The term equivalence comes from the Latin word "aequivalentia" and means equivalence. "Aequus" stands for equal and "valere" for worth. So two objects are equivalent if they have the same value. Equivalence plays an important role in translation science. "Translation science deals with the process of translation, i.e. the process that leads from a written source language text (ST text) to a written target language text (TL text), the translation Therefore, a TL (target language) text must be equivalent to the original ST (source language) text. However, a perfect equivalent transmission of the message in the target language is not always so easy to achieve, because languages differ at different levels. The languages reflect your own culture, way of seeing, expression, grammar and syntax. When you try to adapt these elements to a new language, it often happens that the equivalence is not achieved due to this heterogeneity and diversity. If you don't achieve them, it is not a translation but a text reproduction or text production that is not the same is worth to the original text. That is why the search for real equivalence has occupied various translators and scientists for years. They have defined various equivalence criteria that can be helpful for an accurate translation. For all these reasons, it is essential to achieve the correct equivalence when translating. This thesis researches the concept of equivalence in order to better understand it and then use it in practice, namely when translating.

Researchers have explored how different balances of first language (L1) and target language (TL) use in a foreign language classroom impact students' fluency and proficiency in TL acquisition. Research has shown that the use of the L1 in a foreign language classroom is done in order to determine the most effective way to raise the proficiency of second language learners to the level that is expected within their classrooms (Lee & Muncie, 2006). The use of the L1 is not something that is uncommon, even in the highest levels of foreign language instruction, although some believe it could inhibit learner growth in target language (TL) acquisition (Tanveer, 2007). Some scholars contend that there is a place for the L1 to be used in a second language classroom, rather than relying on complete usage of the TL (Biggs, 1999). Results have been mixed when it comes to whether or not the L1 should be used as much as the TL, and studies have seldom investigated what students and teachers believe regarding that matter. To this end, the present study examines the impact of the use of the L1 vs the use of the TL on 50 students at different levels in the French language classroom. Subjects were all enrolled in French classes ranging from the 101-level to the 201-level, and the 8 student instructors teaching these levels also participated in this study. Both a student survey and a teacher survey were administered at the end of the semester in order to look at the use of the TL vs the use of the L1 among students and teachers in their classrooms. Results show that the utilization of the L1 in foreign language classrooms is preferred by the students but that it is not fully justified. Numerous proponents of L1 use (Atkinson, 1987; Cook 2001; Swain & Lapkin, 2000; Wells, 1999) have cautioned against excessive use, instead recommending that it be used judiciously, and according to learner need. Future researchers might consider surveying students who are learning in an environment where L1 use is similar to student demand on this survey (very high, especially for things like giving instructions), as well as surveying students who are exclusively using TL in their learning environment.

This systematic literature review examines the language use in the EFL classroom in lower secondary school. It aims to investigate how the target language, English, and local languages are used. Furthermore, teachers’ as well as students’ views on the language use in the classroom were investigated. This was done by compiling and comparing the findings of eight peer- reviewed research articles about the topic. The results show that language practices as well as views differ between teachers and their pupils. However, the general picture shows that, although English is the main language in the EFL classroom, there are contexts in which the pupil’s native language can be used beneficially.

This degree project aims to examine teachers' use of translanguaging, whether planned or incidental, and their attitudes and perceptions towards translanguaging in the context of English communicative classrooms in Sweden. In Swedish universities, the target language approach is highly endorsed by educators during English teaching education programs. Although exposure to the target language has been identified as important, comprehension plays a vital role in learning a new language. Translanguaging is an approach that enhances comprehension while allowing for exposure to the target language. This study was conducted through classroom observations followed by qualitative interviews with practicing teachers. Quantitative data from the observations and qualitative data from the interviews highlight the use of translanguaging as well as practicing teachers’ attitudes and perceptions of the approach. Our study showed that, even though teachers were somewhat unfamiliar with translanguaging as a term, they utilized what could be considered translanguaging during their English lessons and held positive attitudes toward the approach. Translanguaging was primarily used to explain and clarify activities. Teachers utilized their own and students' multilingual capabilities to achieve a deeper understanding of topics and to provide instructions.

