Foreign Language Learning and Translation-Related Approach

From the 17-th to the 19-th century grammar-translation approach was the main method of teaching a foreign language. As a result of this method pupils could study English for many years, they knew and were able to apply grammar rules correctly but found it difficult to speak the language fluently. Then in the 70-ies and 80-ies of the 20-th century, there was a shift to communicative approach (translation-free approach). Recently there has been a renewal of the concept that translation is an important skill in learning a foreign language and the translation-related approach has come into use. The goal of this research is focusing on the new trends in teaching English as a second language, where translation is considered as a significant language skill. It provides reasons why and to what extent it should be used in a classroom setting and how it can improve language learning, enhance student comprehension and communication by non-native teachers. In order to achieve this, a questionnaire is conducted with the pupils of a 9-grade school in Albania, who learn English and French as foreign languages. The objective of this questionnaire was to see what the perceptions of the pupils are as regards the use of the skill of translation and language A (mother tongue) in the classroom. The findings of the questionnaire highlight the idea that translation is an important skill that should be used appropriately and proportionately in language learning process and what’s more important when the teachers are non-native speakers, it should be used proportionately as a means to develop clarity, accuracy and explain language and culture differences.Keywords: code-switching, foreignization, foreign language learning (FLL), interlingual transfer, translation-related approach, translation-free approach