Techniques and principles in language teaching

Diane Larsen-Freeman

SECOND EDITION


1/1//1

Techniques
and Principles
in Language
Teaching
D IA NE LA RSEN -FREEMAN

Second Edition

OXFORD
UNIV ERSI TY I'R ESS


OXFORD
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Series Editors' Preface
It is always a feeling of great pride for general editors of a pedagogical
series when the resounding success of one of its boo ks leads to the
demand for publ ication of a second, expanded edition. We a rc th erefore
extremely pleased that Diane Larsen-Freeman has underta ken to con tribut e to the field of language -teach ing professionals a newly revised,
updated, and enlarged version of her original and immensely valua ble
Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching . The ways in which the
second edition differs from the first- from the addition of new methods,
throu gh more att entio n to the learnin g process, to a litt le self-indulgence
in methodological choice-arc amply documented in Diane's own message 'To the Teacher Educato r', and these arc departures that are both
appr opriate and illuminating. What has not changed, however- and
modesty wo uld prevent her from saying so-a re the inta ngible qu alities
that mad e the first edition so special: enlightenment withou t condescension, comprehensiveness without tedium, engagement without oversimplification. Still evident as before is Dian e's gift for being ab le gently to
lead one to examine one's own professional behavior for possible incon gruities between one's view of language and the way one teaches it. And
still there, even intensified, is evidence of her serious and deeply persona l
thought devoted to comp lex pedag ogical issues and her incomparable
ability to make these matters come alive with great clarity for the widest
professional readership. It is no mean accomp lishment.
Russell N. Ca mpbell
William E. Ruth erford


Contents

To my parents, Elaine and Randolph Larsen,

with heartfelt gratitude for their love and
encouragement

Acknowledgments

vn

To the Teacher Educator

1

Introductio n

2

The Grammar-Translation Meth od

11

3

Th e Direct Method

23

4

The Audio-Lingual Meth od

35

5

The Silent Way

53

6

Dcsuggcsropedia

73

7

Community Language Learning

89

8

Total Physical Response

107

9

Commun icative Language Teaching

121

Conrenr-bascd, Task-based, and Participatory
Approac hes

137

Learning Stra tegy Training, Coo perative Learning,
and Multipl e Intelligences

159

Conclusion

177

Appendix

19 1

10
11
12


Acknowledgments

I must begin by than king the rea ders of the first edition of this book. Your
receptiveness has enab led me to publish th is updated second edition . In
addition, it has been a joy to interact with you.
Th e approach I ha ve used in this book is based on my experience in

teaching the methods/approaches course at the School for Interna tiona l
Training. This book would not ha ve been written in the fi rst place if it
were not for the influenc e of my colleagues and students ther e. I am very
gra teful to them all . In pa rticu lar. for th is seco nd editio n, I must single out
Caro lyn Nims, who went out of her way to give me co mments based
upo n her exper ience in using the book in a reac her education program .
Debra Blake an d Bill Co nley were also kind enough to read po rt ions o f
this manusc ript and offe r comments.
Th is book has a lso benefitte d fro m the fact tha t leading methodo logists
have generously respo nded to my requ est fo r feed back on po rt ions o f this
man uscript. I am indebted to Earl Stev ick (To the Teacher Ed ucat o r],
Shakti Gattegno of Edu cationa l Solutio ns Inc. (Silent Way ), Geo rgi
Lozanov, Alison Miller, and Tctsuo Nishiz aw a (Desuggesto pcdia}, Jenn ybelle Rardin and Pat Tiro ne of Co unseling- Le arni ng lnstirurcs (Comm unit y Lang uage Learnin g ), James Asher (To tal Physical Response],
Ma rjorie Wesche (co nten t-based inst ructio n ), and Elsa Auerbac h (partieipa rory approach). Their comments made me feel more co nfident tha t I
have inrcrp rcred the method ologists' intent. I am also grateful for the
co mments o f Rut h Wajnryb o f LARA Co nsulta ncy in Austra lia , a nd
Joa n n Cranda ll. Any remainin g erro rs o f interpr eta tion are , of co urse,
fully my res pon sibili ty,
For the initia l fait h they sho wed an d for their continu ed enco uragement an d helpful sugges rions. ! ackno wledge with gra titude the editors o f
this series, Russell Camp bell and William Rutherfo rd.
It ha s a lso been a pleasu re working with the ed itors at Oxford Unive rsit)' Press. first Anne Co nybea re and then J ulia Sallaba nk.
Fina lly, I must express my Jeep appreciation to my spouse. Elliott, who
has. as a lways. given me his support th roughout this project.
Dia ne Larsen-Freema n


