Discuss the differences between the Grammar Translation Approach and the Direct Approach.

1) Discuss the differences between the Grammar Translation Approach and the Direct Approach. GTM, or grammar-translation method, was first introduced in 1880 and is also called the "classical method. " The purpose of this approach was to help students to read and admire foreign language literature. In this approach, it was believed that by studying the grammar of the target language, students could become more familiar with their native language, and due to this familiarity, they could speak and write their native language better. This, in turn, could help students boost their target language abilities. The learners here were passive learners, and the learning was teacher-based. Deductive grammar, studying Latin and Greek, novels, poetry, and engaging text discipline were important. The goal was for a young man from a wealthy family to know all language disciplines and speak correctly. They learned the language for its own sake. Here, speaking was deemphasized. On the other hand, when the direct method was introduced in 1910 it was mainly focusing on how to use a language to communicate; there was no translation in it and the teacher should demonstrate everything; he should not explain and translate. The purpose of language communication is speech. Here the role of culture is fundamental, and learning can happen through listening and speaking. There are different techniques such as enactment, self-correction, drawing a picture based on dictation, and using maps and information gaps. 2) Which approach most closely aligns with your current teaching style? That is too difficult to say that I just align with one of these approaches, but due to the fact my classes are in an EFL context, I can use GTM as well. But sometimes I have enactment as role-playing, and different versions of correction can happen in my classes, but I do not focus on the works of Aristotle, Plato, or other masterminds. Sometimes I use demonstration to aid my learners, or sometimes I use the translation of sentences from English to Persian and vice versa. I consider the learners’ variables and my context, then decide which approach is workable.