Diane Larsen-Freeman

32 The Direct Method
geogra phica l features un nam ed . Then th e teacher ga ve the stude nts dir ections
such as the following, ' Fino th e mo untai n ran ge in th e West. Write
the words " Roc ky Mountain s" across the mounta in ra nge.' He gave
instruct ion s for a ll th e geog raphical features of the United States so tha t
stu dents would ha ve a co mpletely la beled map if they followed his
instruct ion s co rrec tly. The ..rude nrs then instruct ed th e teacher to do th e
same thin g with a ma p he had drawn o n the blackboar d. Each student
co uld ha ve a turn giving the reacher ins tructions for finding and la beling
on e geographica l fea ture.
Paragraph writing
The teacher in this class as ked the students to write a paragraph in their
o w n wo rd s on th e ma jor geographica l features of the United States. They
co uld ha ve done this from memory, or th ey could have used the reading
passage in the lesson as a model,
CONCL USION
Now that yo u ha ve con sidered the principles a nd the techniq ues of the
Direct Method somewha t, sec what yo u ca n find of usc fo r your o wn
teaching situ atio n.
Do you agrl'l' that th e goa l o f target language instruction should he to
teach students ho w to co mmunicate in th e target la nguage? Docs it ma ke
sense to yo u tha t the stu de nts' native lan guage should no t be used to give
meanin g to the target la nguage ? Do yo u agree that the culture that is
ta ught should he ab out peo ple's dai ly lives in addition to the fine art s?
Sho uld students he enco uraged to self-correct? Are there any other principles
of the Direct Method wh ich you believe in ? Which ones?
Is dictation a worthwhile activity? Ha ve you used question-and -an swer
exercises an d co nversation practice as described here before? If not,
sho uld you? Is par agraph writing a useful thing ro ask students to do?
Sho uld grammar he presented inductively? Are there all)' other techniques
of the Di rect Method wh ich yOll would consider adopting? Which ones?
ACTIVITIES
Th e Direct Meth od 33
grammar is trea ted ind uct ively. e m yo u explain the difference
between ded uctive a nd ind uct ive rrcarmcnrs o f g ra mma r?
2 W hat ar c so me of the charac ter istics o f the Direct Method that make it
so distinct ive fro m the Gra rnmar-Translarion M ethod ?
3 It ha s been sa id that it ma y be ad vantageous (0 a teacher using the
Direct Method not to know his st udents' native la nguage. Do yo u
ag ree? W hy?
B Apply what you have understood about the Direct Method.
Choose a particular situ ation (such as at th e bank, at the railroad station,
or at the doctor's office) o r a particul ar topic (such as articles of
clo thing, holidays, o r the wea the r) and write a short passage or a dialog
on the theme you have chosen . Now th ink abour how you will convey
its meaning to students without using th eir native language.
2 Select a grammar point from th e passage. Plan how yo u will get students
to practice th e gra mmar point. What examples can yo u provide
them with so that th ey can induce th e rul e themsel ves?
J Practice writing and giving a dictation as it is described in this chapter.
REFERENCES AND ADD ITIO NAL RESOURCES
Berlitz, M . D. 1887. Methode Berlitz, New York: Berlitz.
de Sauze, Em il B. 1929. The Cleveland Plan for the Teaching ofModem
Languages with Special Reference to French, (rev, edn.) 19S9.
Phi ladelphi a: Winston.
Diller, Ka rl C. 1978. The Language Teaching Controversy. Ro wley, M A:
N ewbur y H o use.
Garcnby, E. V. 1958. A Direct Method English Course. (3rd edn.) London:
Longman.
Gouin, Francois. I HHO. The A rt of Teaching and Studying Languages.
Tra nslated by Swa n, 1-1 . and V. Betts. I H92 . Lon do n: Philip.
Kra use, Ca rl A. 191 6. The Direct Method ill Modem Languages . New
Yor k: Cha rles Scribne r.
A Check your understand ing of the Direct Method ,
In th e previous chapter on the Grurnmar-Trun slaricn Method, we
learned tha t grammar was trea ted deductively, In th e Direct Method,