Teaching Method a. Grammar Translation Method

commit to user 25

2. Teaching Method a. Grammar Translation Method

1 The Characteristics of Grammar Translation Method Grammar Translation Method is a method that was dominated European language teaching from the 1840s to the 1940s, it is widely used in some parts of the world today. Language teaching came into its own as a profession in the twentieth century. The whole foundation of contemporary language teaching was developed during the early of the twentieth century, as applied linguists and others sought to developed principles and procedures for the design of teaching method and material. Grammar Translation Method based on the study of Latin had become the standard way of studying foreign languages in school. In the process of teaching learning to master L2 the activities that the learner have to do are reading and writing. In this method speaking and listening are less to be thought so it makes the students just do the task from the teacher teacher-centered. In Grammar Translation Method, while teaching the text book the teacher translates every word, phrase from English into the mother tongue of learners. Further, students are required to translate sentences from their mother tongue into English. These exercises in translation are based on various items covering the grammar of the target language. The method emphasizes the study of grammar through deduction that is through the study of the rules of grammar. A contrastive study of the target language with the mother tongue gives an insight into the structure not only of the foreign language but also of the mother tongue. The Grammar Translation Method or classical method emerged when people of the western world wanted to learn foreign commit to user 26 languages such as Latin and Greek. Its focus was on grammatical rules, the memorization of vocabulary and of various declensions and conjugations, translations of texts, doing written exercises. a Theory of Language 1 Language is a system of rules—learned through literature—a formal system. 2 Literary language is superior to spoken language; culture is literature and the fine arts. 3 The learner’s L1 is the medium in class; translation is used to make meanings clear in the TL. 4 Languages can be compared and contrasted. 5 Structures, rules of grammar, sentence formation are what is considered. b Theory of Language Learning 1 The learning process is conceived of as a process of memorizing rules examples. The learner would learn vocabulary conjugations off by heart. 2 Language learning is primarily memorizing rules facts to understand manipulate structures of language. 3 Translation is used as a means of language learning. 4 Learning is facilitated through attention to similarities between TL and NL. c Teaching Objectives The goal of foreign language study is to learn a language in order to read its literature text it also to get the benefit from mental discipline and commit to user 27 intellectual development that the results from foreign language study. Grammar translation method is a way of studying a language that the first what we have done is by learned grammar rules and vocabulary. d Syllabus The ways to teach the grammar translation method are: 1 Structural. 2 From simple to more complex. 3 Systematic presentation. e Types of Learning and Teaching Activities There are some types that differentiate the Grammar Translation Method from the other method in language teaching: 1 Literary language is superior to spoken language. 2 Successful learners are to translate each language into the other. 3 The primary skills are reading and writing. 4 To find native language equivalents for target language words. 5 To learn about the rules of traditional grammar. 6 Learner should memorize verb conjugations and forms. f Teacher Roles In Grammar Translation Method teacher is the center of the process of teaching learning. Teacher has to explain the material like the grammar systemrules to the learner after that teacher give the learner exercise. g Learner Roles Learners only do what the teacher has given, so it is not learner-centered but it is teacher-centered. In the teaching learning process the students commit to user 28 have to learn vocabulary, the grammatical rules, translating, memorize rules, read and write the text from source language into target language. h The Role of Instructional Materials In most versions of the method, grammar was taught deductively—i.e. the rule was announced prior to the exercises. In some cases, it was taught inductively—i.e. learners were asked to puzzle over the exercises, and expected to figure out the rules from the examples. However, grammar is taught deductively not inductively more usually associated with more learner-centered approaches. Besides that it provides samples of literature. i Teaching Procedure There is a procedure or technique in which classes are taught in the mother tongue, with little active use of the target language, much vocabulary is taught in the form of lists of isolated words, long elaborate explanations of the intricacies of grammar are given, the grammar provides the rule for putting words together, and instruction often focuses on the form and inflection of words, reading of difficult classical texts is begun early. Little attention is paid to the context of texts, which are treated as exercises in grammatical analysis http:www.google.co.idhl=idq=grammar+ translation+method+on+language+teaching.pptstart=20sa=Nfp=ca19 d887132bd2da . commit to user 29 2 The Advantages of Grammar Translation Method 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 Teacher’s labor 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 learned what he has taught them. Communication between the teacher and the learner 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 http:en.wikipedia .orgwiki Grammar _translation . commit to user 30 3 The Disadvantages of Grammar Translation Method: 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 secondforeign 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 synonymsequivalents in another language. For instance, the meaning of the English word ‘table’ does not fit in such expression as commit to user 31 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 one’s 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 learned through practice and not by just memorizing rules. The persons who have learned a foreign or second language through this method find it difficult to give up the habit of first thinking in their mother tongue and then 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 http:en.wikipedia .orgwiki Grammar _translation commit to user 32 4 The Teaching Procedure of Grammar Translation Method The teaching procedure of grammar translation method according to Sujoko 1990: 1-28 and supported by Diane Larsen and Freeman 2000: 11- 21 is seen as follows: Table 1. The Teaching Procedure of GTM in Teaching Reading Phase Component of GTM Indicator − Opening − Pre-teaching of reading activities − Whilst-teaching of reading activities − Presentation of Pattern in Context − Greeting − Praying − Calling the roll − Asking the previous lessons. − Asking students some questions to arouse interest in the new topictheme. − Presenting any new vocabulary which is crucial to an understanding of the passage in the native language by writing down in the whiteboard. − Reading the text, while the students just listen to the teacher. − Asking the students to translate the passage from English into Indonesian in a written form commit to user 33 -Closing − Comprehension Questions − Identification of the Pattern − Functional Explication − Conducting and Correcting Drills − Asking some questions in the native language to make sure that the students have understood. − Giving an example of the pattern in the whiteboard − Asking the students to find the other occurrences of the same pattern. − Asking the students to learn when to use the pattern. − Asking the students to answer the questions individually in their books. − Asking the students to write down the answer on the whiteboard, if the answer is wrong the teacher corrects it. − Asking questions from the students − Making conclusion about the material − Giving the homework to the students to memorize the vocabulary and the grammar rule. commit to user 34

b. Contextual Teaching and Learning