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 Series Method, namely, that second language learning should be more like first language learning-lots of oral interaction, spontaneous use of the language, no translation between first and second languages, and little or no analysis of grammatical rules. Richards and Rodgers summarize the principles of the Direct Method1 As with the Grammar-Translation Method, the Direct Method is not new. Its principles have been applied by language teachers for many years. Most recently, it was revived as a method when the goal of instruction became learning how to use a foreign language to communicate. Since the GrammarTranslation Method was not very effective in preparing students to use the target language communicatively, the Direct Method became popular.2 The Direct Method has one very 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 enjoyed considerable popularity through the end of the nineteenth century and well into this one. It was most widely accepted in private language schools where students were highly motivated and where native-speaking teachers could be employed. One of the best known of its popularizers was Charles Berlitz (who never used the term Direct Method and chose instead to call his method the Berlitz Method). To this day "Berlitz" is a household word; Berlitz language schools are thriving in every country of the world. Enthusiastic supporters of the Direct Method introduced it in France and Germany (it was officially approved in both countries at the turn of the century), and it became widely known in the United
1

Douglas Brown, Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy, San Francisco State University, 1994, p. 9-10
2

Dianne Larsen Freeman, Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching, Oxford University Press, 1986, p.18-29 1

States through its use by Sauveur and Maximilian Berlitz in successful commercial language schools. (Berlitz, in fact, never used the term; he referred to the method used in his schools as the Berlitz Method)3 But almost any "method" can succeed when clients are willing to pay high prices for small classes, individual attention, and intensive study. The Direct Method did not take well in public education where the constraints of budget, classroom size, time, and teacher background made such a method difficult to use. Moreover, the Direct Method was criticized for its weak theoretical foundations. Its success may have been more a factor of the skill and personality of the teacher than of the methodology itself. By the end of the first quarter of 20 th century the use of the Direct Method had declined both in Europe and in the United States. Most language curricula returned to the Grammar Translation Method or to a "reading approach" that emphasized reading skills in foreign languages. But interestingly enough, by the middle of the century the Direct Method was revived and redirected into what was probably the most visible of all language teaching "revolutions" in the modern era, the Audio-lingual Method. Principles of the Direct Method
1.

Reading in the target language should be taught from the beginning of language instruction; however, the reading skill will be developed through practice with speaking. Language is primarily speech. Culture consists of more than the fine arts. Objects (e.g., realia or pictures) present in the immediate classroom environment should be used to help students understand the meaning. The native language should not be used in the classroom. The teacher should demonstrate, not explain or translate. It is desirable

2.

3. 4.

that students make a direct association between the target language and meaning. Students should learn to think in the target language as soon as

5.

possible. Vocabulary is acquired more naturally if students use it in full

3

J. C. Richard and Theodore S. Rodgers, Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching Cambridge University Press, 1997, p.9-12 2

sentences, rather than memorizing word lists.

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The purpose of language learning is communication (therefore Pronunciation should be worked on right from the beginning of language instruction.
8. 9.

students need to learn how to ask questions as well as answer them).

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Self-correction facilitates language learning. Lessons should contain some conversational activity-some opportunity for students to use language in real contexts. Students should be encouraged to speak as much as possible. Grammar should be taught inductively. There may never be an explicit Writing is an important skill, to be developed from the beginning of The syllabus is based on situations or topics, not usually on linguistic Learning another language also involves learning how speakers of that language live.

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grammar rule given.

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language instruction.
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structures.
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Reviewing the Principles What 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 target language. In order to do this successfully, students should learn to think in the target language. What is the role of the teacher? What is the role of the students? Although the teacher directs the class activities, the student role is less passive than in the Grammar-Translation Method. The teacher and the students are more like partners in the teaching/learning process. What are some characteristics of the teaching/learning process? Teachers who use the Direct Method believe students need to associate meaning and the target language directly. In order to do this, when the teacher introduces a new target language word or phrase, he demonstrates its meaning through the use of realia, pictures, or pantomime; he never translates
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it into the students' native language. Students speak in the target language a great deal and communicate as if they were in real situations. In fact, the syllabus used in the Direct Method is based upon situations (for example one unit would consist of language that people would use at a bank, another of the language that they use when going shopping) or topics (such as geography, money, or the weather). Grammar is taught inductively; that is the students are presented with examples and they figure out the rule or generalization from the examples. An explicit grammar rule may never be given. Students practice vocabulary by using new words in complete sentences.

What is the nature of student-teacher interaction? What is the nature of student-student interaction?

The initiation of the interaction goes both ways, from teacher to students and from student to teacher, although the latter is often teacher-directed. Students converse with one another as well. How are the feelings of the students dealt with? There are no principles of the method which relate to this area. How is language viewed? How is culture viewed?

Language is primarily spoken, not written. Therefore, students study common, everyday speech in the target language. They also study culture consisting of the history of the people who speak the target language, the geography of the country or countries where the language is spoken, and information about the daily lives of the speakers of the language.

What areas of language are emphasized? What language skills are emphasized?

