Chapter I theoretical foundation of direct method

1.2 The aims and special characteristics, of using direct method in teaching English to A2 level students.
The direct method aims at establishing a direct bond between experience and expression. According to the direct method, the students should think directly in English. Direct method of teaching languages aims to build a direct way into the world of the target language making a relation between experience and language, word and idea, thought and expression rule and performance. This method intends for students to learn how to communicate in the target languageThis method is based on the assumption that the learner should experience the new language in the same way as he/she experienced his/her mother tongue without considering the existence of his/her mother tongue.
The direct method looks to the processes of first language acquisition and applies them a second time to second language acquisition. When we first learned English, we didn’t have translations to get us through the day. Mommy and daddy talked to us in simple English and we slowly acquired it. Sure, there were times when we made mistakes. But through trial and error, we groped our way to fluency. We not only speak English, we also think and dream in English.If that’s how your students acquired their first language, then there’s no reason why the same mechanism wouldn’t work in second (or third, or fourth) language acquisitionSpeaking is supreme
In the direct method, listening and speaking skills are given first priority.
This would seem obvious in the field of language learning, but this is in stark contrast to the grammar-translation method where, because of the focus on linguistic structures, reading and writing skills are primarily developed.
Not to sneer at writing and reading skills, but the time to focus hard on them should come later in the language acquisition process.
With the grammar-translation method, you have students who know about the language and can translate a sentence accurately, knowing the different grammatical rules. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t have enough communicative skills to find their way through a speed date. With the direct method, instead of learning about the language, students use the language to send and receive communication.In the teaching techniques that we will talk about shortly, you will notice that students are actively engaged in the different classroom activities. They’re not just passively sitting while taking down copious notes. In the direct method, students do a lot of talking, gesturing, acting and interacting. They’re encouraged to talk, no matter how imperfectly. The more talking time the students get, the better. They interact with you, the teacher, they interact with fellow students. Instead of looking at examples of sentences written on the blackboard, they get to feel it roll off their tongues and hear themselves speak in a language they’ll soon be fluent in.
By placing the correct emphasis on comprehension and conversational skills, students are given vivid firsthand experience with the language. They aren’t just learning about the language, they’re actually using it to send a message, perform a task or ask a question.
With the direct method, language is really not an academic endeavor, as it has been for the grammar-translation method. Language is a way to communicate.
The direct method looks to the processes of first language acquisition and applies them a second time to second language acquisition. When we first learned English, we didn’t have translations to get us through the day. Mommy and daddy talked to us in simple English and we slowly acquired it. Sure, there were times when we made mistakes. But through trial and error, we groped our way to fluency. We not only speak English, we also think and dream in English. If that’s how your students acquired their first language, then there’s no reason why the same mechanism wouldn’t work in second (or third, or fourth) language acquisitionSpeaking is supreme In the direct method, listening and speaking skills are given first priority.
This would seem obvious in the field of language learning, but this is in stark contrast to the grammar-translation method where, because of the focus on linguistic structures, reading and writing skills are primarily developed. Not to sneer at writing and reading skills, but the time to focus hard on them should come later in the language acquisition process. With the grammar-translation method, you have students who know about the language and can translate a sentence accurately, knowing the different grammatical rules. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t have enough communicative skills to find their way through a speed date. With the direct method, instead of learning about the language, students use the language to send and receive communication. In the teaching techniques that we will talk about shortly, you will notice that students are actively engaged in the different classroom activities.⁸ They’re not just passively sitting while taking down copious notes.In the direct method, students do a lot of talking, gesturing, acting and interacting. They’re encouraged to talk, no matter how imperfectly. The more talking time the students get, the better. They interact with you, the teacher, they interact with fellow students. Instead of looking at examples of sentences written on the blackboard, they get to feel it roll off their tongues and hear themselves speak in a language they’ll soon be fluent in. By placing the correct emphasis on comprehension and conversational skills, students are given vivid firsthand experience with the language. They aren’t just learning about the language, they’re actually using it to send a message, perform a task or ask a question.
With the direct method, language is really not an academic endeavor, as it has been for the grammar-translation method. Language is a way to communicate.
No translation: Concepts are taught by means of objects or by natural contexts through the mental and physical skills of the teacher only.
Oral training helps in reading and writing listening and speaking simultaneously.
Grammar is taught indirectly through the implication of the situation creation.