bar with his alligator and asked the bartender: "Do you serve
lawyers here?" "Sure." "Good. One beer for me and a lawyer for my alligator."

Glossary: Match English words to Czech words

request dojit
serve obviněn
stranger přání, požadavek
reign obsluhovat, servírovat
convicted cizinec, cizí, divný
milk vládnout

Figure 2: Jokes translation worksheet

38
Analysis of the translation work

A very drunk man comes out of the bar and sees another very drunk man.
He looks up in the sky and says, "Is that the sun or the moon?"
The other drunk man answers, "I don’t know. I’m a stranger here myself."
The point of interest in translating this joke was the last phrase. The children offered
two versions:
Já jsem tady taky cizí.
Já to tady taky neznám.
The class agreed that although the first phrase is more lexically accurate, it is the
second sentence, that makes more cultural and contextual sense.
What do you get when you cross-breed a shark and a cow?
I have no idea but I wouldn’t try milking it.
The issue in the case of this text was vocabulary; the children learned the words cross-
breed and milk.
A priest asks the convicted murderer at the electric chair, "Do you have any last
requests?”
"Yes," replies the murderer. "Can you please hold my hand?"
As in the case of the previous text, translating this one was straightforward, except for
two words slightly above the language level of the class: convicted and request.
Why is England the wettest country? Because the queen has reigned there for years!
This joke was recognized as the one impossible to translate because of the homophone
reign and rain. It was an opportunity for the class to learn the word reign.
Son: I am not able to go to school today.
Father: What happened?
Son: I am not feeling well.
Father: Where you are not feeling well?
Son: In school.
The discussion arose around the issue of translating the sentence: Where are you not
feeling well?
The children realized that a literal translation (Kde se necítíš dobře?) would not work
in this case. Such sentence is never used in Czech. The decision has been made that
translating the sentence as: Kde tě to bolí? would work better.

39
 Teacher to student: Make a sentence using the word “I”
Student: I is...
Teacher: No, that is not correct, you should say I am.
Student: Ok. I am the ninth letter in the Alphabet.
This joke is also not possible to translate as the word I means a pronoun as well as a
letter only in English. When translated the joke completely looses its sense.

A man walked into a Florida bar with his alligator and asked the bartender: "Do you
serve lawyers here?" "Sure." "Good. One beer for me and a lawyer for my alligator."
The translator’s difficulty in this case is the fact, that in Czech there are two
expressions for the word serve – obsluhovat and servírovat. This aspect means that
there is no possibility to transfer this joke into Czech without losing its sense.

The following list sums the pupils’ answers to the questionnaire below:
1. The easiest joke to translate was number three.
2. The most difficult jokes to translate were five, six and seven.
3. The jokes impossible to translate were four, six and seven.
4. There is one word with double meaning in its phonetic form – reign.

Questionnaire

1. Which joke did you find the easiest to translate?

2. Which one was the most difficult?
3. Which jokes are not possible to translate, because they are no longer funny in
Czech, and why?
4. Are there any words with double meaning (in written or phonetic form)?
Figure 3: Jokes questionnaire

Assisted translation – proverbs

Translating proverbs was, from the point of view of the procedure, identical to
the activity of translating jokes. A different group of pupils of the same language level
was selected. The reason for this decision was the concern that the pupils who translated
jokes will not be inclined to show enthusiasm for the same translating work.

40
Analysis of proverb-translating work
The following list contains the most notable issues of the translating process,
together with the translations the groups agreed to choose as representative of their
work, after a period of deliberation.
Proverbs with identical lexical units and sense:
Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today. / Neodkládej na zítřek, co můžeš
udělat dnes.
Don’t judge a book by its cover. / Nesuď knihu podle obalu.
These were the only proverbs in the list that could be translated word-for-word and it
worked in both ST and TL. Translating the former provided the pupils with the
opportunity to learn the phrasal verb put off. There was a second possible translation
discovered in case of the latter. It is noted in the last category.
Proverbs with very similar lexical units and identical sense:
There is no place like home. / Všude dobře, doma nejlíp.
Better late than never. / Pozdě, ale přece.
Easy come, easy go. / Lehce nabyl, lehce pozbyl.
Where there’s smoke there’s fire. / Není kouře bez ohýnku.
Fortune favours the bold. / Odvážnému štěstí přeje.
Like father like son. / Jaký otec, takový syn.

The follow-up discussion and the questionnaire have indicated that most children
found these proverbs to be in the middle of the scale when considering similarity.
When translating these, the pupils were obligated to change some words and slightly
modify the sentence structure.
Proverbs of the same sense but differing lexical units
In case of these proverbs, although the words were different, the children were aware
of the semantic similarity of these words.
Laughter is the best medicine. / Veselá mysl, půl zdraví.
Birds of a feather flock together. / Vrána k vráně sedá, rovný rovného si hledá.
Early bird catches the worm. / Ranní ptáče dál doskáče.

41
 Proverbs of similar meaning and very different lexically units
Like father like son. / Jablko nepadne daleko od stromu.
Don’t judge a book by its cover. / Zdání klame.
Beggars can’t be choosers. / Darovanému koni na zuby nekoukej.
These proverbs seemed to remind the pupils of some Czech proverbs that express
nearly the same, however, the children had to work harder to remember the Czech
equivalents.

PROVERBS – TRANSLATION
1. Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.
2. Laughter is the best medicine.
3. There is no place like home.
4. Like father like son.
5. Better late than never.
6. Don’t judge a book by its cover.
7. Birds of a feather flock together.
8. Easy come, easy go.
9. Fortune favours the bold.
10. Where there’s smoke there’s fire.
11. Beggars can’t be choosers.
12. Early bird catches the worm.
Glossary: Match English words with Czech words
Beggar odvážný
Favour shromáždit se
Flock žebrák
Bold dávat přednost

Figure 4: Proverbs translation worksheet

42
 Following is the list of questionnaire answers that the pupils agreed best
represented the class as a whole:
1. The hardest was to translate numbers seven, eleven and twelve.
2. The easiest was number one.
3. Proverb number one is the same in Czech.
4. All proverbs with the exception of one and four have different words but
similar meaning.
5. There are no proverbs in the list that would not, in some form, exist also in
Czech.
Questionnaire

1. Which proverbs were the hardest to translate?

2. Which were the easiest?
3. Which ones are the same in Czech?
4. Which proverbs have different words but similar meaning in Czech?
5. Are there any that do not exist in Czech?

