Grammar Translation Method

“The Grammar Translation Method is the oldest method in the world of pedagogy.” What are the results (positive/negative) which flow from the use of this method in our academic institution?

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
For the teaching of foreign languages the Translation Method is the time honoured method which has been in vogue in our country from time immemorial. Persian was the official language during the Mughal regime. The Maulvis and Pandits used this method for the teaching of Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit. When the English came to India they also adopted the same Method for the teaching of English to the Indians because in England the foreign languages, Latin and Greek, were being taught by the same Method. With the passage of time they realized that English was to be taught here with aims different from those pursued in England for the teaching of foreign languages. Their sole aim was to gain access to the stores of literature which the study of Greek and Latin would throw open to them. But here the native people were required to use it actively in their daily intercourse. It was through this medium that they were to connect themselves with rest of the world. With that realization the Methods of Teaching English had to be readjusted. Moreover, research work in language teaching, done in the modern time had a direct bearing on this readjustment.

Principles of Grammar Translation Method
The salient principles of grammar translation method are as under:
1. The Grammar Translation Method is simply a combination of the activities of grammar and translation (Mackey).
2. The first language is maintained as the reference system in the acquisition of the second language (Stern).
3. Students are taught in the mother tongue with little active use of the target language. It starts with the learning of vocabulary consisting of single words with the word-for-word translation. This expands into phrases and then into sentences. As every word, phrase and sentence is translated, it is expected that the learner will assimilate the target language through the mother-tongue.(Wyatt)
4. Much vocabulary is taught in the form of lists of isolated words.
5. The linguistic material is graded on a grammatical plan and it is assumed that the learner will learn the target language quickly by a comparative study of the grammar of the mother- tongue and that of the target language.
6. Grammar is taught deductively; that is, by the presentation of rules and definitions which are practiced through translation exercises. It is taught in an organized and systematic way with the help of a grammar book.
7. Vocabulary is selected mainly from textbooks and words are taught through bilingual word lists, dictionary study and memorization.
8. Reading of difficult texts is begun early and the selection or reading material is made from both the classical and modern literature.
9. Accuracy is emphasized. Students are expected to attain high standards in translation from foreign language into the mother tongue and vice versa.
10. Reading and writing are the major focus.
11. The emphasis is laid on reading literature of a foreign language in order to get the cultural awareness of the foreign people and learning mental discipline which comes through the study of its grammar.

Merits of Grammar Translation Method
As claimed by the advocates of this method, it has the following advantages:
1. The translation interprets the foreign phraseology in the best possible manner.
2. In the process of interpretation the foreign phraseology is well understood. It is the easiest way of explaining the words and phrases of the foreign language. Any other method of explaining vocabulary is time-consuming. Translation saves a good deal of time, which would otherwise be wasted if meanings are explained by giving definitions and explanations in the foreign language itself.
3. Translation from the foreign language into the mother tongue enables the pupils to develop their vocabulary very rapidly. This is perhaps the easiest way of expanding vocabulary.
4. The structure of a foreign language is best learnt when compared and contrasted with that of the mother tongue.
5. The pupils are not given long explanations with the help of gestures, mimes or demonstrations.
6. It is an appropriate way of giving the meanings of words which stand for abstract ideas or qualities such as honesty, ugliness, secret, true, false etc.
7. This method is easy for the teacher. He has not to put in much labour. This is one factor which explains the popularity of the method. This method suits average and even below average teachers.
8. The teacher may ask the students to tell in the mother tongue what they have learnt. This is especially true of the early stage. Thus translation method helps a lot in testing comprehension.
9. In this method, the teacher translates every word, phrase and sentence that he comes across in the book. He also compares the structures of the foreign language with those of the mother tongue. This method is, therefore, also known as the grammar translation method because the grammar of the new language is taught with the help of the grammar of the mother tongue.

Limitations of Grammar Translation Method
The disadvantages/demerits of grammar translation method are as under:
1. It is dubbed as an ancient method, fit for the teaching of classical and dead languages only. It hinders the establishment of a direct bond between experience and expression and does not help the child to think in English.
2. Word for word translation makes the whole process of learning English unnatural. Words cannot be put together with the aid of rules like digits in arithmetic. For example, there are many words and phrases like ‘key’ in music, ‘ice’ and ‘field’, ‘on the job’, ‘along the way’ for which exact equivalents in Urdu are not available.
3. Translation hinders the process of fluency of expression. It prevents or retards the pupil from self-expression in English.
4. It teaches English by rules and not by use. Language learning is an art to be learnt by practice. It is a power that grows by exercise, not by merely knowing meanings or rules.
5. It encourages literal translation. The close association between the foreign language and the mother tongue that Translation Method maintains is responsible for many mistakes in the students’ use of English. For example, a student may write, “The question does not take birth” instead of “The question does not arise”.
6. It is an unnatural method. The natural order of learning is language is listening, speaking, reading and writing. This is way how a child learns his mother tongue. But in Translation Method the teaching of language starts with the teaching of reading. So it is concerned with literacy and has nothing to do with oracy.
7. Speech is neglected. Translation Method lays emphasis on reading alone with the result that speech is neglected. The pupils are not provided any practice in oral work. This explains why many of our students even at the college level are tongue tied so far as speaking of English is concerned. It is often observed that in a class which is taught through translation method the pupils listen more to the mother tongue than to the foreign languages. Since language learning is a process of habit formation, such pupils fail to form the habit of speaking the foreign language fluently. Thus they have to pay a very heavy price for following this method.
8. It is teacher oriented method and not student oriented method. The learner is a passive recipient of knowledge. He does not take active part in the learning process.
9. It is uninteresting, dull and mechanical. It is bookish. No aids are used to make lessons interesting. It reduces the learning of a living language to that of a dead language.

CRITIQUE
According to Richards and Rodgers….. “It is a method for which there is no theory. There is no literature that offers a rationale or justification for it or that attempts to relate it to issues in linguistics, psychology or education”. Rivers observes that “the Grammar Translation Method is not successful, however, with the less intellectual students who muddle through making many mistakes over and over again thus building up cumulative habits of inaccuracy which are difficult to eradicate at a more advanced stage. These less gifted students find language study very tedious and usually drop out of the class as soon as possibly can”. In the opinion of Krashen, “Grammar Translation is, of course, grammatically sequenced, the majority of texts attempt to proceed from what the author considers easy rules to more complex rules. Each lesson introduces certain rules and these rules dominate the lesson”. Allen and Widdowson, taking into account the criticism leveled against this method, defend it by saying, “it is possible, however, that this criticism has been overdone. Much has been made of comparatively trivial shortcomings and the achievements have been belittled or ignored. Teachers who wish to maintain a balanced view of linguistics should not overlook the fact that traditional grammar has many useful virtues”.

CONCLUSION
The pith and marrow of above said is that of all the four devices for the explanation of meaning, at the disposal of the teacher, i.e. Material Association, Definition, Use in the context and Translation in the mother tongue, the last one proves to be the most effective where other devices fail or leave the child in confusion. The whole significance of an English expression is brought home to the child by the use of an exact equivalent and he gets a definite idea of its meaning. But the trouble arises when our teachers take it to be a complete and self-sufficient method and make no provision for training in speech.