The Grammar-Translation Method

Book excerpt: Essay from the year 2004 in the subject American Studies - Linguistics, grade: 13 out of 16, University of Bedfordshire (Luton Business School), 11 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: The grammar-translation method (GTM) to teach foreign languages dominated from the mid-nineteenth century to the beginning of World War Two and it is still used in some countries today. In the late eighteenth century, Prussia in Germany was the first place which began to establish GTM as the main method to teach a second language (L2) at national high schools, known as Gymnasiums. As Howatt (1997, p.131) stated the method took “... an almost impregnable position as the favoured methodology of the Prussian Gymnasien after their expansion in the early years of the nineteenth century”. Indeed GTM was in the mid-nineteenth century the only widely used teaching method in the schools, not only in Germany also in other European countries. Originally it was used to teach Greek and Latin. Five hundred years ago Latin was the “official” or main language of education, religion, business and authorities in Europe. After political changes in Europe Latin changed gradually (a process of more than three hundred years) from a living language to “a school curriculum language” and was replaced by English, German, French or Italian as the main language for communication purposes (Richards and Rodgers, 1997). In the mid-nineteenth century, Latin remained as an important subject in education for the upper class. For centuries Latin was taught to understand the fundamentals of grammar and translation in order to read or interpret Latin texts. Most of the students who were taught Latin were very well educated and therefore it was easier for them to learn a different language. It was thought that the same teaching method to teach Latin could be used to teach other foreign languages such as German, French or English. The same method to teach very well educated people should suit to teach younger learners as well. In the mid-nineteenth century the main aim was to learn a L2 for the purpose of gaining access to its literature in order to develop the learner’s minds mentally. Due to this historical background GTM is also known as the traditional or classical method, as the grammar school method or in America as the Prussian method. Along with industrialisation more opportunities for communication had been arising especially in Europe and consequently new methods for language teaching were developed in order to meet the needs of the new class of language learners (Howatt, 1997).