ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY IN INDONESIA

GRAMMAR-TRNSLATION METHOD (GTM)

The grammar –Translation Method is also called classical method because it was used to
teach the classical language such as Latin and Greek. In this method, people use the
written form of the target language as a guide to learn the grammar. It is obviously seen
in the characteristics below:
 The goal of foreign language study is to learn a language to read its literature or to
benefit from the mental discipline and intellectual development that result from
foreign language study. The grammar is analyzed in detailed way and applied in
translation of text or sentence into or out of the target language.
 Focus in reading and writing.
 The vocabulary items are taken from the text, provided with the translation
equivalents. Translation exercise is the most important task.
 Accuracy is emphasized.
 The students’ native language is the medium of instruction.

When people use the GTM to teach English they need:

 Mastery of grammatical rules.
 Memorization of vocabulary related to the text.

From the explanation above, Larsen-Freeman provides techniques in using GTM, they
are:
 Translation of the literary passage
 Reading comprehension questions
 Antonyms and synonyms
 Cognates
 Deductive application of rules
 Fill-in the blanks
 Memorization
 Use word in sentences
 Composition
Indonesia used this method to teach English in 1945 after the Independence Day until
1962.

In the mid nineteenth century, the GTM become less popular because of the need of
communication in spoken form. So the new approaches were introduced in European
countries at the time.

A reform movement from GTM

There was an improvement made from GTM which was only emphasized in reading and
translation to the teaching of modern language that emphasized on speaking. In 1886 the
International Phonetic association was founded with following ideas:
 The study of spoken language
  Phonetic training in order to establish good pronunciation habits
 The use of conversation texts
 Teaching new meaning in association with the target language.

The teaching method of the spoken language was also developed by Henry Sweet as
follows:
 Careful selection of what should be taught
 Imposing limits of what should be taught
 Arranging what is to be taught in terms of the four skills of listening. Speaking,
reading and writing.
 Grading material from specific to complex

Wilhelm Vietor and others advocated the teaching a language as:

 The spoken language is the main target.
 The finding s of phonetics should be applied to teaching and to teacher training.
 Learner should hear the language first, before seeing it in the written form.
 Words are presented in sentences based on meaningful context.
 The rules of grammar should be taught after the students have practiced the
grammar points in context.
 The mother tongue is not the main medium.