The Direct Method

Direct method it in France and Germanyand it became widely known in the United States trough its use by Sauveur and Maximilian Berlitz in successful commercial language school. In practice it stood for the following principles and procedures :

• Classroom instruction was conducted exclusiveky in the target language.

• Only everyday vocabulary and sentence were taught.

• Oral communication skills were built up in a carefully graded progression organized around question and answer exchanges between teachers and students in small intensive class

• Grammar was taught inductively.

• New teaching points were introduced orally.

• Concrete vocabulary was taught through demonstration, objects and pictures; abstract vocabulary was taught by association of ideas.

• Both speech and listening comprehension were taught.

• Correct pronunciation and grammar were emphasized

The direct method was wuite successful in private language schools, such as those of Berlitz chain, where paying clients had high motivation and the use of native speaking teachers was the norm. The direct method can be regarded as the first language teaching method to have caught the attention of teachers and language specialist and it offered a methodology that appeared to move language teaching into a new era. It marked the beginning of methods era.