Vocabulary is emphasized over grammar. Although work on all four skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) occurs from the start, oral communication is seen as basic. Thus the reading and writing exercises are based upon what the students practice orally first. Pronunciation also receives attention right from the beginning of a course. What is the role of the students' native language? How is evaluation accomplished?
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The students' native language should not be used in the classroom. We didn't actually see any formal evaluation in the class we observed;

however, in the Direct Method, students are asked to use the language, not to demonstrate their knowledge about the language. They are asked to do so using both oral and written skills. For example, the students might be interviewed orally by the teacher or might be asked to write a paragraph about something they have studied. How does the teacher respond to student errors?

The teacher, employing various techniques, tries to get students to self-correct whenever possible. P.s The principles are seen in the following guidelines for teaching oral language, which are still followed in contemporary Berlitz schools:

Never translate: demonstrate, Never explain: act, Never make a speech: ask questions, Never imitate mistakes: correct,

Never speak with single words: use sentences, Never speak too much: make students speak much, Never use the book: use your lesson plan, Never jump around: follow your plan, Never go too fast: keep the pace of the student, Never speak too slowly: speak normally, Never speak too quickly: speak naturally, Never speak too loudly: speak naturally, Never be impatient: take it easy.

Reviewing the Techniques

Reading Aloud Students take turns reading sections of a passage, play, or dialogue out loud. At the end of each student's turn, the teacher uses gestures, pictures, realia, examples, or other means to make the meaning of the section clear. Question and Answer Exercise This exercise is conducted only in the target language. Students are
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asked questions and answer in full sentences so that they practice with new words and grammatical structure. They have 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 asking them to make a choice between what they said and an alternate answer he supplied. There are, however, other ways of getting students to self-correct. For example, a teacher might simply repeat what a student has just said, using a questioning voice to signal to the student that something was wrong with it. Another possibility is for the teacher to repeat what the student said, stopping just before the error. The student knows that the next word was wrong. Conversation Practice The teacher asks students a number of questions in the target language, which the students have to understand to be able to answer correctly. In the class observed, the teacher asked individual students questions about themselves. The questions contained a particular grammar structure. Later, the students were able to ask each other their own questions using the same grammatical structure. Fill-in-the-blank 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 target language; furthermore, no explicit grammar rule would be applied. The students would have induced the grammar rule they need to fill in the blanks from examples and practice with earlier parts of the lesson. Dictation The teacher reads the passage three times. The first time the teacher reads it at a normal speed, while the students just listen. The second time he reads the passage phrase by phrase, pausing long enough to allow students to write down what they have heard. The last time the teacher again reads at a normal speed, and students check their work.

The Decline of the Direct Method4

The Direct Method was quite successful in private language schools, such as those of the Berlitz chain, where paying clients had high motivation and the use of native-speaking teachers was the norm. But despite pressure from proponents of the method, it was difficult to implement in public secondary school education. It overemphasized and distorted the similarities between naturalistic first language learning and classroom foreign language learning and failed to consider the practical realities of the classroom. So it was perceived to have several drawbacks. First, it required teachers who were native speakers or who had native-like fluency in the foreign language. It was largely dependent on the teacher's skill, rather than on a textbook, and not all teachers were proficient enough in the foreign language to adhere to the principles of the method. Critics pointed out that strict adherence to Direct Method principles was often counterproductive, since teachers were required to go to great lengths to avoid using the. native tongue, when sometimes a simple brief explanation in the students native tongue would have been a. more efficient route to comprehension. By the 1920s, use of the Direct Method in noncommercial schools in Europe had consequently declined. In France and Germany it was gradually modified into versions that combined some Direct Method techniques with more controlled grammar-based activities. The European popularity of the Direct Method in the early part of the twentieth century caused foreign language specialists in the United States to attempt to have it implemented in American schools and colleges, although they decided to move with caution. A study begun in 1923 on the state of foreign language teaching concluded that no single method could guarantee successful results. The goal of trying to teach conversation skills was considered impractical in view of the restricted time available for foreign language teaching in schools, the limited skills of teachers, and the perceived irrelevance of conversation skills in a foreign language for the average American college student. The study-published as the Coleman Report-advocated that a more reasonable goal for a foreign
4

J. C. Richard and Theodore S. Rodgers, Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching Cambridge University Press, 1997, p.9-12 7

language course would be a reading knowledge of a foreign language, achieved through the gradual introduction of words and grammatical structures in simple reading texts. The main result of this recommendation was that reading became the goal of most foreign language pro grams in the United States. The emphasis on reading continued to characterize foreign language teaching in the United States until World War II. Although the Direct Method enjoyed popularity in Europe, not everyone had embraced it enthusiastically. The British applied linguist Henry Sweet had recognized its limitations. It offered innovations at the level of teaching procedures but lacked a thorough methodological basis. Its main focus was on the exclusive use of the target language in the classroom, but it failed to address many issues that Sweet thought more basic. Sweet and other applied linguists argued for the development of sound methodological principles that could serve as the basis for teaching techniques. In the 1920s and 1930s applied linguists systematized the principles proposed earlier by the Reform Movement and so laid the foundations for what developed into the British approach to teaching English as a foreign language. Subsequent developments led to Audio-lingualism in the United States and the Oral Approach or Situational Language Teaching in Britain.

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