​It is an undeniable fact that foreign language teaching in Turkey has failed to achieve most of the predetermined aims and objectives due to the reasons such as pattern of the target language, language learning environment, social settings, inefficacy of teachers both from qualitative and quantitative wise, and deficiencies of language learning materials and equipment (Ekmekçi, 2003).  

​Classroom environment and teaching processes should be designed effectively, and especially beginner level language learners must be provided with opportunities to acquire the basis for the skills of reading, listening, writing, and speaking. Therefore, the activities should not be grammar based and the language curriculum should be developed and implemented based upon these four skills, through which the language learners are exposed to ample amount of comprehensible input that help learners activate the language acquisition device and enables language 'acquisition' which is a subconscious and intuitive process of constructing the system of a language (Krashen & Terrell, 1983).

​There has been a growing concern for adjudicating on the place and role of translation in foreign language teaching for about two decades, especially with regard to higher education (Laviosa, 2014). She (2014) added that the current interest in translation as a learning and testing tool in addition to a professional skill has resulted in a substantial amount of investigation into educational translation because translation proved to be constructive in the multilingual class and at pre-intermediate, intermediate and advanced levels of linguistic proficiency.

Laviosa (2014) connected the beginnings of a reconsideration of translation in Communicative Language Teaching to the late 1980s, when Alan Duff, lecturer and author translator, wrote the book “Translation”. Duff (1989) proposed that teacher can take advantage of translation as a language learning activity, just as they might use literature, drama, project work, conversation, role play, writing, or class readers for language practice. He (1989) also pointed out that translation help the learners advance the ability to quest for the most appropriate words so as to transfer the meaning of the original text in the most accurate way.

​The significance of the study derives from the fact that the merits of translation as a method of language learning have always been controversial. However, related to the value of educational translation, it is generally regarded as an aid to foreign language acquisition, a motivational factor, and an essential skill in today’s multicultural societies. Moreover, Additionally, Sewell (2004) suggested that the importance of translation lies in its provision of facility to fulfill the needs of language learners who abstain from communicative tasks since these activities might be challenging. Translation is seen to be series of activities that satisfy the need for confidence and self-respect (Laviosa, 2014). As consistent with these considerations with regard to the merits of translation, Ashouri and Fotovatnia’s (2010) research on personality traits and learners’ beliefs about translation with a sample of 120 Iranian EFL learners at intermediate level revealed that most respondents (74%) had a positive belief about using translation strategies in foreign language learning.

Research Question

The study aims to answer the following research question:

Ashouri, A., F. & Fotovatnia, Z. (2010). The effect of individual differences on learners’ translation belief in EFL learning. English Language Teaching 3(4): 228–36. Duff, A. (1989). Translation. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ekmekçi, Ö. (2003). Türk eğitim sisteminde yabancı dil eğitimi ve kalite arayışları. İstanbul: Özel Okullar Derneği, 92–96. Krashen, S.D. ve Tracy, D. T. (1983). The natural approach. New Jersey, USA: Press Emglewood Cliffs. Laviosa, S. (2014). Translation and language education: Pedagogical approaches explained. New York and London: Routledge. Sewell, P. (1996). ‘Translation in the Curriculum’, in Penelope Sewell and Ian Higgins (eds), 135–60.