A teacher using the grammar translation method assigns students to translate a…

Concept

A language-teaching method is identified by the objectives its classroom tasks are built to serve. The Grammar Translation Method treats a foreign language as a body of rules and texts to be studied: its two declared goals are explicit knowledge of grammatical form, in which learners locate, label and apply rules, and accurate written translation between the target language and the learner's own language. Speaking, listening and pronunciation are not among its objectives.

Application

Read the assignment as two separate tasks and name the objective each one serves.

1. Translating a literary excerpt requires the learner to render a passage into another language while preserving its form and meaning, which is the accurate-translation objective.

2. Identifying all instances of passive voice requires the learner to locate and label a particular grammatical structure inside that text, which is the grammatical-analysis objective.

Contrast

• Speaking fluently and spontaneously in real-life situations is the aim of communicative work built on unrehearsed interaction, and no part of this assignment calls for unscripted speech.

• Improving speaking ability and pronunciation calls for oral drilling of sounds, stress and intonation, whereas both tasks set here are written ones.

• Understanding the cultural background and literary context of a text calls for questions about its period, author, genre and allusions, none of which the assignment asks for.

Result

The two tasks together therefore target one combined outcome: strengthening grammatical analysis skills while practising accurate translation of the text.