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Grammar Translation Method

Cómo es el método de Grammar translation para enseñar inglés

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Ilse Candelaria
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12 views

Grammar Translation Method

Cómo es el método de Grammar translation para enseñar inglés

Uploaded by

Ilse Candelaria
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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 Background :

The grammar-translation method of


teaching dates back to the 1500s when it was widely used for teaching Latin.
Nowadays, the grammar-translation method of teaching English is not widely
adopted, although hybrid forms of the method can be found in some places.
According to Jack Richards and Theodore Rogers in their 2001 book, Approaches
and Methods in Language Teaching, this method is still used in some countries but
has been rejected by most educational scholars.

During the 18th and 19th centuries in Europe, it was believed that the body and
mind were separate and that teaching modern languages was not useful to the
development mental discipline and therefore was not taught in schools. When
modern languages did start to be taught in schools they used the same grammar-
translation method as what was used for teaching Latin. This method was also
widely used in the United States at this time too. The goals of the grammar-
translation method are two-fold. Firstly, it set out to give the student a reading
ability to a level where they can read literature in the target language and secondly
it was used to develop student’s general mental discipline.

Abstract: Grammar-Translation method has its own features, which has greatly
affected teaching approaches. And it seems that an apparent change with this
method has taken place in its teaching viewpoint, teaching aim, contents and
practices, and offers an opportunity of wider applications in foreign language
teaching.

Metodología de la Enseñanza del Inglés / Ilse Candelaria Sepúlveda Toledano 1


 Principles and goals:

The Grammar-Translation method for a foreign language teaching is one of the


most conventional methods, which has a long history. The grammar-translation
method or classical method emerged when people of the western world wanted to
learn “foreign” language such as Latin and Greek.

The major characteristic of the grammar-translation method is, precisely as its


name suggests, a focus on learning the rules of grammar and their applications in
translating passages from one language into the other. Vocabulary in the target
language is learned through direct translating from the native language.

There are some methods in grammar-translation method:


Translation of the text, Comprehension of Questions, Antonyms/synonyms,
Deductive applications of rules. Fill in the blanks, Memorizations, Making
sentences, Composition. A class working with the Grammar-translation Method
would like as follows:

1. Classes are taught in the mother tongue, with little active use of the target
language.
2. Much of the vocabulary is in the form of its lists of isolated words.
3. Long elaborate explanations of the intricacies of grammar are given.
4. Grammar provides the rules for putting words together, and instruction often
focuses on the form and inflection of words.
5. Reading of difficult classical texts in the beginning of the class.
6. Little attention is paid to the contents of texts, which are treated as exercises in
grammatical analysis.
7. In teaching grammar, it is important to make the language situations and
language material as realistic as possible.

Metodología de la Enseñanza del Inglés / Ilse Candelaria Sepúlveda Toledano 2


 Methodology:

Grammar-translation classes are commonly conducted in the native language of


the students. Students learn the vocabulary and grammar rules from the teacher or
a book and practice by doing drills and translation exercises both to and from the
target language. The content is not so important and most attention is paid to the
form of the sentences.

Translation is the key to this methodology as is reading and writing. There is not
normally any listening or speaking practice carried out moreover; there is virtually
no pronunciation practice for the students.

 Materials:
The mainstay of classroom materials for the grammar-translation method is
the textbook. Textbooks in the 19th century attempted to codify the grammar
of the target language into discrete rules for students to learn and memorize.
A chapter in a typical grammar-translation textbook would begin with a
bilingual vocabulary list, after which there would be grammar rules for
students to study and sentences for them to translate. Some typical
sentences from 19th-century textbooks are as follows:
o The philosopher pulled the lower jaw of the hen.
o My sons have bought the mirrors of the Duke.
o The cat of my aunt is more treacherous than the dog of your
uncle.

The method by definition has a very limited scope. Because speaking or any kind
of spontaneous creative output was missing from the curriculum, students would
often fail at speaking or even letter writing in the target language. A noteworthy
quote describing the effect of this method comes from Bahlsen, who was a student
of Plötz, a major proponent of this method in the 19th century.

Metodología de la Enseñanza del Inglés / Ilse Candelaria Sepúlveda Toledano 3


In commenting about writing letters or speaking he said he would be overcome
with "a veritable forest of paragraphs, and an impenetrable thicket of grammatical
rules."

According to Richards and Rodgers, the grammar-translation has been rejected as


a legitimate language teaching method by modern scholars:
Though it may be true to say that the Grammar-Translation Method is still widely
practiced, it has no advocates. It is a method for which there is no theory. There is
no literature that offers a rationale or justification for it or that attempts to relate it to
issues in linguistics, psychology, or educational theory.

 Conclusion:

This method lacks speaking practice (one of the 4 main skills alongside reading,
writing and listening), reduces creativity in the class and has absolutely no place in
any classroom today. Where this style of teaching might be appropriate, however,
is where a student is seeking to translate text from one language into English or
vice versa and has absolutely no desire to communicate with other English
speakers.

There is absolutely no speaking involved in this method and therefore students


might be able to read and write in English, but would never have the skills required
for holding a conversation. Moreover, this very rigid method also removes any
creativity from the class, rendering the class very dull and somewhat boring for
most students. Finally, because of this rigidity and lack of speaking practice,
students may well understand the written language well, but have absolutely no
working knowledge of English. For these reasons, this method has nearly been
eradicated from English classrooms around the world.

 Reference:
Richards, Jack C.; Rodgers, Theodore S. (2001). Approaches and Methods
in Language Teaching (2nd ed.). Cambridge, New York: Cambridge
University Press.

Metodología de la Enseñanza del Inglés / Ilse Candelaria Sepúlveda Toledano 4

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