THE DIRECT METHOD

The naturalistic –simulating the “natural “ way in which children learn first languages-approaches of gouin and few a of contemporaries did not take hold immediately. A  generation later ,applied linguistic finally  established the credibility of such approaches. Thus it was at the turn of the century, the direct method become 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 language, and the little or no analysis  of grammar rules. Richards and Rodgers (1986:9-10) summarized the principles of the direct method:

1.       Classroom instruction was conducted exclusively in the target language.

2.       Oral everyday vocabulary and the sentence were taught.

3.       Oral communication skills were built up in a carefully traded progression organized around question and answer exchanges between teachers and students in a small, intensive classes

4.       Grammar was taught inductively.

5.       New teaching point were taught through modeling and practice

6.       Concrete vocabulary was taught thorough demonstration, object, and pictures; abstract vocabulary was taught association of ideas

7.       Booth speech and listening comprehension were taught

8.       Concrete pronunciation and grammar were emphasized.

The direct method enjoyed considerable popularity at the beginning of the twentieth century. 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 popularizes  was Charles Berlitz (who never used the direct method and chose instead to call his method the Berlitz Method). To this day Berlist is a house hold word berlizt language schools are thriving in every country of the world .

But almost any method can succeed when clients are willing to pay high princes for small classes, individual attention , and intensive study. The direct method did not take well in public education  ,where the constrains of budget, classroom size, time, and the teacher background made such as method difficult to use. Moreover the direct Method was criticized for its weak theoretical foundation. Its success may have been more a factory of the skill and personality of the teacher than of the methodology its self.

By the end of the first quarter of the twentieth century ,the use of the direct method had decline both in Europe and in the US. Most language curricula returned to the to the grammar translation method or to a approach emphasized reading skills in a foreign languages. But it is interesting that by the middle of the twentieth century, the direct method was revived and redirected in to what was probably the most visible of all language teaching “revolution “ in the modern era ,  the audio language method. So even somewhat short  lived movement in a language teaching would reappear in the changing winds and shifting sands of history.