Revisiting Grammar Translation Method in Contemporary EFL Pedagogy: Effects on Grammatical Accuracy and Translation Competence
Keywords:
Grammatical Accuracy, Language Instruction, Translation Competence, EFL LearnersAbstract
Persistent challenges in achieving grammatical precision among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners continue to raise concerns regarding the effectiveness of predominantly communicative instructional approaches. This study examines the extent to which structured grammar instruction influences learners’ performance and explores the mechanism linking instructional practice and language outcomes. A quasi-experimental design was employed with 60 fourth-semester university students divided into two groups. The experimental group received systematic instruction emphasizing rule explanation, sentence analysis, and guided practice, while the control group participated in meaning-focused communicative activities. Data were collected through pre-test and post-test assessments measuring structural accuracy and translation performance, with descriptive, correlation, and regression analyses conducted using SPSS and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using AMOS to examine direct and indirect relationships among variables. The findings indicate that students receiving explicit instruction demonstrated significantly greater improvement in structural accuracy and translation performance than those in the comparison group, suggesting that grammatical mastery contributes to more precise language transfer. The structural model further reveals that grammatical accuracy plays a mediating role, indicating that improvements in performance are indirectly facilitated through strengthened linguistic knowledge. The study concludes that integrating structured, form-oriented instruction with meaning-focused practices can address persistent accuracy issues and support higher-order language skills.
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