The motivation to write this dissertation came from my personal experience teaching Portuguese as a foreign language (PFL) at Hebei University, in China. Due to communication difficulties with my students – since neither could I speak Mandarin, nor could they speak Portuguese – and frustrated in face of the hegemonic orientation towards a monolingual classroom, I ve decided to analyze this situation. The development of this analysis forms the pillar of the present investigation, together with a need not to forbid native language (NL) or the common language (in that case, English) use in classroom. As a result, a critical historiography, along with an analysis procedure based in questions on if, how, when and by whom NL and translation were used, and also questions related to which social values or objectives were behind non-native language (NNL) leaning, at each moment or method analyzed. In addition, a terminological-conceptual review on the pedagogical uses of translation is presented. Based on such a historiography, it is proposed a break away from the pro-monolingualism orientation in classroom, which has prevailed since the early 20th century. The cognitive and affective need of NL in classroom, of both teacher and pupils, is one of the reasons found to currently justify the use of LM and translation exercises (also known as pedagogical translation) as resources in NNL teaching – as well as the defense of translation practice, in its postmodern understanding. Translation practice, in such terms, is understood as a triple-faced resource: (1) it is a fifth skill to be targeted by NNL teaching; (2) it raises language awareness in students, specially contrasting NL and NNL; (3) it is a byproduct of teaching and learning principles which, by accepting a postmethod condition, aim at adopting varied tools to enrich both classroom environment and learning experience. The careful consideration that translation practice provokes is understood as awaking students to the nature of language, and to political and cultural issues that involve language and society as well. This dissertation upholds its arguments in favor of these two resources – NL and pedagogical translation – with data from other researches and statements from students and teachers on the subject. It concludes in favor of these resources and against the hegemony of the monolingual classroom, which is still thought to be the ideal NNL classroom environment for the common sense, and for several educational policies.