Grammar Translation Method

A. DEFINITION
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 grammatical rules and then apply those rules by translating
sentences between the target language and the native language. Advanced students may be
required to translate whole texts word-for-word. The method has two main goals: to enable
students to read and translate literature written in the source language, and to further students
general intellectual development.

B. HISTORY
The grammar translation method originated from the practice of teaching Latin. In the
early 1500s, Latin was the most widely-studied foreign language due to its prominence in
government, academia, and business. However, during the course of the century the use of Latin
dwindled, and it was gradually replaced by English, French, and Italian. After the decline of
Latin, the purpose of learning it in schools changed. Whereas previously students had learned
Latin for the purpose of communication, it came to be learned as a purely academic subject.
Throughout Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, the education system was formed
primarily around a concept called faculty psychology. This theory dictated that the body and
mind were separate and the mind consisted of three parts: the will, emotion, and intellect. It was
believed that the intellect could be sharpened enough to eventually control the will and emotions.
The way to do this was through learning classical literature of the Greeks and Romans, as well as
mathematics. Additionally, an adult with such an education was considered mentally prepared for
the world and its challenges.
At first it was believed that teaching modern languages was not useful for the
development of mental discipline and thus they were left out of the curriculum. When modern
languages did begin to appear in school curricula in the 19th century, teachers taught them with
the same grammartranslation method as was used for classical Latin and Greek. As a result,
textbooks were essentially copied for the modern language classroom. In the United States of
America, the basic foundations of this method were used in most high school and college foreign
language classrooms.

C. Principles and goals

There are two main goals to grammartranslation classes. One is to develop students
reading ability to a level where they can read literature in the target language. The other is to
develop students general mental discipline. The users of foreign language wanted simply to note
things of their interest in the literature of foreign languages. Therefore, this method focuses on

reading and writing and has developed techniques which facilitate more or less the learning of
reading and writing only. As a result, speaking and listening are overlooked.

D. Method
Grammartranslation classes are usually conducted in the students native language.
Grammar rules are learned deductively; students learn grammar rules by rote, and then practice
the rules by doing grammar drills and translating sentences to and from the target language.
More attention is paid to the form of the sentences being translated than to their content. When
students reach more advanced levels of achievement, they may translate entire texts from the
target language. Tests often consist of the translation of classical texts.
There is not usually any listening or speaking practice, and very little attention is placed
on pronunciation or any communicative aspects of the language. The skill exercised is reading,
and then only in the context of translation.

References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammar%E2%80%93translation_method

The Grammar Translation Method (GTM)

The Grammar Translation Method (GTM)

CHAPTER I
BACKGROUND
A. Introduction
GTM is not a new thing in language learning, which is only slightly
different. The name that has been used by language teachers for a few years
ago. In ancient times this method is called the "classical method" of the time
used in the classical language learning, such as Latin and Greek. At the
beginning of this century, this method is used to assist students in reading and
understanding a foreign language literature. But it is also expected that it is in
studying or understanding the grammar of the desired target language, students
will become more familiar with the language rules in accordance with the source
language and a deeper understanding of this will further help them in reading
and writing according to the source language to be better.
Finally concluded that it is studying a foreign language will help the
development of students in developing intellectual, it can be recognized that the
students will never use the target language, but learning is very much needed
mental
CHAPTER II
DISCUSSION

A. Definition
The grammar-translation method of foreign language teaching is one of the most
traditional methods, dating back to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It was
originally used to teach 'dead' languages (and literatures) such as Latin and Greek
B. Caracteristic

The grammar translation method has eihgt caracteristic

1. Classes are taught in the mother tongue, with little active use of the target language.
2. Much vocabulary is taught in the form of lists of isolated words.
3. Long elaborate explanations of the intricacies of grammar are given.
4. Grammar provides the rules for putting words together, and instruction often focuses on
the form and inflection of words.
5. Reading of difficult classical texts is begun early.
6. Little attention is paid to the content of texts, which are treated as exercises in grammatical
analysis.
7. Often the only drills are exercises in translating disconnected sentences from the target
language into the mother tongue.
8. Little or no attention is given to pronunciation.
C. Techniques
The grammar translation method has nine Techniques :
1. Translation of a Literary Passage (Translating target language to native language)
2. Reading Comprehension Questions (Finding information in a passage, making inferences
and relating to personal experience)
3. Antonyms/Synonyms (Finding antonyms and synonyms for words or sets of words).
4. Cognates (Learning spelling/sound patterns that correspond between L1 and the target
language)

