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Methods and Materials For ELT in India - Direct Method

The document discusses the direct method for teaching English as a second language. The direct method teaches English orally without using the student's native language, focusing on everyday language. It was popularized in Europe and developed in Britain. The direct method teaches grammar inductively and orally, from concrete to abstract concepts. It has benefits but also drawbacks like needing competent teachers and resources.

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Monika Bouddh
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16 views

Methods and Materials For ELT in India - Direct Method

The document discusses the direct method for teaching English as a second language. The direct method teaches English orally without using the student's native language, focusing on everyday language. It was popularized in Europe and developed in Britain. The direct method teaches grammar inductively and orally, from concrete to abstract concepts. It has benefits but also drawbacks like needing competent teachers and resources.

Uploaded by

Monika Bouddh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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METHODS AND MATERIALS FOR ELT IN INDIA

Direct Method
“When the teaching of English is done without the
intervention of the mother tongue, we have the direct
method of teaching English.”

–Felix Frank

English was taught as second language in the 19th century in grammar


translation method almost in all countries of the world. But there came winds of
change in the early 20th century and the concept that English can be naturally
learnt without the intervention of the mother tongue and ground. This method came
to be known as the direct method. The use of native language and that of
translation was strictly avoided in this method. In this method, the focus was on the
language of everyday life rather than on the literary language. The aim of this
method was to shift from learning the technical aspect of English to development
of oral and communication skills.

The direct method was popularised by Berlitz schools in Europe. The


British like Harold Palmer and A.S Hornby developed the oral approach and
situational language to advocate the Direct Method. Hornby classified the
grammatical structures into sentence patterns in his Advanced Learners Dictionary
in 1953 edition. This enables the teachers to present a medical structure into
sentences patterns in a graded manner from simple to complex constructions.

The direct method came as a reaction against the Grammar-


Translation method. It is also called the natural method of teaching English
because in this method the learner acquires the knowledge of English in the same
way in which he learns his own mother tongue. According to the Webster’s New
International Dictionary, “the direct method is a method of teaching a foreign
language especially a modern language, through the conversation, discussion and
reading in the language itself, without the use of the pupil’s language, without
translation, and without the study of the formal grammar. The first words uttered
by pointing to objects or pictures or by performing actions.”
The great educationist, H. Champion says, “to teach English directly is
to establish a direct or immediate association between experience and expression,
between the English word and its meaning.” The learner learns the new language
in the oral manner as he did his mother tongue. The words and phrases are
explained, not in terms of any other language but by associating them directly with
the objects they stand for. Its aim is to enable the student to think in English and
speak in English with correct pronunciation.

According to H.E. Palmer, the following are some of the features of


the direct method of teaching English:

1. This method follows the principle of proceeding from the concrete to the
abstract.
2. The translation in any form is banished from the classroom.
3. The meanings of words are taught by showing the concrete objects or
through actions in their natural context.
4. It begins with oral work and it is followed by reading and writing.
5. Grammar is taught in inductively and directly.
6. In this method, unit of speech is a sentence and not a word.
7. It makes the teaching of English easy and pleasant.
8. It helps the teacher and the learner to cover up more syllabus in less
time.
9. One, who learns English in the direct method, acquires the habit of
reading supplementary books and story books of English. It develops
critical understanding quickly.
10.The method gives one a good command over English. A student taught
in this method can speak English with great fluency.

However, there are certain demerits of this method. The direct method
is incomplete because it lays emphasis on the oral aspect of the language. The
writing aspect of the second language is ignored. It has been observed that those
who are good in speaking English commit mistakes of spelling while writing.
Moreover, very competent teachers are needed to teach English in the direct
method. It cannot be handled efficiently by ordinary teachers. It is expensive in the
sense that it requires proper audio visual material and a proper atmosphere. It does
not suit a student who comes from an ordinary background and has no scope at
home to interact in English at his home. Moreover, this method is based on limited
vocabulary. At the early stages, sometimes this method may fail miserably.
Students may not grasp anything at all in the beginning.

Thus we see that the direct method of teaching has certain drawbacks
but still it has its relevance. It is quite expensive and it requires highly specialised
teachers yet it has its own value. The greatest advantage of this method is that
makes the learner quite proficient in spoken English. We can’t say that it is the best
method for teaching English. A teacher should select his method according to the
environment in which he teaches. It has rightly been said,

“There can be no one method which can suit all teachers and all
students at all places in all situations.” The efficacy of the method of teaching
varies from place to place and student to student. A good teacher always moulds
his method of teaching according to the given situation.

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