Translation as a pedagogical tool to improve the reading skills at the University of Quintana Roo

Abstract

One of the goals of the teaching and learning process is to acquire significant knowledge while learning English, there are several methodologies to reach knowledge; one of them is translation. Thinking about translation and its effects when learning English we started to think that this could help students when they learn, practice and understand the language. In order to identify whether there was effectiveness or not and to what extent we decided to carry out an investigation based on translation, some of the first questions we had in mind were: Have you ever thought about the reading problems students face while they are studying English? Is it possible to help students solve these problems by taking translation courses?. The purpose of this research work is to analyze if translation is a useful tool to improve reading skills. We believe that using translation as a tool is a good way to strengthen English learning, because by unconsciously translating you can learn and improve vocabulary, grammar, reading and writing skills. As we know, translating is a process that involves reading a text, understanding and rewriting it in another language (English to Spanish or Spanish to English), and that is why we believe that this process multiplies the efforts of the students and they might improve the skills and sub skills implied in the process of language learning. Another purpose of this research is to identify whether or not students benefit themselves by taking translation courses. As students of translation, we nurture the belief that translation can help us improve our general culture and English language skills. When we talk about teaching a foreign language, we can find a lot of methods to do it, some 8 of them have been improved in order to teach better and to give students better tools to learn. It depends on the teacher which one to choose and use in the class.