Este estudo consiste na comparação de três amostras lingüísticas: o espanhol não-nativo de estudantes brasileiros adultos, o espanhol nativo de informantes montevideanos (considerada como língua meta), e o português do Brasil (língua materna). Todos os informantes receberam uma situação teste em forma de história em quadrinhos, sem texto escrito, de modo que o conteúdo semântico fosse o mesmo e também fossem evitadas as influências léxicas. A situação teste, solicita em espanhol, o uso de estruturas com clíticos dativos, que expressam relações de possessão. Sua realização e a realização de outras estruturas constituem as variáveis lingüísticas a partir das quais, são examinadas e comparadas as diferentes projeções sintáticas. As referências teóricas e o modelo de análise propostos por Fernández e Anula (1995), compatíveis com algumas das teorias de maior poder explicativo na área da lingüística e da aquisição de línguas, contribuíram significativamente pela atenção dedicada aos fenômenos da língua espanhola. Os resultados do nosso estudo mostram estruturas idiossincrásicas no espanhol nãonativo, que respondem a padrões sintáticos regulares, em sua maioria habilitados pelo sistema da língua materna. A análise estatística quantifica as variáveis e mostra distâncias entre o espanhol não-nativo e a língua meta, e entre aquele e a língua materna. / This study consists of a comparison among three linguistic samples: the non-native Spanish of adult Brazilian students, the native Spanish of Montevidean informants (considered as target language), and Brazilian Portuguese (the mother language). All informants received a test situation shown in the comics form, with no written text, so semantic content was the same and lexical influences were avoided. The test situation, in Spanish, requires the usage of structures with dative clitics, which express possessive relations. Its realization and the realization of other structures constitute the linguistic variables, from which diferent projections are examined. The theoretical references and the model of syntatic analysis proposed by Fernández e Anula (1995), compatible with some theories with more explicatory power in the field of linguistics and language acquisition, contributed significantly because of the attention devoted to Spanish language phenomena. Results show idiosyncratic structures in non-native Spanish, responding to regular syntactic patterns, most of which habilitated by the mother tongue\'s system. The data statistical analysis quantifies variables and shows distances between the non-native Spanish and the native Spanish, and between the former and the mother language.

There are many different perceptions when it comes to teachers’ instructional language choice in the EFL classroom. Some argue for maximum use of the target language while others believe that judicious use of the L1 can benefit the students’ second language learning. The aim of this study is to investigate what research says about teachers’ target language use and first language use in upper level EFL classrooms, as well as teachers’ attitudes and beliefs regarding the choice of instructional language. The findings from this systematic literature review show that teachers mainly used L1 to save time, to explain grammar and vocabulary and to create a positive classroom atmosphere. Furthermore, the results also showed that teachers’ choice to use L1 heavily depended on students’ level of proficiency. Lastly, the results indicate that teachers not always use the L1 for pedagogical reasons, but in many cases for pragmatical reasons, individual beliefs and out of concern for students’ well-being.

Previous research using future time perspective or possible selves frameworks provided evidence that learners with definite and elaborate goals, and future self-guides are more motivated in school tasks (Reeve, 2009; Yowell, 2000), exert more effort, demonstrate persistence, and show greater performance (De Volder & Lens, 1982; Lens et al., 2002; Simons et al., 2000), and learners with positive possible selves were better able to face failure, demonstrated better performance, had higher levels of self-esteem, showed more persistence on tasks, and depicted greater motivation (Cross & Markus, 1994; Oyserman et al., 2004; Unemori et al., 2004). The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of future orientation constructs, future time perspective and possible selves, on Turkish college level learners' motivation to learn English and their identity construction, and how future projections of themselves as L2 users (the ideal L2 self, the ought-to L2 self, and feared L2 self) impacted their motivation to learn English and their identities. A total of 299 Turkish graduate students studying in the United States participated in the study. Also, this study examined the extent to which adding a measure of the feared L2 self construct contributed to explaining motivation to learn English and identity construction. The data were collected via surveys and interviews, and they were analyzed quantitatively, using qualitative data for triangulation. Findings suggested that the L2 motivational self-system (Dornyei, 2005, 2009) contributed to explaining Turkish learners' motivation to learn English and their oriented identities. Also, adding a feared L2 self variable to measures of the L2 motivational self system could help explain learners' identity construction but not their language learning motivation. In addition, future time perspective connectedness and value were not useful in explaining the L2 motivation, but future connectedness was found to be related to the ideal L2 self and feared L2 self, and valuing the future goals was related to the ought-to L2 self. Qualitative data showed that learners presented combination of several identities, including national and oriented. They imagined themselves as professional and successful English users, and their L2 related worries included losing their native language and being seen as "assimilated" or as "showing off" individuals. / text

