THE GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION METHOD

-          First half of the 19^th century;

-          Teaching classical languages: Latin, Greek;

-          Appreciation of foreign language literature. 

PRINCIPLES

1. The study of the grammar of the target language helps students speak and write better in the native language;
2. Learning a foreign language helps students grow intellectually;
3. Enabling students to read literature written in a foreign language: the fundamental purpose;
4. Enabling students to translate each language into another: the idea of success and the central goal;
5. Reading and writing are superior to speaking and listening;
6. The teacher is the authority in the classroom: traditional roles;
7. Correct answers are very important;
8. Similarities between target and native languages are emphasized;
9. Form of the target language is superior to content;
10. Deduction over induction;
11. Memorization of vocabulary, grammatical rules, verb conjugations and other grammatical paradigms;
12. Communication is not emphasized.

TECHNIQUES  

1. Translation of a literary passage;
2. Reading and answering comprehension questions in the target language;
3. Antonyms and synonyms;
4. Cognates;
5. Deductive application of rule;
6. Fill-in-the-blanks;
7. Memorization;
8. Use words in sentences;
9. Composition.

ADVANTAGES:

• The acquisition of the skill of translating each language into the other in both writing and reading;
• Translation is the easiest way of explaining meanings or words and phrases from one language into another. Any other method 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.
• Teacher’s labour is saved. The lesson is taught in the mother tongue as well as the texts. The students make questions and the teacher answers in the first language. The instructions are also given in the first language. So the only difficulties students face, besides memorizing many things, are reading and answering comprehension questions in the target language and writing a composition also in the target language;  
• So, because of the use of the mother tongue almost all the time, the teacher can easily know if the students have learnt what he has taught.
• Therefore, communication between the teacher and the learners does not cause linguistic problems.
• Even teachers who are not fluent in the target language can teach it through this method. That is perhaps the reason why this method has been practiced so widely and has survived so long.

                                           DISADVANTAGES

• Students become very dependent on translation, and, as we know, exact translation from one language to another is not always possible. People 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. Therefore, they fail to get proficiency in the target language, which is frustrating. Thus, students can get really unmotivated with this method.
• Besides, translation is a difficult task. 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. Each language has its own structure, idiom and usage, which do not have their exact counterparts in another language.
• The Grammar-Translation Method gives students the wrong idea of what language is and of the relationship between languages. Language is seen as a collection of words which are isolated and independent and there must be a corresponding word in the native language for each foreign word.
• The method does not follow the natural order of learning a language, which 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.
• Speaking and listening are neglected. The Grammar Translation Method lays emphasis on reading and writing. 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.
• In the Grammar-Translation Method the learning of the target patterns do not focus the ability to communicate in the foreign language. Researchers in linguistics have proved that it is quite impossible to speak any language, whether native or foreign, entirely by rule. Language learning means acquiring certain skills, which can be learnt through practice and not by just memorizing rules.
• The activities proposed by this method do not have the purpose to be fun or bring some joy to the students. They are usually boring.
• Teachers who are not fluent in English can teach English through this method. The teacher may ask comprehension questions on the text taught in the mother tongue.

BY: Ana Paula e Mayara

->Relatório 1 – Visita ao CEPAE -17/03

          A professora de língua inglesa iniciou a aula fazendo uma revisão sobre os membros da família. Ela fez perguntas e incentivou os alunos a responderem. Durante a revisão, muitos alunos estavam conversando e a professora teve que pedir silêncio algumas vezes. Ela fez a revisão utilizando a árvore genealógica da família dela.

          Em seguida, a professora propôs um jogo, dividindo a sala em dois grupos e os alunos tinham que formular as perguntas em inglês sobre a família dela. Os alunos ficaram motivados, porém alguns ficaram nervosos, pois desejavam fazer perguntas e alguns colegas atrapalhavam. Durante a brincadeira, alguns alunos ficaram eufóricos diante da proposta de desempate, alguns gritam e dois alunos ofendem os colegas que erraram as perguntas. A professora pediu silencio novamente.

Durante a aula, a professora incentivou os alunos a comentarem sobre as famílias deles. Ela corrigiu a tarefa de casa. Durante a correção, um aluno foi enviado à secretaria, pois ele não tinha o livro. Os alunos participaram da correção e a professora auxiliou os alunos que erraram as respostas indo até a carteira e orientando.

