La traducción como herramienta didáctica en la enseñanza de lenguas extranjeras. Estudio empírico sobre la traducción pedagógica en el aprendizaje del inglés con alumnos/as de educación secundaria obligatoria

Abstract

Despite the growing number of studies focused on claiming the role of pedagogical translation (PT) in the foreign language classroom in recent decades, there is still a lack of solid empirical studies on which to base teaching practice. In the present research, a qualitative-quantitative analysis is carried out that allows us to prove that the effectiveness of PT in learning English as a second language in secondary education is comparable to that of the communicative approach. To this end, four didactic units corresponding to the two methodologies under study are developed around two specific linguistic aspects of the English language, namely: the degree of adjectives and the usage of Present Perfect/Simple Past, that are part of the curriculum established for first and second year of Secondary Education in Spain. Based on the sample and on the basis of the linguistic aspects studied, statistically similar results are found between both approaches, being somewhat higher in the cases of PT applied to the use of past tenses.