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T12:43:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 2925049 bytes, checksum: 7db3636e858edc85278d01dd3f498b7e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-10-19 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Pieces of research in Applied Linguistics on course planning for teaching and learning a foreign language, especially in pre-service, are still quite scarce. There is a gap to be filled with more studies that investigate teachers development process in order to understand their decision-making and their pedagogical work. The purpose of this investigation was to analyze how undergraduates - during their last period of Letras Course at a private university in the state of Tocantins - built their teaching practice on reading in a foreign language (English). We emphasize the course planning as the locus for the development of reflection and as a relevant field to understand the concepts of language underlying the approaches used in the acquisition of knowledge of the future language teachers. The data showed that the teaching approach demonstrated by the student-teachers are supported by structuralist concepts acquired throughout the years of their experiences as students. The results indicate that it is necessary to rethink curricula that and to include subjects that promote a critical-reflective formation which may foster the development of an autonomous practice of future teachers of languages. / Pesquisas em Linguística Aplicada sobre o planejamento do curso para ensinar e aprender uma língua estrangeira, especialmente na formação pré-serviço, são ainda bastante escassas. Há uma lacuna a ser preenchida com mais estudos que investiguem processos de desenvolvimento do professor em formação a fim de compreender a sua tomada de decisão e o seu trabalho didático-pedagógico. O objetivo desta investigação foi analisar como os alunos de graduação - durante o último período do Curso de Letras de uma universidade privada do Estado do Tocantins - construíram sua prática de ensino da leitura em língua estrangeira (inglês). Enfatizamos o planejamento do curso como o locus para o desenvolvimento da reflexão e como um campo relevante para compreender os conceitos de linguagem subjacentes às abordagens utilizadas na aquisição de conhecimento dos futuros professores de línguas. Os dados mostraram que a abordagem de ensino dos professores-alunos estão sustentadas em conceitos estruturalistas adquiridos ao longo dos anos de suas experiências como estudantes. Os resultados indicam que é necessário repensar os currículos e incluir disciplinas que promovam uma formação crítico-reflexiva, para favorecer o desenvolvimento de uma prática autônoma dos futuros professores de línguas.

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This qualitative study aims to investigate how teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) work to develop their students’ oral proficiency. The study analyses interviews and pedagogical materials to elucidate how the interviewed teachers regard their students’ oral proficiency, what kind of activities they use for teaching speaking and how they assess oral proficiency. The participants were two licensed English teachers of higher upper secondary education, and different materials that the teachers used were analysed, including a textbook. The teachers regarded their students’ oral proficiency as generally good or very good but noted that significant differences existed in most groups regarding proficiency and that certain students who were less proficient showed an unwillingness to use the target language, which indicates a need of better strategies to involve these students in the learning process. The findings of this study suggest that the interviewed EFL teachers teach speaking according to the communicative approach and that the activities they use more frequently for teaching speaking were discussions, followed by presentations, speeches, role-playing and debates. However, the interviews and the pedagogical materials reflected a lack of focus on the features of spoken language, the importance of which has been proven by findings in corpus linguistics and conversation analysis. These findings indicate a need to raise awareness among teachers about the benefits of focusing on the features of spoken language. Regarding assessment, informal formative assessment in the form of direct observation was the most common form, while formal assessment was used in presentations and examinations in the form of group discussions. The teachers acknowledged some confusion regarding assessment due to the lack of clear guidelines from Skolverket. Moreover, they regarded speaking as being more important than other skills, which indicates the possibility of redefining the value of speaking in the course evaluation.