4. THE DIRECT METHOD

The term "direct method" has been used to refer to many different approaches to second language teaching. I will use it here to refer specifically to de Sauzé's method and its present day versions, namely Pucciani and Hamel's method for French (see Langue et Langage), and similar versions for Spanish developed by Barcia.

Here are the characteristics of the direct method, as I understand it. First, all discussion, all classroom language, is the target language. This includes the language of the exercises and teacher talk used for classroom management. The method focusses on inductive teaching of grammar. The goal of the instruction is for the students to guess, or work out, the rules of the language. To aid in induction, the teacher asks questions that are hopefully interesting and meaningful, and the students' response is then used to provide an example of the target structure. If this is well done, it can give a direct method session the mood of a conversation class. Let me repeat my favorite example from an earlier paper (Krashen, 1980), one that one of my teachers used in a direct method French class. The goal of this exercise was to teach the conjunction "bien que", and the fact that its presence requires the following verb to be subjunctive:

    Teacher: Fait-il beau aujour'dhui?
    Student: Non, Il ne fait pas beau aujourd'hui.
    Teacher: Irez-vous cependent à la plage pendant le week-end?
    Student: Oui, j'irai cependent à la plage pendant le week-end.
    Teacher: Irez-vous à la plage bien qu'il ne fasse pas beau?
    Student: Oui, j'irai à la plage bien qu'il ne ...

My teacher used this particular example on a determined beach-goer, and generally tried to tailor questions to students' interests.

The direct method insists on accuracy and errors are corrected in class. After several exchanges of the sort given above, when the teacher considers that enough examples have been given, the rule is discussed and explained in the target language.

(a) Requirements for optimal input

(i) Comprehensible. The direct method, with its insistence on the use

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