Workshop based on GRAMMAR TRANSLATION AND DIRECT METHODS

Read the following experience and answer the questions

Taken from Larsen-Freeman & Anderson (2011)

As we enter the classroom, the class is in the middle of reading a passage in their textbook. The
passage is an excerpt entitled ‘The Boys’ Ambition’ from Mark Twain’s Life on the Mississippi. Each
student is called on to read a few lines from the passage. After he has finished reading, he is asked to
translate the few lines he has just read into Spanish. The teacher helps him with new vocabulary items.
When the students have finished reading and translating the passage, the teacher asks them in Spanish
if they have any questions. One girl raises her hand and says, ‘What is paddle wheel?’ The teacher
replies, ‘Es una rueda de paletas.’ Then she continues in Spanish to explain how it looked and worked
on the steamboats which moved up and down the Mississippi River during Mark Twain’s childhood.
Another student says, ‘No understand “gorgeous”.’ The teacher translates, ‘primoroso.’ Since the
students have no more questions, the teacher asks them to write the answers to the comprehension
questions which appear at the end of the excerpt. The questions are in English, and the students are
instructed to write the answers to them in English as well. They do the first one together as an example.
A student reads out loud, ‘When did Mark Twain live?’ Another student replies, ‘Mark Twain lived from
1835 to 1910.’ ‘Bueno,’ says the teacher, and the students begin working quietly by themselves.

In addition to questions that ask for information contained within the reading passage, the students
answer two other types of questions. For the first type, they have to make inferences based on their
understanding of the passage. For example, one question is: ‘Do you think the boy was ambitious?
Why or why not?’ The other type of question requires the students to relate the passage to their own
experience.

For example, one of the questions based on this excerpt asks them, ‘Have you ever thought about
running away from home?’ After one-half hour, the teacher, speaking in Spanish, asks the students to
stop and check their work. One by one, each student reads a question and then reads his or her
response. If the answer is correct, the teacher calls on another student to read the next question. If the
student is incorrect, the teacher selects a different student to supply the correct answer, or the teacher
herself gives the right answer.

Announcing the next activity, the teacher asks the students to turn over the page in their text. There is
a list of words there. The introduction to the exercise tells the students that these are words taken from
the passage they have just read. The students see the words ‘ambition,’ ‘career,’ ‘wharf,’ ‘tranquil,’
‘gorgeous,’ ‘loathe,’ ‘envy,’ and ‘humbly.’ They are told that some of these are review words and that
others are new to them. The students are instructed to give the Spanish word for each of them. This
exercise the class does together. If no one knows the Spanish equivalent, the teacher gives it. In Part
2 of this exercise, the students are given English words like ‘love,’ ‘noisy,’ ‘ugly,’ and ‘proudly,’ and are
directed to find the opposites of these words in the passage. When they have finished this exercise,
the teacher reminds them that English words that look like Spanish words are called cognates. The
English ‘-ty,’ she says, for example, often corresponds to the Spanish endings -dad and -tad. She calls
the students’ attention to the word ‘possibility’ in the passage and tells them that this word is the same
as the Spanish posibilidad. The teacher asks the students to find other examples in the excerpt. Hands
go up; a boy answers, ‘Obscurity.’ ‘Bien,’ says the teacher. When all of these cognates from the
passage have been identified, the students are told to turn to the next exercise in the chapter and to
answer the question, ‘What do these cognates mean?’ There is a long list of English words (‘curiosity,’
‘opportunity,’ ‘liberty,’ etc.), which the students translate into Spanish.

The next section of the chapter deals with grammar. The students follow in their books as the teacher
reads a description of two-word (phrasal) verbs. This is a review for them as they have encountered
phrasal verbs before. Nevertheless, there are some new two-word verbs in the passage the students
haven’t learned yet. These are listed following the description, and the students are asked to translate
them into Spanish.

After reading over the rule and the examples, the students are asked to tell which of the following two-
word verbs, taken from the passage, are separable and which inseparable. They refer to the passage
for clues. If they cannot tell from the passage, they use their dictionaries or ask their teacher.

Finally, they are asked to put one of these phrasal verbs in the blank of each of the 10 sentences they
are given. They do the first two together.

1 Mark Twain decided to ____ because his parents wouldn’t let him get a job on the river.

2 The steamboat men ____ and discharge freight at each port on the Mississippi River.

When the students are finished with this exercise, they read their answers aloud. At the end of the
chapter there is a list of vocabulary items that appeared in the passage. The list is divided into two
parts: the first contains words, and the second, idioms like ‘to give someone the cold shoulder.’ Next
to each is a Spanish word or phrase. For homework, the teacher asks the students to memorize the
Spanish translation for the first 20 words and to write a sentence in English using each word.

