Which method involves students learning grammar rules and then translating sentences, often helping reading but not broadly developing proficiency?

• A. Interactionist Theory
• B. Content-Based Approaches
• C. Natural Approach
• D. Grammar-Translation Method

Answer: (D)

Traditional language teaching centers on explicit grammar instruction followed by translation. In this approach, learners study grammar rules and apply them by translating sentences between the target language and their native language. It tends to strengthen reading and decoding of written texts and vocabulary through translation, but it doesn't aim to build broad communicative proficiency, especially spontaneous speaking and listening.

An interactionist view, by contrast, emphasizes learning through real communication and social interaction, developing speaking and listening skills through meaningful exchanges. Content-based approaches teach language through subject matter content, tying language development to actual topics and tasks. The natural approach focuses on meaning and understandable input, promoting gradual, unconscious acquisition rather than formal grammar drills. Because the described method centers on grammar rules and translation to support reading rather than developing overall communicative ability, it reflects the Grammar-Translation tradition.