Figure 5: Proverbs questionnaire

Pupils’ evaluation
Both groups reported that translating was easy, especially the group with
proverb assignment, many children said they enjoued themselves while completing the
task.

Teacher’s evaluation
The pupils’ work proceeded very smoothly. The proverb group easily retrieved
the Czech versions of the sayings from their memory. It was noted in the follow-up
discussions that Czech and English humour is quite similar.

4.1.4 Translating in an authentic situation (French excursion)

This chapter deals with observation of completing a practical task based on the
use of translation in an authentic environment. Krashen (1987) pointed out the
importance of translation in language learning: “Translation is one of the skills truly
useful in the real world, our foreign language skill helps us to be mediators, build
bridges between people and enable conversations with native speakers, which are very
helpful for further language acquisition.“ Providing an authentic situation in an

43
authentic setting is of the utmost importance for engaged language teaching. However,
it is no easy task for teachers. In herein presented case, a rather fortunate opportunity
presented itself for pupils of a grammar school in Prague.

Figure 6: Picture of Students of School Bila, Prague 6

Description of the task

A group of students, aged 12 to 15 years, travelled to the Provence region in
France. The accompanying teachers realized the potential of the situation and prepared a
translation challenge for the children. The pupils were divided into groups of four, each
group containing two students of English and two of French language. It is important to
note that English skills were vital in this process as the particular pupils’ French was on
an extremely basic level.
The children received a set of questions in Czech, these included inquiries about
the most important information concerned with the village or town visited that day. The
task was to find answers and report these findings as well as provide notes of the
process in all used languages. The following sample illustrates the type of questions and
obtained answers:

Q1) What is the meaning of the term “intra – muros“, what language is it in and what
part of the city of Avignon does it refer to?1
A1) intra – muros, latin, means “within the walls“, city centre
Q2) What was the nickname of Avignon?
A2) the city of popes

Figure 7: Sample questions2

1
The original questions were written in the Czech language.
2
“Avignon – Wikimedia,” 2016

44
Observation of the process

Not all groups were uniform in dealing with the assignment, this section of the
text presents the most preferred method in completing the task. Prior to communication
with local citizens, each group held a short briefing and agreed on a suitable strategy. It
was noted that the student use their mother tongue (L1), although in the initial
instruction use of L1 was prohibited. The tutors, however, decided to allow L1 in
planning the course of action to make students more comfortable in the process of task
completion and ease them from the planning stage into the execution stage. The use of
L1 in language learning has been a taboo for a long time, Scrivener (2011) argues that
“L1 prohibition in language learning might just be an exaggerated reaction to some
traditional teaching techniques“. It has been recently emphasised that L1 might be
justified in second language teaching if the complexity of the assignment threatens to
discourage the students and if L1 proves to be more authentic in the given situation.
Figure 8 shows the division of the sub-tasks amongst the pupils and their role in
the process.

Writer Notes down the information as others provide it.

English translator Translates both the question and answers into English.
French translator Translates both questions into French (in case of necessity),
notes down the French answers (to present to the teachers).
Mediator Communicates with local citizens.

Figure 8: Role division and task

It was noted, that when given an opportunity to plan the work independently, the
students automatically chose people with appropriate skills and character traits for each
particular role. Thus, the mediator role was always assigned to the student with the best
social skills and a rather extraverted, outgoing nature.

45
 Figure 9: Picture of role division prior to the fieldwork

Reports on obstacles and support

After returning from the fieldwork the pupils reported experiencing following
difficulties:
The level of students’ French language skill was too elementary to communicate.
The level of locals’ English language skill was too elementary to understand or non-
existent.
The particulars of each language system made some sentences harder to understand.
Lack of time for the task completion.

Figure 10: Obstacles as reported by the students

Despite the difficulties all groups completed the assignment. The pupils also
reported that the local citizens were without exception willing to provide assistance.
This observation led to an extremely fruitful discussion about socio-cultural differences
between France and the Czech Republic, where the children attempted to imagine
having to complete such task in their home country. As Paderes (2012) mentioned in the
outline of his thesis: “The use of translation makes language teaching more
communicative and holistic.“

46
Challenges arising from translating
While translating the pupils recognized apparent differences in the language
systems of each used language. Vaezi and Mizraei (2008) emphasise that one of the
most important aspects of the translation work is the improvement of the students’
knowledge of the language form. In this case, the pupils noted two most frequent
differences.
Firstly, it was the case of simple past tense construction. The French language
uses two types of auxiliary verbs according to the nature of the verb utilized in the
sentence, whereas English uses in simple past tense one auxiliary and only in the
negative and interrogative forms. Furthermore, in the Czech language, simple past is
formed by verb-suffixes, without auxiliaries altogether. The pupils arrived at a
conclusion that omitting the auxiliary or using the unsuitable one disables the
communication.
Secondly, the less frequent and not as significant was the use of descriptive
adjective and its position within the sentence. In the French language, the adjective
follows the noun (a girl beautiful, an idea great), as opposed to Czech and English
where the adjective precedes the noun (an important information, an ancient bridge).
However, this discrepancy doesn’t in any way affect the accuracy of the conversation,
merely amuses the locals. The students found the differences quite interesting and
considering the grammar in this context was more acceptable for them than it would
have been in the classroom.
The benefits of translating were also noted by Koppe (2008) who was one of the
defenders of translation and its place in language classes:
Translation activities help students to see the link between language and
language use, encourage students to compare and contrast their first and second
languages; allow teachers and students to identify learning difficulties and enable
teachers to check comprehension and introduce new vocabulary and learning strategies
which give learners autonomy and language awareness. (76)

Conclusion of the case observation

This study demonstrates that when given the opportunity to work on a practical
task similar to real life in an authentic situation, students will use translation technique,
normally considered less popular in the classroom setting, quite willingly and will be
able to notice the specific forms of the languages they have to operate in without

47
difficulty. Furthermore, in the described case they naturally gained access to
geographical, historical and socio-cultural information and when sharing their
experiences provided entertainment for their colleagues.

