Brown, H.

Douglas

Language, learning, and teaching (extract)

Brown, H. Douglas, (2000) "Language, learning, and teaching (extract)" from Brown, H. Douglas,
Principles of language learning and teaching pp.15-16, White Plains, N.Y.: Longman

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CHAPTER 1

Language, Learning, and Teaching

15

In the Classroom: The Grammar Translation Method

We begin a series of end-of-chapter vignettes on classroom applications with a language teaching "tradition" that, in various manifestations and adaptations, has been practiced in language classrooms
worldwide for centuries. A glance back in history reveals few if any
research-based language teaching methods prior to the twentieth
century. In the Western world, "foreign" language learning in schools
was synonymous with the learning of Latin or Greek. Latin, thought
to promote intellectuality through "mental gymnastics," was until
relatively recently held to be indispensable to an adequate higher
education. Latin was taught by means of what has been called the
Classical Method: focus on grammatical_ruJe_?, r:uemorization_qf
vocabulary and of y.arious_declensions_and_ conjugations,- translatl9_ngf_texts, _Q_()ing -YJJ:!t~n_exercises._ As other languages began to be
taught in educational institutions in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries, the Classical Method was adopted as the chief means for
teaching foreign languages. Little thought was given at the time to
teaching oral use of languages; after all, languages were not being
taught primarily to learn oral/aural communication, but to learn for
the sake of being~_cbolady_" or, in some instances, for gaining a
rfacli_Dg_p_cQficiency in_ a Joreign_laoguag~. Since there was-littleT
any theoretical research on second language acquisition in general,
or on the acquisition of reading proficiency, foreign languages were
taught as any other skill was taught.
Late in the nineteenth century, the Classical Method came to be
known as the Grammar Translation Method. There was little to distinguish Grammar Translation from what had gone on in foreign language classrooms for centuries, beyond a focus on grammatical
rules as the basis for translating from the second to the native language. But the Grammar Translation Method remarkably withstood
attempts at the outset of the twentieth century to "reform" language
teaching methodology, and to this day it remains a standard
methodology for language teaching in educational institutions.
Prator and Celce-Murcia (1979: 3) list the major characteristics of
Grammar Translation:
1. Classes are taught ~otl]~_r tonglJ_e, with littl~ a<:_tly~
_use of_ the_ target L<i!ngy_~g~~
2. Much voc;_abula_Q is taught in the form of lists of isolated
words.
3. Long elaborate explanations of the intricacies of grammar
---are given.
4. Grammar provides the rules for putting words together, and
instruction often focuses on the form and inflection of
words.
5. Reading of_gifficult_classicaltexts_is begun early.
6. Little attentiq~lj~_paid to the_content of texts, which are
treated as exercises in grammatical analysis.

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16

CHAPTER 1

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Language, Learning, and Teaching

7. Often the only .Qdlls.an~-~~sesjn translating disconnected sentences from the target language into the mother
tongue.
8. _Lit~le or no attention is given to pronunci9tio~~
It is remarkable, in one sense, that this method has been so stalwart among many competing models. It_do~s virtuajly_notl]ing_to__
.e:.Qh<illCE! a _student's _COrl}rnUI)icative__abllity_jn_tlie_fanguage. It is
"remembered with distaste by thousands of school learners, for
whom foreign language learning meant a tedious experience of
memorizing endless lists of unusable grammar rules and vocabulary
and attempting to produce perfect translations of stilted or literary
prose" (Richards & Rodgers 1986: 4). In another sense, however,
one can understand why Grammar Translation is so populaUit
requires few specialized skills on the part of teachers~Tests 'of
grammar rules and of translations are easy to construct and can be
objectively scored. Ma~y_g~n-~~~-i_z_ed ~ests ~f_f?reign lan~l!_~g~ still/
do not attempt to tap mto commun1cat1ve ab11it1es; -sostuaents have . 'little motivatiqQ) to go beyond grammar analogies, translations, and !
rote exercises'?'And it is sometimes successful in leading a student
toward a reading knowledge of a second language. But, as Richards
and Rodgers (1986: 5) pointed out, "it has no advocates. 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 educational theory." As we continue to
examine theoretical principles in this book, I think we will understand more fully the_:theorylessness~~ of_ the Grammar Translation
Meth_~d.
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TOPICS AND QUESTIONS FOR

STUDY AND DISCUSSION
Note: Items listed below are coded for either individual (I) work, group/pair
(G) work, or whole-class (C) discussion, as suggestions to the instructor on
how to incorporate the topics and questions into a class session.

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1. (G) In the first paragraph of this chapter, second language learning is

described as a complex, longterm effort that requires much of the
learner. In small groups of three to five, share your own experiences in
learning, or attempting to learn, a foreign language. Describe your own
(a) commitment, (b) involvement, and (c) effort to learn. This discussion
should introduce you to a variety of patterns of learning.
2. (C) Look at the two definitions of language, one from an encyclopedia
and the other from Pinker's book (page 5). Why arc there differences
between these two definitions? \Vhat assumptions or biases do they

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