1 How Foreign-Language Teachers Can Improve Learning by Means of Naïve Translation Equivalents Dr. Midhat Ridjanovi ć University of Sarajevo Bosnia-Herzegovina Published in: Humanising Language Teaching, vol. 17-1, 2015. Dr. Ridjanović is professor emeritus of English and linguistics at the University of Sarajevo. He has published several books and numerous articles on a variety of linguistic topics. Professor Ridjanović’s main interests are English and Bosnian grammar, English -Bosnian contrastive analysis, translation theory, and translation as a tool in language learning. E-mail: r.midhat@gmail.com Abstract Research has shown that adult learners tend to produce words and other structural elements in an L2, either in speech or writing, by tacit translation of semantically corresponding words or elements in their L1. Also, many learners translate as if each word in their L1 had only one meaning or function in the L2. In 1983, the author introduced the concept of Naïve Translation Equivalents, or NTEs, to explain this phenomenon. He proposed that if foreign-language instructors learned how to identify NTEs, they would know the source of many L2 errors. Having done this, they could then work to eliminate these errors through specifically designed lessons. This article revisits NTEs and presents ways in which they can be used to improve FL learning, with examples from English. The author suggests that they can and should be used by teachers whose L1 is the same as their students’ — the situation of most foreign-language classes around the world. Menu Introduction Grammar Errors Triggered by NTEs Using NTEs to Teach English Conclusion Introduction In an article published in 1983 [1], I introduced the concept of Naïve Translation Equivalents (NTEs) and suggested that they could be useful tools in discovering and preventing many L2 errors. Both because of the nature of the journal in which it was to be published and because of my own still tentative ideas about the notion, I wrote the article in an offhand manner and sprinkled it with numerous colloquialisms. Still, it was well received and some readers sent me congratulatory letters, one of which was published in English Teaching Forum. Since that time many of my colleagues in Bosnia and some in the United States have used the notion of NTEs in teaching English and in translation courses. They have all found them very