English Language Learners’ Use of Translation and Attitudes towards Learning Vocabulary

The use of bilingual dictionaries and translation websites is an observed practise among English language learners (ELLs) in Morocco, especially starting from the second decade of the twentieth-first century when dictionaries have become online. Translation from and into Standard Arabic is regarded as one of the ways of learning new words among learners. However, educators do not recommend translating from and into Arabic in fear of interference. This study explores ELLs’ attitudes and use of translation towards learning vocabulary in the target language. As a result, students (N=100) in the Moroccan English departments completed the survey online. A focus group of twelve participants (N=12) was also conducted to get more in-depth findings on the learners’ attitudes and translation use. The results revealed that learners have divergent attitudes towards translation as they use translation one technique among many to check the meaning of unfamiliar words. Still, they do not like their educators to use translation to explain new words. The other methods learners use are guessing from context, using bilingual dictionaries, watching videos with subtitles.