In the two remaining lessons of the week, the students will be asked to:

1 Write out the translation of the reading passage in Spanish.

2 State the rule for the use of a direct object with two-word verbs, and apply it to other phrasal verbs.
3 Do the remaining exercises in the chapter that include practice with one set of irregular past
participle forms. The students will be asked to memorize the present tense, past tense, and past
participle forms of this irregular paradigm:

drink drank drunk

sing sang sung

swim swam swum

ring rang rung

begin began begun

4 Write a composition in the target language about an ambition they have.

5 Memorize the remaining vocabulary items and write sentences for each.

6 Take a quiz on the grammar and vocabulary of this chapter. They will be asked to translate a
Spanish paragraph about steamboats into English.

ONCE YOU HAVE READ, MATCH THE OBSERVATIONS WITH THE PRINCIPLES

OBSERVATIONS PRINCIPLES
1. Students write out the answers to reading A. A fundamental purpose of learning a
comprehension questions. language is to be able to read literature
written in it. Literary language is superior to
spoken language. Students’ study of the
target culture is limited to its literature and
fine arts.
2. Students translate the passage from English B. The ability to communicate in the target
into Spanish. language is not a goal of language
instruction.
3. The teacher decides whether an answer is C. The primary skills to be developed are
correct or not. If the answer is incorrect, the reading and writing. Little attention is given to
teacher selects a different student to supply speaking and listening, and almost none to
the correct answer or the teacher herself pronunciation.
gives the right answer.
4. Students translate new words from English D. An important goal is for students to be able to
into Spanish. translate each language into the other. If
students can translate from one language into
another, they are considered successful
language learners.
5. The teacher asks students to state the E. The teacher is the authority in the classroom.
grammar rule. It is very important that students get the
correct answer.
6. The teacher asks students in their native F. It is important for students to learn about the
language if they have any questions. A grammar or form of the target language.
student asks one and is answered in her
native language.
7. The class is reading an excerpt from Mark G. It is possible to find native language
Twain’s Life on the Mississippi equivalents for all target language words.
8. Students learn that English ‘-ty’ corresponds H. Deductive application of an explicit grammar
to -dad and -tad in Spanish. rule is a useful pedagogical technique.
9. Students apply a rule to examples they are I. Language learning provides good mental
given. exercise.
10. Students memorize vocabulary. J. Learning is facilitated through attention to
similarities between the target language and
the native language.
11. Students memorize present tense, past K. Students should be conscious of the
tense, and past participle forms of one set of grammatical rules of the target language.
irregular verbs.
12. Students are given a grammar rule for the L. Wherever possible, verb conjugations and
use of a direct object with two-word verbs. other grammatical paradigms should be
committed to memory.

1
2
3
4
5
 6
7
8
9
10
11
12

READ EXPERIENCE 2. ONCE YOU FINISH, MATCH THE OBSERVATIONS WITH THE
PRINCIPLES

2. The teacher is calling the class to order as we find seats toward the back of the room. He has
placed a big map of the USA in the front of the classroom. He asks the students to open their books
to a certain page number. The lesson is entitled ‘Looking at a Map.’ As the students are called on one
by one, they read a sentence from the reading passage at the beginning of the lesson. The teacher
points to the part of the map the sentence describes after each has read a sentence. The passage
begins:

We are looking at a map of the United States of America. Canada is the country to the north of the
United States, and Mexico is the country to the south of the United States. Between Canada and the
United States are the Great Lakes. Between Mexico and the United States is the Rio Grande River.
On the East Coast is the Atlantic Ocean, and on the West Coast is the Pacific Ocean. In the east is a
mountain range called the Appalachian Mountains. In the west are the Rocky Mountains.

After the students finish reading the passage, they are asked if they have any questions. A student
asks what a mountain range is. The teacher turns to the whiteboard and draws a series of inverted
cones to illustrate a mountain range. The student nods and says, ‘I understand.’ Another student asks
what ‘between’ means. The teacher replies, ‘You are sitting between Maria Pia and Giovanni. Paolo
is sitting between Gabriella and Cettina. Now do you understand the meaning of “between”?’ The
student answers, ‘Yes, I understand.’

