A Reconceptualised Translation-Based Task as a Viable Teaching Tool in EFL Class to Avoid Calque Errors

The negative attitude towards translation as another pedagogical means in Foreign Language Teaching (FLT) has prevailed for much time (Cook, 2010). Nonetheless, currently, many theorists and linguistics agree on the importance of using translation activities in foreign language teaching and underline its beneficial effects to expand vocabulary, to develop writing style and to further understand how languages in contact work (Schäffner, 1998). This paper presents the results of a pilot experience where a reconceptualised role of a translation-based task is implemented in the Foreign Language Teaching (FLT) class and explores the question of whether it can be used as a means to foster the cross-linguistic cognitive processing of languages involved so that this metacognition provided by the translation process will contribute to boost a student’s watchfulness and so reduce calque errors when writing (translating) in L2 (English). Under the task-based language teaching methodology, an initiative has been put forward with a group of selected English as an L2 students pursuing a fourfold objective- i) firstly, to reintroduce translation-based tasks as a viable teaching tool in Foreign Language Teaching (FLT) class; ii) secondly, to examine the role of cross-linguistic interference in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) and iii) to identify and tag a specific type of negative interference, namely calque errors, committed by students when translating into L2, and iv) lastly, to check whether this task triggers students’ awareness of cross-linguistic differences and similarities and turn this realization into an opportunity to learn (positive interference) by avoiding committing calque errors again.