4.2 Poems

Willis Barnstone has outlined the most important thoughts on translating poetry
in his online article ‘An ABC of Translating Poetry‘ (2001):
Translation is the art of revelation. It makes the unknown known. The
translator artist has the fever and craft to recognize, re-create, and reveal the work of the
other artist. Even when famous at home, the work comes into an alien city as an orphan
with no past to its readers. In rags, hand-me-downs, or dramatic black capes of glory, it
is surprise, morning, a distinctive stranger. The orphan is Don Quijote de la Mancha in
Chicago... A translation is a friendship between poets.
Barnstone (2001)
The following activity was inspired by his idea. He claims that poets who
translate works of other artists need to have a linguist at hand who supports them from
the verbal point of view, even those who actually speak the target language.
The activity was prepared for a group of grade seven students, whose level of
English was B1 or beyond.

Stage one – background information

In the first phase of the activity, the pupils were given a sheet with very
simplified and brief information about the authors (see below, Figure 11), whose poetry
was utilized in the project. After a brief moment for scanning the information and
finding out meanings of words they did not know, they matched the names to the pieces
of information and compared their work with classmates. When most of the class
completed the task, the answers were read out loud and corrected.

Stage two – division and linguistic tasks

Then, the pupils chose a work-partner and in their pairs decided who was the
poet and who the linguist. The linguists took on a supporting role armed with
dictionaries. Every pair got a poetry worksheet (see below) and chose a poem they
wanted to work with. The teams translated the poems of their choice.

48
Stage three – performance
The poets performed their translations in a reciting competition. The task of the
audience was to evaluate the poems according to the following criteria:
Rhyming
Vocabulary variety
Capturing the sense
Challenge (level of difficulty)
The pupils noted their evaluation into the evaluation sheet (see below, figure
13), which was handed to the teacher who recorded results. The prizes for the reciting
competition were awarded.

WRITERS (match the names to the information)

William Makepeace Thackeray
J. SamahaLalithambika A.A. Milne William Shakespeare
Robert Louis Stevenson Lewis Carrol William Blake
A) A contemporary author from Chennai –
India ______________________________
B) A Scottish travel writer and poet, lived in the second half of 19th century, his most
famous work is Treasure Island_________________________________________
C) A nineteenth century English poet and novelist who loved nature and countryside
__________________________________________________________________
D) An English playwright, poet and author of children´s books, lived in the first half
of twentieth century, his most famous work was a book about a teddy bear called
Pooh (Winnie-the-Pooh) ______________________________________________
E) An English writer and journalist, lived in nineteenth century England but was born
in India, wrote satirical work___________________________________________
F) A great English poet and painter, lived in eighteenth century and was known for
his creative and very original work, his most famous poems are The Lamb and The
Tyger_____________________________________________________________
G) A sixteenth century poet, playwright and actor, lived and worked in the time of
queen Elisabeth I., the most famous writer of all times_______________________

Figure 11: Poets, Background information

49
 The following poems are noted here with the most successful translations.
According to the criteria given in the evaluation chart (see below, fig.13) these
translations were awarded most points.
FAMOUS POEMS
The Fairy Song
Over hill, over dale,
Through bush, through brier,
Over park, over pale,
Through flood, through fire!
I do wander everywhere,
Swifter than the moon’s sphere;
And I serve the Fairy Queen...
By William Shakespeare
The Circle
The earth we live is a circle.
Hot hot sun is a circle.
The cool moon is a circle.
Delicious orange is a circle.
Bangles we wear too is a circle.
Hey…The ball we play is also a circle.
Children! Now We all know
What a circle is!
By J. Sahaha Lalithambika
The Wind
No one can tell me,
Nobody knows,
Where the wind comes from,
Where the wind goes.
By A.A. Milne
Píseň víl
Přes kopec, přes údolí,
Skrz keř, skrz vřes,
Přes park, přes pláň,
Skrz povodeň, skrz oheň,
Toulám se všude,
Rychleji než kotouč měsíce,
A sloužím královně víl.
Kruh
Země, kde bydlíme je kruh.
Horké, horké slunce je kruh.
Chladný měsíc je kruh.
Lahodný pomeranč je kruh.
Náramky, co nosíme, jsou také kruh.
Hele...míč, se kterým si hrajem je také kruh.
Děti! Ted’ už víme!
Co je kruh!
Vítr
Nikdo to neví,
Nikdo to nezná,
Odkud je vítr,
Kam vítr běhá.
50
 Tyger
Tyger, tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night?
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
By William Blake
Humpty Dumpty’s Song
In winter, when the fields are white,
I sing this song for your delight.
In Spring, when woods are getting green,
I’ll try and tell you what I mean.
In Summer, when the days are long,
Perhaps you’ll understand the song.
In Autumn, when the leaves are brown,
Take pen and ink, and write it down.
By Lewis Carrol
At the ZOO
First I saw the white bear, then I saw the black;
Then I saw the camel with a hump upon his back;
Then I saw the grey wolf, with mutton in his maw;
Then I saw the wombat waddle in the straw;
Then I saw the elephant a-waving of his trunk;
Then I saw the monkeys-mercy, how unpleasantly
they-smelt!
By William Makepeace Thackeray
Figure 12: The poems worksheet and translations
51
Tygr
Tygře, tygře, tvoje záře,
V tmavé noci, lesa tváře,
Oko, ruka nesmrtelná,
Symetrie strašidelná.
Píseň Humpty Dumptyho
V zimě, když jsou pole bílá,
Zní má píseň radostná.
Zjara, v lesích barva zelená,
Zkusím říct, co moje píseň znamená.
V létě, když dny se prodlouží,
Vím, že tě má píseň nesouží.
Na podzim, listy hnědnou, dny se krátí,
Napiš mou píseň, než se ztratí.
V ZOO
Nejdříve černý medvěd, potom bílý,
Pak velbloud, s hrbem, plný síly,
Potom šedý vlk, v hubě ovce sladká,
A také vombat, v suché slámě ťapká,
Pak jsem viděl slona, jak chobotem
mává,
A potom opice, ta cháska smradlavá se
zdává.
POETRY EVALUATION SHEET
NAMES RHYMING VOCABULARY CAPTURING CHALLENGE
VARIETY THE SENSE LEVEL OF
DIFFICULTY

