Developing Communicative Competence in the Undergraduate Translation Classroom - A Tasked-based Learning Approach

In the undergraduate translation classroom, it is very important not to teach about translation or use translation as a learning method for vocabulary or structure, but to develop student’s competence in language use, also known as communicative competence. Many researchers have shown that a task-based learning approach in the classroom facilitates the acquisition of language use competence. Task-based learning has brought significant developments in foreign language teaching, and this approach will bring some insightful ideas to translation teaching. Task-based learning breaks down the traditional hierarchy of the translation class and redefines the roles of teachers and learners. In view of this, this study will examine the practicability of adopting a task-based learning approach in translation classes and present a case study of various authentic translation tasks used in an undergraduate classroom. This study will argue that a task-based translation syllabus can help improve students communicative competence.