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Drect Approach: Grammar Translation Method

The direct method was developed as a reaction to the grammar translation method. [1] It aims to teach a foreign language in a similar way that a first language is learned, using only the target language in instruction. [2] Key principles include using everyday vocabulary and sentences initially, inductive grammar instruction, emphasizing spoken communication, and having students speak most of the time. [3] While it can improve fluency and language understanding, critics argue it lacks systematic instruction and may not be suitable for all learner types or levels.

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Cherry Benitez
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55 views

Drect Approach: Grammar Translation Method

The direct method was developed as a reaction to the grammar translation method. [1] It aims to teach a foreign language in a similar way that a first language is learned, using only the target language in instruction. [2] Key principles include using everyday vocabulary and sentences initially, inductive grammar instruction, emphasizing spoken communication, and having students speak most of the time. [3] While it can improve fluency and language understanding, critics argue it lacks systematic instruction and may not be suitable for all learner types or levels.

Uploaded by

Cherry Benitez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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DRECT APPROACH

Direct method in teaching a language is directly establishing an immediate and


audio visual association between experience and expression, words and phrases, idioms
and meanings, rules and performances through the teachers' body and mental skills,
without any help of the learners' mother tongue

BACKGROUND

The direct method was an answer to the dissatisfaction with the older grammar
translation method, which teaches students grammar and vocabulary through direct
translations and thus focuses on the written language.
There was an attempt to set up conditions that imitate mother tongue acquisition,
which is why the beginnings of these attempts were called the natural method. At the
turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, Sauveur and Franke proposed that language
teaching should be undertaken within the target-language system, which was the first
stimulus for the rise of the direct method.
The audio-lingual method was developed in an attempt to address some of the
perceived weaknesses of the direct method

AIMS

1. The direct method is also known as natural method. It was developed as a


reaction to the grammar translation method and is designed to take the learner
into the domain of the target language in the most natural manner.
2. The main objective is to impart a perfect command of a foreign language. The
main focus being to make the learner think in the targeted language in the same
manner as the learning of his/her mother-tongue in the most natural way.
3. In traditional language-learning, pupil participation was found to be diminished
as the teaching is perceived to be long and monotonous

PRINCIPLES OF DIRECT APPROACH

1. Classroom instruction is conducted exclusively in the target language.


2. Only everyday vocabulary and sentences are taught during the initial phase;
grammar, reading, and writing are introduced in the intermediate phase.
3. Oral communication skills are built up in a carefully graded progression organized
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. Concrete vocabulary is taught through demonstration, objects, and pictures;
abstract vocabulary is taught by association of ideas.
7. Both speech and listening comprehension is taught.
8. Correct pronunciation and grammar are emphasized.
9. Students should be speaking approximately 80% of the time during the lesson.
10. Students are taught from inception to ask questions as well as answer them.

CHARACTERISTICS:

 Refrains from using learner’s native language


 Uses only the target language
 Centrality of spoken language
 Focus on question-answer patterns
 Teacher-centered

ROLE OF THE TEACHERS

The role of the teachers is to direct class activities, but students and teacher are
partner in the learning process and there is a large amount of learner-learner
interaction.

ROLE OF THE STUDENTS

The students role is passive than the Grammar-Translation Method. The teacher
and the students are ore like partners in the teaching/learning process.

GOTTLIEB HENESS AND LAMBERT SAUVER

 Two of the first teacher to adopt the direct method in their teaching in the
late nineteenth century in the United States
 Opened a language school to teach German and French using Direct
Method

MAXILIAN BERLITZ (1852-1921)

 Adopted and made Direct Approach popular


 Founded a chain of language schools, prepared teaching materials, and
had the native speaker instructors in the schools
 The idea behind what was called the “Berlitz Method was that it was
“simple, systematic, ordered and replicable”
MERITS

1. Facilitates understanding of language – understanding of the target language


becomes easier due to the inhibition of the linguistic interferences from the
mother tongue, it establishes a direct bond between contexts, and helps in
understanding directly what is heard and read
2. Improves fluency of speech – fluency of speech results in easier writing, it tends
to improve expression, expression in writing, and it is a quick way of learning
and expanding vocabulary
3. Aids reading – reading becomes easier and more pleasant, and it also promotes
a habit of critical studying
4. Improves the development of language sense
5. Full of activities, which make it interesting and exciting
6. Emphasizes the target language by helping the pupil express their thoughts and
feelings directly in target language without using their mother tongue
7. Develops listening, speaking, reading and writing
8. Increase in market for goods and services
9. Increased employment opportunities
10. Helps in bringing words from passive vocabulary into active vocabulary
11. Helps in proceeding the English language from particular to general, it bridges
the gap between practice and theory
12. Makes use of audio-visual aids and also facilitates reading and writing
13. Facilitates alertness and participation of students

DEMERITS

1. Ignores systematic written work and reading activities


2. May not hold well in higher-level classes where the translation method is more
suitable
3. Supports only limited vocabulary – it restricts the scope of vocabulary as not all
words can be directly associated with their meanings
4. Lacks application – the method aims at active command of a language, only the
clever child can be profited by this method.
5. Needs skilled teachers; e.g., most of the teachers in Indian schools have a poor
command of English
6. Does not suit or satisfy the needs of individual students in large classes
7. Inconvenient in a huge class
8. Ignores reading and writing aspects of language learning
9. Does not teach grammar systematically
10. Time-consuming in creating real life situations
11. Less suitable for slow learners, who struggle with this method

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