Interlingual translation as a strategy for the assimilation of English grammar in ESL teaching materials

Abstract

The objective of this research was to verify how translation is used in ESL didactic materials as a strategy for assimilation of grammatical structures of the English language. We worked with a sample group formed by two textbooks, one of which adopted in the public schools of the State of Ceará and the other one adopted in the basic English course at the British Culture House, from Federal University of Ceará. Such books were the following: Voices Plus 1, by Tilio (2016); and New English File Elementary Student's Book, by Oxenden, Latham-Koenig and Seligson (2008). This research was of the explanatory-descriptive type, since it had “as central concern to identify the factors that determine or that contribute to the occurrence of phenomena” (GIL, 2008, p. 28, own translation). Regarding our method of procedure, we opted for the documentary method, since it was from the analysis of research documents, the textbooks, that we accessed our object of analysis, the mechanism of translation as a strategy for the assimilation of grammatical structures of the English language. We analyzed, qualitatively, some exercises from the selected textbooks. We considered interlingual, intralingual and intersemiotic translation (JAKOBSON, 1976) in grammar exercises. Data analysis revealed that interlingual translation was the most recurrent and it was used, according to our comprehension, in order to help students to assimilate grammatical structures of the English language, since the translation process made possible the comparison between grammatical structures, especially between verbal structures, which were the ones with major differences between English and Portuguese.