No dictionaries in the classroom: Translation equivalents and vocabulary acquisition

Abstract

This article examines the role of translation equivalents in the context of foreign language vocabulary teaching and learning. While current beliefs about vocabulary acquisition in typical communicative-approach foreign language classrooms overwhelmingly discourage or stigmatize translation as a learning strategy, a small but growing number of SLA researchers are now questioning this overt ban on translation to reassess the principled use of the learner's first language. Frequency-dictionaries show that foreign language teaching materials focus heavily on lexical units that can be visualized (in order to avoid the need for translation) and do not represent the most frequently occurring vocabulary in spoken and written texts. Recent research on vocabulary acquisition and frequency effects in conjunction with a reorientation of learning objectives from communicative competence towards literacy call for a reassessment of the role of translation equivalents and bilingual dictionary practice for effective vocabulary acquisition. © 2013 Oxford University Press.