THE GRAMMAR TRANSLATION METHOD

Introduction Approach:

The presentaions outline

theory of language theory of learning

Design:

The objectives the syllabus Types of learning and teaching activities learner roles Teacher roles The role of instructional materials

Introduction T H E G R A M M A R -T R A N S LA T I N M E T H O D O O F FO R E I N LA N G U A G E T E A C H I G W A S G N FI S T K N O W N A S T H E P R U S S I N R A M E T H O D . IT IS ONE OF THE MOST TR A D I I N A L M ETH O D S TH AT W A S T O O R I I A LLY U S E D T O T E A C H ' E A D ' G N D LA N G U A G E S S U C H A S LA T I A N D G R E E K . N IT WAS WIDE SPREAD IN EUROPE AND M A N Y O T H E R C O U N T R I S FR O M 1 8 4 0 S E T I 1 9 4 0 S B U T I I LE S S U S E D T O D A Y. LL T S

Approach

Theory of language: This method sees language from a structural point of view .It focuses primarily on teaching deductively the grammatical units involving little or no spoken communication and listening. Theory of learning: GTM as a process-oriented theory, sees language learning mainly as a habit formation: Students are asked to constantly repeat and memorize endless lists of grammar rules and vocabulary in order to produce perfect translation.

Design:

The objectives :

1 The primary focus is on grammatical rules and writing skills. 2 Students are expected to translate accurately all the given texts.

The syllabus :
The

GTM uses a lexico-grammatical and task based syllabus: there is a strong focus on vocabulary and grammatical rules that are learned contextually from the given texts to be translated. Therefore the syllabus is build primarily on the grammatical points illustrated in the textbook.

Types of learning and teaching activities

Diane Larsen-Freeman, Research Scientist and Professor of Linguistics at the University of Michigan in her book Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching (2000:19-21) provides expanded descriptions of some common activities closely associated with the Grammar Translation Method:

(1) Translation of a Literary Passage: Translating target language to native language. (2) Reading Comprehension Questions: Finding information in a passage, making inferences and relating to personal experience. (3) Antonyms / Synonyms: Finding antonyms and synonyms for words or sets of words. (4) Cognates: Learning spelling and sound patterns that correspond between L1 and the target language.

(5) Deductive Application of Rule: Understanding grammar rules and their exceptions, then applying them to new examples. (6) Fill - in - the - blanks: Filling gaps in sentences with new words or items of a particular grammar type. (7) Memorization: Memorizing vocabulary lists, grammatical rules and grammatical paradigms. (8) Use Words in Sentences: Students create sentences to illustrate they know the meaning and use of new words. (9) Composition: Students write about a topic using the target language.

And heres an example of an asgined task to Italian pupils:

Traducete le seguenti frasi . v I rarely get up late on weekends.

__________________________________ ______________ v La persona alla quale ho scritto, un amico. __________________________________ ______________ v As for his classes, I never missed a single one during my stay in Damascus.

Learner roles
A student

in this method is viewed as a processor and passive holder for the information given to him. This means that he does not influence the process of learning or even other students. In fact learners are totally dependent on the teacher.

Teacher roles :
In

the GTM the teacher role is central as he controles and determens every thing in the classroom whether it is content, tasks or else, as well as correcting immediatly the errors made by the students. This makes learners totally dependent on the teacher as the source of information and direction as well.

The role of instructional materials :

This

method requires only the use of the already existing material which is the text book. The text book then is both the syllabus and the instructional material at the same time. It is the source that helps the students master the grammatical rules of the target language and attain high standrds in translation.

procedure

Typical GTM lessons follow this type of procedures :

1. Classes are taught in the mother tongue, with little active use of the target language 2. The structures of the foreign languages are learned by comparing and contrasting with those of the mother tongue. 3. The teacher assigns a text, gives a bilingual word list and illustrates the grammatical rules found in the text. 4. Students memorize all the given informations and try to practice them through translation of sentences and texts.

5. 6.

Conclusion:

GTM was frequently used at the begening of the 20th centuery but to day, many thinks that

It is an unnatural method. The natural order of learning a language is listening, speaking, reading and writing. That is the way how the child learns his mother tongue in natural surroundings. But in the Grammar Translation Method the teaching of the second language starts with the teaching of writing and reading. Thus, the learning process is reversed. This poses problems.

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