Grammar-Translation Method

Block B

Churchills first Latin Class

Nominative: Mensa - a table Vocative: Mensa - O table Accusative: Mensam - a table Genitive: Mensae - of a table Dative: Mensae - to or for a table Ablative: Mensa - by, with or from a table

Churchills first Latin Class

Teacher: This is a Latin grammar. [The teacher] opened [the textbook] at a wellthumbed page. You must learn this, he said, pointing to a number of words in a frame of lines Churchill: What on earth did it mean? Where was the sense of it? It seemed absolute rigmarole to me. However, there was one thing I could always do: I could learn it by heart Teacher: Have you learnt it? he asked. I think I can say it, sir, I replied; and I gabbled it off. Churchill: He seemed so satisfied with this that I was emboldened to ask a question But, I repeated, what does it mean? Teacher: Mensa means a table, he answered. Churchill: Then why does mensa also mean O table, I enquired, and what does O table mean? Teacher: O table,you would use that in addressing a table, in invoking a table. Churchill: But I never do, I blurted out in honest amazement. Teacher: If you are impertinent, you will be punished, and punished, let me tell you, very severely, was his conclusive rejoinder.

Introduction: The GT method

[Originally] The goal of foreign language study is to learn a language in order to read its literature or in order to benefit from the mental discipline and intellectual development that result from foreign language study. (Rodgers 2009: 345 in Knapp & Seidlhofer eds.)

Introduction: The GT method

Students had to learn: Nouns and cases in tables Verb declensions in tables Lists of vocabulary

Rationale behind GT
Language was assumed to be made up of isolated words. The words could be translated. Using knowledge of the grammar the words could be strung together.

Rationale behind GT
Learning a language was felt to be a way of exercising our faculty for logical thought and mental discipline. Memorizing and learning rules. Language was learnt through a process of deduction. The ascendency of the written word over the spoken word.

Disadvantages

Is written translation of much use to the average learner? Oral proficiency almost completely ignored. Language is not just a collection of words. Learning our L1 we often learn chunks of language. Most people learn languages because they have to not because they want to exercise the deductive potential of their brains.

Using translation in the classroom

Headway Upper-Intermediate (1987), If I had worked hard, I would have passed the exam. If she had driven more carefully, she might have passed the test. If I had been watching the road, I wouldn't have hit the tree. (1987: 68)

Alan Duff Translation (1989), gives translation a more central role than that of, for example, Headway. Duff goes further when he says translation is more natural than many exercises in EFL classes. He also says that translation can be an end in itself rather than a means to an end. (Pennock-Speck & Santaemilia-Ruiz 1992) Learning Latin using GT

Exercises
Adjectives used as nouns: Quiero hablar con el responsable, sea quien sea. I wish to talk to the person responsible/the person in charge, whoever it may be Can you think of more examples?

Exercises
The conditional. Find a joke that can be translated. Perfrasis Verbales: Cmo se ha puesto! Interpreting exercise involving a group. An interview with Beln Esteban, for example.

Exercises
Think of a warmer using translation. Something short. A grammar point. For example the causative. I have/get my hair cut. I have my mother iron my shirts/I get my mother to iron my shirts. The passive.

References

Knapp, K. & Seidlhofer, B. (2009) Handbook of Foreign Language Communication and Learning. Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter. Pennock-Speck, Barry & Santaemilia, Jos (1992) "In praise of older methods: La traducci en l'ensenyament de llenges estrangeres. Alguns exercicis prctics." In Edo Juli, Miquel (ed.)Actes del I Congrs Internacional Sobre Traducci. Volume II. Barcelona: Universitat Autnoma de Barcelona, 471483 . Velzquez, M. & Simonne, T. (1851) Ollendorfs New Method of Learning to Read, Write and Speak THE SPANISH LANGUAGE.