Professional Documents
Culture Documents
owards the end of the late 1800s, a revolution in language teaching philosophy
took place that is seen by many as the dawn of modern foreign language
teaching. Teachers, frustrated by the limits of the Grammar Translation Method
in terms of its inability to create communicative competence in students, began to
experiment with new ways of teaching language. Basically, teachers began
attempting to teach foreign languages in a way that was more similar to first
language acquisition. It incorporated techniques designed to address all the
areas that the Grammar Translation did not - namely oral communication, more
spontaneous use of the language, and developing the ability to think in the target
language. Perhaps in an almost reflexive action, the method also moved as far
away as possible from various techniques typical of the Grammar Translation
Method - for instance using L1 as the language of instruction, memorizing
grammatical rules and lots of translation between L1 and the target language.
The appearance of the "Direct Method" thus coincided with a new school of
thinking that dictated that all foreign language teaching should occur in the target
language only, with no translation and an emphasis on linking meaning to the
language being learned. The method became very popular during the first
quarter of the 20th century, especially in private language schools in Europe
where highly motivated students could study new languages and not need to
travel far in order to try them out and apply them communicatively. One of the
most famous advocates of the Direct Method was the German Charles Berlitz,
whose schools and Berlitz Method are now world-renowned.
Still, the Direct Method was not without its problems. As Brown (1994:56) points
out, "(it) 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." By the late 1920s, the method was starting to go into decline and there
was even a return to the Grammar Translation Method, which guaranteed more
in the way of scholastic language learning orientated around reading and
grammar skills. But the Direct Method continues to enjoy a popular following in
private language school circles, and it was one of the foundations upon which the
well-known "Audiolingual Method" expanded from starting half way through the
20th century.
Objectives
The basic premise of the Direct Method is that students will learn to
communicate in the target language, partly by learning how to think in that
language and by not involving L1 in the language learning process whatsoever.
Objectives include teaching the students how to use the language spontaneously
and orally, linking meaning with the target language through the use of realia,
pictures or pantomime (Larsen-Freeman 1986:24). There is to be a direct
connection between concepts and the language to be learned.
Key Features
Richards and Rodgers (1986:9-10) summarize the key features of the Direct
Method thus:
(5) New teaching points are taught through modeling and practice.
Typical Techniques
(6) Dictation
(Teacher reads passage aloud various amount of times at various tempos,
students writing down
what they hear)
How well does such a combination of styles work for the average language
learner? In my opinion, the two styles undermine rather than complement each
other, and inject both unnecessary extra confusion into the language learning
process as well as what could be termed "stereo-typical roles" for teachers based
purely on nationality. For an interesting analysis of this very topic (essentially
"direct" approaches in combination with "indirect" approaches), click here.
I will admit that I myself have been through what I call the "Direct Method for
Initial Classroom Survival" phase, basically because I didn't know better and felt
that with it I was achieving some measure of tangible success as a teacher of
"communicative English". Having (hopefully!) reached a somewhat more
enlightened outlook through both experience and research, I realized that there is
a fundamental flaw to the Direct Approach that has nothing to do with ensuring
the students achieve a sufficient level of proficiency in English structure and
reading. Like many other "modern" language teaching methods that preceded
the "communicative approach", the Direct Method contains nothing in its
essential theory and principles that deals with the learners themselves - cognitive
and affective principles orientated around stepping into the boots of the students
and looking out at the strange and confusing landscape of the foreign language
they are asking (or being asked) to learn.
The Direct Method was an important turning point in the history of foreign
language teaching, and represented a step away from the Grammar Translation
Method that was progressive and heading in the right direction. I would
encourage teachers to view the method in exactly the same way - not a bad way
to teach but a long way short of the big picture modern language teaching
methodology is attempting to achieve.
The Communicative Language Teaching Approach
All the methods described so far are symbolic of the progress foreign language
teaching ideology underwent in the last century. These were methods that came
and went, influenced or gave birth to new methods - in a cycle that could only be
described as competition between rival methods or even passing fads in the
methodological theory underlying foreign language teaching. Finally, by the mid-
eighties or so, the industry was maturing in its growth and moving towards the
concept of a broad "approach" to language teaching that encompassed various
methods, motivations for learning English, types of teachers and the needs of
individual classrooms and students themselves. It would be fair to say that if
there is any one umbrella approach to language teaching that has become the
accepted "norm" in this field, it would have to be the Communicative Language
Teaching Approach. This is also known as CLT.
(3) The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on the language
but also on
the learning process itself.
Finnochiaro and Brumfit (1983:91-93) compiled this list of CLT features way back
in 1983 as a means of comparing it to the Audiolingual Method. Below each
feature in blue italics is the feature of ALM to which it was being compared.
(2) CLT: Dialogs, if used, center around communicative functions and are not
normally memorized.
ALM: Demands more memorization of structure-based dialogs.
(8) CLT: Any device which helps the learners is accepted - varying according to
their age,
interest, etc.
ALM: Grammatical explanation is avoided.
(9) CLT: Attempts to communicate may be encouraged from the very beginning.
ALM: Communicative activities only come after a long process of rigid drills
and exrecises.
(10) CLT: Judicious use of native language is accepted where feasible.
ALM: The use of the students' native language is forbidden.
(11) CLT: Translation may be used where students need or benefit from it.
ALM: Translation is forbidden at early levels.
(12) CLT: Reading and writing can start from the first day, if desired.
