Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Lerma Díaz. Grammar Translation
Method vs Communicative Approach in
Teaching English Grammar
- Curricula for English Majors require that grammar
teaching should be arranged as part of the
program
- The current grammar teaching in colleges is still
characterized by the adoption of the traditional teaching
method, which is known as the Grammar Translation
Method.
- the traditional grammar teaching method
helps improve the students’ mastery of the
grammatical rules,
- Translation helps us understand the influence of one
language on the other, e.g., areas of potential errors caused
by negative transfer from the first language
- “Translation can make the student come to
closer grips with the target language
- is indeed very important for the second language
learner. Therefore, translation in one form or
another can play a certain part in language learning”
(Stern, 1991
- its disadvantages which prevent the students
from developing their communicative
competence.
- the traditional grammar teaching method is
teacher-centered
- memorization and rote
learning are the basic learning
techniques,
- grammar is referred to as “study or science of,
rules for, the words into sentences (syntax), and
the forms of words (morphology)”.
- Every language has grammar
- Thornbury (2001) summarizes some rules of thumb about
the teaching of grammar
- The Rule of Context says that one grammatical
form over another is always determined by the
meaning the speaker or writer wishes to
convey
- The Rule of Use: teaching grammar in order to
facilitate the learners’ comprehension and production
of real language
- The Rule of Economy: economizing on presentation time
in order to provide maximum practice time.
- The Rule of Relevance: teach only the grammar that
students have problems with
- The Rule of Nurture: teaching doesn’t necessarily cause
learning
- The Rule of Appropriacy: interpret all the above rules
according to the levels, needs, interests, expectations and
learning styles of the students (
- In contrast to the Grammar Translation Method is the
“revolutionary” Communicative Approach, which shifts attention
from language competence to communicative competence
- Thus aim aims to (a) make communicative competence as
the goal of language teaching and (b) develop procedures
for the teaching of the four language skills.
- Communicative Language Teaching
stresses the importance of providing
learners with opportunities to use
English for communicative purposes
- Negative aspects
- has inherited the humanist view that language is an
expression of personal meaning, rather than an
expression of a common culture.
- is an inappropriate methodology in those cultural contexts
where the teacher is regarded as a fount of wisdom, and
where accuracy is valued more highly than fluency
- The Communicative Approach has come under attack from
teachers for being prejudiced in favor of native-speaker
teachers by demanding a relatively uncontrolled range of
language use on the part of the student
- Some reasons that this theory cannot be
accepted in some context, in this case;
taiwan
- Burnaby claimed that teachers in
China found it difficult to use communicative language
approach because of the class sizes, resources and
equipment
- In CLT, There is supposed to be a variety of activities which provide
students opportunities to practice communicating meaningfully in
different contexts
- Communicative competence is essential for those who want to
study in an English-speaking country
- The communicative approach might have been proved to be the best way of
training students in ESL learners
- References: Chang, S. (2011). A constrastive study of grammar translation method and
communicative apporach in teacher english grammar. English Language teaching, 4(2),
13.
- By: Angel Lerma Díaz.
- Communicative Approach
- Grammar translation method