The Grammar - Translation Method

English words that look like Spanish words are called ‘cognates ’.
For example :
The English ‘-ty’ often corresponds to the Spanish endings –dad and –tad.
The word possibility is the same as the Spanish posibilidad.

The rule for use of a direct object with two-words ( phrasal verbs ) :
If the two-words verb is separable, the direct object may come between the verb and its particle. However, separation is necessary when the direct object is pronoun.
If the verb is inseparable, then there is no separation of the verb and particle by the object.

For example :

John put away his book.
or
John put his book away / John put it away.
but not
John put away it.
(because ‘put away’ is a separable two-word verb).
The teacher went over the homework.
but not
The teacher went the homework over.
(because ‘go over’ is an inseparable two-word verb).

THINKING ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE.

This has been just a brief introduction to the Grammar- Translation Method. To see what we have learned about The-Grammar Translation Method, we can make a number of observations, which from them we will try to identify the principles of the Grammar-Translation Method.

1. Observation => The class is reading an excerpt from Mark’s Twain Life on the Mississippi.
Principle => A fundamental purpose of learning a foreign language is to be able to read literature written in it. Literary language is superior to spoken language, Students’ study of the target language is limited to its literature and fine arts.

2. Observation => Students translate the passage from English to Spanish.
Principle => An important goal is for students to be able to translate each language into the other. If students can translate from one language into another, they are considered successful language learners.

3. Observation => The teacher asks students in their native language if they have any questions. A student asks one and is answered in her native language.
Principle => The ability to communicate in the target language is not a goal of foreign language instruction.

4. Observation => Students write out the answers to reading comprehension questions.
Principle => the primary skills to be developed are reading and writing. Little attention is given to speaking and listening, and almost none to pronunciation.

5. Observation => The teacher decides whether an answer is correct or not. If the answer is incorrect, the teacher selects a different student to supply the correct answer or the teacher herself gives the right answer.
Principle => The teacher is the authority in the classroom. It is very important that students get the correct answer.

6. Observation => Students translate new words from English into Spanish.
Principle => It is possible to find native language equivalents for all target language words.

7. Observation => Students learn that English ‘-ty’ corresponds to –dad and –tad in Spanish.
Principle => Learning is facilitated through attention to similarities between the target language and the native language.

8. Observation => Students are given a grammar rule for the use of a direct object with two-word verbs.
Principle => It is important for students to learn about the form of the target language.

9. Observation => Students apply a rule to examples they are given.
Principle => Deductive application of an explicit grammar rule is a useful pedagogical technique.

10. Observation => Students memorize vocabulary.
Principle => Language learning provides good mental exercise.

11. Observation => The teacher asks students to state the grammar rule.
Principle => Students should be conscious of the grammatical rules of the target language.

12. Observation => Students memorize present tense, past tense, and past participle forms of one set of irregular verbs.
Principle => Wherever possible, verb conjugations and other grammatical paradigms should be committed to memory.

REVIEWING THE PRINCIPLES

1) The goals of teachers who use the Grammar-Translation Method are :
- A fundamental purpose of learning a foreign language is to be able to read literature written in the target language. Before that, students need to learn about the grammar rules and vocabulary of the target language.
- It is believed that studying a foreign language provides students with good mental exercise which helps developed their minds.

2) The roles are very traditional. The teacher is the authority in the classroom. The students do as she says so they can learn what she knows.

3) Some characteristics of the teaching / learning process are :

Students are taught to translate from one language to another. Often what they translate are readings in the target language about some aspect of the culture of the target language community. Students study grammar deductively, they are given the grammar rules and examples, are told to memorize them, and then are asked to apply the rules to other examples. They also learn grammatical paradigms such as verb conjugations. They memorize native-language equivalents for target-language vocabulary words.

4) Most of the interaction in the classroom is from the teacher to the students. There is little student initiation and little student-student interaction.

5) The feelings of the students dealt with by
There are no principles of the method which relate to this area.

6) Literary language is considered superior to spoken language and is therefore the language that students study. Culture is viewed as consisting of literature and the fine arts.

7) Vocabulary and grammar are emphasized. Reading and writing are the primary skills that the students work on. There is much less attention given to speaking and listening. Pronunciation receives little, if any, attention.

8) The role of the students’ native language is :
The meaning of the target language is made clear by translating it into the students’ native language. The language that is used in class is mostly the students’ native language.

9) Evaluation accomplished by :
Written tests in which students are asked to translate from their native language to the target language or vice versa are often used. Questions about the target culture or questions that ask students to apply grammar rules are also common.

10) The teacher respond to student errors by :
Having the students get the correct answer is considered very important. If students make errors or do not know an answer, the teacher supplies them with the correct answer.

REVIEWING THE TECHNIQUES

Translation of a literary passage
Students translate a reading passage from the target language into their native language that provides the focus for several classes : vocabulary and grammatical structures in the passages are studied in subsequent lessons. It may be excerpted from some work from the target language literature, or teacher may write a passage carefully designed to include particular grammar rules and vocabulary. The translation may be written or spoken or both. Students should not translate idioms and the like literally, but rather in a way that shows that they understand their meaning.

Reading comprehension questions
Students answer questions in the target language based on their understanding of the reading passage. Often the questions are sequenced so that the first group of questions asks for information contained within the reading passage. In order to answer the second group of questions, students will have to make inferences based on their understanding of the passage. This means they will have to answer questions about the passage even though the answers are not contained in the passage itself. The third group of questions requires students to relate the passage to their own experience.

Antonym / synonyms
Students are given one set of words and are asked to find antonyms in the reading passage. A similar exercise could be done by asking students to find synonyms for a particular set of words. Or students might be asked to define a set of words based on their understanding of them as they occur in the reading passage. Other exercises that ask students to work with the vocabulary of the passage are also possible.

Cognates
Students are taught to recognize cognates by learning the spelling or sound patterns that correspond between the languages. Students are also asked to memorize words that look like cognates but have meanings in the target language that are different from those in the native language. This technique would only be useful in languages that share cognates.

Deductive application of rule
Grammar rules are presented with examples. Exceptions to each rule are also noted. Once students understand a rule, they are asked to apply it to some different examples.

Fill-in-the-blanks
Students are given a series of sentences with words missing. They fill in the blanks with new vocabulary items or with items of a particular grammar type, such as prepositions or verbs with different tenses.

Memorization
Students are given lists of target language vocabulary words and their native language equivalents and are asked to memorize them. Students are also required to memorize grammatical rules and grammatical paradigms such as verb conjugations.

Use words in sentences
In order to show that students understand the meaning and use of a new vocabulary item, they make up sentences in which they use the new words.

Composition
The teacher gives the students a topic to write about in the target language. The topic is based upon some aspect of the reading passage of the lesson. Sometimes, instead of creating a composition, students are asked to prepare a precis of the reading passage.