Figure 13: Poetry evaluation sheet

The pupils were instructed to evaluate each category from zero to maximum
three points (three being the best), according to their opinion on linguistic and artistic
quality of the translation.

Pupils’ evaluation
The pupils found the task extremely challenging. Some complained about the
choice of the poems. They felt the poems were not captivating enough, however, after
friendly persuasion, agreed that these were mostly classics and the children did not have
anything against occasional appearance of classical literature in schools. Nevertheless,
they were extremely (and rightly so) proud of their achievement in translating the
poems, so much so that the final reciting competition became an event comparable to
any sport match regarding the enthusiasm and mutual support (perhaps also due to the
fact that it was carried out as an evening activity on the skiing class-trip of seventh-
grade students).

Teacher’s evaluation
It was apparent that this activity with such choice of poems would be more
appropriate on the high-school level, not necessarily because of the language ability, but
the emotional maturity needed to translate poetry. To remedy such flaw, it would be
more suitable to choose more modern, funnier poems or chants. Clearly, such outcome
points at the teacher’s lack of empathy with her pupils, as far as their relationship with
poetry is concerned.

52
Figure 14: Picture of poetry competition: A contestant

Figure 15: Picture of poetry competition: The audience

53
4.3 Audiovisual translation

The following chapter is concerned with an issue most clearly formulated by

Delila Chiaro (2009).
Audiovisual translation is one of several overlapping umbrella terms that include
“media translation“, “multimedia translation“, “multimodal translation“ and “screen
translation“. These different terms all set out to cover the interlingual transfer of verbal
language when it is transmitted and accessed both visually and acoustically, usually, but
not necessarily through some kind of electronic device.
Chiaro
The following list, adapted from Jeremy Munday (2009) has been included in
order to clarify these terms:
Media translation: This term is used for interpreting of radio, television,
webcasting or any other mass media broadcast discourse. Further division
should be recognized. “Liaison interpreting“ is used for studio talk shows;
“simultaneous interpreting“ in case of sporting events, political speeches,
ceremonies (these are very often previewed). Another important term is
“voiced over translation“ – a somewhat more polished translation of media
discourse, usually appearing as a second stage after simultaneous
translation. Voiced over translation uses written translation as a base.
Multimedia translation: This term was coined for translation that uses
various types of technological equipment like cameras, computers,
projectors. A practical example is subtitling.
Multimodal translation: In case of this type of translation more than one
communication mode is used to make the meaning. According to Carol
O’Sullivan (2013), this term describes meaning-making by an interaction
between words and other (frequently non – linguistic) elements, like images
(still or moving), music, diagrams etc. There are many uses for this type of
meaning-making – for example promotional or political.
Screen translation: It is interlingual or intralingual and involves providing a
meaning of discourse somehow connected to a screen (as in computer
games, films, presentations etc.). “Subtitling“ is the type of screen
translation, which is most widely used in entertainment and scientific
discourse.

54
 For centuries, plays and operas were performed either in the original language or
actors and singers performed the translated version. However, it has recently become
popular to use the original language and provide a translation via surtitle projection. As
far as the history of audiovisual translation in film industry is concerned, the
breakthrough was brought by the end of silent film era and introduction of the first
“talking picture“ films in the 1920s. Until then, the predecessors of subtitles were
intertitles – written representations of what was going on in the scene, inserted between
film scenes. However, after the entrée of sound and the spoken word there appeared a
need to bridge the language barrier to circulate the films. From that point, audiovisual
translation moved in the direction of dubbing (most commonly used in non-democratic
systems like Nazi Germany or central and eastern Europe to promote nationalistic
feelings) or subtitling (the usual mode of translating films in northern European
countries – i.e. Scandinavia).
Dubbing is creating the illusion that the original dialogue is uttered in the target
language as if that was the original. Luyken (1991) defines dubbing as “the replacement
of the original speech by a voice track which attempts to follow as closely as possible
the timing, phrasing and lip movements of the original language“. There are adaptors
employed, who transfer and adjust the literal translation to fit the lip movements.
Subtitling is a written representation of the screen utterance. Gottlieb (2001)
defines subtitling as “the rendering in a different language of verbal messages in filmic
media, in the shape of one or more lines of written text presented on the screen in sync
with the original written message“. The number of lines mentioned is particularly
important – the text must be condensed, not word-for-word translation or transcript. The
reason for this is the time restraint. The viewers have to be able to read the text while
watching the film, oblivious – to some degree – that they are actually reading. Antonini
(2005) claims that the original dialogue is reduced by 40 to 70 percent.
This representation of aspects of audiovisual translation was adapted from Delia
Chiaro. It shows the polysemiotic nature of audiovisual translation.

