Learning German in an university context through the production of texts associated with translation

Abstract

This work is based on studies on translation as a methodological resource in teaching and learning foreign languages. The research focuses on the initial phase of learning German in the 1st year of a Language and Literature course. The students produced a self-describing text in German, which was commented and corrected through the exchange of e-mails with the teacher-researcher. Afterwards, the texts were randomly distributed to group members to be translated into Portuguese. For the analysis, the starting texts were aligned to the translations with the aid of a translation memory software. Based on CACHO E BRANCO (2014) and on criteria drawn from AUBERT (1998), SCOTT (1998 apud LIMA 2004) and CHESTERMAN (1997 apud CACHO; BRANCO 2014), the approximation of the translations with the target language (normalization), or the continuance of characteristics from the source language, as well as translation problems were analysed. These criteria proved adequate to verify how learners understand the vocabulary and structures of the German language. With similar objectives, another group of German learners compared the texts in both languages, commenting the translations. We observed that translation activities motivate learners and support learning, allowing the contact with linguistic and cultural issues.