5. Deductive Application of Rule (Understanding grammar rules and their exceptions, then
applying them to new examples)
6. Fill-in-the-blanks (Filling in gaps in sentences with new words or items of a particular
grammar type).
7. Memorization (Memorizing vocabulary lists, grammatical rules and grammatical
paradigms)
8. Use Words in Sentences (Students create sentences to illustrate they know the meaning and
use of new words)
9. Composition (Students write about a topic using the target language).
D. Advantages
a. The phraseology of the target language is quickly explained. Translation is the easiest way
of explaining meanings or words and phrases from one language into another. Any other
method of explaining vocabulary items in the second language is found time consuming.
A lot of time is wasted if the meanings of lexical items are explained through definitions
and illustrations in the second language. Further, learners acquire some short of accuracy
in understanding synonyms in the source language and the target language.
b. Teachers labour is saved. Since the textbooks are taught through the medium of the
mother tongue, the teacher may ask comprehension questions on the text taught in the
mother tongue. Pupils will not have much difficulty in responding to questions on the
mother tongue. So, the teacher can easily assess whether the students have learnt what he
has taught them. Communication between the teacher and the learners does not cause
linguistic problems. Even teachers who are not fluent in English can teach English
through this method. That is perhaps the reason why this method has been practiced so
widely and has survived so long
E. Disadvantages

a. It is an unnatural method. The natural order of learning a language is listening, speaking,

reading and writing. That is the way how the child learns his mother tongue in natural
surroundings. But in the Grammar Translation Method the teaching of the second
language starts with the teaching of reading. Thus, the learning process is reversed. This
poses problems.
b. Speech is neglected. The Grammar Translation Method lays emphasis on reading and
writing. It neglects speech. Thus, the students who are taught English through this
method fail to express themselves adequately in spoken English. Even at the
undergraduate stage they feel shy of communicating through English. It has been
observed that in a class, which is taught English through this method, learners listen to
the mother tongue more than that to the second/foreign language. Since language learning
involves habit formation such students fail to acquire habit of speaking English. Thus,
they have to pay a heavy price for being taught through this method.
c. Exact translation is not possible. Translation is, indeed, a difficult task and exact translation
from one language to another is not always possible. A language is the result of various
customs, traditions, and modes of behavior of a speech community and these traditions
differ from community to community. There are several lexical items in one language,
which have no synonyms/equivalents in another language. For instance, the meaning of
the English word table does not fit in such expression as the table of contents, table of
figures, multiplication table, time table and table the resolution, etc. English
prepositions are also difficult to translate. Consider sentences such as We see with our
eyes, Bombay is far from Delhi, He died of cholera, He succeeded through hard
work. In these sentences with, from, of, through can be translated into the Hindi
preposition se and vice versa. Each language has its own structure, idiom and usage,
which do not have their exact counterparts in another language. Thus, translation should
be considered an index of ones proficiency in a language.
d. It does not give pattern practice. A person can learn a language only when he internalizes
its patterns to the extent that they form his habit. But the Grammar Translation Method
does not provide any such practice to the learner of a language. It rather attempts to teach

language through rules and not by use. Researchers in linguistics have proved that to
speak any language, whether native or foreign entirely by rule is quite impossible.
Language learning means acquiring certain skills, which can be learnt through practice
and not by just memorizing rules. The persons who have learnt a foreign or second
language through this method find it difficult to give up the habit of first thinking in their
mother tongue and than translating their ideas into the second language. They, therefore,
fail to get proficiency in the second language approximating that in the first language.
The method, therefore, suffers from certain weaknesses for which there is no remedy
CHAPTER III
CONCLUSION

The Grammar Translation Method was developed for the study of dead languages and
to facilitate access to those languages classical literature. Thats the way it should stay. English
is certainly not a dead or dying language, so any teacher that takes an approach for dead
language study into an English language classroom should perhaps think about taking up Math
or Science instead. Rules, universals and memorized principles apply to those disciplines
pedagogy and communicative principles do not.

