The Grammar Translation

Method
For: 4 MPP

A historical perspective
It has been estimated that 60 percent
of the world population is multilingual.
Latin was the worlds most used
language, today, English.

 As modern vernacular languages

began to replace Latin, they were
taught using the same basic
procedures that were used for
teaching Latin. By the nineteenth
century, this approach based on the
study of Latin had become the
standard way of studying foreign
languages in schools.

A typical textbook in the midnineteenth century consisted of

chapters or lessons organized
around grammar points. Each
grammar point was listed, rules
on its use were explained, and
it was illustrated by example
sentences.

Thus, textbooks are codified

into frozen rules of
morphology and syntax to be
explained, and eventually
memorized.

Objectives
The ultimate objective to be able to
read, understand and appreciate
written target literature.
Through the study of the grammar
of the target language, the students
will be more familiar with the
grammar of their mother tongue.
This familiarity will help them speak
and write their native language
better.

 It was thought that foreign language learning

would help students grow intellectually.
Language learning is a mental exercise,
learning a foreign language is a good mental
exercise for students. Learning of the target
language and the mother tongue empower
students mentally (it was recognized that
students would probably never use the
target language, but the mental exercise of
learning it would be beneficial anyway.)

1. The method dominated language teaching

from the 1840s to the 1940s (and is still being
used in some of todays classrooms).
2. The goal of foreign language study is to learn a
language in order to read its literature or in
order to benefit from the mental discipline and
intellectual development that result from
foreign language study.
3. It approaches the language first through
detailed analysis of its grammar rules, followed
by application of this knowledge to the task of
translating sentences and texts into and out of
the target language.

4. The first language is maintained as the

reference system in the acquisition of the
second language/ foreign language.
5. Reading and writing are the major focus; little
or no systematic attention is paid to speaking
and listening (oral language).
6. Vocabulary selection is based solely on the
reading texts used, and words are taught
through bilingual word lists, dictionary study,
and memorization (some aspects are still valid
in todays teaching although the objective is
different).