55
Table 4: The nature of audiovisual products
Visual Acoustic
Non- Scenery, lighting, costumes, props Music, background, noise sound
verbal Gestures, facial expressions, body effects
language and movement Laughter, crying, humming, body
sounds (breathing...)
Verbal Street signs, shop signs, written realia Dialogues, song – lyrics, poems...
(newspapers, headlines...)

The following activities were used as case study to examine what types of
audiovisual translation can be brought into classrooms and whether these forms of
translation activities can be successful even with pupils whose language level is as low
as A2.

4.3.1 Subtitling trailers

This activity was designed for pupils of seventh to ninth grade (language level
A2/B1 to B2/C1) with a certain purpose: Films and therefore trailers are a part of
everyday life of a teenager, it brings this everyday life into the classroom and points out
the ways translation is a part of our daily routine. There are four stages to this activity,
as a whole lasting forty-five minutes.

Stage one – introduction

The pupils were informed about the two ground rules of subtitling process –
accuracy and economy. In creating subtitles, we are not looking for an artistic value in
translation, subtitles have to be accurate and brief (max. two lines), as the audience
doesn’t want to feel that they are reading as well as watching but simply watching with
a support of a text.

Stage two – warm up

This stage of the activity served as a practise for the next step. The trailer chosen
for practise was the trailer of the film Assassin for it was short and the utterances were
very simple both grammatically and from the point of view of utilized vocabulary.
First listening: It was a very straightforward task, with the purpose of
getting the pupils acquainted with the dialogues in the trailer.

56
 Comprehension check: During the second listening the trailer was paused
after each utterance and the children repeated what they heard. The best
ways to translate were suggested and – if necessary – modified.

Stage three – subtitling (written work)

First listening: Again, as was the case of the warm up stage, at this point the
pupils just observed and listened to get acquainted with the dialogues.
Comprehension check: The pupils received a handout with the transcribed
text. They placed it on the desk partially covered by another sheet of paper
or a book and watched the trailer again. This time the trailer was paused
after clusters of approximately four sentences. The children checked their
comprehension as they uncovered the text piece by piece. After each pause,
there was a discussion about the discrepancies in comprehension.
Translation – pair work: In pairs, pupils helped each other to translate the
sentences using the sheet of transcribed dialogues. After the work was
completed, the trailer was played one more time, with pauses, in which the
pairs shared their solution for the subtitles. The best versions were
considered.

Evaluation
The students were asked to write their thoughts and comments concerning this
lesson and translation as a learning method. All reported that they initially expected that
subtitling is difficult. As they progressed with the task, however, the work became
easier and more fluent. Some controversial expressions are in the following list with
suggested translations (the versions considered most suitable are underlined):
ahead of your time / nadčasová, pokroková, předstihla svou dobu
small-minded / omezený, primitivní, omezeně smýšlející
It’s all he ever does / To je všechno, co dělá. Nic jiného nedělá.
Lovely to make your acquaintance. / Je krásné se s vámi seznámit. Velice mě
těší. Ráda vás poznávám.
petal / lístek, okvětní plátek, okvětní lístek
beast / zvíře, nestvůra, netvor
The pupils noted their appretiation to break from the learning routine and do
something utterly different. Half of the pupils would rather work with different trailers,
the other half was quite content and didn’t mind the trailers chosen for this activity. All

57
pupils were surprised how hard it was to choose the right expressions in case of the
above listed words and sentences. Another issue that arose during the translation was
the necessity to alter the word order of sentences in TT as it could not correspond to the
word order of sentences in ST.

ASSASSIN (OFFICIAL TRAILER – transcription)

Where am I?
Kde to jsem?
At six p.m. yesterday evening you were executed and pronounced dead. You no-longer
exist.
Včera večer v šest hodin jste byl popraven a prohlášen za mrtvého. Už neexistujete.
What kind of prison is this?
Co je tohle za vězení?
It’s not a prison, you’re about to enter the animus. What you´re about to see, hear and
feel are the memories of your ancestor, who’s been dead for five hundred years.
To není vězení, právě vstupujete do animus. To, co uvidíte, uslyšíte a ucítíte jsou
vzpomínky vašeho předka, který zemřel před pěti sty lety.
What do you want from me?
Co po mně chcete?
Your past.
Vaši minulost.
Welcome to the Spanish inquisition.
Vítejte ve špaňelské inkvizici.
(Song: I’m god...)
We work in the dark to serve the light. We are assassins!
Pracujeme ve tmě, abychom sloužili světlu. Jsme atentátníci.

Figure 16: Comprehension check sheet

58
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (OFFICIAL TRAILER – transcription)

The following transcription includes the translation that the class nominated as
the final version after working in groups and consequent comparison of their versions.
My dear Belle, you’re so ahead of your time! This is a small village...
Milá Belle, ty jsi předstihla svou dobu! Toto je malá vesnice...
You are the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen. Nobody deserves you.
Ty jsi to nejbáječnější stvoření, jaké jsem kdy viděl. Nikdo si tě nezaslouží.
...and it’s small-minded as well, but small also means – safe!
…a je také omezená, ale malá také může znamenat jistotu!
I’ve come for my father!
Přišla jsem si pro svého otce!
He’s a thief.
Je to zloděj!
Come into the light!
Pojď na světlo!
I’ll escape, I promise.
Uteču, slibuju!
Look! A girl!
Koukejte! Dívka!
Who said that?
Kdo to řekl?
Hello!
Ahoj!
You can talk?
Ty umíš mluvit?
Well, of course, it’s all he ever does!
No samozřejmě, nic jiného nedělá!
How lovely to make your acquaintance?
Ráda vás poznávám!
Want to see me do a trick?
Chceš mě vidět, jak dělám trik?
What happens when the last petal falls?
Co se stane, když opadne poslední okvětní lístek?

