AL-FARABI KAZAKH NATIONAL

UNIVERSITY

Course name: Methodology of

foreign language education

Name of author: Aliakbarova A.T.

Lecture 5
THE USE OF GRAMMAR-
TRANSLATION METHOD IN
TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGE
(1890s-1930s)
 LECTURE 5

1. Definition of the GTM.

2. History of the GTM.
3. Objectives of the GTM.
4. Principles of the GTM.
5. Teaching through GTM.
6. Advantages and disadvantages of
the GTM.
6. Samples of tasks used in the GTM.
 1. Definition of the GTM (1/2)

• Grammar Translation Method is a method

of learning any foreign language by the
practice of translating or converting the
sentences of the native language into the
target language or vice versa. 
• It is also called Classical Method of FLT.
 1. Definition of the GTM (2/2)

• “Grammar Translation Method is a way of studying a

language that approaches the language first through
detailed analysis of it grammar rules, followed by the
application of this knowledge through the task of
translating sentences and text into an out of the
target language”
(c) Richard and Rogers, 2002
 2. History of the GTM

• Grammar Translation Method (the oldest method of

teaching) was originally used to teach Latin and
Greek in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
• Earlier in 20th century, this method was used for the
purpose of helping students read and appreciate
foreign language literature and develop students’
general intellectual discipline.
 3. Objectives of the GTM

Students will be able to:

1) read literature written in the target language;
2) translate from one language to another;
3) develop reading and writing skills;
4) develop their intellectual and cognitive abilities;
5) appreciate foreign language literature.
 4. Principles of the GTM
• Literary language is superior to the spoken language.
• Teacher-centered. The teacher is an authority.
• The primary skills to be improved are reading and
writing.
• It focuses on accuracy rather than frequency.
• Error correction: If a student’s answer is not correct,
the teacher select another student to give the correct
answer or replies himself.
 5. Teaching through GTM

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. Students use
dictionaries and memorize bilingual word lists.
3. Long detailed explanation of grammar rules.
4. Reading of difficult classical texts is begun early.
5. Little attention is given to pronunciation.
6. Grammar is studied deductively.
7. Little attention is paid to the content of texts, which are treated as exercises in
grammatical analysis.
8. Translation made by the students can show their understanding.
 6. Advantages and
disadvantages of the GTM

How do you think what are the disadvantages

of the Grammar-Translation Method?
 6. Disadvantages of the GTM (1/2)

• GTM does not focus on communicative aspects and

as a result, speaking and listening skills are
overlooked.
• The natural order of learning any language is
listening, speaking, reading, and writing. But, in
GTM, reading is facilitated first.
• GTM focuses on formal and bookish grammar
rules.
 6. Disadvantages of the GTM (2/2)

• The result of GTM is an inability on the part of

the learners to use language for communication
purpose.
• It takes time to translate each and every word
under GTM. They need time to think to translate.
• It gives the wrong idea of what language is.
Language is seen as a collection of words which
are isolated and independent.
• Worst effect this method can lead to is decrease
of students’ motivation. He does not see the
progress, thus, it leads to frustration, boredom and
indiscipline.
 6. Advantages and
disadvantages of the GTM

How do you think what are the advantages

of the Grammar-Translation Method?
 6. Advantages of the GTM (1/2)

• It makes the concept more clear when new

words, phrases, and vocabulary are introduced.
• Learning gets easy as the conduction is done in the
native language.
• It promotes the skills of reading and writing
effectively.
• For class conduction, very less teacher material
aid is needed and also, this method can be taught in
overcrowded classes.
•Students feel comfortable as the mother tongue is
used to teach any foreign language and they are free
to ask the questions in between.
 6. Advantages of the GTM (2/2)

• It can be used in teaching each age groups which

makes this method universal.

• It can be used as an additional method to the main

one.

• It allows to develop the accuracy.

 7. Samples of task used in the
GTM (1/8)

1. Filling the blanks

The teacher gives the exercises of some sentences or

passages where some blanks will be there and
students are asked to fill that missing words as per
their own knowledge of translation
or vocabulary of the foreign language.
These blanks can be out of the literary texts or the
chapter which has been taught by the teacher
previously.
 7. Samples of task used in the
GTM (2/8)

2. Use words in sentences

This is a very common technique where the teacher

gives some new words from the vocabulary to the
students and students will be asked to make new
sentences by using that word in their sentence. It is
generally called make the sentences.

In this, the students are judged whether they have

understood the new word correctly or whether they
use the word in the sentence correctly or not.
 7. Samples of task used in the
GTM (3/8)

3. Topic composition

In this technique, students are asked to write any

passage on the given topic by the teacher. They will
be expected to write a few lines about the topic.
 7. Samples of task used in the
GTM (4/8)

4. Passage translation

The main aim of passage translation is to make them

understand that the grammar of the native language
and foreign language is different and the word usage
should be accurately done.
 7. Samples of task used in the
GTM (5/8)

5. Comprehension questions

This technique is generally used in teaching any

foreign language. In this, an unseen passage will be
given to the students out of which they will be asked
some questions and they are expected to answer that
questions in their native language or the foreign
language whatever they want.

The main purpose of this technique is to find out that

whether the students are able to translate the
passage in their language and able to find out the
answers.
 7. Samples of task used in the
GTM (6/8)

6. Word meanings

The grammar translation method can never be

complete without the knowledge of proper
vocabulary and some important words of the foreign
language.

So this is one of the techniques where the teacher

makes the students memorize all the difficult
vocabulary on their own and students are expected to
learn those words in order to translate them if they
are found out in the lines anywhere in the texts of
foreign language.
 7. Samples of task used in the
GTM (7/8)

7. Inference building

 In this technique, again, a literary text will be

provided to the students out of their books. They will
be asked to write the central idea of the passage in
their own words.
In this way, they will be able to translate the passage
and they can write something in foreign language in
their own words too.
 7. Samples of task used in the
GTM (8/8)
8. Summary writing

 Similar to the previous point, a chapter will be

discussed among the students in the mother tongue.

At the end of the chapter, students will be given the

exercise of writing a summary of that story or
chapter. It is one of the common techniques to teach
GTM to the students and it is widely accepted.

Just like writing a central idea, the summary is much

more than that. It aids the students in translating and
writing the text in a foreign language in their own
words.
 References

 Гальскова Н.Д. Современная методика

обучения иностранным языкам:
Пособие для учителя. М, 2000.
 Harmer, J. 1991. The Practice of English
Language Teaching (2nd ed.). Harlow:
Longman.
 Scrivener J. 1994. Learning Teaching.
Oxford: Heinemann. Ur, P. 1996. A
 Course in Language Teaching.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.