Tres razones para usar la traducción pedagógica en la enseñanza de L2

Despite some generalized beliefs that during decades regarded applying translation as a second language (L2) teaching strategy an artificial activity that did not align with the communicative approach and considered translation as a hindrance to the acquisition of a L2 because it encouraged interference from the mother tongue (L1) (Carreres, 2006), interest in the use of translation in L2 classrooms has recently increased (Leonardi, 2011). The so-called translational turn (Cook, 2010) has generated some new research in areas where L2 teaching and translation intersect. Pedagogical translation has grown out of this very premise to demonstrate that through translation we can implement strategies that strengthen the acquisition L2. Through a metareflective practice, in this article, we revisit our teaching experiences and the ensuing research and propose three arguments in favour of considering translation as the fifth skill (Leonardi, 2011) that, additionally, promotes and integrative and inclusive approach to teaching L2.