Revisiting Grammar-Translation Method For Teaching Innovation

Grammar-translation Method, a teaching method which has been in wide use ? for a long time, is now seen by many researchers and teachers as out-of-date and unreasonable both at home and abroad. A lot of controversies over Grammar-translation Method, which is viewed by many as targeting at the cultivation of grammar ability, have labeled the method "backward teaching method". Indeed, this method alone fails to meet the social demands on students of a foreign language. An intriguing phenomenon is that this method, for all its alleged weaknesses, is still practiced widely in English teaching in china's secondary schools. In English classes many teachers still resort to the Grammar-Translation Method. To our knowledge, the existence of every teaching method has its special background under special conditions. Likewise, the emergence and development of Grammar-Translation Method are rooted in historical conditions to meet special social demands in those times. Therefore, this paper sets out to trace the historical background of the emergence of Grammar-Translation Method and then explains its current status. Grammar-Translation Method, for all its limitations, still serves its advantageous purposes when used in combination with other teaching methods like communicative approach for more effective and better teaching results. On the basis of the analysis of the historical background and the status quo of Grammar-translation Method and in consideration of China's context, this paper proposes a model of PPP framework integrating Communicative Approach, Grammar-translation Method and Audio-lingual Method for English teaching in china's middle schools.