Translation for language purpose: Preliminary results of an experimental study of translation and picture verbalization

The relative merits and drawbacks of translation for lan guage purposes, i.e. translation as a teaching and testing tool in the foreign-language (L2) classroom, are largely un ex plored empirically, and opinions differ widely. Within the research fi eld, scholars often ignore this use of translation or tend to condemn it out of hand. Other authors may be more positive towards translation in the L2 classroom but tend to base their views on personal beliefs and individual teaching experiences. With this paper I hope to con trib ute to the ongoing debate with some useful empirical fuel. The point of departure is a claim implicit in much criticism, namely that translation leads learners to commit errors that they might not otherwise commit. The paper describes the background, subjects, assumptions, pro ce dure, and preliminary results of a small-scale experimental study of L2 translation (Danish into English) and picture verbalization in L2 (English). Ac cord ing to some preliminary results, learners who translated made more and other errors than learners who wrote a comparable picture verbalization. This is probably due to enhanced interference from Danish, their fi rst language (L1).