The question and answer session continues for a few more minutes. Finally, the teacher invites the
students to ask questions. Hands go up, and the teacher calls on students to pose questions one at a
time, to which the class replies. After several questions have been posed, one girl asks, ‘Where are
the Appalachian Mountains?’ Before the class has a chance to respond, the teacher works with the
student on the pronunciation of ‘Appalachian.’ Then he includes the rest of the class in this practice
as well, expecting that they will have the same problem with this long word. After insuring that the
students’ pronunciation is correct, the teacher allows the class to answer the question. Later another
student asks, ‘What is the ocean in the West Coast?’ The teacher again interrupts before the class
has a chance to reply, saying, ‘What is the ocean in the West Coast? … or on the West Coast?’ The
student hesitates, then says, ‘On the West Coast.’ ‘Correct,’ says the teacher. ‘Now, repeat your
question.’ ‘What is the ocean on the West Coast?’ The class replies in chorus, ‘The ocean on the
West Coast is the Pacific.’ After the students have asked about 10 questions, the teacher begins
asking questions and making statements again. This time, however, the questions and statements
are about the students in the classroom, and contain one of the prepositions ‘on,’ ‘at,’ ‘to,’ ‘in,’ or
‘between,’ such as, ‘Antonella, is your book on your desk?’ ‘Antonio, who is sitting between Luisa and
Teresa?’ ‘Emanuela, point to the clock.’ The students then make up their own questions and
statements and direct them to other students.

The teacher next instructs the students to turn to an exercise in the lesson which asks them to fill in
the blanks. They read a sentence out loud and supply the missing word as they are reading, for
example:

The Atlantic Ocean is ___ the East Coast.

The Rio Grande is ___ Mexico and the United States.

Edoardo is looking __ the map.

Finally, the teacher asks the students to take out their notebooks, and he gives them a dictation. The
passage he dictates is one paragraph long and is about the geography of the United States.

During the remaining two classes of the week, the class will:

1 Review the features of United States geography.

2 Following the teacher’s directions, label blank maps with these geographical features. After this, the
students will give directions to the teacher, who will complete a map on the board.

3 Practice the pronunciation of ‘river,’ paying particular attention to the /?/ in the first syllable (and
contrasting it with and to the pronunciation of /r/.

4 Write a paragraph about the major geographical features of the United States.

5 Discuss the proverb ‘Time is money.’ Students will talk about this is in order to understand the fact
that Americans value punctuality. They will compare this attitude with their own view of time.

MATCH THE OBSERVATIONS WITH THE PRINCIPLES

 OBSERVATIONS PRINCIPLES
1. The teacher points to a part of the map The teacher should demonstrate, not explain or
after each sentence is read. translate. It is desirable that students make a
direct association between the target language
form and meaning.
2. The teacher answers the students’ The purpose of language learning is
questions by drawing on the whiteboard communication (therefore, students need to
or giving examples. learn how to ask questions as well as answer
them).
3. The teacher asks questions about the Students should learn to think in the target
map in the target language, to which the language as soon as possible. Vocabulary is
students reply in a complete sentence in acquired more naturally if students use it in full
the target language sentences, rather than memorizing word lists.
4. The teacher uses the target language to The native language should not be used in the
ask the students if they have a question. classroom.
The students use the target language to
ask their questions.
5. The teacher works with the students on Pronunciation should be worked on right from
the pronunciation of ‘Appalachian. the beginning of language instruction.
6. Students ask questions about the map. Objects (e.g. realia or pictures) present in the
immediate classroom environment should be
used to help students understand the meaning.
7. The students read aloud a passage about Reading in the target language should be taught
the geography of the United States of from the beginning of language instruction;
America. however, the reading skill will be developed
through practice with speaking. Language is
primarily speech.
Culture consists of more than the fine arts (e.g.
in this lesson we observed the students studying
geography and cultural attitudes).
8. The teacher asks questions about the Self-correction facilitates language learning.
students; students ask each other
questions.
 9. A proverb is used to discuss how Writing is an important skill, to be developed
Americans view punctuality. from the beginning of language instruction.
10. The students fill in blanks with Grammar should be taught inductively. There
prepositions practiced in the lesson. may never be an explicit grammar rule given.
11. The teacher corrects a grammar error by Learning another language also involves
asking the students to make a choice. learning how speakers of that language live.
12. The teacher dictates a paragraph about The syllabus is based on situations or topics, not
United States geography. usually on linguistic structures.
13. All of the lessons of the week involve Lessons should contain some conversational
United States geography. activity—some opportunity for students to use
language in real contexts. Students should be
encouraged to speak as much as possible.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13