Sandra Sowiska

Overview of English Language teaching approaches and methods

GPTE, UW

TASK 3: Write a blog post to present the most important aspects of the Direct Method which can be
used in a contemporary EFL classroom.

The Direct Method is one of the oldest conventional method used in education. By many
people it also is thought to be one of the best. In the middle of 19 th century there had became some
changes according to percive ways of teaching and learning foreign languages. There are few main
aims that characterise this method. (57)
What is very important in this Direct Method is the ability to speak and have conversation
with the others. The best way to achieve this aim is to encourage learners to participate in a group
conversations of foreign language. A perfect situation to have a contact with a ''real'' language
would be to have a native speaker during the class. But obviously it is not the only possibility
there are a lot of CDs and movies containing records in needed language. Moreover, in the Direct
Method teachers do not focus on (sometimes quite complicated) grammatical rules, but on
spontaneous use of language during the lesson. Children do not learn grammar, vocabulary, neither
pronunciation in a standard way by memorising, repeting and doing exercises. There is also no
certain rate of teaching everything happens naturally in a very pleasant atmosphere. Because of it
students should independently "discover" what kind of grammar rules they are using in the moment.
(158)
According to the assumptions of the Direct Method teachers do not use any textbooks or
other extra materials containing exercises to complete, at least at the beginning level of education.
Words that students already know can be used to presentat a new vocabulary. And in the case of

misunderstanding and students' confusions, teachers should use some gestures, facial expressions,
demonstration or images. In addition, during students' conversation teachers should not correct any
mistakes they do. There are many people thinking that in this way of learning, they memorise and
repeat linguistic errors made by other learners. This is very incorret way of thinking, because
children in every language make many mistakes at the beginning. However, the more they speak the
more their pronunciation is correct. We should remember that for young learners the most important
thing in learning foreign language us gained freedom and fluency in speaking and expressing
themselves. (150)
The main statements pointed by F. Franke (who is considered as one of the reformers of this
way of teaching) considering the Direct Method are: all instructions and commands are said only in
a foreign language, the abilities to talk and to communicate are built slowly, gradually and carefully.
Moreover learning new vocabulary is by adding words of everyday use. To make this method work
succefully teachers should ask students guiding questions and encourage them to get responses;
grammar issues are also usually thaught through interactions after some time students
independently realize what kind of rule they are working on. New lesson stages are presented by
speaking, vocabulary is presented with a demonstration or gestures, as well as objects, pictures, and
face expressions. Teachers also pay a significant attention not only on fluent speaking, but also on
listening and correct pronunciation and grammar.
This Direct Method is succesfully used especially in private schools. Learners can ''feel'' the
real language according to specific situations and appropriate context.