COMPARING TWO DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO LANGUAGE TEACHING: GRA

I think nowadays different teaching methods are being used in combined ways depending on the teacher, the target language, the educational traditions etc. However, because of the globalisation and the growing opportunities for meeting different nations, the use of languages especially the English language now assume even greater importance than before. Simultaneously, speaking and listening skills are emphasised more as a way of successful and fluent communication. Since the whole world is getting more and more utilitarian there is also a stress on teaching useful things. There was always a kind of accuracy-versus-fluency debate which has been impossible to resolve, because different teaching approaches appeal to different students at different times. It is probably best to see the situation not in terms of accuracy work or fluency work, but accuracy work and fluency work. It could be argued that a due measure of both at all levels constitutes a reasonable, balanced approach.

I am going to examine two approaches to language teaching and find the most principal differences between them. The Grammar-Translation Method and the

The other main difference is the question of translating. In the Grammar-Translation Method -as it is in its name as well- there is a great emphasis on translation each language into the other. On the contrary, translation is not allowed at all in the Direct Method. Examining the names again, this method receives its name from the fact that meaning is to be connected directly with the target language, without going through the process of translating into the first language. So if there is an unfamiliar word teachers demonstrate the meaning by drawing, pantomime or giving examples instead of translating. I think this process can have some pitfalls. Firstly, students might misunderstand the meaning or not find the right world. The higher the level is the greater the risk is. I believe it is advisable to find a balance in the different ways of explanations. We can demonstrate with pictures or drawings because it might help those who are visual. Miming can be also used if it is clear or even funny. Sometimes a genuine experience can make a word’s meaning lodge in the students’ mind easily and effectively. However, demonstrating can be a waste of time if the word is difficult to explain so in these cases I think translating is easier. I like explaining or giving examples until the right translation has been given by the students. But I also try to encourage my students to look up the meaning in the dictionary if they are not sure and the right phonetic transcription should be always next to each word in their notebook as well.

If we compare the areas of language emphasised we can see that in the Grammar-Translation Method vocabulary and grammar are more important and reading and writing are the primary skills. There is less attention given to listening, speaking and pronunciation. In the Direct Method vocabulary is the most significant and as for the skills, speaking is the main one although reading, writing and listening also occurs from the start. On the other hand, the writing and reading exercises are also based upon oral practice. Pronunciation is worked on right from the beginning of a course. This is very important, because it is said to be hard to correct a wrong pronunciation after it has been used for several times by the student. Not to mention that in some languages pronunciation has a key role. For example in English if we do not pronounce a word correctly it might cause misunderstanding. (bed [bed] - bad [bæd] etc).

Direct Method are rather dissimilar since the central ideas they are based on are very different. While the literary language is superior to spoken language for the Grammar-Translation Method teachers who use the Direct Method teach students how to communicate in the target language, so they te

Some topics in this essay:
Grammar-Translation Method, Direct Method, Method Examining, DIRECT METHOD, grammar-translation method, Greek Hebrew, target language, direct method, teacher students, grammar rule, method teacher, native language, reading writing, method students, explicit grammar rule, method teacher students, spoken language, literature fine arts, grammar taught deductively, grammar-translation method students,