Exploring the Strategies Teachers Use in Incorporating Translation to Enhance Students’ Vocabulary

Abstract

This study examines the strategies teachers use to incorporate translation to enhance students’ vocabulary. Utilizing the qualitative method of research, the researcher used structured interview questions as the main data-gathering instrument. English language teachers from Rizal College of Taal were selected as the respondents of the study. Finding of the study suggests that teachers face multifaceted challenges when using translation as a tool to enhance students’ vocabulary, including students’ dependence on translation methods, the complexity of addressing idiomatic expressions and words lacking direct translations, time constraints, and varying language proficiency levels among learners and addressing these challenges requires a comprehensive approach that includes promoting contextual learning, balancing translation interventions to reduce dependency, providing teacher training on effective translation strategies, and incorporating collaborative and multimodal techniques to engage students across different proficiency levels. On the other hand, this study also highlights that teachers employ various strategies to address the challenges of using translation in vocabulary development. These strategies include contextualizing vocabulary within sentences or real-life scenarios to enhance understanding, using instructional materials like visual aids, flashcards, and role-playing to make learning engaging, and implementing scaffolding exercises to match students’ proficiency levels while balancing translation interventions to reduce dependency. Furthermore, this study revealed that addressing the challenges of using translation to support vocabulary acquisition requires practical and innovative solutions. These include implementing regular formative assessments, such as exit tickets and quick checks, to identify and address students’ learning gaps effectively. In addition, providing workshops and training programs equips teachers with advanced translation strategies, enabling them to use tools like visual aids, word banks, and interactive activities to enhance vocabulary learning. Therefore, a combination of these approaches fosters better teaching practices and more effective vocabulary acquisition for students.