¿Enseñar a traducir para enseñar una lengua extranjera? A propósito del método de gramática y traducción

Abstract

The work of Meidinger (1756-1822) is supposed to be one of the first models of the Grammar Translation Method (GTM) used in textbooks in the 18th century. This de-nomination was coined in the early 20th century by the detractors of this method to refer to a learning system established in the practice of teaching and learning foreign languages in Europe that they rejected.In our presentation we will look at some of the main questions that identify the GTM, apparently so wellknown and, in fact, so unknown to everyone, as we will prove through the many doubts generated by the most recent research. We will then focus on the analysis of the exercises that follow the literary fragment «Eine Künstlerseele (2)» included in the third chapter of the handbook Deutschland V: Phantasie und Wirklichkeit(1960). It was intended for French 2nd grade German students.Our aim is to answer the following questions: How much of what we apparently know about the GTM is correct? Was it taught to translate in order to teach a foreign language? Or was it simply translated to teach grammar? Or was grammar taught to teach translation?