59
 The master remains a beast forever.
Pán bude navěky netvorem.
And we become antiques
A z nás se stanou starožitnosti!
What did you do to it?
Co jsi jí udělala?
Nothing!
Nic!
Get out of here! Go!
Vypadni! Jdi!
You have to help me! You have to stand! (written: On March 17)
Musíš mi pomoct! Musíš se postavit! (17. března)
If she is the one, who’ll break the spell, you must finally learn to love.
Jestli je to ta pravá, která poruší kletbu, musíš se konečně naučit milovat.
Have you really read everyone of these books?
Opravdu jsi četl všechny tyto knihy?
No, some of them are in Greek. (written: Experience the tale – as old as time)
Ne, některé jsou v řečtině. (Zažijte pohádku – starou jako sám čas)
Kill the beast!
Zabijte netvora!

Figure 17: Subtitling sheet

4.3.2 Translating songs

Devised for a class of sixth and seventh grade pupils, the focus of this activity
was on familiarizing the children with the lyrics of the song by means of two tasks so
that the pupils do not realize that they are actually learning the text. The aim of the
activity was, in this instance, creating subtitles. However, it is also possible to aim
towards simultaneous interpreting or voice-over translation.

Stage one – cloze exercise

The pupils were given a choice to either work in pairs or on their own. They
received worksheets with a cloze text (see figure 19). Two listenings followed, in which

60
the pupils tried to fill in as many gaps as possible. After the listening, the children
reflected on the difficulty of the lyrics and shared how many gaps were they able to fill.
Ten percent of the pupils managed to fill in three words out of twenty in the first
listening, thirty percent filled in up to six words. The rest of the students managed to fill
in seven to fifteen words in the first listening. In the second listening, all the children
added further three to six words into the text.

Stage two – ordering the jumbled lyrics

Much like in the first stage, the children were able to choose to work alone or
with a partner. They received worksheets (see figure 20). During the third listening the
pupils noted numbers into the lyrics table according to the order of utterance. This stage
was relatively brief, as it was easy for the pupils. During the mistake check it was
ascertained, that seventy-five percent of the pupils made no mistakes, ten percent one
mistake and five percent more than one mistake.

Stage three – subtitles

The children worked in pairs, each were allocated one part of the text, four lines
of the lyrics of the song. Not being allowed to see the text of the song, they listened for
the fourth time. After the listening, the pupils had time to write subtitles. The fifth
listening followed with pauses, in each pause, the children responsible for each part,
have shown their written subtitles. The challenges arose with these expressions:
The homonym close needed to be clarified as zavřít as well as blízko.
The homonym rock, which can either be translated as kámen, skála as well as
houpat and colloquially rozhoupat, rozjet.
In the case of the homophone sole/soul, the children agreed that both meanings
podrážka and duše could both be used in the subtitling process.

Pupils’ evaluation
The children reported that the song was moderately difficult, about one half of
the class claimed it was fairly hard to understand, the other half of the class felt the song
was of medium difficulty level. Only one student understood the song well because he
listened to it often as it was his favourite song.
Teacher’s evaluation
The teacher noticed that the children were very cooperative, concentrated and
worked well without disrupting the process. However, one aspect slightly obscured the

61
outcome. Even though there was no “threat“ of grading their work, some of them had a
tendency to cheat during the second stage by checking the text.

Can´t stop the feeling

______________________________________________________________________
I got this feeling inside my bones
It goes electric, wavey when I turn it on
All through my city, all through my home
We're flying up, no ceiling, when we in our zone

I got that sunshine in my pocket

Got that good soul in my feet
I feel that hot blood in my body when it drops
I can't take my eyes up off it, moving so phenomenally
Room on lock, the way we rock it, so don't stop

And under the lights when everything goes

Nowhere to hide when I'm getting you close
When we move, well, you already know
So just imagine, just imagine, just imagine

Nothing I can see but you when you dance, dance, dance
A feeling good, good, creeping up on you
So just dance, dance, dance, come on
All those things I shouldn't do
But you dance, dance, dance
And ain't nobody leaving soon, so keep dancing
I can't stop the feeling
So just dance, dance, dance
I can't stop the feeling
So just dance, dance, dance, come on

Ooh, it's something magical

It's in the air, it's in my blood, it's rushing on
I don't need no reason, don't need control
I fly so high, no ceiling, when I'm in my zone

62
'Cause I got that sunshine in my pocket
Got that good soul in my feetI feel that hot blood in my body when it drops
I can't take my eyes up off it, moving so phenomenally
Room on lock, the way we rock it, so don't stop

Under the lights when everything goes

Nowhere to hide when I'm getting you close
When we move, well, you already know
So just imagine, just imagine, just imagine

Nothing I can see but you when you dance, dance, dance
Feeling good, good, creeping up on you
So just dance, dance, dance, come on
All those things I shouldn't do
But you dance, dance, dance
And ain't nobody leaving soon, so keep dancing
I can't stop the feeling
So just dance, dance, dance
I can't stop the feeling
So just dance, dance, dance
I can't stop the feeling
So just dance, dance, dance
I can't stop the feeling
So keep dancing, come on

I can't stop the, I can't stop the

I can't stop the, I can't stop the
I can't stop the feeling

Nothing I can see but you when you dance, dance, dance (I can't stop the feeling)
Feeling good, good, creeping up on you
So just dance, dance, dance, come on (I can't stop the feeling)
All those things I shouldn't do
But you dance, dance, dance (I can't stop the feeling)
And ain't nobody leaving soon, so keep dancing

63
Everybody sing (I can't stop the feeling)
Got this feeling in my body (I can't stop the feeling)
Got this feeling in my body (I can't stop the feeling)
Wanna see you move your body (I can't stop the feeling)

Got this feeling in my body

Break it down
Got this feeling in my body
Can't stop the feeling
Got this feeling in my body, come on

Figure 18: The Lyrics

Can´t stop the feeling

Fill in the gaps:

