A Feasibility Study Of A Task-based Learning Approach In Translation Classes

Task-based learning emphasizes learner-centeredness and it has been extensively adopted in foreign language teaching. This approach can avoid teaching about a language and develop students' language use competence. Listening, speaking, reading, writing and translation have long been considered the five basic skills for foreign language majors. The task-based learning approach has been successfully used in the development of the first four basic skills, while few have discussed adopting the task-based learning approach in translation classes. Many common problems in foreign language teaching are seen frequently in translation classes. Task-based learning has been proposed to solve those problems in foreign language teaching and it might bring significant insights to translation teaching as well.This thesis will first summarize the research on task-based learning and translation teaching approaches with a view to theoretically integrating the two. Then an empirical study of a translation class adopting a task-based learning approach will be presented. The research results of this empirical study will shed light on translation teaching. Finally, the limitations and implications of this research will be analyzed.If proved feasible, the task-based learning approach will provide a new perspective for the translation teaching reform. This process-oriented approach will solve some problems in the conventional translation classes.