2.1.1　The Direct Method or approaches

（1）Background

Advocates of active classroom methods continued to make themselves heard in various countries throughout the nineteenth century.People usually associate with the nineteenth-century Direct-Method movement such names as Vietor，Passy，Berlitz，and Jespersen and by the end of the century some of them had had considerable influence on modern-language teachers.These theorists shared a common belief that students learn to understand a language by listening to a great deal of it and that they learn to speak it by speaking it，associating speech with appropriate action.This，they observed，was the way children learned their native language，and this was the way children who had been transferred to a different linguistic environment acquired a second language，apparently without great difficulty.

The various“oral”and“natural”methods which developed at that time can be grouped together as forms of the Direct Method，in that they advocated learning a new language through direct association of words and phrases with objects and actions，without the use of the native language by teacher or student.Speech preceded reading，but even in reading，students were encouraged to forge a direct bond between the printed word and their understanding of it，without passing through an intermediate stage of translation into the native language.The ultimate aim was to develop the ability to think in the language，whether one was conversing，reading，or writing.

The features of the Audio-Lingual Method at the levels of principal features，objectives，techniques，theoretical assumptions and critiques will be examined in the following.

（2）Principal features

The Direct Method is characterized，above all，by the use of the target language as a means of instruction and communication in the language classroom，and by the avoidance of the use of language and of translation as a technique.

（3）Objectives

The Direct Method represents a shift from literary language to the spoken everyday language as the object of early instruction，a goal that was totally lackingin the G-T.The main training objective of the G-T is not central to the Direct Method.For the rest，the Direct Method represents more a change in means than in the end of language teaching and it can be said that the Direct Method did not convey a fundamentally different view of the main goals of language instruction from that of its predecessors.

（4）Techniques

The standard procedure involves the classroom presentation of a‘text’by the teacher.Text is usually a short specially constructed foreign language narrative in the textbook.Difficult expressions are explained in the target language with the help of paraphrases，synonyms，demonstration or context to elucidate further the meaning of text the teacher asks question about it，and the students read the text aloud for practice.Grammatical observations are derived from the text read and students are encouraged to discover for themselves the grammatical principle involved.Much time isspent on questions and answers on the text or on talk about wall pictures.Exercises involve dictation，transpositions，substitutions，narrative and a composition of a good pronunciation.This is why in the early stages of the history of the Direct-Method phonetics—especially phonetic transcription was regarded as an important part of this method.Since the study of phonetics had developed during the second half of the nineteenth century，teachers were able to make use of its findings on the mechanics of sound production and to adopt its newly developed system of notation.①This renewed emphasis on the target language as the medium of instruction in the classroom meant that correct pronunciation became an important consideration.The Direct-Method teachers frequently began a language course with an introductory period during which students were taught the new sound system.In this way，it was argued，they were able to develop correct pronunciation without being influenced by a script that they already associated with native language sounds.This emphasis on acquiring an acceptable pronunciation from the beginning remains a feature of the Direct-Method Teaching today.

A Direct-Method class provides a clear contrast with a G-T class.The course begins with the learning of target-language words and phrases for objects in the classroom and for actions that

①The notation referred to is the International Phonetic Alphabet（I.P.A），the first version of which was published in 1888.can be performed by the students.When these expressions can be used readily and appropriately，the learning moves to the common situations and settings of everyday life.With this in view，the lesson often develops around specially constructed pictures of life in a country where the language is spoken.Where the meaning of words cannot be made clear by concrete representation，the teacher resorts to miming，sketching，manipulating objects，or giving explanations in the language being learned，but never supplies native-language translations，except as a last resort.From the beginning，the students are accustomed to hear complete，meaningful sentences that form part of a simple discourse，often in the form of a question-answer exchange or an anecdote recounted by the teacher.

Grammar is not taught explicitly and deductivelyas in a G-T class，but is learned largely through practice.Students are encouraged to form their own generalizations about grammatical structure by an inductive process through reflecting on what they have been learning.In this way，the study of grammar is kept at functional level，being confined to those areas that are continually being used in speech.When grammar is taught more systematically，it is taught in the target language with the use of target-language terminology.

When students are introduced to reading materials，they read about things they have already discussed orally，the teacher having prepared the students for the reading selections through an oral presentation of new words and situations.Texts are read aloud by teacher and students，and the students are encouraged to seek direct comprehension by inferring meanings of unknown elements from the context，rather than by seeking equivalents in a bilingual vocabulary list.Where the meaning cannot be discovered in this way，the teacher gives explanations in the language being learned，using pictures and gestures where necessary.Students are never asked to translate passage into their native language；instead，their apprehension of the meaning is tested by questioning and discussion in the target language.They learn to write the language first of all by transcription，then by composing summaries of what they have been reading or writing simple accounts of what has been discussed orally.They gradually move to creative compositions.Since all activity is closely linked with the use of the language in speech and writing，the classroom is continually filled with the sounds of the new language.

