THE DIRECT METHOD
Lecturer:
Ayuna Netta S. Pd.I., M.Pd
Arranged By :
Defi Heldia Rahmi (140203019)
ABSTRACT
Oral language development has always played a
big role in foreign language learning process. Oral proficiency is considered
as the major goal of foreign language learning. The use of communication
strategies highly contributes to oral proficiency in the target language. This
study focuses on developing students’ communicative abilities through using the
target language constantly in the classroom. And this study emphasizes the
benefits of the Direct Method to teach how to communicate in the target
language.
INTRODUCTION
There is a widespread assumption that language
is best learnt when students actively use it in the classroom. The Direct
Method, which is also known as natural method or conversational method, has
been popular since it enables students to communicate in the foreign language.
The Direct Method through focusing on everyday language, and using questions
and answers lays an emphasis on teaching oral language. The primary objective
of this method is associate meaning and the target language directly through
the use of realia, pictures or pantomime (Larsen-Freeman, 1986, p.29).
As with the Grammar-Translation
Method, the Direct Method is not new. Its principles have been applied by
language teachers for many years. Most recently, it was revived as a method
when the goal of instruction became learning how to use a foreign language to communicate.
Since the Grammar-Translation Method was not very effective in preparing students
to use the target language communicatively, the Direct Method became popular.
Rivers summarizes the characteristics of the
Direct Method as “students learn to understand a language by listening to a
great deal of it and that they learn to speak it by speaking it- associating
speech with appropriate action” (Rivers, 1968, s.18).
The Direct Method has one very basic
rule: No translation is allowed. 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). The
Direct Method was introduced in France and Germany and officially approved in
both countries). In the USA, Sauveur and Maximilian Berlitz used the
Direct Method.
THE PRINCIPLES
Jack C. Richards and Theodore S.
Rodgers (1986:9-10) summarized the principles of the Direct Method :
1. Classroom instruction is conducted exclusively in the
Target Language.
2. Only everyday vocabulary and sentences are taught.
3. Oral communication skills are built up in a carefully
graded progression organised around question-and-answer
exchanges between teachers and students in small, intensive classes.
4. Grammar is taught inductively.
5. New teaching points are introduced orally.
6. through demonstration Concrete vocabulary is taught, objects,
pictures; abstract vocabulary is taught by association of ideas.
7. Both speech and listening comprehension are taught.
8. Correct pronunciation and grammar are emphasised.
In order to follow these principles
and procedures strictly, teachers of extraordinary calibre, commitment and
capability are required.
Now let us consider the principles of
the Direct Method as they are arranged in answer to the ten questions posed earlier:
1. What are the goals
of teachers who use the Direct Method?
Teachers who use the Direct Method
intend that students learn how to communicate in the target language. In ord er
to do this successfully, students should learn to think in the target language.
2. What is the role of the teacher?
What is the role of the students?
Although the reacher directs the
class activities, the student role is less passive than in the
Grammar-Translation Method. The teacher and the students are more like par
tners in the teaching/learning process.
3. What are some
characteristics of the teaching/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, pictures, or
pantomime; he never translates it into the students' native language. Students
speak in the target language a great deal and communicate as if they were in
real situations. In fact, the syllabus used in the Direct Method is based upon
situations (for example, one unit would consist of language that people would
use at a bank, another of the language that they use when going shopping) or
topics (such as geography, money, or the weather). Grammar is taught induc tively;
that is, the students are presented with examples and they figure out the rule
or generalization from the examples. An exp licit grammar rule may never be
given. Students prac tice vocabulary by using new words in complete sentences.
4. What is the nature
of student-teacher interaction? What is the nature of student-student
interaction?
The initiation of the interaction
goes both ways, from reacher to students and from student to teacher, although
the latter is often teacherdirected. Students converse with one another as
well.
5. How are the feelings
of the students dealt with?
There are no pr inciples of the method which relate to this
area.
6. How is language
viewed? How is culture viewed?
Language is primar ily spoken, not written.
Therefore, students study common, everyday speech in the target language. They
also study culture consisting of the history of the peop le who speak the
target language, the geogra phy of the count ry or countr ies where the
language is spoken, and information about the daily lives of the speakers of
the language.
7. What areas of
language are emphasized? What language skills are emphasized?
Vocabulary is emphasized over
grammar.Although work on all four skills (reading, writing, speak ing, and
listening) occurs from the start, oral communication is seen as basic. Thus the
reading and writing exercises are based upon what the students practice orally
first. Pronounciation also receives attention right from the beginning of a course
.
