UNIT 02

Exercise IV:

1.      Was English the dominant language five or six hundred years ago?
-          No, the dominant language was latin at that time.

2.      How was study of classical Latin conducted during the 17th century?
-          At that time a rigorous introduction was given to analyze the grammar of Latin, which was taught by grammatical rules, translation and practice in writing sample sentences,
-          sometimes with the use of parallel bilingual  texts and dialogues.

3.      What happened during the 18th century? How were modern languages taught at the time?
-          The modern languages began to be part of the European schools curriculum.
-          These languages were taught using exactly the same basic procedures that were used for teaching Latin.

4.      What were the typical contents of the textbooks then?
-          The textbooks provided a lot of abstract grammar rules, long lists of vocabulary, and sentences for translation.

5.      Regarding the study of foreign languages, was oral proficiency a goal at that period of time?
-          -Speaking the foreign language or real comunnication was not the goal, and oral practice was limited to students reading aloud the sentences they had previously translated.

6.      Explain the origin of The Grammar  Translation Method.
-          This method can be seen that it gave its beginnings from the teaching of Latin in the 16th century, then modern or foreign languages appeared and this method was applied as much as in textbooks and as students learned at the end 18th century.

Exercise V:

a.      Answer the following questions about The Grammar Translation Method.
-          For an English teacher, Which are the main advantages of using this method?
-          this method is appropriate to apply when there are different levels of learning in the students as it is given in a direct way in which everyone can learn and facilitates conversion to the mother tongue.
-          For learners of English, Which are the main advantages of using this method?
-          students may find it easier to understand and picture phrases or things.
-          Is this method still used by language teachers?
-          the most teachers use this method to familiarize students with the words at the beginning.
Discuss these sentences in groups and tell your conclusions.
1.      It is unnatural method. The natural order of lerning a language is listenig, speaking, Reading and writing. That is the way how the child learns his mother tongue in natural surroundings.
-           It can be considered an unnatural method but in some cases it is usually very functional because the translation is done quickly.
2.      Perfect translation from one language to another is not always posible.
-          we believe that with practice this is possible, because when you focus on something you could give some results that come close.
3.      Language learning involves habit formation.
-          Could be an important factor in learning, because by focusing on something specific and filling our environment that facilitates the process of understanding.
4.      A person can learn a language only when he internalizes its patterns to the extent that they form new linguistic habits.
-          we think that a person who really wants to learn any foreign language has to do his part and this involves habits.
5.      People who have learnt a foreign or second language throught this method find it difficult to give up the habit of first thinking in their mother tongue and than translating their ideas into the second language.
-   this is the problem that most people have, but this method only serves for a beginning in the process of learning a new language to accommodate and that later our mind has to prepare to understand terms without the need to translate into the mother tongue.

a.      Write four goals of The Grammar Translation Method.
-          It will be easy to convert or translate from one language to another.
-          It helps develop reading and writing skills.
-          Students can become more familiar with the grammar of their native language.
-          It facilitates understanding but not in its entirety.

b.      Are the following sentences T of F?Correct the false ones.
1.      The primary skills to be develop were speaking and listening in L2.(F)
2.      Grammar was taught inductively.(F)
3.      Spoken language was considered superior to literary language.(F)
4.      An important goal was the ability to communicate in L2.(F)
5.      Verb conjugations and other grammatical ítems were learnt by heart.(T)
Excersice VI:
a.      Answer the following T or F.
1.      An important goal of the Direct Method is for students to translate.(F)
-          In this method it is sought that the student associates the meanings.
2.      Grammar was taught inductively.(T)
3.      Written language is more important than spoken language.(F)
-          the direct method gives importance to orality for the student to develop.
4.      Aspects such as geographical items, history, and every day speech were not dealt with.(F)
- They focused more on oral or spoken study.
5.      Correct pronunciations was a goal from the beginning of the language course.(T)
6.      L1 was used while teaching the lessons.
7.      Learners were allowed to self correct wherever possible.(T)
8.      Learners were given the chance to use L2 in oral and written ways.(F)
-      The goal was to master the language and the oral environment.

b.      Answer the following questions.

1.      Which techniques of the Direct Method would you like to apply when teaching English?

-          help students associate the meanings.

2.      Which techniques of the Direct Method do you find difficult to apply in our teaching contexts?

-          Teach grammatical rules covertly or inductively.

3.      What is the difference between teaching grammar deductively and inductively?

-          In the deductive the student obtains the information without the minimum effort since in the other case the students seek to associate what they see or hear by means of the context to something known to them.

4.      Are the cultural aspects of the language a important component in foreign language teaching?

-          More than that are the habits that a certain culture has, they may or may not be facilitators.

5.      How can you teach L2 culture?

6.      Do you think that a second language should be learned in the same way first language was acquired?

-          I think all languages are learned the same way.

Excercise VII:

a.      The following techniques are typical of the Audio Lingual Method.

1.      Students are given a short dialog to memorize. Then they must use mimicry and role playing to present the dialog. DICTATION TRANSFORMATION DRILL

2.      Students repeat the last chunk of a sentence. They expand the individual chunks one by one in sequence until the whole sentences is practiced with correct pronunciation and intonation. CHAIN DRILL

3.      The teacher provides a question which must be transformed into a statement (Or active voice sentences to be transformed into passive voice). DICTATION TRANSFORMATION DRILL

4.      Students fill in the blanks in the dialogs provided. COMPLETE THE DIALOG

5.      Using any piece of literatura at the students Reading level, the teacher reads the piece aloud several times. Students write down what they hear. THE ALPHABET GAME

6.      The teacher greets or questions a student, that student responds. Then he/she turns to the next student and does the same to the second student. And the exercise continues that way. BACKWARD BUILD UP

7.      The teacher chooses a category, such as the zoo. Then the first student says, “i went to the zoo and i saw an ant and a bee”. The activity continues in this manner with each consecutive students adding an ítem beginning with the next letter after reapting the ítems named before. DIALOG MEMORIZATION

§  Complete the table below about the main differences between The Grammar Translation and The Direct Method.

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