The Grammar-Translation Method

The grammar-translation method of foreign language teaching is one of the most traditional
methods, dating back to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centurys. It was originally used
to teach 'dead' languages (and literatures) such as Latin and reek, and this may account for its
hea!y bias towards written work to the !irtual e"clusion of oral #roduction. $s %maggio
comments, this a##roach reflected &the !iew of faculty #sychologists that mental disci#line was
essential for strengthening the #owers of the mind.& (%maggio '() Indeed, the em#hasis on
achie!ing 'correct' grammar with little regard for the free a##lication and #roduction of s#eech is
at once the greatest asset and greatest drawback to this a##roach.
What is the grammar translation method
). The grammar- translation method of foreign language teaching is one of the most tradition
method.
*. It was original used to teach &dead& language (and literatures) such as Latin and reek,
in!ol!ing little or no s#oken communication or listening com#rehension.
The characteristics
).$ focus on learning the rules of grammar and their a##lication in translation #assage from one
language into the other.
*. +ocabulary in the target language is learner through direct translation from the nati!e language
, it is taught in the form of isolated word lists.e.g. with !ocabulary tests such as
The house , la case
The mouse , el raton
-. +ary little teaching is done in the target language. Instead, readings in the target language are
translation directly and then discussed in the nati!e s#eaker. Little or no attention is gi!e
to #ronunciation.
.. rammar is taught with e"tensi!e e"#lanations in the nati!e s#eaker, and only later a##lied in
the #roduction of sentences through translation from one language to the other.
Principles
). Literary language is su#erior to the s#oken language.
*. Translating each language into each other is an im#ortant goal for learners.
-. The authority in the classroom is the teacher.
.. To be able to communicate with target language's s#eaker is not among the goals.
/.The #rimary skills to be im#ro!ed are reading and writing.
0. Its focus is no accuracy and not fluency.
1. 2rror correction3 If a student's answer of a 4uestion is incorrect, the teacher selects a
different student to gi!e the correct answer or she5he re#lies himself5herself.
Key features
$ccording to 6rator and 7elce-8urcia in Teaching 2nglish as a 9econd :oreign Language
()(1(3-), the key features of the rammar Translation 8ethod are as follows3
). 7lasses are taught in the mother tongue, with little acti!e use of the target language.
*. 8uch !ocabulary is taught in the form of lists of isolated words.
-. Long elaborate e"#lanations of the intricacies of grammar are gi!en.
.. rammar #ro!ides the rules for #utting words together, and instruction often focuses on the
form and inflection of words.
/. ;eading of difficult classical te"ts is begun early.
0. Little attention is #aid to the content of te"ts, which are treated as e"ercises in grammatical
analysis.
1. %ften the only drills are e"ercises in translating disconnected sentences from the target
language into the mother tongue.
'. Little or no attention is gi!en to #ronunciation.

Typical Techniques
<iane Larsen-:reeman, in her book Techni4ues and 6rinci#les in Language Teaching ()('03)-)
#ro!ides e"#anded descri#tions of some common5ty#ical techni4ues closely associated with the
rammar Translation 8ethod.
The listing here is in summary form only.
1. Translation of a Literary Passage - Translating target language to nati!e language
2. eading !omprehension "uestions - :inding information in a #assage, making
inferences and relating to #ersonal e"#erience
#. $ntonyms%&ynonyms - :inding antonyms and synonyms for words or sets of words.
'. !ognates - Learning s#elling5sound #atterns that corres#ond between L) and the target
language)
(. )educti*e $pplication of ule - =nderstanding grammar rules and their e"ce#tions, then
a##lying them to new e"am#les
+. ,ill-in-the--lan.s - :illing in ga#s in sentences with new words or items of a #articular
grammar ty#e.
/. Memori0ation - 8emori>ing !ocabulary lists, grammatical rules and grammatical
#aradigms
1. 2se Words in &entences- 9s create sentences to illustrate they know the meaning and use
of new words
3. !omposition - 9s write about a to#ic using the target language
)isad*antages of the Grammar Translation Method
). The rammar Translation 8ethod may make the language learning e"#erience unins#iring
and boring.
*. The rammar Translation 8ethod may also left the students with a sense of frustration when
they tra!el to countries where the studied language is used (they cant understand what #eo#le
say and ha!e to struggle mightily to e"#ress themsel!es at the most basic le!el)
-. This method neither a##roaches nor encourages the students communicati!e com#etence.
easons 4hy it still used
The rammar Translation 8ethod is still common in many countries ? e!en #o#ular. @This
method re4uires few s#eciali>ed skills on the #art of teachers.A
@rammar rules and Translation Tests are easy to construct and can be obBecti!ely scored.A
@8any standardi>ed tests of foreign languages still do not attem#t to test communicati!e
abilities, so students ha!e little moti!ation to go beyond grammar analogies, translations and
other written e"ercises.A
!onclusions
The rammar Translation 8ethod was de!elo#ed for the study of @deadA languages and to
facilitate access to those languages classical literature. Thats the way it should stay. 2nglish is
certainly not a dead or dying language, so any teacher that takes @an a##roach for dead language
studyA into an 2nglish language classroom should #erha#s think about taking u# 8ath or 9cience
instead. ;ules, uni!ersals and memori>ed #rinci#les a##ly to those disci#lines ? #edagogy and
communicati!e #rinci#les do not.