Posts tagged education

Direct Method in Language Teaching

Education
Reading Time: < 1 minute

Direct Method in language teaching is known as a Natural Method from beginning 20th century. It is a non-scientific method but it is a movement toward to a scientific method as response to Grammar Translation Method. GOUIN built this method through child’s language learning. There are conversations for practicing language. Grammar is taught inductively.

Lessons are topic-based, there are cultural, geographic texts and so on. Vocabulary is taught through demonstrations, these are important for making explanation. Evaluation is not written exam, but it is based on speaking activity.

Drawbacks of direct method:

  • Demonstration can consume a lot of time,

  • No textbook,

  •  Teacher’s spoken competence can be a problem if it is not improved,

  • Classroom nature,

  • Lacked of Applied Linguistic and psychology of learning.

It was quite successful in private schools, but wasn’t quite successful in public schools because of classroom nature and similarities between native lang. Also, target language is overemphasized.

Example

The teacher explains new vocabulary using realia, visual aids or demonstrations.

Aspects of the that method are still evident in many ELT classrooms, such as the emphasis on listening and speaking, the use of the target language for all class instructions, and the use of visuals and realia to illustrate meaning.

A useful article for Direct Method in Education

Grammar Translation Method

Education
Reading Time: < 1 minute

One of the most used and conventional method: Grammar Translation Method

Grammar Translation Method is a non-scientific method that appeared at the half of the 19th century with no practical theory. Leading experts of this method are Seidentücker, Plötz, Ollendorf and Meidinger.

In the method, the central focus is on grammatical system rather than communication. Also, it was used to teach the languages of Latin, Greek and was particularly vogue during the 16th century. As a result of politic changes, Latin was said to develop intellectual abilities and it lost it’s central importance both in spoken and written language.

Typical features of a GTM lesson:

  • mother tongue
  • teacher-centred
  • vocabulary taught through wordlists and translation
  • reading of literary passages even at low levels, with reading comprehension questions
  • practice based on translation of texts to and from MT
  • elaborate presentation of grammar rules
  • memorization of grammar rules and vocabulary
  • vocabulary exercises include antonyms and synonyms, definitions etc based on words in reading text
  • composition exercises based on topics from reading texts

Why Grammar Translation Method was rejected?

  • Increased opportunities for communication among the Europeans created a radical demand for speaking.
  • This created the need of market for conversation books and phrase books for private studies.
  • Also, language specialists turned their attention to the different way where language were taught in secondary schools, so increasingly public education system was seen to be falling.

An example lesson plan for GTM