Diane Larsen-Freeman

26 The Direct Method The Direct Method 27
Th e Atlantic Oc ean is__ the East Coas t.
Th e Rio Grande is__ M exico and the United States.
Hdoardo is loo king__ the map.
Finally, the reacher asks the students to tak e OUt their not ebooks, and
he gives them a dictation. Th e passage be dictates is one pa ragra ph long
and is a bout the geography of the United State s.
During the remaining two classes this week, the class will:
1 Review the features of Unite d States geography.
2 Followin g t he teacher's dir ections, label blan k ma ps with these ge o ~
graphical features . Afrer this, the students will give directions to the
teacher, wh o will complete a ma p on the blackboard.
3 Practice the pronunciation of 'river,' payi ng particu lar attention to the
/1/ in the first syllable (and contrasting it with liy/) and to the pronunciation
of Ir/.
4 Wr ite a paragraph about the major geographical featu res of the United
States.
5 Discuss the proverb 'Time is money.' Stud ents will talk a bout this is in
order to understan d that people in the United States value punctuality.
T hey will compare this attitude with their own view of time.
THINKING ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE
Let us make some observations on our experience. These will be in
the co lumn on the left. Th e principles of the Direct M ethod that can
be inferred from ou r observations will be listed in the colu mn on the
right.
Observations
The students read aloud a
passage a bout United States
geography.
Principles
Reading in the target lan guage
shou ld he taught from the
beginning of langua ge instruction;
however, the readi ng skill will be
developed through practice wit h
speak ing. Language is primarily
speech. Culture consists of more
than the fine arts (e.g. the students
study geography and cultural
attitudes).
Obse rvations
2 Th e teac her points to a part of
the map after each sentence is
read .
3 The teacher uses the target
language to ask the stu dents if
they have a question. The
students use the target
langua ge to ask their
questions.
4 T he teac her answers the
st udents' questions by drawing
on the blackboard or giving
examples.
5 Th e teacher asks questions
about th e map in the rarger
lan guage, to whic h the
students reply in a co mplete
sentence in the target
language.
6 Stud ents ask questions ab out
the map.
7 T he teach er works with the
students on the pronunciation
of 'Appalachian.'
8 The teacher corrects a
gramma r error by aski ng the
students to mak e a choice.
Prin ciples
Objects (c.g. rcalia or pictures)
present in the immediate
classroom environ ment should he
used to help st udents und erstan d
the meanin g.
Th e native language should not be
used in t he classroom.
The teacher should demonstrate,
not explain or translate. It is
desirable that students make a
direct association between the
target language and mea ning.
Students should learn to think in
th e target language as soon ,1S
possible. Vocabulary is acquired
mo re naturally if students use it in
full sente nces, rat her tha n
memor izing word lists.
The purpose of lan gua ge lear ning
is communication (therefore
students need to learn how to
ask questions as well as answer
them).
Pronunciation should be worked
on right from the beginning of
lan guage instr uction.
Self-co rrection facilitates language
learning.