direct method

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The Direct Method

Introduction

At the turn of 20th century the Direct Method became quite widely known and

practiced.

The basic premise of the Direct Method was similar to that of Gouin's eries Method!

namely! that second lan"ua"e learnin" should be more like first lan"ua"e learnin"#

lots of oral interaction! spontaneous use of the lan"ua"e! no translation between first

and second lan"ua"es! and little or no analysis of "rammatical rules. $ichards and

$od"ers summari%e the principles of the Direct Method&

As with the Grammar#Translation Method! the Direct Method is not new. ts principles

ha(e been applied by lan"ua"e teachers for many years. Most recently! it was re(i(ed as

a method when the "oal of instruction became learnin" how to use a forei"n lan"ua"e to

communicate. ince the Grammar#Translation Method was not (ery effecti(e in

preparin" students to use the tar"et lan"ua"e communicatively! the Direct Method

became popular.2

The Direct Method has one (ery basic rule) No translation is allowed.

In fact, the Direct Method receives its name from the fact that meaning is to be

connected directly with the target language, without going through the process of

translating into the students' native language.

The Direct Method en*oyed considerable popularity throu"h the end of the nineteenth

century and well into this one. t was most widely accepted in pri(ate lan"ua"e schools

where students were hi"hly moti(ated and where nati(e#speakin" teachers could be

employed.

+ne of the best known of its populari%ers was ,harles -erlit% who ne(er used theterm

Direct Method and chose instead to call his method the -erlit% Method/. To this day

-erlit% is a household word1 -erlit% lan"ua"e schools are thri(in" in e(ery country of the

world. nthusiastic supporters of the Direct Method introduced it in 3rance and Germany it

was officially appro(ed in both countries at the turn of the century/! and it became widely

known in the 4nited tates throu"h its use by au(eur and Ma5imilian -erlit% in successful

commercial lan"ua"e schools. -erlit%! in fact! ne(er used the term1 he referred to the

method used in his schools as the -erlit% Method/6

1Douglas Brown, Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy, San rancisco State

!niversity, 1""#, p$ "%1&

'Dianne Larsen (ree)an, Techni*ues and Principles in Language Teaching, +-ord !niversity Press, 1"./, p$1.%'"0$ 2$ 3ichard and Theodore S$ 3odgers, Approaches and 4ethods in Language Teaching 2a)bridge !niversity

Press, 1""5, p$"%1'

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-ut almost any method can succeed when clients are willin" to pay hi"h

prices for small classes! indi(idual attention! and intensi(e study. The Direct Method

did not take well in public education where the constraints of bud"et! classroom si%e!

time! and teacher back"round made such a method difficult to use. Moreo(er! the

Direct Method was critici%ed for its weak theoretical foundations. ts success may ha(ebeen more a factor of the skill and personality of the teacher than of the methodolo"y

itself.

-y the end of the first quarter of 20 thcentury the use of the Direct Method

had declined both in urope and in the 4nited tates. Most lan"ua"e curricula

returned to the Grammar Translation Method or to a readin" approach that

emphasi%ed readin" skills in forei"n lan"ua"es. -ut interestin"ly enou"h! by the

middle of the century the Direct Method was re(i(ed and redirected into what was

probably the most (isible of all lan"ua"e teachin" re(olutions in the modern era!

the Audio#lin"ual Method.

Principles of the Direct Method

&. $eadin" in the tar"et lan"ua"e should be tau"ht from the be"innin" of lan"ua"e

instruction1 howe(er! the readin" skill will be de(eloped throu"h practice with

speakin". 7an"ua"e is primarily speech. ,ulture consists of more than the fine

arts.

2. +b*ects e.".! realia or pictures/ present in the immediate classroom

en(ironment should be used to help students understand the meanin".

6. The nati(e lan"ua"e should not be used in the classroom.

8. The teacher should demonstrate! not e5plain or translate. t is desirable that

students make a direct association between the tar"et lan"ua"e and meanin".

9. tudents should learn to think in the tar"et lan"ua"e as soon as possible.

:ocabulary is acquired more naturally if students use it in full sentences! rather

than memori%in" word lists.

;. The purpose of lan"ua"e learnin" is communication therefore students need to

learn how to ask questions as well as answer them/.


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as possible.

&0.Grammar should be tau"ht inducti(ely. There may ne(er be an e5plicit "rammar

rule "i(en.

&&.@ritin" is an important skill! to be de(eloped from the be"innin" of lan"ua"e

instruction.&2. The syllabus is based on situations or topics! not usually on lin"uistic structures.

&6. 7earnin" another lan"ua"e also in(ol(es learnin" how speakers of that lan"ua"e li(e.

eviewing the Principles

!hat are the goals of teachers who use the Direct Method"

Teachers who use the Direct Method intend that students learn how to communicate in

the tar"et lan"ua"e. n order to do this successfully! students should learn to think in

the tar"et lan"ua"e.

