很多人認為學習外語就要如同學習母語般直接地理解和創造，最好不要經由翻譯的過程，以免到母語干擾而產生錯誤。臺灣的學子在學習外語的過程中，教師往往也鼓勵他們使語思而不要藉助翻譯學一種學習觀點基本上是奠基於廿世紀60年代盛行之行為主義的學習理論，認為學習外語端賴於接受大量外語刺激而養成一種語言習慣。然而後起的知主義和第二語言習得理論主張外語的學習主要在於學習者利用先備的母語知來認知和建構外語的技能，翻譯的心理活動實扮演外語學習上重要的角度。不過語教師向來對使用翻譯學習外語仍秉持敬而遠之的態度，殊為可惜因此本文希望能釐清翻譯和外語學習的關係，探究翻譯在外語學習上的地位，特別是將翻譯活動視為一種外語學習策略，並引用國內外學者的實證研究成果，探討學習者如何使用翻譯來增進外語學習的成效。簡而言之，翻譯不僅可以當作一種認知、記憶、情意、社交、和補償學習策略來增益學子的學習成效，亦能輔助閱讀、寫作、和字彙等外語的發展，而且針對不同程度的學習者皆有不同面向的助益，足證翻譯在實質在上是種有效的外語學習資源和工具。

The use of mother tongue and translation has long been believed to cause interference with foreign language learning. Foreign language teachers in Taiwan often encourage their students to think directly only in the target language so that students’ native language interferes as little as possible with their attempts to acquire the target language. In the heyday of behaviorism, when language learning was considered as habit-formation, translation was thought to act as interference in learning a second language. The habits of the L1 were supposed to prevent the learner from learning the habits required of the L2. However, with the emergence of theories developed in the areas of cognitive learning and second language acquisition, researchers have argued that language learning does not take place just through mimicry. Foreign language acquisition should be a process in which people use all that hey know from their L1 to discover the rules of the target language they are learning. Furthermore, there have been a series of empirical studies that have investigated the influence of suing translation in learning a foreign language, and the results tend to be positive. Since the place of translation in foreign language learning has been controversial, the aim of this report is trying to assess the possible roles that translation may play in the process of foreign language learning. The relationship between translation and foreign language learning is first explored and then how learners as a learning strategy to promote foreign language learning is described and discussed. The conclusion o this paper may provide foreign language teachers a different view into the role of translation in students’ language learning process.