Direct Method

 01/2023

The Direct Method by Maximilian Berlitz. 

It is also known as Natural Method. 

It is a method of teaching foreign languages that uses the target language, discarding any use of the mother tongue in the classroom. Often (but not exclusively) used in foreign language teaching, it refrains from using the native language of the learners and uses only the target language. 

It was established in Germany and France around 1900 and contrasts with the grammatical translation method and other traditional approaches.

The basic idea of the Direct Method was that learning a second language should be more like learning a first language (lots of oral interaction, spontaneous use of the language, no translation between the first and second language, and little or no analysis of grammatical rules).

Techniques 

1. Question/answer exercise – the teacher asks questions of any type and the student answers.
2. Dictation – the teacher chooses a grade-appropriate passage and reads it aloud.
3. Reading aloud – the students take turns reading sections of a passage, play or a dialogue aloud.
4. Student self-correction – when a student makes a mistake the teacher offers him/her a second chance by giving a choice.
5. Conversation practice – the students are given an opportunity to ask their own questions to the other students or to the teacher. This enables both a teacher-learner interaction as well as a learner-learner interaction.
6. Paragraph writing – the students are asked to write a passage in their own words.