A Comparability Study of Learner Performance in L2 Translation, Reading Comprehension, and Grammar

This study has two aims: 1) it investigates whether reading comprehension and translation have a correlation; and 2) it examines whether grammar is a powerful variable affecting both reading comprehension and translation. The first question was derived from the fact that currently translation is no longer commonly used to test L2 comprehension, it was instead replaced with reading comprehension tests. The second question stems from the fact that grammar is not taught in English programs or schools, although L2 learners still have difficulty comprehending L2 texts because of their lack of the L2 grammatical knowledge. 62 college students took three tests: 1) translation; 2) reading comprehension; and 3) grammar. The results indicated that translation proved to be a strong measure to check L2 learners’ developmental stages of syntactic and semantic knowledge compared to reading comprehension. Additionally, grammar knowledge as a significant variable influences both reading comprehension and translation, and thus isolated grammar lessons would help L2 learners improve their L2 comprehension.