Grammar Translation Method

INTRODUCTION
At one time The Grammar-Translation Method was called Classical Method. This method was used for the purpose of helping students read and appreciate foreign language literature. Through the study of the grammar, students would become more familiar with the grammar of their native language and that this familiarity would help them speak and write their native language better. It was thought that foreign language learning would help students grow intellectually.
THE EXPERIENCE
This is some observations a class where the teacher is using The Grammar-Translation Method in the left column and the principles in the right column . It is used to understand the Grammar-Translation Method.
Observations Principles
1.The class is reading the story. A fundamental purpose of learning a foreign language is to be able to read its literature.
2.Students translate the passage from English to Spanish (for example). An important goal is for students to be able to translate each language into the other.
3.The teacher asks students in their native language if they have any questions. A student asks one and is answered in her native language. The ability to communicate in the target language is not a goal of foreign language instruction.
4.Students write out the answers to reading comprehension questions. The primary skills to be developed are reading and writing. Little attention is given to speaking and listening.
5.The teacher decides whether an answer is correct or not. If the answer is incorrect, the teacher selects a different student to supply the correct answer or the teacher herself gives the right answer. The teacher is the authority in the classroom. It is very important that students get the correct answer.
6.Students translate new words from English into Spanish. It is possible to find native language equivalents for all target language words.
7.Students learn that English ‘’-ty’’ corresponds to –dad and –tad in Spanish. Learning is facilitated through attention to similarities between the target language and the native language.
8.Students are given a grammar rule for the use of a direct object with two-word verbs. It is important for students to learn about the form of the target language.
9.Students apply a rule to examples they are given. Deductive application of an explicit grammar rule is a useful pedagogical technique.
10.Students memorize vocabulary. Language learning provides good mental exercise.
11.The teacher asks students to state the grammar rule. Students should be conscious of the grammatical rules of the target language.
12.Students memorize present tense, past tense, and past participle forms of one set of irregular verbs Wherever possible, verb conjugations and other grammatical paradigms should be committed to memory.

REVIEWING THE PRINCIPLES
There are ten answers and questions the principles of the grammar translation method
1. What are the goals of teachers who use the Grammar-Translation Method?
A fundamental purpose of learning a foreign language is to be able to read literature written in the target language. Students need to learn about the grammar rules and vocabulary of the target language. Studying a foreign language provides students with good mental exercise which helps develop their minds.
2. What is the role of the teacher? What is the role of the students?
The teacher is the authority in the classroom. The students do as he says so they can learn what he knows.
3. What are some characteristics of the teaching/learning process?
Students are taught to translate from one language to another. Often what they translate is reading in the target language about some aspect of the culture of the foreign language community. Deductively; they are given the grammar rules and examples, are told to memorize them, and then are asked to apply the rules to other examples.
4. What is the nature of students-teacher interaction? What is the nature of students-students interaction?
Most of the interaction in the classroom is from the teacher to the students. There is little student initiation and little students-students interaction.
5. How are the feelings of the student deal with?
There are no principles of the method which relate to this area.
6. How is language viewed? How is culture viewed?
Literary language is considered superior to spoken language and is therefore the language students study. Culture is viewed as consisting of literature and the fine arts.
7. What areas of language are emphasized? What language skills are emphasized?
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. Pronunciation receives little, if any, attention.
8. What is the role of the student’s native language?
The meaning of the target language is made clear by translating it into the student’s native language. The language that is used in class is mostly the student’s native language.
9. How is evaluation accomplished?
Written tests in which students are asked to translate from their native language to the target language or vice versa are often used.
10. How does the teacher respond to student errors?
If students make errors or don’t know an answer, the teacher supplies them with the correct answer.

REVIEWING THE TECHNIQUES
You may choose to try some of the techniques of the Grammar-Translation Method from the review that follows. Below is an expanded description of some of these techniques.
a. 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 structures.
b. Reading comprehension questions
Students answer questions in the target language based on their understanding of the reading passage. They will have to answer questions about the passage even though the answers are not contained in the passage itself.
c. 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 to find synonyms for a particular set of words.
d. 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 have 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.
e. Deductive Application of Rule
Grammar rules are presented with examples. Exceptions to each rule are also noted. Once students understand a rule, they are asked to apply it to some different examples.
f. 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 items of a particular grammar type, such as prepositions or verbs with different tenses.
g. Memorization
Students are given lists of target language vocabulary words and their native language equivalents and are asked to memorize them.
h. Use Words in Sentences
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.
i. Composition
The teacher gives the students a topic to write about in the target language. Sometimes, instead of creating a composition, students are asked to prepare a précis of the reading passage.