Pedagogical translation: An attempt to analyse the evolution of the understanding of the concept

Since the second half of the twentieth century, pedagogical translation (PT) has become an important strand of reflection in language teaching. Despite its undeniably growing popularity, the notion of PT continues to be the subject of intense debate, becoming a source of contradictory opinions. As part of the discussion on the function of translation in language teaching and learning, the authors of the present study aim to present the evolution of the concept of PT from the first definitions of the term as such to the present day. In line with the stated aim, the analysis will focus on four key themes: the need to clarify the meaning of PT, the controversies in understanding and defining PT before the publication of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), the role of PT within the CEFR and its functioning in the multilingual paradigm. That final point will be examined through the example of the Integrated Plurilingual Approach (IPA) and PT understood as Translation for Other Learning Contexts (TOLC) in line with the terminology put forward by Gonzáles-Davies (2012, 2014, 2017, 2020, 2021, and subsequent works).