Methods of teaching foreign languages. Grammar-translation method in teaching foreign languages

Jumabaeva Mahmuda Davlatbaevna

English language teacher, school №15, Chirchic, Uzbekistan

One of the most important applied aspects of linguistics is the methodology of teaching foreign languages, which has become today a testing ground for theoretical research and practical applications. If we trace the history of teaching foreign languages ​​over the past century, it becomes obvious that this is far from a frozen system. To the same question - how did you study foreign languages? - Representatives of different generations will respond differently. Moreover, from their answers it will be possible to deduce the laws of the process of changing one dominant teaching method to another methodological paradigm. How and why is this happening?

It must be emphasized that such a transition from one method to another is not carried out either directly “from above” or spontaneously. One method develops, as a rule, in the bowels of the preceding one and has two possible development paths: either it contrasts itself with the previous method, being its exact opposite, rejecting its shortcomings, offering radically new development paths “from the opposite”, or the new method follows a creative logical development of the old, improving its strengths, correcting erroneous or one-sided approaches. The debate between the representatives of the grammar-translation method and the advocates of a “direct” approach to teaching a foreign language can illustrate the first case. A vivid example of the second path of development is the long-term practice of improving the communicative-oriented approach.

There are many factors that determine the dynamics of the development of the dominant methods of teaching foreign languages. They can be grouped according to the parameter objectivity vs. subjectivity. Objective factors include political, scientific, cultural, social, etc. For example, the new political situation in Russia has led to changes in the school practice of teaching foreign languages ​​- from revising the clock grid to creating new training programs and modern teaching aids . A powerful subjective factor can be called sympathy on the part of both students and teachers to practice teaching, to the appropriate method, the reflection of which is inevitably a beloved or “worthless” foreign language textbook.

The level of development of the ideas of related sciences - pedagogy, psychology, and especially linguistics - has a decisive influence on the development of methodological concepts. These studies become the “lining”, the methodological basis of any teaching method. Moreover, the development of methodological thought over the past century makes it possible to trace how a change in the linguistic paradigm determined the need for a transition to a new method.

As early as the end of the 19th century, gymnasium education was considered elitist. His goal was the harmonious development of students, education in them not only the sense of beauty, but also the ability to think logically, including through the teaching of foreign languages. The classical languages ​​that are obligatory for the gymnasium — Latin and Ancient Greek — served as an example of harmony, consistency, and logic. The linguistic understanding of language as a system had methodological consequences: if we consider language as a system, then you can master the system thoroughly by studying and understanding it. The most systematic level of language is its grammar. Therefore, the study of the grammatical system not only plays a crucial role in the study of a foreign language, but is almost equated with it. The unit of grammar study is a rule that you need to know, that is, to memorize and understand, be able to find examples of its use in texts, be able to put it into practice - formulate examples of its use at the level of a sentence and a simple text, for example, an answer to a question or an essay, be able to find in their native language the equivalent of translating certain grammatical constructions. Knowledge of the rule also includes knowledge of all exceptions to it. Therefore, in addition to the rule, you have to memorize all exceptions by heart. To remove additional difficulties and misunderstandings in understanding, all grammatical rules, as well as exercises for exercises, are formulated in the native language, which plays a central role in the grammar-translation method. The main purpose of the training was to read texts and translate them into their native language, which was achieved through knowledge of grammar. This is the essence of the grammar-translation method. Here is his brief description:

• cognitiveness (awareness): the purpose of training is knowledge of the system, and not the development of skills;

• fundamental bilingualism of both the textbook and the learning process itself; mother tongue serves as a basis for comparison and as an intermediary in the acquisition of knowledge;

• transferring the approaches to teaching Latin and Ancient Greek languages ​​into living languages, using strictly Latin terminology to formulate rules and assignments for exercises;

• deductive logic of presentation and assimilation of grammatical material - strictly from the rule to the examples, and not vice versa;

• systematic attitude to grammatical material: the study of grammar occurs “in parts of speech”, regardless of the importance of or another grammatical phenomenon in practical use by native speakers of a particular language (this also includes the influence of the traditions of teaching dead languages).

It should also dwell on a number of features of the grammatical translation method, which invariably cause a critical reaction of supporters of more “democratic" teaching methods. This method and the following teaching aids offer a rather monotonous system of exercises (answers to questions, insertion of a missed word in a strictly defined grammatical form, transformation of sentences from one grammatical form to another - for example, from the present in the past tense, dictations, essays according to a given plan with the use of mandatory lexical units and grammatical constructions and, of course, translation from a foreign language into a native language and vice versa). These exercises themselves, in general, are not objectionable and are even used in a slightly modified form and in other methodological approaches. It deserves criticism that this assortment of tasks is repeated in a textbook from paragraph to paragraph in a strictly defined order, which leads to addiction to the monotonous rhythm of the lesson, and often to a decrease in student motivation. In addition, these exercises are implemented in this system exclusively at the level of scattered sentences that are not linked to each other in the context; therefore, there is no idea of ​​how the learned rules “behave” in everyday communication. The formulations of the tasks themselves are quite strict and, from the modern point of view, do not contribute to the creation of an interactive climate between the students and their textbook. Compare the following two formulations:

- Use these sentences in the past tense.

- Imagine that the events described below occurred last week. How will the text change?

The second formulation is not only more “friendly” with respect to the addressee. It provides the characteristics of certain conditions for the performance of speech actions, which is especially important from the point of view of modern approaches to learning.

Another aspect invariably criticizing the grammar-translation method is the attitude to vocabulary. The lexical minimum is served as a bilingual glossary (list of words) and requires mechanical memorization. No methods of semantization (explanation of meaning) of words, except for translation, are practiced. Naturally, it is easy to assume that the following methods try to correct this drawback and pay much more serious attention to the lexical level of the language.

It is impossible not to say a few words about the texts. As a rule, these are rather difficult texts of fiction, excerpts from the works of serious authors, intended for translation into their native language based on learned grammar. The literary text dominates the textbook, since one of the main goals of the grammar-translation method is to educate the student on texts that correspond to high aesthetic ideals. Therefore, the selection of texts is carried out from the well-known, classic works of fiction. The same texts serve as a means of introducing students to a foreign culture in the broadest sense of the word. This solves the problem of geography, which does not become either a goal or a teaching tool. The genre uniformity of textual material is considered today absolutely unacceptable for teaching a foreign language.

To the credit of the grammar-translation method, it should be said that even now he has supporters among teachers. It is considered the most “reliable” in the sense of absolute sterility, cleanliness, infallibility, academic rigor. Students with a pronounced logical dominant of thinking prefer this method to any other. It is clear why adult trainees so value him.

Today, this method has undergone major modifications and incorporates many of the later approaches. For example, the authors of textbooks partially abandoned bilingualism in the wording of the rules and assignments, leaving a bilingual glossary, supplied the textbooks with audio cassettes, replaced the unchanged classics with textbooks that told “about life” in the country of the language being studied. However, the fundamental principles of the method are unchanged: a cognitive approach to the study of the language system in order to obtain knowledge and a deductive presentation of grammatical material from the rule to practical examples.

LIST OF REFERENCES

1.   Гез Н. И. и др. Методика обучения иностранным языкам в средней школе. М., 1982.

2.   Громова О.А. Аудио-визуальный метод и практика его применения. М., 1977.

3.   Домашнее А.И. и др. Методика преподавания немецкого языка в педагогическом вузе. М., 1983.

4.   Костера П. Обучение иностранному языку в языковой лаборатории. М., 1986.