The Grammar-Translation Method

2. THE GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION METHOD

The Grammar-Translation Method has been used by language teachers for many years. In this century, this method was used for the purpose of helping students read and appreciate foreign language. To understand the grammar of the target language, the teacher and the students use their native language for making the grammar more familiar. This method is probably true that is not new to many of you. We may have studied a language by this method, or you may be teaching with this method right now.
Student study of the target culture is limited to its literature and fine arts. An important goal is for students to be able to translate each language into the other. If students can translate from one language into another, they are considerate successful language learners.
The teacher asks students in their native language if they have any question. A student asks one and is answered in her native language. The primary skills to be developed are reading and writing. Little attention is given to speaking and listening, and almost none to pronunciation. The teacher is the authority in the classroom. It is very important that students get the correct answer.
When the students translate new words from native language into target language, they have to find native language which equivalents for all target language words. Learning is facilitated through attention to similarities between the target language and the native language. It is important for students to learn about the form of the target language.
Students apply a rule to examples they are given. And they have to memorize vocabulary also. When the teacher asks students to state the grammar rule, the students should be conscious of the grammatical rules of the target language. Students memorize present tense, past tense, and past participle forms of one set of irregular verbs.
Depending to the teacher who uses the Grammar-Translation Method, a fundamental purpose of learning a foreign 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.
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. Students study grammar deductively: that is, they are given the grammar rules and examples, are told to memorize them, and then asked to apply the rules to other examples. They also learn grammatical paradigms such as verb conjugations. The memorize native-language equivalents for target-language vocabulary words.
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.
Grammar rules are presented with example. Exceptions to each rule are also noted. Once students understand a rule, they are asked to apply it to some different examples. 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.
Students are given lists of the target language vocabulary words and their native language equivalents and are asked to memorize them. Students are also required to memorize grammatical paradigms such as verb conjugations. 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.