In Defence of the Grammar Translation Method
I am going to take this opportunity to defend the Grammar-Translation method. The Grammar Translation Method gets a really bad rap in the ESOL (ESL, EFL) world. But I find it to be invaluable to my ESOL (ESL, EFL) teaching situation and it should not be ruled out as a helpful teaching method in the ESOL (ESL, EFL) classroom. I have been using Participatory Language Teaching as an inspiration for much of my daily lesson plans which frowns upon the use of the Grammar Translation Method. However, I cannot get away from the usefulness of the Grammar-Translation method for some situations. I don't use the Grammar Translation Method in the ESOL (ESL, EFL) classroom as a primary learning tool, but as a way to facilitate the learning process for the students with low level of English proficiency. The Grammar-Translation method was once very popular but has since been replaced with methods that purportedly obtain better results. In my ESOL (ESL, EFL) classroom, for the first part of the lesson the students read a short story in the target language and then translate it sentence by sentence into their native language. Along with the reading "new words are presented in a list (I accompany each word with a picture) with definitions in the" target language (Richard-Amato p.16). Many of you who will teach children in a public school overseas will find yourself in a mixed level classroom of English language learners who all speak the same native language and you do not but for a couple hundred words of foreigner speak (if you are lucky). At times you will be assigned a co-teacher who is a native speaker of that countries language. These co-teachers may or may not show up for your ESOL (ESL, EFL) class, and may or may not have sufficient proficiency in English to help you. At this point the Grammar Translation Method may be your
Grammar translation In applied linguistics, the grammar translation method is a foreign language teaching method derived from the classical (sometimes called traditional) method of teaching Greek and Latin. The method requires students to translate whole texts word for word and memorize numerous grammatical rules and exceptions as well as enormous vocabulary lists. The goal of this method is to be able to read and translate literary masterpieces and classics.
History and philosophy Throughout Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, the education system was formed primarily around a concept called faculty psychology. In brief, this theory dictated that the body and mind were separate and the mind consisted of three parts: the will, emotion, and intellect. It was believed that the intellect could be sharpened enough to eventually control the will and emotions. The way to do this was through learning classical literature of the Greeks and Romans, as well as mathematics. Additionally, an adult with such an education was considered mentally prepared for the world and its challenges. In the 19th century, modern languages and literatures began to appear in schools. It was believed that teaching modern languages was not useful for the development of mental discipline and thus they were left out of the curriculum. As a result, textbooks were essentially copied for the modern language classroom. In America, the basic foundations of this method were used in most high school and
Vietor, Passy, Berlitz, and Jespersen began to talk about what a new kind of foreign language instruction needed, shedding light on what the grammar translation was missing. They supported teaching the language, not about the language, and teaching in the target language, emphasizing speech as well as text. Through grammar translation, students lacked an active role in the classroom, often correcting their own work and strictly following the textbook.
The Grammar Translation Method The Grammar Translation Method is the oldest method of teaching in India. It is as old as the international of English in the country. A number of methods and techniques have been evolved for the teaching of English and also other foreign languages in the recent past, yet this method is still in use in many part of India. It maintains the mother tongue of the learner as the reference particularly in the process of learning the second/foreign languages. The main principles on which the Grammar Translation Method is based are the following: 1. Translation interprets the words and phrases of the foreign languages in the best possible manner. 2. The phraseology and the idiom of the target language can best be assimilated in the process of interpretation. 3. The structures of the foreign languages are best learned when compared and contrast with those of mother tongue.
the reason why this method has been practiced so widely and has survived so long. Disadvantages: 1. 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 reading. Thus, the learning process is reversed. This poses problems. 2. Speech is neglected. The Grammar Translation Method lays emphasis on reading and writing. It neglects speech. Thus, the students who are taught English through this method fail to express themselves adequately in spoken English. Even at the undergraduate stage they feel shy of communicating through English. It has been observed that in a class, which is taught English through this method, learners listen to the mother tongue more than that to the second/foreign language. Since language learning involves habit formation such students fail to acquire habit of speaking English. Thus, they have to pay a heavy price for being taught through this method. 3. Exact translation is not possible. Translation is, indeed, a difficult task and exact translation from one language to another is not always possible. A language is the result of various customs, traditions, and modes of behavior of a speech community and these traditions differ from community to community. There are several lexical items in one language, which have no synonyms/equivalents in
Conclusion The grammar translation method stayed in schools until the 1960s, when a complete foreign language pedagogy evaluation was taking place. In the meantime, teachers experimented with approaches like the direct method in post-war and Depression era classrooms, but without much structure to follow. The trusty grammar translation method set the pace for many classrooms for many decades. Monty Python made fun of the grammar translation method in their film Life of Brian.
gram·mar-trans·la·tion meth·od ˈgræm ərtrænsˈleɪ ʃ ən,-trænz-Show Spelled[gram-er-trans-ley-shuh n, -tranz-]
Show IPA
–noun
a traditional technique of foreign-language teaching based on explicit instruction in the grammatical analysis of the target language and translation of sentences from the native language into the target language and vice versa.
