Oral skills versus structural knowledge: the Reform Movement and the Grammar-Translation Method

ABSTRACT

Considering the most significant international historical research on the history of language learning and teaching since the 1850s as a starting point, this paper builds on the four contributions to this special issue of Language & History to situate the two historical language teaching methods known as the Reform Method and the Grammar-Translation Method in more detail. Before introducing the origins of the Reform Method, the aims and approaches of these two methods are first considered. Then, based on the secondary literature, a brief investigation is made into the possible origins of the German term ‘Grammatik-Übersetzungsmethode’ and the English equivalent ’Grammar-TranslationMethod’, respectively. Finally, the question of whether the Reform Movement can be considered a success or a failure with respect to the dissemination of oral competencies is addressed.

KEYWORDS:

• HoLLT
• Reform Movement
• Grammar-Translation Method
• oral skills

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

¹ See Viëtor (1882). As mentioned by Hüllen (2013: 766), this pseudonym stems from the famous beginning of the first oration of the Roman statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC) against Catiline (Lucius Sergius Catilina; 108–62 BC) that begins with the rhetorical question ‘Quousque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra?’ (Cicero 1856: 16), that translates as ‘How much longer will you abuse our patience, Catiline’ (Batstone 2009: 220).

² See Kelly (1976: 53), Howatt and Widdowson (2004: 151–158), as well as Grünewald (2010: 95–96), Vermes (2010) and Siefert (2013: 34–6) with references to further publications on the topic.

³ Viëtor (1886: 19): «Nun, unsere Sprachunterrichtsmethode ist über die Donatusmanier noch gar nicht so weit hinaus! Es handelt sich darum, den Inhalt der Schulgrammatik und nebenher den nötigen Wortvorrat dem Schüler zu überliefern».

[Well, our method of language teaching hasn’t gone beyond the Donatus style yet! It is a matter of passing down to the pupil the content of the school grammar and at the same time the necessary vocabulary]. Translations from the German provided by the authors of this paper are put in square brackets.

⁴ [But how is this improved grammar and translation method so convenient and safe! The real teacher is the one made of paper, the book. The living teacher is as good as dead. It is not necessary for him to know the language, he does not even need to be one lesson ahead of the student. His most important activity is the correction of pieces translated in writing. But for this there is the printed ‘key’, which makes the work of the teacher – and probably also of the pupil – easier].

⁵ [If the teaching of foreign languages is driven by the old grammar and translation method, which expects everything from a continued comparison of foreign-language forms with those of the mother tongue, it is absolutely necessary that the student should have a firm and conscious knowledge of the grammatical function and meaning of these forms of the mother tongue].

⁶ [Thus, in 1882, the old grammatical or translation method still applied or was applied again. Reaction leads to revolution. It is already fermenting and stirring; a few more or less youthful enthusiasts are trying – thus it is claimed with loud cries, to break the tyranny of grammar and translation to bring about a freer era].

⁷ [instilling a theoretical understanding of the physiological and phonetic processes].

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Friederike Klippel

Friederike Klippel is Professor Emerita of Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München (Munich, Germany). Her research focuses on the history of foreign language learning and teaching, intercultural learning, language teaching methodology, language teacher education, early language learning and classroom research. She is a member of the Henry Sweet Society and of the HoLLT network.

Rolf Kemmler

Rolf Kemmler holds a PhD from the University of Bremen (Germany) and another from the University of Vigo (Galicia, Spain). An assistant professor at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD, Vila Real), he is also an integrated member of the research centre Centro de Estudos em Letras (CEL/UTAD, Vila Real, Portugal) as well as a Foreign Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences of Lisbon. He currently focuses his research on historical textbooks of the German as a foreign language, especially in Portugal and Spain, as well as on historical Latin-Portuguese grammars. CEL is a R&D unit funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) UIDB/00707/2020.