!hat is the role of the teacher" !hat is the role of the students"

Althou"h the teacher directs the class acti(ities! the student role is less passi(e than in the

Grammar#Translation Method. The teacher and the students are more like partners in the

teachin"learnin" process.

!hat are some characteristics of the teaching#learning process"

Teachers who use the Direct Method belie(e students need to associate meanin" and

the tar"et lan"ua"e directly. n order to do this! when the teacher introduces a new tar"et

lan"ua"e word or phrase! he demonstrates its meanin" throu"h the use of realia! pictures!

or pantomime1 he ne(er translates it into the students' nati(e lan"ua"e. tudents speak

in the tar"et lan"ua"e a "reat deal and communicate as if they were in real situations. n

fact! the syllabus used in the Direct Method is based upon situations for e5ample one unit

would consist of lan"ua"e that people would use at a bank! another of the lan"ua"e that

they use when "oin" shoppin"/ or topics such as "eo"raphy! money! or the weather/.

Grammar is tau"ht inducti(ely1 that is the students are presented with e5amples and

they fi"ure out the rule or "enerali%ation from the e5amples. An e5plicit "rammar rule

may ne(er be "i(en. tudents practice (ocabulary by usin" new words in complete

sentences.

!hat is the nature of student$teacher interaction" !hat is the nature of

student$student interaction"

The initiation of the interaction "oes both ways! from teacher to students and from

student to teacher! althou"h the latter is often teacher#directed. tudents con(erse with

one another as well.

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%ow are the feelings of the students dealt with"

There are no principles of the method which relate to this area.

%ow is language viewed" %ow is culture viewed"

7an"ua"e is primarily spoken! not written. Therefore! students study common! e(eryday

speech in the tar"et lan"ua"e. They also study culture consistin" of the history of the

people who speak the tar"et lan"ua"e! the "eo"raphy of the country or countries where the

lan"ua"e is spoken! and information about the daily li(es of the speakers of the lan"ua"e.

!hat areas of language are emphasi&ed" !hat language sills are

emphasi&ed"

:ocabulary is emphasi%ed o(er "rammar. Althou"h work on all four skills readin"! writin"!

speakin"! and listenin"/ occurs from the start! oral communication is seen as basic. Thus

the readin" and writin" e5ercises are based upon what the students practice orally first.

=ronunciation also recei(es attention ri"ht from the be"innin" of a course.

!hat is the role of the students' native language"

The students' nati(e lan"ua"e should not be used in the classroom.

%ow is evaluation accomplished"

@e didn't actually see any formal e(aluation in the class we obser(ed1 howe(er! in the

Direct Method! students are asked to use the lan"ua"e! not to demonstrate their

knowled"e about the lan"ua"e. They are asked to do so usin" both oral and written skills.

3or e5ample! the students mi"ht be inter(iewed orally by the teacher or mi"ht be asked to

write a para"raph about somethin" they ha(e studied.

%ow does the teacher respond to student errors"

The teacher! employin" (arious techniques! tries to "et students to self#correct whene(er

possible.

P.s

The principles are seen in the following guidelines for teaching oral language,

which are still followed in contemporary (erlit& schools)

Be(er translate) demonstrate! .

Be(er e5plain) act!

Be(er make a speech) ask questions!

Be(er imitate mistakes) correct!

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Be(er speak with sin"le words) use sentences!

Be(er speak too much) make students speak much!

Be(er use the book) use your lesson plan!

Be(er *ump around) follow your plan!

Be(er "o too fast) keep the pace of the student!

Be(er speak too slowly) speak normally!

Be(er speak too quickly) speak naturally!

Be(er speak too loudly) speak naturally!

Be(er be impatient) take it easy.

eviewing the Techni*uesReading Aloud

tudents take turns readin" sections of a passa"e! play! or dialo"ue out loud. At

the end of each student's turn! the teacher uses "estures! pictures! realia! e5amples! or

other means to make the meanin" of the section clear.

Question and Answer Exercise

This e5ercise is conducted only in the tar"et lan"ua"e. tudents are asked

questions and answer in full sentences so that they practice with new words and

"rammatical structure. They ha(e the opportunity to ask questions as well as answer

them.

Getting Students to Self-correct

The teacher of this class has the students self#correct by askin" them to make a

choice between what they said and an alternate answer he supplied.

There are! howe(er! other ways of "ettin" students to self#correct. 3or e5ample! a

teacher mi"ht simply repeat what a student has *ust said! usin" a questionin" (oice tosi"nal to the student that somethin" was wron" with it.

