Bilinguals and Language Learning

An interesting piece of research came out a couple of days ago, about those who use a second language, and perception.

I think it is of great interest to second language teachers: especially those who focus on translation - it should, I think, give pause for thought.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110314132531.htm

Reading over this article, my conclusion was that those students who remain in the 'translation zone' with their Latin - only comprehending it through translation, rendering the Latin into English, and then processing the translation, not the Latin, as their primary source text, are greatly retarded in their ability to understand the subtle gradations of semantic meaning -  the true meaning of Latin words - whose  sematic properties only become apparent through use within the language, on its own terms. 

Constant translation and working with a text in translation would,I think, hamper this process. Perhaps it would take place, but imperfectly, as semantic fields between languages only imperfectly overlap.

This applies I suspect to grammatical structures as much, if not more than to vocabulary.

For example,  the use of the ablative - constantly translating ablatives into their myriad of sub categories - attempting to shoe-horn them into English - probably retard the student's ability to reach an intuitive understanding of ablative usage within Latin - and this understanding only comes through the mechanics of the language itself, on its own terms, without translation.

Through, as many have said, "much reading".

Now, I am not saying some translation is not needed - a modicum of translation can speed up the learning process at the beginning. Interlinear translations can even speed up the process of intial language acquisition, be enabling the student to get through screeds of text in a short time - but the translation is necessarily limited - It can give the 'ball park' of new vocabulary. Some words transpose neatly. Canis and Dog, for example. Many key concepts do perhaps not, such as res publica, virtus, and a host of others. 

Any thoughts?

Evan.