The Secret Life of Grammar Translation-Part 1
Year: 1999
Type: article
Abstract: Grammar-translation, the method of teaching a language by the intensive study of its grammar and the application of that grammar to the translation of texts, is here examined in its full historical context. Beginning with the bilingual experiences of Roman schoolboys, this language teaching method has been associated with social constructs such as authority, elitism, conservatism, and the search for superior models of living. These, and other, constructs made it attractive at certain periods of language teaching history, and comprise its "secret" life. They in part explain why, despite the pressure of alternative methods, it continues to flourish in certain international contexts today. Part 1 of this paper deals with Roman education and the Reformation-Renaissance period. Part 2 will deal with the nineteenth century and the modern international language teaching situation.
Author: Malcolm J. Benson
Language: Japanese
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W438038779