"Translation is often viewed negatively in world language education when it’s linked to outdated pedagogical practices or when learners over rely on it to express complex ideas beyond their linguistic level," says Stacy Amling, a Spanish teacher in Des Moines Public Schools. "But this workshop offered ways to productively help learners use that skill as part of the language learning process!"

Amling was one of 12 Iowa teachers who participated in "Translation as a Tool for Change in Today's Classroom," the first CTGL-hosted workshop for K-12+ World Language Teachers. 

Reframing translation

Held over three meetings (March, May, and June 2023), the workshop shared ways to draw on students’ full linguistic repertoires in the process of second language acquisition. Led by Belén Hernando-Lloréns and Pam Wesely, both of the College of Education, the hands-on sessions helped participants reframe translation and global literacies as asset-based pedagogical tools that build on students’ skills, identities, and knowledges in a world languages classroom

ChunJen Hou, another participant who also teaches in Des Moines, said he is a fan of translation because it is an effective way for him to gauge student understanding. "From this workshop, I got some ideas of how specifically I can use translation in instruction, check for understanding and language use in real world scenarios."

First in series

This was the first CTGL workshop in its series for school and mental health professionals. Later this academic year, a workshop for translators and interpreters in school districts and social service organizations will be offered.