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Grammar-Translation Method in Language Classrooms

In a language classroom setting, the following steps would be taken using a grammar-translation methodology. First, the chapter or lesson begins with the presentation of grammatical points. Then a text is read, in which some sentences contain the grammar rules of the lesson focus. After every paragraph or each page of the text, simple comprehensive questions are listed to determine whether students understand the text.

The teacher may ask a student to read the text aloud and either the student or the teacher translates the text as they read it. New words or phrases from the reading are listed with their equivalent in the students' native language next to or below the text. Accurate pronunciation and intonation are not important. Students are supposed to memorize and be able to explain the grammar rules of the target language. Many of the sentences used for exercises where students apply the grammar rules of the lesson can be so artificial that native speakers of the target language would never produce those sentences. The native language is used mostly for instruction. Usually only some activities such as reading the text aloud, reading vocabulary lists, or dictation time will ask students to use the spoken target language.

The grammar-translation method places a heavy bias on written work and excludes oral production. It includes little or no spoken communication or listening comprehension. This method emphasizes the rote memorization of vocabulary words and study of the explicit rules of grammar. According to Jack Richards and Theodore Rodgers, it is a method without a theory in areas such as linguistics, psychology, or education.

However, the method is still used in many parts of the world today, with a greater or lesser modification from that of the 19th century, particularly in contexts where understanding the literary texts is deemed more important than speaking and listening in the target language, and where people do not have much contact with the speakers of the target language. Richards and Rodgers also attribute its popularity to the fact that the grammar-translation method does not require great skill by teachers. Despite the emergence and use of new methodologies, the historical foundations of the grammar-translation method provide valuable insights to situate and understand current practices in language instruction.

 Source: SAGE REFERENCE ONLINE