Grammar-Translation Method

GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION METHOD

The Grammar-Translation Method is not new. It was called the Classical Method since it was first used in the teaching the classical language, Latin and Greek (Chastain 1988). Earlier in this century, this method was used for the purpose fo helping students read and appreciate foreign language literature. It was also hoped that, through the study of the grammar of the target language, students would become more familiar with the grammar of their native language and that is familiarity would help them speak and write their native language better. Finally, it was thought that foreign language learning would help students grow intellectually; it was recognized that students would probably never use the target language, but the mental exercise of learning it would be beneficial anyway.

In this method, classes are taught in the students' mother tongue or native language, with little active use of the target language. The process of learning is through a passage. First of all the teacher give a passage to be read, then each of the student is called on to read a few lines from the passage. After they finished reading, they are asked to translate into native language and answer some questions related to the passage.

The teacher usually emphasizes two aspects, they are vocabulary and grammar. Vocabulary is taught in the form of isolated word lists. They also have to memorize native-language equivalents for target-language vocabulary words. Meanwhile, 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.

Reading and writing are primary skills that the students work on. There is much less attention given to speaking and listening. Pronounciation receives little, if any, attention.

REVIEWING THE 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 stuctures in the passage are studied in subsequent lessons. The passage may be excerpted from some work from the target language literature, or a teacher mwy write a passage carefully designned 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 question

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 the 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 tofind synonyms for a particular set of words. Or students might be askedto 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 having 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 rule

Grammar rules are presented with examples. Exceptions to teach rule are also noted. Once students understand the rule, they are asked to apply it to some different examples.

Fill-in-the-blanks

Students are given a series of sentences with words missing. They fill in the blanks with new vocabulary items or with itemsof 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 of words in sentences

In order to show that students understand the meaning and use of a new vocabulary item, they make up sentnces 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 leason. Sometimes, instead of creating a composition, students are asked to prepare a precis of the reading passage.