Abstract:

Learning languages is vital in higher education. Since the beginning of the 21st century the Grammar Translation/bilingual approach to language teaching has been abandoned in favour of Communicative approach/monolingual. To make clear the subject of current study it is necessary to distinguish between the teaching of translation as a specific skill and the use of translation in the teaching environment as an aid to language learning. This article aims at examining students’ attitudes to learning translating from English (L2) into native language (L1) in learning English for Specific Purposes. Through the use of authentic subject-oriented texts students are able to study English more thoroughly. A student must comprehend the meaning of the source text and its linguistic forms in order to produce an adequate translation. With the advent of online translation tools (Google translate, Yandex Translate, Lingvo Translate, etc) teaching translation became doubtful. Nevertheless, it is necessary to mention the relevance of translation activity in foreign language teaching, which leads to the expansion of the vocabulary, comprehension of complex sentence structures, professional problem solution and extraction of significantly important information from a huge information stream. The importance of teaching translation in the classroom was proved by statistical data from a students’ survey. The respondents in this study were the 1st and 2nd year students majoring in natural sciences of Ural Federal university, and they will need English for their future professional competence. Results showed the efficiency of the technical translation activities to be integrated in the foreign language training program.

Keywords:

Teaching translation, translation skills, native language/mother tongue, professional competence, linguistic competence.