Literature about translation in language learning and teaching shows the prominence of the ‘for and against’ approach, while a ‘what for’ approach would be more profitable. In order to prevent the latter approach from becoming a random list of the potential benefits of the use of translation in language teaching, this essay suggests the use of a formal model of communicative competence, to see which of its components can profit of translation activities. The result is a map of the effects of translation in the wide range of competences and abilities which constitute language learning. hdl:11168/11.464797 https://phaidra.cab.unipd.it/o:464797 application/pdf (631797 bytes) eng Balboni amplia il repertorio tradizionale delle abilità linguistiche (due ricettive, due produttive, una interattiva), includendo anche il saper riassumere, scrivere sotto dettatura, parafrasare, tradurre. Il saggio illustra anche alcune linee operative per lo sviluppo di queste abilità, sia in L1 sia nelle lingue non native. 2017 Balboni, Paolo E. , Translation in Language Learning: A ‘What For’ Approach. Araraquara, Universidade Estadual Paulista ''Júlio de Mesquita Filho'', Faculdade de Ciências e Letras, Campus de Araraquara, 2017. http://phaidra.cab.unipd.it/o:464794 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/legalcode Balboni, Paolo E. PDFDocument Translation in Language Learning: A ‘What For’ Approach Universidade Estadual Paulista ''Júlio de Mesquita Filho'', Faculdade de Ciências e Letras, Campus de Araraquara PHAIDRA University of Padua