Another possibility is for the teacher to repeat what the student said! stoppin"

*ust before the error. The student knows that the ne5t word was wron".

Conversation Practice

The teacher asks students a number of questions in the tar"et lan"ua"e! which the

students ha(e to understand to be able to answer correctly. n the class obser(ed! theteacher asked indi(idual students questions about themsel(es. The questions contained a

particular "rammar structure. 7ater! the students were able to ask each other their own

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questions usin" the same "rammatical structure.

Fill-in-the-lan! Exercise

This technique has already been discussed in the Grammar#Translation Method! but

differs in its application in the Direct Method. All the items are in the tar"et lan"ua"e1

furthermore! no e5plicit "rammar rule would be applied. The students would ha(e inducedthe "rammar rule they need to fill in the blanks from e5amples and practice with earlier

parts of the lesson.

"ictation

The teacher reads the passa"e three times. The first time the teacher reads it at a

normal speed! while the students *ust listen. The second time he reads the passa"e

phrase by phrase! pausin" lon" enou"h to allow students to write down what they ha(e

heard. The last time the teacher a"ain reads at a normal speed! and students check theirwork.

The Decline of the Direct Method+

The Direct Method was quite successful in pri(ate lan"ua"e schools! such as those of

the -erlit% chain! where payin" clients had hi"h moti(ation and the use of nati(e#

speakin" teachers was the norm. -ut despite pressure from proponents of the method!

it was difficult to implement in public secondary school education. t o(eremphasi%ed

and distorted the similarities between naturalistic first lan"ua"e learnin" and classroomforei"n lan"ua"e learnin" and failed to consider the practical realities of the classroom.

o it was percei(ed to ha(e se(eral drawbacks. 3irst! it required teachers who were

nati(e speakers or who had nati(e#like fluency in the forei"n lan"ua"e. t was lar"ely

dependent on the teacher's skill! rather than on a te5tbook! and not all teachers were

proficient enou"h in the forei"n lan"ua"e to adhere to the principles of the method.

,ritics pointed out that strict adherence to Direct Method principles was often

counterproducti(e! since teachers were required to "o to "reat len"ths to a(oid usin"

the. nati(e ton"ue! when sometimes a simple brief e5planation in the students nati(e

ton"ue would ha(e been a. more efficient route to comprehension.

-y the &?20s! use of the Direct Method in noncommercial schools in

urope had consequently declined. n 3rance and Germany it was "radually modified

into (ersions that combined some Direct Method tech#

niques with more controlled "rammar#based acti(ities. The uropean

popularity of the Direct Method in the early part of the twentieth century

#$ 2$ 3ichard and Theodore S$ 3odgers, Approaches and 4ethods in Language Teaching 2a)bridge !niversity

Press, 1""5, p$"%1'

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caused forei"n lan"ua"e specialists in the 4nited tates to attempt to

ha(e it implemented in American schools and colle"es! althou"h they

decided to mo(e with caution. A study be"un in &?26 on the state of

forei"n lan"ua"e teachin" concluded that no sin"le method could "uarantee successful

results. The "oal of tryin" to teach con(ersation skillswas considered impractical in (iew of the restricted time a(ailable for

forei"n lan"ua"e teachin" in schools! the limited skills of teachers! and

the percei(ed irrele(ance of con(ersation skills in a forei"n lan"ua"e for

the a(era"e American colle"e student. The study#published as the

,oleman $eport#ad(ocated that a more reasonable "oal for a forei"n

lan"ua"e course would be a readin" knowled"e of a forei"n lan"ua"e!

achie(ed throu"h the "radual introduction of words and "rammatical

structures in simple readin" te5ts. The main result of this recommen#

dation was that readin" became the "oal of most forei"n lan"ua"e pro

"rams in the 4nited tates. The emphasis on readin"

continued to characteri%e forei"n lan"ua"e teachin" in the 4nited tates

until @orld @ar .

Althou"h the Direct Method en*oyed popularity in urope! not e(eryone had

embraced it enthusiastically. The -ritish applied lin"uist Cenry weet had reco"ni%ed

its limitations. t offered inno(ations at the le(el of teachin" procedures but lacked a

thorou"h methodolo"ical basis. ts main focus was on the e5clusi(e use of the tar"et

lan"ua"e in the classroom! but it failed to address many issues that weet thou"ht more

basic. weet and other applied linguists argued for the development of sound

methodological principles that could serve as the basis for teaching techni*ues. n the

&?20s and &?60s applied lin"uists systemati%ed the principles proposed earlier by the

$eform Mo(ement and so laid the foundations for what de(eloped into the -ritish

approach to teachin" n"lish as a forei"n lan"ua"e.

ubse*uent developments led to -udio$lingualism in the nited tates and the

/ral -pproach or ituational 0anguage Teaching in (ritain.

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