Teaching English-Grammar Translation Method
Viewing
the Grammar-Translation Method
1 What are the goals of teachers who use the
Grammar-Translation Method?
According to the teachers who use the
Grammar-Translation Method, a fundamental purpose of learning a language is to
be able to read literature written in the target language. To do this, students
need to learn about the grammar rules and vocabulary of the target language. In
addition, it is believed that studying another language provides students with
good mental exercise, which helps develop their minds.
2
What is the role of the teacher?
What is the role of the students? The roles
are very traditional. The teacher is the authority in the classroom. The students
do as she says so they can learn what she knows.
3
What are some characteristics of the teaching/learning process?
Students are
taught to translate from one language into another. Often what they translate
are readings in the target language about some aspect of the culture of the
target language community. Students study grammar deductively; that is, they
are given the grammar rules and examples, are told to memorize them, and then
are asked to apply the rules to other examples. They also learn grammatical
paradigms such as verb conjugations. They memorize native language equivalents
for target language vocabulary words.
4
What is the nature of student–teacher interaction? What is the nature of
student–student interaction? Most of the interaction in the classroom is from
the teacher to the students. There is little student initiation and little
student–student interaction.
5
How are the feelings of the students dealt with? There are no principles of the
method which relate to this area.
6
How is the language viewed? How is culture viewed? Literary language is
considered superior to spoken language and is therefore the language the
students study. Culture is viewed as consisting of literature and the fine
arts.
7 What areas of language are emphasized? What
language skills are emphasized? Vocabulary and grammar are emphasized. Reading
and writing are the primary skills that the students work on. There is much
less attention given to speaking and listening. Pronunciation receives little,
if any, attention.
8
What is the role of the students’ native language? The meaning of the target
language is made clear by translating it into the students’ native language.
The language that is used in class is mostly the students’ native language.
9
How is evaluation accomplished? Written tests in which students are asked to
translate from their native language into the target language or vice versa are
often used. Questions about the target culture or questions that ask students
to apply grammar rules are also common.
10
How does the teacher respond to student errors? Having the students get the
correct answer is considered very important. If students make errors or do not
know an answer, the teacher supplies them with the correct answer.
Viewing
the Techniques
Ask
yourself if any of the answers to the above questions make sense to you. If so,
you may choose to try some of the techniques of the Grammar-Translation Method
from the review that follows. On the other hand, you may find that you agree
very little with the answers to these questions, but that there are still some
techniques from the Grammar-Translation Method that you can usefully adapt.
Below is an expanded description of some of these techniques.
• Translation of a Literary Passage
Students
translate a reading passage from the target language into their native
language. The reading passage then provides the focus for several classes:
vocabulary and grammatical structures in the passage are studied in subsequent
lessons. The passage may be excerpted from some work from the target language
literature, or a teacher may write a passage carefully designed to include
particular grammar rules and vocabulary. The translation may be written or
spoken or both. Students should not translate idioms and the like literally, but
rather in a way that shows that they understand their meaning.
•
Reading Comprehension Questions
Students
answer questions in the target language based on their understanding of the
reading passage. Often the questions are sequenced so that the first group of
questions asks for information contained within the reading passage. In order
to answer the second group of questions, students will have to make inferences
based on their understanding of the passage. This means they will have to
answer questions about the passage even though the answers are not contained in
the passage itself. The third group of questions requires students to relate
the passage to their own experience.
•
Antonyms/Synonyms
Students
are given one set of words and are asked to find antonyms in the reading
passage. A similar exercise could be done by asking students to find synonyms
for a particular set of words. Or students might be asked to define a set of
words based on their understanding of them as they occur in the reading passage.
Other exercises that ask students to work with the vocabulary of the passage
are also possible.
•
Cognates
Students
are taught to recognize cognates by learning the spelling or sound patterns
that correspond between the languages. Students are also asked to memorize
words that look like cognates but have meanings in the target language that are
different from those in the native language. This technique, of course, would
only be useful in languages that share cognates.
•
Deductive Application of Rules
Grammar
rules are presented with examples. Exceptions to each rule are also noted. Once
students understand a rule, they are asked to apply it to some different
examples.
•
Fill-in-the-blanks Exercise
Students
are given a series of sentences with words missing. They fill in the blanks
with new vocabulary items or with items of a particular grammar type, such as
prepositions or verbs with different tenses.
•
Memorization
Students
are given lists of target language vocabulary words and their native language
equivalents and are asked to memorize them. Students are also required to
memorize grammatical rules and grammatical paradigms such as verb conjugations.
•
Use Words in Sentences
In
order to show that students understand the meaning and use of a new vocabulary
item, they make up sentences in which they use the new words.
•
Composition
The
teacher gives the students a topic to write about in the target language. The
topic is based upon some aspect of the reading passage of the lesson.
Sometimes, instead of creating a composition, students are asked to prepare a
précis of the reading passage.
