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. Teacher’s
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
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 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. That’s 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, OxfordUniversity 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. Teacher’s
Guide for English For Today For Casses 11-12.Dhaka.ELTIP, 2001.
5. Larsen-Freeman,D. Techniques and Principles of Language Teaching. Oxford:OxfordUniversity Press, 1981.
6. Shahzadi,N.,Rabbani,F.,Tasmin,S. English For today for Classes 9-10.Dhaka.NCTB, 2002.
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