Direct Method Maysaa Abuzant

Towards the end of the nineteenth century and in efforts to reform the FL teaching, the direct method emerged. The direct method had one important rule; no translation was allowed.

Direct Method (Berlitz method) receives its name from the fact that meaning is to be connected directly with the target language, without going through the process of translating into the students' native language.

Principles of the Direct Method L1 should be completely avoided in the classroom. Teachers need to depend on the immediate surroundings (pictures, objects) to create a direct association between the target language and meaning. Grammar is taught inductively. No direct explanation of the grammar rules.

Principles of the Direct Method Students should learn to think in the target language as soon as possible. The purpose of language learning is communication (therefore students need to learn how to ask questions as well as answer them). Lessons should contain some con­versational activity-some oppor­tunity for students to use language in real contexts. Students should be encouraged to speak as much as possible.

Principles of the Direct Method The syllabus is based on situations or topics, not usually on linguistic structures. Learning another language also involves learning how speakers of that language live.

Techniques of the Direct Method Reading Aloud Question and Answer Exercise Getting Students to Self-correct Conversation Practice Fill-in-the-blank Exercise Dictation

Drawbacks: It required native L2 teachers or teachers who had native like fluency. It’s easy to use at the beginning stage of the learning process, but become more difficult as time goes on. As no use of L1 is allowed it becomes harder to explain some concepts without the use of L1.