The Relationship between Translation Ability, Language Proficiency and Writing Ability of EFL students

Abstract

Translation ability as a communicative and language ability is closely interwoven with writing ability in L2. This relationship makes it to be considered as an effective means of learning, teaching and testing L2. This study aims at finding out the relationship between the ability to translate, foreign language proficiency, and L2 writing ability. It examines the performance of 114 Iranian female and male language learners on a TOEFL Test, a Direct Composition Test (DC), and a Translation Composition Test (TCT). The findings reveal that language proficiency and writing ability are highly correlated with translation ability and the relationship between translation ability and writing ability is high and significant. It also maintains that translation is a valid and reliable method as a means of testing writing ability of EFL students.