REFERENCES
Larsen-Freeman, Diane. (1986) Techniques and Principles of Language Teaching,
Oxford University Press.
Billah,MD.M. Teaching English through English Medium. The New Nation.Online. 20
Nov 2005.
2. Brown, D.H. Teaching by Principles:An Interactive Approach to Language
Pedagogy. Longman: New York,2001.
3. Dr. Shahidullah, M., Islam. J., Majid , I. A. N. and Haque,M.S. English For Today for
Classes 11-12.Dhaka.NCTB, 2001.
4. Dr. Shahidullah,M.,Islam,J., Majid, I. A.N. and Haque,M.S. Teachers Guide for
English For Today For Casses 11-12.Dhaka.ELTIP, 2001.

5. Larsen-Freeman,D. Techniques and Principles of Language Teaching.

Oxford:Oxford University Press, 1981.
6. Shahzadi,N.,Rabbani,F.,Tasmin,S. English For today for Classes 9-10.Dhaka.NCTB,
2002.
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http://hadirukiyah2.blogspot.com/2009/12/grammar-translation-method-gtm.html

An article discussing the grammar-translation approach to language learning.

At the height of the Communicative Approach to language learning in the 1980s and early 1990s
it became fashionable in some quarters to deride so-called "old-fashioned" methods and, in
particular, something broadly labelled "Grammar Translation". There were numerous reasons for
this but principally it was felt that translation itself was an academic exercise rather than one
which would actually help learners to use language, and an overt focus on grammar was to learn
about the target language rather than to learn it.
As with many other methods and approaches, Grammar Translation tended to be referred to in
the past tense as if it no longer existed and had died out to be replaced world-wide by the fun and
motivation of the communicative classroom. If we examine the principal features of Grammar
Translation, however, we will see that not only has it not disappeared but that many of its
characteristics have been central to language teaching throughout the ages and are still valid
today.
The Grammar Translation method embraces a wide range of approaches but, broadly speaking,
foreign language study is seen as a mental discipline, the goal of which may be to read literature
in its original form or simply to be a form of intellectual development. The basic approach is to
analyze and study the grammatical rules of the language, usually in an order roughly matching
the traditional order of the grammar of Latin, and then to practise manipulating grammatical
structures through the means of translation both into and from the mother tongue.
The method is very much based on the written word and texts are widely in evidence. A typical
approach would be to present the rules of a particular item of grammar, illustrate its use by
including the item several times in a text, and practise using the item through writing sentences
and translating it into the mother tongue. The text is often accompanied by a vocabulary list
consisting of new lexical items used in the text together with the mother tongue translation.
Accurate use of language items is central to this approach.
Generally speaking, the medium of instruction is the mother tongue, which is used to explain
conceptual problems and to discuss the use of a particular grammatical structure. It all sounds
rather dull but it can be argued that the Grammar Translation method has over the years had a
remarkable success. Millions of people have successfully learnt foreign languages to a high
degree of proficiency and, in numerous cases, without any contact whatsoever with native
speakers of the language (as was the case in the former Soviet Union, for example).
There are certain types of learner who respond very positively to a grammatical syllabus as it can
give them both a set of clear objectives and a clear sense of achievement. Other learners need the
security of the mother tongue and the opportunity to relate grammatical structures to mother
tongue equivalents. Above all, this type of approach can give learners a basic foundation upon
which they can then build their communicative skills.

Applied wholesale of course, it can also be boring for many learners and a quick look at foreign
language course books from the 1950s and 1960s, for example, will soon reveal the noncommunicative nature of the language used. Using the more enlightened principles of the
Communicative Approach, however, and combining these with the systematic approach of
Grammar Translation, may well be the perfect combination for many learners. On the one hand
they have motivating communicative activities that help to promote their fluency and, on the
other, they gradually acquire a sound and accurate basis in the grammar of the language. This
combined approach is reflected in many of the EFL course books currently being published and,
amongst other things, suggests that the Grammar Translation method, far from being dead, is
very much alive and kicking as we enter the 21st century.
Without a sound knowledge of the grammatical basis of the language it can be argued that the
learner is in possession of nothing more than a selection of communicative phrases which are
perfectly adequate for basic communication but which will be found wanting when the learner is
required to perform any kind of sophisticated linguistic task.
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