THE DIRECT METHOD

When teachers accept the responsibility to teach another
Language, they should choose a method so that learners can develop the skills for speaking, reading, listening and written.

In the next text you can find the description about the direct method that can be useful to teach another tongue like English.


THE DIRECT METHOD


BACKGROUND
precursor: Sauvener in Boston 1860´s
proposed by: Gouin

AIM

 Communication and understanding
 To prepare the students for real life communication

SYLLABUS:
 The programme is based on real life situations and language

TEACHER´S ROLE
 It depends of the teacher´s skill to teach the structures and concepts of the new language
 Don’t use the native language
 They direct the lesson
 They encourage the students so that they can learn

STUDENT´S ROLE
 Active role
 They have to discover the language rules by themselves
 They’re encouraged to use and think in the new language

ADVANTAGES
 Oral aspect of language learning
 The language is learnt in context and through direct contact with it

DISADVANTAGES
 It is not support by pedagogic or linguistic theory
 Prohibition on the teacher using their native tongue
 It has not defined programme and a viable system of evaluation of the students´progress.

EVALUATION
 The students are tested on their ability to use the language rather than on the language itself.


DIRECT METHOD

-Paragraph writing
- Dictations
-pronunciation practice
-reading aloud
-fill in the blanks and cloze passages
- New words presented in sentences
- Questions/answers exercises, listening comprehension
- Inductive grammar
- Conversation practice
- Actions, pictures and objects to illustrate new items.



Direct method is a good option for learners over level intermediate because they need to understand the teacher’s instructions for working in the classroom and they speak in the new language all time, so it is easier for them discover the language rules, nevertheless of this way is almost impossible that learners develop other important skills like writing and reading.

On the other hand, it is recommended for people that want to learn another language only for communicate, for example, who travels to other country for work or on vacation.

This method isn’t recommend for somebody who must read a lot because can be difficult, actually people who study with this way can understand audios perfectly but it is a bit complicated identified write words´meaning even the translation.