I got this 1.______________________inside my bones

It goes electric, wavey when I turn it on
All through my 2. __________________, all through my home
We're flying up, no 3.__________________, when we in our zone
I got that 4.__________________ in my pocket
Got that good 5.____________________ in my feet
I feel that hot blood in my body when it 6.____________________
I can't take my eyes up off it, moving so phenomenally
Room on lock, the way we rock it, so 7._____________ _____________
And under the 8._______________ when everything goes
9. __________________ to hide when I'm getting you close
When we move, well, you 10.___________________ know
So just imagine, just imagine, just imagine
11.______________ I can see but you when you dance, dance, dance
A feeling good, good, 12.__________________ up on you
So just dance, dance, dance, come on
All those things 13._______________ ________________
But you dance, dance, dance
And ain't nobody leaving 14. _______________, so keep dancing

64
I can't stop the feeling
So just dance, dance, dance
I can't stop the feeling
So just dance, dance, dance, come on
Ooh, it's something 15.________________
It's in the air, it's in my blood, it's rushing on
I don't need no 16.___________________, don't need control
I fly so high, no ceiling, when I'm in my zone
'Cause I got that 17._________________ in my pocket
Got that good 18.__________________in my feet
I feel that hot blood in my body when it 19.__________________
I can't take my eyes up off it, moving so phenomenally
Room on lock, the way we rock it, so 20. _____________ ______________! ...

Figure 19: Cloze exercise

Can´t stop the feeling

Order chunks of the text according to what you hear
(write numbers in the first column)
Room on lock, the way we rock it, so don't stop
And under the lights when everything goes A
Nowhere to hide when I'm getting you close
So just dance, dance, dance, come on
All those things I shouldn't do B
But you dance, dance, dance
We're flying up, no ceiling, when we in our zone
I got that sunshine in my pocket C
Got that good soul in my feet
When we move, well, you already know
So just imagine, just imagine, just imagine D
Nothing I can see but you when you dance, dance, dance
A feeling good, good, creeping up on you
So just dance, dance, dance, come on E
All those things I shouldn´t do

65
 I got this feeling inside my bones
It goes electric, wavey when I turn it on F
All through my city, all through my home
I feel that hot blood in my body hen it drops
I can't take my eyes up off it, moving so phenomenally G

Figure 20: Order the chunks exercise

4.4 Translating speech, simultaneous interpreting

Despite the fact that interpreting has been practised since the middle of the
second millennium BCE (pictorial evidence proves that fact), over the centuries it has
been neglected, moreover – regarded as something “normal“, perhaps because it has
always been present. As Franz Poechhaker states:
(Interpreting) seems to have been viewed as too common and unspectacular to
deserve special mention, let alone sustained scholarly interest. Even when interpreting
became a “profession“, essentially in the early twentieth century, considerable time
elapsed before it came to be viewed as an object of study.
Poechhacker (2009:128)
Otto Kade, a teacher of Czech and Russian and self-taught conference interpreter
was one of the leading personalities who helped recognize interpreting as an academic
activity and worth having its own academic field of study. His definition of interpreting
is down-to-earth and very clear:
(Interpreting) is a form of translation (in the wider sense) in which (a) the source
language is presented only once and thus cannot be reviewed or replayed, and (b) the
target-language text is produced under time pressure, with little chance for correction
and revision.
Kade (1968:15)
There are two aspects of interpretation that justify its use in the classroom:
Intercultural mediation: This aspect points at the fact that interpreting is a
mediation between two or even more parties with different cultural and
language backgrounds. It can be seen as sociological activity as well as
linguistic, interpreter is a mediator between cultures and value systems of
these cultures. Such activities are highly suitable in modern classrooms as
they lead into more open-minded and tolerant thinking.

66
 Cognitive processing: Several scholars concerned themselves with the
nature of interpreting as a cognitive processing activity. Poechhacker (2004,
Chapter 6) focused on complexity of interpreting as a communicative task in
its necessity to understand and produce in two different languages at once.
Poyatos (1987) focused on the research of strategies used in processing
verbal messages and their paralinguistic and non-verbal components. The
weight of the cognitive task is substantial due to its simultaneous nature, the
concurrence of ST comprehension and TT production really tests the
potential and limitation of human working memory and ability to focus.
Daniel Gile (1997) noted, in his Effort Models, that the essential skill of an
interpreter is attention management. It is precisely for this aspect, that
interpreting is a desirable activity in the language teaching process.

The pupils
An interpreting activity was prepared for the class of nine-graders, their
language level was between B2 and C1. This particular group is considered to be the
most advanced in the school at present. There is one bilingual child and several children
with experience of learning for a limited period of time in British schools.

The speech
The speech used in this activity was the Final message to America by Michelle
Obama, retrieved from YouTube. The reasons for this choice were as follows: Firstly,
the former first lady of the USA has a very clear, good American English pronunciation,
hence the children, used to watching American films and series, were likely to be
familiar with this kind of auditory experience. Secondly, Mrs. Obama, although
certainly a great personality, is not a typical politician, her way of expressing herself is
fairly colloquial even in such a formal setting. Also in this particular speech, she did not
use any complicated unfamiliar expressions.

The process
Initially, the pupils were informed about the difficulty of the task, the whole
group brainstormed the most important rules of simultaneous interpreting and these
seemed the most essential: Do not try to correct your utterance, do not stop talking, if
you get lost – skip the confusing chunk and continue as if nothing happened.

67
 Then the pupils were asked to listen to the chosen eight-minute extract of the
original speech. After the first listening, they formed pairs and during the second
listening each pair simultaneously interpreted two minutes of the speech, usually
swopping after two-sentence chunks of the speech.

The outcome
All pairs were able to translate half or more of the assigned text. The bilingual
child was the one who struggled most with the task. The children reported that they did
not expect the task to be so hard and felt that two minutes of simultaneous interpreting
were the maximum amount they were able to manage. On the other hand, they were
very focused, supportive of each other and eager to fulfill the task, even though it
seemed hard at the beginning. They welcomed the change from the usual lesson routine.