Sampling of the Suggestopedia and the Grammar Translation Teaching Methods with The Condor Who Fell In Love
Daily Instructional Lesson Plan Worcester County Public Schools
Content Area(s)/Course/Grade: Spanish (or ESL with the language roles reversed)
Unit:
Lesson Topic: The Condor Who Fell In Love
Date:
Teacher: Hayley Minner
School:
Suggestopedia
July 19, 2005
SDMS
Student Outcome(s):
Students will be able to:
Recognize the differences between Spanish and English text.
Develop their Spanish listening skills during a read aloud.
Focus their minds on the task at hand.
Demonstrate comprehension through interactions and participation, using both the native and primary languages.
Context for Learning
This lesson was developed for a beginning level Spanish class or for other students with no Spanish
background. In an ESL classroom, I would use this method to teach English by reversing the role of the two languages. The classroom environment should be enjoyable but relaxing; with comfortable chairs and with relia that complements the text. Prior to this lesson, students were given Spanish names and chose professions, in order to take on a different persona (if given time, students would choose names and professions as an opening activity). Instructional Delivery Opening Activities/Motivation: Gather students in a circle and encourage them to relax while listening to classical music. The teacher will give them the text, in both Spanish and English, to refer to during the readings. Inform students to clear their minds and follow along while the teacher reads in the target language, referring to the primary language for comprehension when necessary.
Procedures: 1. Do not begin reading until the classical music has played for a couple of minutes and the students are relaxed. 2. Begin reading the text in the target language. 3. Read passage one. 4. Change the music. Allow students to listen to the music for a couple of minutes before beginning to read the next passage. 5. Read passage two. 6. Change the music. Allow students to listen to the music for a couple of minutes before beginning to read the next passage (time permitting). 7. Read passage three (time permitting). 8. Allow students to listen and enjoy the music for a few more minutes. 9. Do not discuss the readings at this time!
Assessment/Evaluation (Formative/Summative)
Informal assessment through teacher observation. After the lesson, students’ comprehension would be assessed through their participation and interaction in the planning and presenting of their “skit.” Closure: After reading the three passages, inform the students that their homework for tonight is to read the text once more before bed and then again in the morning before getting up.
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Daily Instructional Lesson Plan Worcester County Public Schools
Content Area(s)/Course/Grade: Spanish (or ESL class with language emphasis reversed)
Unit:
Lesson Topic: The Condor Who Fell In Love
Date:
Teacher: Hayley Minner
School:
Grammar Translation
July 19, 2005
SDMS
Student Outcome(s):
Students will be able to:
Identify various Spanish and English vocabulary words.
Translate Spanish text in to English using bilingual dictionaries.
Context for Learning
This lesson was developed for a beginning level Spanish class or for other students with no Spanish background. This grammar translation lesson would also be suitable for an ESL class of Spanish students after reversing the language roles, putting emphasis on using the Spanish to learn the English. Students have been studying basic Spanish and have most currently finished learning Spanish verbs in the preterite tense (if time allowed, a mini-grammar-lesson on the preterite tense would have preceded the lesson). Students are somewhat familiar with the text, The Condor Who Fell In Love. Instructional Delivery Opening Activities/Motivation: Students will be given a list of vocabulary terms in English and Spanish to read over and memorize. An extremely brief oral “check” for pronunciation would follow although the grammar translation approach does not focus on oral fluency development.
Procedures: 1. Give students a copy of Spanish text from The Condor Who Fell In Love. 2. Have students read the Spanish version to themselves. 3. Have students translate the passage in to English using their prior knowledge and a bilingual dictionary if necessary (students should be given parts of the passage so that they are able to fill in blanks or small sections to avoid direct translation of large text). 4. Select students may read their translation, if time permits. Assessment/Evaluation (Formative/Summative)
Students will be assessed according to their ability to correctly translate the text from one language to another. A quiz, the following day, will assess students’ memorization of vocabulary terms. Informal observations by the teacher will also be used to evaluate the students. Closure: Inform students that they are expected to complete a second page of grammar translations for homework.
