Direct Method

Direct Method

• Dr. Chen Chinfen

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.

Background

• It’s to make up with the Grammar-Translation Meth0od, which emphasizes reading and writing, fixed rules for sentences patterns, and grammar and translation skills.
• So, in DM, no translation, no native language but with meaningful context, realia, pictures, visual aids, demonstration and dramatization to help students learn words, preposition, grammar of the target language.

Principles

• No translate but demonstrate
• Never explain but act
• Never make a speech but ask questions
• Native speaker to deliver teaching for correct pronunciation, and better oral skills.

Techniques

• Reading aloud:
• Take turns reading sections of a passage, play, or whatever teaching materials. The teacher uses gestures, pictures, realia, examples, or other means to make the meaning of the section clear.
• Question and answer exercise
• Students ask and answer Qs in full sentences and practice new words and grammatical rules.

Techniques

• Self-correction: :
• To make students self-corrected by asking them to make a choice between what they said and an alternative answer he supplied;
• Or the teacher may repeat a student said, using a questioning tone or to repeat what the students said and stop before the error to signal that something is wrong with students’ answers.

Techniques

• Conversation exercise:
• For communication purpose, teaching contains conversational activities: starting with questions in the target language which contained a certain grammar structure, then let students ask Qs with each other with the same sentence patterns. Finally, let student have free talk.

Techniques

• Fill-in-blank exercise
• Dictation: a normal speed – phrase by phrase, normal speed again.
• Map drawing: A map with unnamed geographical features. The teacher gives directions and students label the map. Then change the roles.
• Paragraph writing: to write a paragraph in their own words by using the teaching materials a model.

Good points

• 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 teacher to explain the words that might be trivial.

Thanks for attention!

• Reference website:
• http://content.edu.tw/senior/english/tp_tt/teachmethod/directmethod.htm