ALM: Reading and writing are deferred until speech is mastered.
(13) CLT: The target linguistic system will be learned best through the process
of struggling to
communicate.
ALM: The target linguistic system will be learned through the overt teaching
of the patterns of
the system.
(17) CLT: Teachers help learners in any way that motivates them to work with
the language.
ALM: The teacher controls the learners and prevents them from doing
anything that conflicts with
the theory.
(18) CLT: Language is created by the individual often through trial and error.
ALM: "Language is habit" so error must be prevented at all costs.
(19) CLT: Fluency and acceptable language is the primary goal: accuracy is
judged not in the
abstract but in context.
ALM: Accuracy, in terms of formal correctness, is a primary goal.
(20) CLT: Students are expected to interact with other people, either in the
flesh, through pair and
group work, or in their writings.
ALM: Students are expected to interact with the language system,
embodied in machines or
controlled materials.
(21) CLT: The teacher cannot know exactly what language the students will
use.
ALM: The teacher is expected to specify the language that students are to
use.
(22) CLT: Intrinsic motivation will spring from an interest in what is being
communicated by the
language.
ALM: Intrinsic motivation will spring from an interest in the structure of the
language.
Brown (1994:78-80) warns that there are certain caveats in the field of language
teaching when it comes to discussing CLT and one's support of the approach,
saying that that support or belief needs to be "qualified". He warns against:
(1) Giving "lip service" to the principles of CLT (because "no one these days
would admit to
a disbelief in principles of CLT; they would be marked as a heretic") without
actually
grounding one's teaching techniques in those principles, or making sure one
indeed
understands and practices according to the characteristics that make CLT
what it is.
(2) Overdoing certain CLT features, for example engaging in real-life authentic
language to
the exclusion of helpful devices such as controlled practice, or vice versa.
Moderation
is needed in combination with common sense and a balanced approach.
(3) The numerous interpretations of what CLT actually "is". CLT is often a
catchcall term,
and does not reflect the fact that not everyone agrees on its interpretation or
application.
Teachers need to be aware that there are many possible versions, and it is
intended as
an "umbrella" term covering a variety of methods.
Of these, perhaps the best known is the Direct Method. This is the basis of the approach
that is still used today by the Berlitz language schools.
• 1. The language is seen as being fundamentally a means of communication. The
language that is taught is ordinary, every-day language.
• 2. The theory of learning is based upon an associationist psychology ; sounds
(words) are associated with objects and with actions, and then ideas are associated
with other ideas. The route into the L2 is direct - the learner does not translate, but
links the L2 word directly with the object that it represents. To do this properly,
she must take an active role in the learning process - both asking and answering
questions, reading aloud and so on. The L2 learning process is, as with Gouin and
Comenius, taken to be very much the same as the L1 learning process.
• 3. The teacher should preferably be a native-speaker of the language. Her task is
to present the language, and to direct classroom activities. The language is
presented through the teacher's monologue, and the use of realia, or images or of
representations of the objects and actions - but it is above all the personal qualities
of the teacher that make or break the learning process. Sauveur, one of the
pioneers of the Direct Method, at the end of the 19thC, would hold the attention
of his learners on his performance, and was able to give elaborate speeches even
on the very first lesson.
Whereas the material and the language of the grammar-translation class had been based
upon great literature and high principle, the Direct Method based material on ordinary
situations in which the learner might expect to find herself on going abroad - a lesson on
the bank, the restaurant, or the hotel - or on subjects of ordinary conversation -
geography, money, the weather. There was little attempt to construct a grammatical
syllabus, and if there was any grammar teaching, it was inductive.
The learner was expected to become autonomous as quickly as possible, and so the
teacher would train the learners to correct themselves. This could be done through
offering the speaker a choice between what he had just said and another utterance. Or it
could be that the mistake would be signalled by the teacher's repeating the utterance in a
rising tone, or by stopping the repetition just before she got to the error.
As we shall see, the method has its limitations, particularly in schools. It is perhaps better
suited to debutants than to more advanced learners - most of the adults that came into
language schools were, until quite recently, absolute beginners. It is still useful when a
teacher is dealing with a class in which the pupils do not possess a common L1.
Timothy Mason
www.timothyjpmason.com/WebPages
DIRECT METHOD
Also known as Reform Method / Natural Method / Phonetical Method / Anti-
grammatical Method
6 All above items must be avoided because they hinder the acquisition of a
good oral proficiency.
4 The Direct Method rejects use of the printed word - but this objection is
illogical since second language learner has already mastered his reading skills.
Does printed word interfere with FL pronunciation? -In fact experiments show
that the printed word is of real help to consolidate the FL and actually
reinforces retention (ef 'Je ma pel') - leaves mental imprint, image of shape of
word.
However, many teachers did modify the Direct Method to meet practical
requirements of own schools, implemented main principles, i.e teaching
through oral practice and banning all translation into target language.
Obviously compromise was needed.
Direct method did pave the way for more communicative, oral based approach,
and as such represented an important step forward in the history of language
teaching.
The Direct Method has one very basic rule: No translation is allowed.
This method is called natural method because it is used naturalistic principles of language
learning (Jack C. Richard and Theodore S. Rodger: 1992). This term also derived from
the school which L Sauveur had opened in Boston in the late 1860s. 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.
In fact, the Direct Method receives its name from the fact that meaning is to be conveyed
directly in the target language through the use of demonstration and visual aids, with no
recourse to the students’ native language (Diller 1978).
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