The effects of explicit instruction of grammar on translation students' writing : action research

Abstract

This study describes the effects and effectiveness of explicit instruction of grammar on first year translation students’ writing skills enhancing transfer and hedging interference. First year translation students in a French-medium university in Lebanon study English, the target language, as both a means and an end. While communicative teaching methodologies look down upon and heavily criticize explicit instruction, students with French as their L2 have always felt safe given grammar rules, hoping to apply them right away. In order to increasing students’ metacognitive awareness, explicit learning plays a positive role in improving students’ writing, making their essays more direct and linear than before, ridding them to errors resulting from interference, improving their ability to apply recently acquired knowledge about grammar notions in their essays. In this Action Research study, the collected data, rubrics attached, and students’ essays lead to data analysis. Results are analyzed, students’ essays are studied and conclusions are drawn for further studies. Implications for translations students and L3 training answer the research questions and further corroborate the hypotheses.