TEFL Theories: The Grammar-Translation Method

Teaching English as a Foreign Language

1. The Grammar-Translation Method - Muhammad Dzakwan Ma’ruf - Muhammad Fikri

2. Definition Grammar Translation Method is a way of studying a language that approaches the language first through detailed analysis of it’s grammar rules, followed by the application of it’s knowledge through the ask of translating sentences and text into and out of the target language.

3. Typical grammar-translation lesson

4. Typical Techniques of Grammar Translation Method Translating a literary passage : translating the target language to the native language Reading Comprehension Questions : identifying information in the proposed passage and creating inferences about one's own experience Synonyms and antonyms : identifying words or sets of words that refer to the same things. Deductive Application of RuleFill -in-the-blanks : filling in the gaps of a sentence with new terms or items of a particular grammar type. Memorisation : memorizing vocabulary and grammar rules, and analyzing grammatical paradigms.Use words in sentences: The learners must use new words in sentences to demonstrate that they can use them correctly. Composition : Students write in their target language about a given topic.

5. Example

6. Meaning: Meaning: Meaning: Meaning: Meaning: Meaning:

7. Purpose The purpose of the lesson is to develop the ability to recognize and translate between the target language and the students' primary language. During the lesson, both the teacher and students communicate in their primary language. Grammar-translation lessons concentrate almost exclusively on written language. Students are assessed on grammar and vocabulary tests as well as reading passages that they are required to translate.

8. Advantages of Grammar Translation Method read literature written in the target language translate from one language to another develop reading and writing skill effective way for the application of grammar and sentence structure Few demands on teachers Least stressful for students 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. Translation is the easiest way to understand vocabulary items in a foreign language. Various other methods of understanding vocabulary items in a foreign language are even more time-consuming. A lot of time is wasted if the meanings of vocabulary items are explained through distinctions and illustrations in the foreign language.

9. shortcomings of Grammar Translation Method It does not give pattern practice. One can only learn a language by internalizing its patterns to the extent that they become a habit, but Grammar Translation provides no such practice for the language learner. In general, it attempts to teach language through rules and not through use. Researchers in linguistics have proved that one can not speak any language entirely by rule-neither native nor foreign. Language learning means acquiring certain skills, which can be mastered through training and not by just memorizing rules. The individuals who have learned a foreign or second language through this method find it difficult to give up the practice of first thinking in their mother tongue and then interpreting their thoughts into the second language. Therefore, the method fails to produce proficiency equal to that of the first language. The method thus has certain shortcomings for which no remedy exists. Despite giving definitions, rules, explanations, and exceptions in the mother tongue, the time necessary for practicing the foreign language is greatly reduced.

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