The Methodology Series

GTM for the Grammar-Translation Method
-2-

Typical techniques
Translation of a literary passage
An activity (in-class or out-of-class) that consists of translating a reading passage from the target language into the students’ mother tongue. Translation could be written as it could be oral and the substance reading passage can be either originated in some works in the target language literature or written by the teacher himself to include certain structures and vocabulary. The latter, grammatical structures and vocabulary, is the subject of subsequent lessons. Worthy of note, at the end, that no translation is fair enough not to distort original meaning; that’s why idiomatic expressions are not translated, in this activity, in a verbatim way, yet a meaning-translation is favored.

Reading comprehension questions
As a guideline of import, all questions should be answered in the target language. These questions are not random, they follow a certain structure based on the principle of ‘grading’ the task or otherwise named ‘complexity levels.’ Mindful of such a principle, comprehension questions are threefold:

1- Receptive Qs: where students are required to answer using information contained in the text. That’s a kind of bottom-up answering.

2- Inference Qs: questions that need answers based on students’ understanding of the reading passage.


3- Pragmatic Qs: are those questions that require students’ use of their grey matter and experience in order to answer. They can also be called: ‘productive questions.’

A sample of such questions:
1-a- Read the text a sufficient number of times and give it a title?
1-b- What is the gist of the text?
1-c- What is the foremost concern of scientists as far as the Bird Flu is concerned?
1-d- What are the potential symptoms of the Bird Flu in humans?

2-a- what do the following words refer to:
Them (para.2)
Them (last para.)
This (last para.)

3-a- Do you think that the Bird Flu will be stopped or continue spreading all over the world? Explain?

Antonyms
An activity in which students engage in finding antonyms to a list of words by reading the passage.

Synonyms
Akin to antonyms, but, this time, students try to find synonyms to a whole list of ‘Lexis’. Worthy of note, here, at this stage, that these lists are later to be memorized; a thing that constitutes what is labeled, ‘rote learning.’

Cognates
An activity in which students are taught to recognize cognates by learning spelling and/ or sound patterns that correspond between L1 and the target language.
E.g. possibility → Possibilidad.(true cognates)
Obscurity → Obsecuredad.(true cognates)
They are also taught to differentiate between true cognates and false ones. False cognates are those that do not correspond in meaning.
E.g. Actually → Actuellement (false cognates)

Deductive application of a rule
After students understand the deductively (rules first, then examples) presented grammatical structures, they are asked to apply these rules to new examples. Exceptions to the grammatical rules are also noted.

Fill-in-the blank
That consists of filling the blanks in a succession of sentences with new words or items of a particular grammatical type (as prepositions or verbs…)

Memorization
Students memorize both lists of translated vocabulary and grammatical rules or paradigms as well.

Use of words in sentences
Students, in this activity, contextualize the newly learnt words in sentences to show their understanding.

Composition
The teacher usually suggests a topic to his/ her students to write on. This topic has to do with the theme of the reading passage.

Précis
Sometimes the T. assigns a précis of the reading passage instead of an activity of composition.

Criticism to GTM
It stresses memorization through rote learning. It does barely anything to enhance students’ communicative ability in the target language.

Why is it popular despite its drawbacks?
• It requires few teaching materials.
• It requires few teaching skills on the part of teachers.
• Tests are easy to build and scoring is objectively carried.

Prepared by: Nouamane ERRIFKI


References:
Diane-Larsen, Freeman. Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching. England: Oxford University Press, 1990.