Teaching translation: A functional linguistics perspective

The traditional Grammar Translation Approach was the primary teaching method in second language teaching in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. However, with the arrival of the Reform movement in the nineteenth century and the appearance of the Natural Method, Conversation Method, Direct Method and Communicative Approach of language teaching in the twentieth century, many criticisms regarding teaching translation were raised. Recent research findings on the effectiveness of applying translation in language teaching have shown that translation plays a notable role in language education. This chapter examines the significance of Systemic Functional Linguistics theory advanced by Halliday (1985, 1994) to the teaching of translation. Following this, implications for pedagogical translation with respect to functional approach are discussed.