The Grammar Translation MethodI

THE GRAMMAR TRANSLATION METHOD

DIMAS MORALES

Teaching Methods, Technical IV Professor Elmer Guardado, September 30, 2013.

The Grammar Translation MethodII The Grammar Translation Method Latin and Ancient Greek are known as dead languages, based on the fact that people no longer speak them for the purpose of interactive communication. Yet they are still acknowledged as important languages to learn (especially Latin) for the purpose of gaining access to classical literature, and up until fairly recently, for the kinds of grammar training that led to the mental dexterity considered so important in any higher education study stream.(Orrieux, 2007) For more understanding we are going to answer the following questions: 1. What is Grammar-translation method? 2. What is Grammar Translation about? 3. What are the benefices of Grammar-translation method? Latin has been studied for centuries, with the prime objectives of learning how to read classical Latin texts, understanding the fundamentals of grammar and translation, and gaining insights into some important foreign influences Latin has had on the development of other European languages. The method used to teach it overwhelmingly bore those objectives in mind, and came to be known as the Classical Method. It is now more commonly known in Foreign Language Teaching circles as the Grammar Translation Method.(Morris, 2007).

What is Grammar-translation method? The grammar translation method is a method of teaching foreign languages derived from the classical (sometimes called traditional) method of teaching Greek and Latin. In grammar-translation classes, students learn grammar rules and then apply those rules by translating

The Grammar Translation MethodIII sentences between the target language and their native language. Advanced students may be required to translate whole texts word-forword. The method has two main goals: to enable students to read and translate literature written in the target language, and to further students general intellectual development.(Wikipedia, 2013)

What is Grammar translation about? It is true that, over the years, many different methods and approaches to the teaching and learning of language to and by speakers of other languages (SOL), each with its own underlying theoretical basis, have come and gone. The structure-based grammar translation method, as its name suggests, relied heavily on teaching grammar and practicing translation as its main teaching and learning activities. The major focus of this method tended to be on reading and writing, with relatively little attention paid to speaking and listening. Vocabulary was typically taught in lists, and a high priority given to accuracy, and the ability to construct correct sentences. Consideration of what students might do to promote their own learning had little or no place in grammar translation theory, which tended to assume that, if students simply followed the method, learning would result as a matter of course. (Parr, 2001) What are the benefices of Grammar-translation method? The grammar translation method instructs students in grammar, and provides vocabulary with direct translations to memorize. It was the predominant method in Europe in the 19th century. Most instructors now acknowledge that this method is ineffective by itself. It is now most commonly used in the traditional instruction of the classical languages, however it remains the most commonly practiced method of English teaching in Japan.

The Grammar Translation MethodIV At school, the teaching of grammar consists of a process of training in the rules of a language which must make it possible to all the students to correctly express their opinion, to understand the remarks which are addressed to them and to analyze the texts which they read. The objective is that by the time they leave college, the pupil controls the tools of the language which are the vocabulary, grammar and the orthography, to be able to read, understand and write texts in various contexts. The teaching of grammar examines texts, and develops awareness that language constitutes a system which can be analyzed. This knowledge is acquired gradually, by traversing the facts of language and the syntactic mechanisms, going from simplest to the most complex. (Hall, 2011) The exercises according to the program of the course must untiringly be practiced to allow the assimilation of the rules stated in the course. That supposes that the teacher corrects the exercises. The pupil can follow his progress in practicing the language by comparing his results. Thus can he adapt the grammatical rules and control little by little the internal logic of the syntactic system. The grammatical analysis of sentences constitutes the objective of the teaching of grammar at the school. Its practice makes it possible to recognize a text as a coherent whole and conditions the training of a foreign language. (Richards & Roger, 2001) Grammatical terminology serves this objective. Grammar makes it possible for each one to understand how the mother tongue functions, in order to give him the capacity to communicate its thought.

The Grammar Translation MethodV REFERENCES:

Dietrich, H. (1994). Relatives clauses with relative pronoun. scholarly paper (advanced seminar). Hall, G. (2011). Exploring English Language Teaching: Language in Action. London: New York: Routledge. Morris, S. (22 de june de 2007). Techniques in Latin Teaching. Recuperado el 25 de september de 2013, de http://oswaldoipc.wordpress.com/2007/06/22/the-grammar-translation-method/: http://oswaldoipc.wordpress.com/2007/06/22/the-grammar-translation-method/ Orrieux, C. (22 de June de 2007). History of Accient Cicilizations. Recuperado el 25 de September de 2013, de http://oswaldoipc.wordpress.com/2007/06/22/the-grammar-translation-method/: http://oswaldoipc.wordpress.com/2007/06/22/the-grammar-translation-method/ Parr, C. G. (2001). Language-learning strategies: theory and perception. Auckland, New Zeland: Oxford University Press. Richards, J., & Roger, T. (2001). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Wikipedia. (21 de june de 2013). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:About. Recuperado el 25 de september de 2013, de Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammartranslation_method