Follow up 2: Translation in schemes of work
Work with members of your department to draw together a summary of
the main ideas to include a rationale for including translation in your
departmental documentation. It may be useful to include or refer to the
translation progression overview document KS2 – KS5.
What is Translation?
The programme of study refers to ‘Translation’ but what do we mean by
this term?
‘Translation’ can encompass many strategies and activities already used
in the MFL classroom. There are two key types of translation, each
requiring a different skills-set:
1. Translation into English from the language studied.
2. Translation into the language studied from English.
A variety of different types of activity is and should be used to develop
the range of skills needed. These may well include activities we do not
consider to be “translation”:
 Translation can be a response to a foreign language text in speech
or writing in English. We are familiar with activities such as true /
false or summaries for example.
 We need to consider the purpose of students translation from the
language studied into English – for the teacher or the learner(s) to
check understanding? To summarise for a non-speaker of the
language?
 Translation into the language studied is something students
naturally do and want to do. We teach them phrases such as
“Comment dit-on... en français?” or “¿Cómo se dice...en español?”
to encourage this.
 If we are to make translation into the language studied a more
purposeful activity, we need to consider how to move students
away from word-level to sentence and eventually text-level
translation.
Some questions to reflect upon?
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How might students already be “translating” in your classroom?
What and when are they translating?
For what purpose are they translating?
Do you see translation as a motivating activity for learners? If not
why not, why do you think this is?
 If you would like to include more examples of translation in your
SoW, but do not currently do so, what is holding you back?
The rationale for Translation in the KS3 Languages curriculum
‘Why introduce Translation to pupils at KS3?’ is a question teachers
might ask themselves given the challenge of time constraints within the
curriculum. There are several compelling reasons for doing so; these
can be summed up briefly:
 Curriculum requirements
 The wider context: transition and providing a coherent language
learning experience – translation is a “real-life” activity and will be
formally tested at KS4 and KS5
 Motivation and engagement of learners
 Development of linguistic competence, particularly grammar skills
Curriculum requirements
At a very basic level the answer is simply that the inclusion of translation
in the form of has become a statutory requirement in state schools since
September 2014. Meeting many of the objectives of the new
programme of study at KS3 involve pupils developing skills in translating
texts. Pupils are required to:
 provide an accurate English translation of short, suitable material
There is a clear link between reading and understanding a text and
translating it into English, but there is also a gap between the two
which will need bridging carefully and systematically through
skilled teaching. It will also be important to select engaging texts
that pupils will see the purpose in translating. It will be important to
consider how translating into English will develop the pupils’
understanding of their own language and cross-curricular work
could be developed here looking at style, audience and purpose.
How will students know that their English translation is “accurate”?
 translate short written text accurately into the foreign language.
If students are to translate accurately into the foreign language,
then a good understanding of the grammar of the language studied
will be absolutely vital. How can we move our students on from
understanding the grammatical rules to applying them in short
sentences set to test their understanding and then to applying
these rules not only in their own writing but also when translating
the writing of another? How will we highlight to them the different
processes needed to translate and to create How can we develop
the skills of rendering the style of a piece, ensuring we are still
speaking to the same audience and with the same purpose as the
original? language?
The wider context: transition and providing a coherent language
learning experience
The KS3 programme of study opens with a statement about the overall
purpose for the study of languages and states that:
The teaching should enable pupils to express their ideas and thoughts in
another language and to understand and respond to its speakers, both
in speech and in writing. It should also provide opportunities for them to
communicate for practical purposes
This statement expresses the desire for students to respond to language
and demonstrates that translation may come in a variety of forms.
Response to a target language text does not simply mean translating the
meaning word for word. It also underlines the importance of translation
as a real, practical skill for communication.
 The KS3 programme of study is part of the wider languages
curriculum. Although it is unlikely that the average KS3 learner will
be in a position to translate a range of longer texts by the end of
the key stage, the way in which KS3 learners learn to translate
sentences and short texts in years 7, 8 and 9 builds on the key
stage 2 language learning experience and will ensure they develop
the key skills necessary in the reformed GCSE and A-Levels (first
teaching from 2016). (see ks3-translation-module-follow-up-11_translation-progression-overview-ks2-ks5)
 Dictionary use will be a key area for development, starting at KS2
and moving through KS3, KS4 into KS5. As we all know when
marking homework or assessments, poor dictionary skills can
contribute to confusion and ambiguity in written texts and in
translations, so the teaching of appropriate dictionary use will need
to be a cornerstone of the development of language skills and will
also raise many issues and concerns, notably around the
differentiation of such teaching.
Motivation and engagement of learners
The skills developed can be placed in a real-life context. Students may
have already used similar skills on holiday (helping parents to
understand information in the target language) or on school trips and
generally see the practical application of translation. Their motivating in
learning to improve their skills comes from their understanding that it is a
useful skill to have.
Learners find translation into English motivating because it is intrinsically
satisfying to know that you’ve understood a text and have been able to
make sense of it in your own language. When they are faced with a text
in the foreign language, pupils want to know “what it says” and if a range
of interesting and engaging texts is used, alongside some captivating
images, then the need to know becomes stronger. The ability to respond
to a text in their own language also enables pupils to respond in a more
developed way than they might be able to in the target language.
Translating into the target language is something students naturally try
to do when writing their own paragraphs, but it can often feel frustrating
to them when they can’t say what they want to say. Teaching them
translation skills should alleviate some of these frustrations and help
them to develop an understanding of how the target language is used, or
how it works. This in itself will be very motivating for many students.
Development of linguistic competence
Finally, a good reason to include translation is that it can be used as a
way of developing pupils’ understanding of a range of texts, applying
grammatical rules, using a range of vocabulary and developing listening,
reading, speaking and writing skills.
 Development of skills – some examples
o Listening – summarising, reacting, responding and
explaining. Listening for gist and detail. (What was the radio
programme about? What time is the next train?)
o Speaking – responding to a text in the language studied,
explaining instructions or information to a speaker of the
language studied.
o Reading – responding, summarising, paraphrasing,
explaining, analysing.
o Writing – applying grammatical rules, rephrasing depending
on the way in which the language is structured.
o Knowledge about language – translating provides a real
opportunity for learners to reflect on the way in which the
language studied is structured and how sentences are
formed. It also provides an opportunity for them to compare
how style translates (or doesn’t) and how writers in the
language also have to consider purpose and audience.