There are some parents who, when registering their children for HALE – Practical English, insist that the English teachers translate the lessons into Vietnamese for their children because they are afraid their children won’t understand the lessons.
One of the mothers is an English teacher herself, but she always speaks Vietnamese with her child at home, so it’s no wonder that the child’s listening skills are slow. If the child only learns from the mother instead of going to school, the child will almost certainly be unable to communicate!
Despite being advised against it, the mother persists in using the grammar-translation method, which involves teaching grammar separately from other language skills and translating into the native language.
Many teachers still use this method today, despite criticism from language researchers since the mid-19th century, simply because they were taught this way themselves. I conducted a small survey and found that not only did the generations born in the 70s and 80s immerse themselves in this method, but the river is still flowing for the 90s generation.
Quote:
The ability to communicate using the target language is not the main goal for instruction. This methodology provides learners with the view that language is simply a collection of words which are isolated and independent. It seemed that for this methodology there is no need for learners to master the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing). The grammar-translation method was questioned by researchers and language educators in the mid-19th century.
Researchers of L1 and L2 acquisition believed that people learn languages by being exposed to the target language (the language they hear) and by making connections between words and their meaning. Educators emphasized the importance of communication and the development of oral and comprehension skills. Because of the emphasis of the grammar- translation method on the memorization of grammatical rules and translation, and the lack of attention to the development of comprehension and speaking proficiency, this methodology was rejected.
This method does not prioritize the ability to communicate in the target language (i.e. English) as its main goal. It leads learners to perceive language simply as a collection of isolated and independent words. It seems that for this method, learners do not need to master the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing).
The grammar-translation method was questioned by researchers and language educators in the mid-19th century. Researchers of L1 and L2 acquisition believed that people learn languages by being deeply exposed to the target language (i.e. the language they hear) and by making connections between words and their meanings. Educators emphasized the importance of practicing communication and developing speaking and comprehension skills. Because this method emphasizes the memorization of grammatical rules and translation, and neglects the development of speaking and comprehension skills, it was rejected.
Source: https://literariness.org/…/09/grammar-translation-method/
Illustration of the grammar translation method: thinking in the native language before speaking + knowing a lot, but not being able to communicate.