（5）Theoretical assumptions

Linguistically，language teaching was to be based on phonetics and on a scientifically established coherent grammar.The learning of languages was viewed as analogous to first language acquisition，and the learning process involved were often interpreted in terms of an associationist psychology.Here the emphasis on sounds and simple sentences and direct association of language with objects and persons of the immediate environment，for example，the classroom，the home，the garden，the street and the classroom.

（6）Critique

The Direct Method was the first of the methods in which the impetus came both from the inventiveness of a few practitioners and from the critical and theoretical thought about the nature of language and language learning of a few linguistic scholars such as Sweet.The Direct Method was also a first attempt to make the language learning situation one of language use and to train the learner to abandon the first language as the frame of reference.It demanded inventiveness on the part of teachers and led to the development of new non-translational techniques of language instruction.The use of a text as a basis of language learning，demonstrations of pictures and objects，the emphasis on question and answer，spoken narratives，imitation，dictation and a lot of new types of grammatical exercises have resulted from the Direct Method.Language pedagogy in the present century，for example，Palmer in the twenties and the Audio-Lingual and the Audio-Visual Methods in the fifties and sixties，adopted many of the techniques first developed by the Direct Method teachers.On the L1-L2 issue，the Direct Method constitutes a radical attempt to exclude L1 in L2 learning.

Two major problems have persistently troubled the Direct Method teaching.One has been how to convey meaning without translating and how to safeguard against misunderstanding without reference to the first language.Another has been how to apply the Direct Method beyond elementary stages of language learning，the Direct Method like other new methods has extended repertoire of language instruction in the early stages of teaching，but has added relatively little to the teaching of advanced learners.In a way，particularly because of the insistence on the use of the second language in classroom communication，the Direct Method can legitimately be looked upon as a predecessor of present-day‘immersion’techniques.

The Direct Method provides an exciting and interesting way of learning a language through activity.It has proved to be successful in releasing students from the inhibitions all too often associated with speaking another tongue，particularly at the early stages.If care is not taken by the teacher，however，students who are plunged too soon into expressing themselves freely in the new language in a relatively unstructured situation can develop a glib but inaccurate fluency，clothing native-language structures in foreign-language vocabulary.This“school pidgin”is often difficult to eradicate later，when grammatical structure and vocabulary are being more systematically studied，because it has been accepted and encouraged for so long.It is unrealistic to believe that the conditions of native-language learning can be recreated in the classroom with adolescent students.Unlike the infant learner，adolescent or adult students already possess wellestablished native-language speech habits.These will inevitably influence the forms in which they express themselves in their early attempts at spontaneous communication，unless they have been given some systematic practice in the structures they need to express these ideas.This kind of transfer and adaptation of preceding knowledge will be most noticeable at first at those points where the target language diverges significantly from what the native language has led the student to expect，especially if students are trying to express themselves at their normal level of sophistication，which at this early stage is far beyond the simple target-language means at their disposal.In unplanned discourse that arises from a situation created in the classroom，all kinds of structures may be heard，or needed by the speaker.It is very difficult to restrict their occurrence or to ensure that they will recur with sufficient frequency for the student to be able to assimilate them.In the pure form of the Direct Method，insufficient provision is made for systematic practice and repractice of structures in a coherent sequence.As a result，students often lack a clear idea of what they are trying to do，and many make haphazard progress.Since students are required at all times to make a direct association between foreign phrase and situation，it is the highly intelligent student with well-developed powers of induction who benefits most from this method，which can become discouraging and bewildering for the less talented.As a result，the members of an average class soon diverge considerably from each other in degree of language acquisition.The method makes great demands on the energy of teachers.They have of necessity to be fluent in the language and very resourceful，in order to make meaning clear in a variety of ways without resorting at any time to the use of the native language.The greatest success with this method is achieved in situations where the student can hear and practice the language outside the classroom.（Its principal tenet，that only the target language must be used at all times by teacher and student，has to be observed in classes where the students come from a number of different language backgrounds.）For these reasons many teachers who enjoy the Direct Method approach now use it with various modifications into deciphering with the aid of a dictionary，and valuable training in the reading skill is wasted.As a justification for short，nonspecialized language courses，the reading aim is thus spurious.