68
5 Assessment

Participant oriented assessment

The pupils observed for the purpose of this study attend a state primary and
secondary school in a fairly wealthy district of the city of Prague. When questioned,
more than half of them say they watch their favourite TV series online in English with
Czech subtitles almost every day. They also use online resources in their studies and
these are frequently in English. Moreover, they play their mobile-phone and PC games
in English versions. Living in the capital city, visited by a great number of English
speaking tourists, these children have ample opportunities to encounter English in the
real world. English language is also a part of their everyday life, as they use it for some
of the messages on social media and also receive such messages. Therefore, according
to the experience of English teachers in our school, the pupils have (for their age and
language level) very good receptive skills. They lack in productive skills and more
importantly they frequently make mistakes related to the lack of understanding how
language works in particular structures.
It needs to be added, that – as mentioned at the beginning of this work – these
young 21st century capital city inhabitants lack in productive skills in their mother
tongue as English is gradually taking over in their everyday life routine.

Product oriented assessment

The outcoming translations varied widely from immaculate works where nothing
could be improved to quite poor performances with all the frequent mistakes in Czech
language versions like overuse of pronouns, word order or simply using completely
wrong lexical equivalents. Surprisingly, some of the bilingual and excellent students
had difficulties translating texts into Czech. The danger of using Czenglish instead of
English was discussed in all involved groups and the children devised a new expression
for the opposite situation – Engech. Thus, the need to improve the outcoming Czech
structures was recognized.

Process oriented assessment

Initially, one of the concerns prior to carrying out the practical part of this study
was that translation activities will be unpopular with the pupils and that they will
participate only grudgingly. In the end, the opposite was true. In the course of the
activities, the children were very cooperative and focused most of the time (as

69
mentioned in all individual case study evaluations). Most probabaly because they
seldom do translation tasks and the novelty sparked their interest. A few quite difficult
students whose language level is very low and often have a hard time to focus in
English lessons noted that they found doing the reverse translation activity really
amusing. Philip Kerr says that if a teacher sees her students leaning forward ever so
slightly, that is when she knows she is “on the right track“. It was fascinating to
observe, that translation can, in fact, cause such desired behaviour.
Moreover, the pupils had to work on expressing themselves in Czech and
critically evaluate several translation versions (TT) to come up with the ones that are
not only accurate in terms of transferring the sense of the ST into TT but also authentic
and really used in that particular form in TL. In other words, there was a lot of thinking
“Do we really say it that way?“ going on.

70
Summary

The aim of this thesis was to show possibilities of the use of translation activities
in English lessons as an aid in development of pupils’ Czech language skills and as a
facilitator of pupils’ understanding of the similarities and differences between the two
cultures, Czech and English.
While it could not be fully confirmed, that translation significantly improves the
level of pupils’ mother tongue language ability, it was apparent that during the task
completion the pupils were certainly preoccupied with their mother tongue and had to
perform a fair amount of critical thinking about the appropriate use of it.
The pupils were obligated to perform language tasks that lead them to the core
of linguistic function in a comparative mode, which resulted in realisation how source
language (SL) and target language (TL) work in given instances.
In working their way through the activities, the children also had to perform
complex cognitive problem-solving tasks, beneficial to their future cognitive life
experience.
Last but not least, translating activities are one of the truly authentic language
activities, coming from real life and used and needed in real life. These activities
provide a clear answer to the omnipresent question “Why do we have to learn this?“.
The conditions of the language learning and teaching changed radically from
what we experienced at the end of the 20th century. Teaching methods of those days
were devised ideally for smaller, multilingual classes in an English-speaking context,
hence taught by teachers who did not know the mother tongue of their students. The
world continues to be a place for global citizens, a place of nations on the move. While
English remains the lingua franca in our 21st century reality, English speakers no longer
dominate our civilization. English is now used as a means of communication among
people of different nationalities not only as a means of communication with native
speakers. Teachers in the Czech Republic need to cater for the changing world and its
communication as well as for the reality of their professional lives, which consists of
fairly large, mostly monolingual classes in a non-English cultural context. It is
reassuring to see that methodology experts are starting to realize that and the methods
acclaimed in the nineties of the last century gradually give way to modern methods that
bear in mind the cultural and linguistic context of where English is taught. Translation,

71
in its fundamental nature of being an intercultural and mediative activity, indeed fits the
profile of modern English language teaching.

72
List of figures

Figure 1: Example of a worksheet for translating quotes ........................................ 30

Figure 2: Jokes translation worksheet ...................................................................... 38
Figure 3: Jokes questionnaire .................................................................................. 40
Figure 4: Proverbs translation worksheet ................................................................ 42
Figure 5: Proverbs questionnaire ............................................................................. 43
Figure 6: Picture of Students of School Bila, Prague 6 ............................................ 44
Figure 7: Sample questions ....................................................................................... 44
Figure 8: Role division and task ............................................................................... 45
Figure 9: Picture of role division prior to the fieldwork .......................................... 46
Figure 10: Obstacles as reported by the students ..................................................... 46
Figure 11: Poets, Background information .............................................................. 49
Figure 12: The poems worksheet and translations................................................... 51
Figure 13: Poetry evaluation sheet............................................................................ 52
Figure 14: Picture of poetry competition: A contestant ........................................... 53
Figure 15: Picture of poetry competition: The audience ......................................... 53
Figure 16: Comprehension check sheet .................................................................... 58
Figure 17: Subtitling sheet ....................................................................................... 60
Figure 18: The Lyrics ................................................................................................ 64
Figure 19: Cloze exercise ........................................................................................... 65
Figure 20: Order the chunks exercise ....................................................................... 66

List of tables

Table 1 Iceberg Model ............................................................................................... 21

Table 2: Famous Quotes and Translations ............................................................... 27
Table 3: Tables of famous people, quotes, translations and reverse translations. .. 33
Table 4: The nature of audiovisual products ........................................................... 56

73
Abbreviations

SL Source language
ST Source text
TL Target language
TT Target text

74
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