8. What is the role of
the students' native language?
The students' native language should not be used in the
classroom.
9. How is evaluation
accomplished?
We did not actu ally sec any formal
evaluation in the class we observed; however, in the Direct Method, students are asked to use the
language, not to demonstrate their knowledge about the language. They are asked
to do so using both oral and written skills. For example, the students migh t
he inte rviewed orally by the teacher or might be asked to write a paragraph about
something they have studied.
10. How does the
teacher respond to student errors?
The teacher,employing various techniques, tries to get students
to self-correct whenever possible.
THE TECHNIQUES
Are there answers to the ten questions with which you agreed
? Then the following techn iques may also be useful. Of course, even if you did
not agree with all the answers, there may be some techniques of the Direct Method
you can adapt to your own approach to teaching. The following expanded review
of techni ques provides you with some details which will help you do this.
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 ot her means to make the meaning of the section clear.
Question and answer
exercise
This exercise is conducted only
in the target language. Students are asked questions and answer in full sentences so that they
practice new words and grammatical structures. They have the opportunity to ask
questions as well as answer them.
Getting students to
self-correct
The teacher of this class has the students self-correct by
asking them to make a choice between what they said and an alternative answer
he supplied. There are, however, other ways of getting students to
self-correct. For example, a teacher might simply repeat what a student has just
said, using a questioning voice to signal to the student that something was wrong
with it. Another possibility is for the teacher to repeat what the student said
, stoppi -ng just before the error. The student knows that the next word was
wrong.
Conversation practice
The teacher asks students a number of questions in the target
language, which the students have to understand to be able to answer correctly.
In the class observed, the teacher asked individual students questions about themselves.
The questions contained a particular grammar structure. Later, the students
were able to ask each other their own questions using the same grammatical structure.
Fill-ln-the-blank
exercise
This technique has already been discussed in the
Grammar-Translation Method, but differs in its application in the Direct
Method. All the items are in the target language; furthermore, no explicit
grammar rule would be applied. The students would have induced the grammar rule
they need to fill in the blanks from examples and practice with earlier parts
of the lesson.
Dictation
The teacher reads the passage three times. The first time the
teacher reads it at a normal speed, while the students just listen. The second
time he reads the passage phrase by phrase, pausing long enough to allow students
to write down what they have heard. The last time the teacher again reads at a
normal speed, and students check their work.
Map drawing
The class included one example of a technique used to give students
listening comprehension practice. The students were given a map with the geographical
features un named . Then the teacher gave the students directions such as the
following, ' Find the mo -untain range in the West. Write the words "Rocky
Mountains" across the mountain range.' He gave instructions for all the geographical
features of the United States so that students would have a completely labeled
map if they followed his instructions correctly. The students then instructed the
teacher to do the same thing with a map he had drawn on the blackboard. Each
student could have a turn giving the teacher instructions for finding and la beling one geographical feature.
Paragraph writing
The teacher in this class asked the students to write a paragraph
in their own words on the major geographical features of the United States.
They could have done this from memory, or they could have used the reading passage
in the lesson as a model.
Merits
Ø Facilitates
understanding of language- it helps to understanding of language becomes easier
due to the inhibition of the linguistic interferences of the mother tongue, it establishes
the direct bond and helps in undertsanding directly what he hears and reads.
Ø Improves to
develop language sense
Ø Improves fluency
of the speech- if the student gets fluency of speech, it results in easy
writing and it tends to improve expression incomes speech and expression in
writing, it is the quickest way of learning and expanding vocabulary.
Ø This method is
base on full of activity, so it is very interesting, exciting.
Ø It emphasize on
the target language, so it helps the pupil to express their thoughts and
feelings directly by the english without the usage of mother tongue.
Demerits
Ø This method
ignores systematic written work and reading activities.
Ø This method may
not hold well in higher-level classes where the translation method is more suitable.
Ø Lack of skilled
teachers, i.e., most of the teachers in Indian schools have poor command of
English.
Ø This method does
not suit or satisfy the needs of individual students in large classes.
Ø It ignores
reading and writing aspects of language learning.
Ø Grammar is not
taught systematically.
Ø Slow learners
struggle with this method.
REFERENCES
Brown,
Douglas. 2001. Teaching by Principles An Interactive Approach to Language
Pedagogy. Second Edition. White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.
Larsen-
Freeman, Diane. 1986. Techniques and Principles In Language Teaching,
Oxford University Press, Inc.
Rivers, W.M.
(1968). Teaching Foreign Language Skills. University of Chicago Press.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_method_(education)
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