Após essa atividade, a professora solicitou aos alunos para lerem um dialogo do livro e responder as questões. Enquanto os alunos faziam o exercício, a professora fez a “chamada”. Após realizar a chamada, ela auxiliou os alunos nas atividades e corrigiu.

A professora realizou um “listening” com os alunos. Ela colocou alguns tópicos no quadro e pediu que os alunos falassem outras palavras do “listening” relacionadas. Os alunos responderam.

          Além disso, a professora questionou sobre o tópico There is/ There are. Ela formulou algumas frases para explicar, exemplificar e retirar as dúvidas. Em seguida, eles fizeram o exercício que exigia tal conhecimento. Enquanto isso, ela escreveu a tarefa de casa no quadro. A atividade solicitava a fabricação de um cartaz sobre a família e que deveria conter figuras, nomes, títulos e profissões.

Good experiences in Estágio 1 e 2.

The Estágio 1 and 2 were excellent. In this time happened visits in public schools, the reading of articles involving acquisition of the second language, studied the techniques and methods to teach English, did presentations and discussed about the teaching and learning English in the public schools.

I visited two public schools. These schools were different. One of them had many difficulties to teach English and did not have adequate physics structures. But, another school had good physics structures, incentive and an excellent teacher. During this time, I realized that a dedicated teacher is very important to change the myth about public schools. These visits improved my vocational training. Nowadays, I know that I can not generalize the public schools. I do not say that all public schools offer a bad education. I know that a English teacher can do the difference.

In this last semester, the professors of university helped to change my opinion and they made me admit that a motivated teacher is very important to a public school. Moreover, They showed me the English teacher need to have a lot of knowledge about the language which he/she will teach. In addition, I contributed with this process too. I had dedication, attended classes, did exercises, did test and read about the process of learning and teaching a second language.

My dedication to reading academic texts and some books contributed a lot with my process of acquisition of the second language. Moreover, I learnt about methods to teach English and the myths about students of the public schools. This knowledge helped me as a learner and as a teacher.

The Estágio 1 e 2 helped me developed some strategies as a learner and as a teacher. I learnt things that helped to improve my knowledge about attitudes which help in acquisition of the English. Then, I understood better the process to learn a language. Now, I understand that teacher is important to help students in the process of learning a language.

In Conclusion, the estágio 1 and 2 were very important to me, because I could learn many things about language, teaching and public schools. I had good experiences and good professors. Then, I think that I will practice the knowledge acquired and I will continue to change my attitudes to have good results. In addition, I expect that in Estágio 3, I will add more experiences about learn and teach English.

I Want To Be Like You

Thank you, teacher,
for being my life’s role model.
When I consider all you’ve taught me
and reflect on the kind of person you are,
I want to be like you—
smart, interesting and engaging,
positive, confident, yet unpretentious.
I want to be like you—
well-informed and easy to understand,
thinking with your heart as well as your head,
gently nudging us to do our best,
with sensitivity and insight.
I want to be like you—
giving your time, energy and talent
to ensure the brightest possible future
for each of us.
Thank you, teacher
For giving me a goal to shoot for:
I want to be like you!

By Joanna Fuchs

É buscar dentro de cada um de nós

forças para prosseguir, mesmo com toda pressão,

toda tensão, toda falta de tempo…

Esse é nosso exercício diário!

Ser professor (a) é se alimentar do conhecimento

e fazer de si mesmo (a) janela aberta para o outro.

Ser professor (a) é formar gerações, propiciar o

questionamento e abrir as portas do saber.

Ser professor (a) é lutar pela transformação…

É formar e transformar,

através das letras, das artes, dos números…

Ser professor (a) é conhecer os limites do outro.

E, ainda assim, acreditar que ele seja capaz…

Ser professor (a) é também reconhecer que

todos os dias são feitos para aprender…

Sempre um pouco mais…

Ser professor (a)

É saber que o sonho é possível…

É sonhar com a sociedade melhor…

Inclusiva…

Onde todos possam ter acesso ao saber…

Ser professor (a) é também reconhecer que somos,

acima de tudo, seres humanos, e que temos licença para rir, chorar,

esbravejar.

Porque assim também ajudamos a pensar e construir o mundo.

Fonte: Jornal AconteeCendo, nº. 22, Setembro de 2001