Results of a survey about translation use in the english language major at the university of quintana roo, mexico.

Abstract

This paper aims at highlighting the outcome of a survey carried out on students of the English Language Major, at the University of Quintana Roo at Chetumal- Mexico, in the spring of 2010. The survey hinged on the usefulness of translation in the teaching of English at university level in Mexico, and consisted of seven open questions proposed to fifty students of the 8th and 10th semesters of the major. Students were required to express their opinions in full about the possible positive influence of translation as a useful tool in their foreign language learning process, on the basis of their experiences as translation students. It is important to underline that the aforementioned major does not lead to professional qualifications as translators, since it is focused on forming English teachers: nevertheless there are three optional translation subjects included in the curriculum. After a brief introduction dealing with some scholarly opinions about translation as a pedagogical tool, the survey is described, and its results are made visible through 16 pie and bar graphs, showing that students overwhelmingly considered translation as a useful pedagogical instrument in their foreign language studies, particularly as far as vocabulary acquisition and writing skills development were concerned