The Direct Method

Dr. Ali Alzurfi

University of Kufa
Faculty of Education
 Direct Method
 Direct Method (Berlitz method)
receives its name from the fact that meaning is to be
connected directly with the target language, without
translating into the student’s native language it
Revolution to Grammar Translation Method. One of
the revolutionists was Francois Gouin.

The Direct Method has one very

basic rule: No translation is allowed.
 Background

 Founded by Francois Gouin, in 1860, he observed

hundreds of French students learning a foreign language
and concluded that learning a foreign language should be
in the same way by which people learn their L1.
 • It aims to use the target language to communicate with
daily words. Grammar is taught inductively, in which
students discover the rules.
 Gouin had been one of the first of the nineteenth-
century reformers to attempt to build a
methodology around observation of child
language learning. Other reformers toward the end
of the century likewise turned their attention to
naturalistic principles of language learning, and for
this reason they are sometimes referred to as
advocates of a "natural" method
 . In fact at various times throughout the history of
language teaching, attempts have been made
to make second language learning more like
first language learning. In the sixteenth century,
for example, Montaigne described how he was
entrusted to a guardian who addressed him
exclusively in Latin for the first years of his life,
since Montaigne's father wanted his son to
speak Latin well.
 Among those who tried to apply natural
principles to language classes in the nineteenth
century was L. Sauveur (1826-1907), who used
intensive oral interaction in the target language,
employing questions as a way of presenting and
eliciting language. He opened a language
school in Boston in the late 1860s, and his
method soon became referred to as the Natural
Method.
 Sauveur and other believers in the Natural Method
argued that a foreign language could be taught
without translation or the use of the learner's native
tongue if meaning was conveyed directly through
demonstration and action.
 The German scholar F. Franke wrote on the
psychological principles of direct association
between forms and meanings in the target
language (1884) and provided a theoretical
justification for a monolingual approach to teaching.
According to Franke, a language could best be
taught by using it actively in the classroom.
 Rather than using analytical procedures that
focus on the explanation of grammar rules in
classroom teaching, teachers must encourage
direct and spontaneous use of the foreign
language in the classroom. Learners would
then be able to induce rules of grammar. The
teacher replaced the textbook in the early
stages of learning. Speaking began with
systematic attention to pronunciation. Known
words could be used to teach new
vocabulary, using mime, demonstration, and
pictures.
 These natural language learning principles
provided the foundation for what came to be
known as the Direct Method, which refers to the
most widely known of the natural methods.
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 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.)
 Principles the of Direct Method

 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.
Objects 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 that
students make a direct association
between the target language and
meaning.
 Principles of the Direct Method

 Students should learn to think in the target language as soon

as possible.

 The purpose of language learning is communication (therefore

students need to learn how to ask questions as well as answer

them).

 Pronunciation should be worked on right from the beginning of

language instruction.
 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.
 Principles of the Direct Method

 Grammar should be taught inductively. There

may never be an explicit grammar rule given.

 Writing is an important skill, to be developed

from the beginning of language instruction.

 The syllabus is based on situations or topics,

not usually on linguistic structures.

 Learning another language also involves

learning how speakers of that language live.
 What are the goals of the teacher ?

Teachers who use the direct method intend

that students learn how to communicate

( speak ) in the target language .To do this

successfully, students should learn to think in the

target language.
 What language skills are emphasized?

 Vocabulary is emphasized over grammar. Although work on

all four skills ( reading, writing , speaking and listening ).

 What are some characteristics of the
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, picture;

he never translates it into students’ native language. Students speak in

the target language a great deal and communicate as if they were in

real situations. Grammar is taught inductively ; that is , the students are

presented with examples and figure out the rule from the

examples.
 Techniques of the Direct Method
Reading Aloud
Question and Answer Exercise
Getting Students to Self-correct
Conversation Practice
Fill-in-the-blank Exercise
Dictation
Paragraph writing
Map drawing
Map drawing
Dictation
Conversation Practice
Fill-in-the-blank Exercise
Getting Students to Self-correct
Question and Answer Exercise
 Reading aloud: Students take turns reading
sections of a passage, play, or dialog 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.
 Paragraph writing : The teacher in this class
asked the students to write a paragraph in their
own words. They could have done this from
memory, or they could have used the reading
passage in the lesson as a model.
 Advantages

 Let students learn the correct

pronunciation and better oral skills
because no native language is used
and communication is main activity in
the class. Whereas, students’
enterprising spirits and the teacher
speaking the target language fluently
are required.
 Disadvantages

Students may be afraid of asking Qs.

• It’s hard to practice the methods in
a class with more than 20 students. It
needs a great amount of teachers
• It’s hard to explain abstract words.
• It takes much time for the teacher
to explain the words that might be
trivial.
 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
counterproductiv, since teachers were required
to go to great lengths to avoid using the native
tongue, when sometimes a simple brief
explanation in thestudents's native tongue would
have been a. more efficient route to
comprehension.
 Check your understanding of
the direct method
 Q1: Explain the difference between deductive and inductive
treatments of grammar.

 Q2: What are some of the characteristics of the direct method that
make it so distinctive from the Grammar Translation Method ?

 Q3: Mention the main principles of the direct method .

 Q4-Compare between the grammar translation method and the

direct method .