To the Teacher Educator
ON LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODS AND THEIR USE
IN TEACHER EDUCATION
A study of methods is invaluable in teac her education in at least five w ays:

1 Met hods serve as a foil for reflection that can aid teachers in bringing
to conscious awareness the thinking that underlies their actions. We
know t hat teachers come to teacher tra ining with ideas about the
teac hing/lea rn ing process for med fro m the yea rs they have spent as st udent s themselves (I.ortie 1975). A ma jor purpose of teacher educa tion
is to help teac hers mak e t he tacit explicit (Shulman 1987; Freeman
1991 ). Wh en teac her s a rc ex pos ed to methods an d ask ed to reflect on
their principles and actively enga ge with the ir techn iq ues, th ey can
beco me clearer about why th ey do what they do. T hey become aware
of their own fun damental assumpt ions, values, and beliefs.
2 By beco ming clear o n wh ere th ey stand, teachers can choose to teac h
di fferentl y from t he way they were ta ught. T hey are a ble to see wh y
they are attracted to certain meth ods an d repell ed by oth ers. They a rc
able to make ch oices th at arc inform ed, not cond itioned. They may be
able to resist, or at least argue aga inst, the imposition of a pa rticular
method by authorities. In ot her situations , where a meth o d is not
imposed, methods o ffer teachers alte rnatives to wha t they currently
thin k and do . It do es not necess arily follow th at teachers will choose to
modify their current practice. T he point is that they will have the
und erstandi ng to do so, if they are able to and wan t to .
3 A know ledge of met hods is part o f th e knowledg e base of teac h ing.
With it, teach ers join a commun ity o f pra ctic e (Freeman 1( 92). Being a
community mem ber entai ls learn ing the pro fessiona l discourse that co rnmunity mem bers use so that professiona l dialog ca n take place. Being
pa rt of a d iscourse commun ity confers a professiona l identity and co nnects tea chers w ith others so th ey are not so isola ted in their practice.
4 A professiona l discourse commun ity may also challenge teachers' con ceptions of how teachin g leads to learn ing. Interacting wit h oth ers'


X

To the Teacher Edu cator

conceptio ns of practice helps keep teachers' teaching alive-helps prevent it from becoming stale and overly ro utinized (Prabhu 1990),
5 A knowledge of methods helps expand a teacher's repertoire of techniques. Th is in itself provides an addition al avenue for pro fessional
growth. as some teachers find their way to new philosophical positions. not hy first entertaining new principles. but rather by tr ying out
new techniques. Moreover. effective teachers who arc more experienced and expe rt have a large, diverse repertoire of best pract ices
(Arends 1998), which presumably helps them deal more effectively
,v-irh the unique qualities and idiosyncrasies of their students.
Despite these potent ial gain s from a study of methods, it is Important to
acknowledge that since the pu blicat ion of the first edition of this hook in
1986, a numb er of writ ers in our field have criticized the concept of language teac hing method s. Some say rhar methods are prescript ions for
classroom behavior, and that teachers arc encoura ged by textbook publishers and academics to implement them whether or not the meth ods are
a ppropriate for a part icular context (Pcr mycook 1989; Richards 1990;
Hollida y 1994 ). Others have noted that the search for the best method is
ill-advised (Prabhu 1990; Bartolome 1994), that teache rs do not think
about methods when planning their lessons (Long 1991 ), and that
methodologicallabels rcll us little about what really occurs in classrooms
(Allwright 1988; Katz 1996 ).
These criticisms have made me sto p and think . 1 suppose it is true, I
tho ught, that a particular method call be imposed on teachers by ot hers.
However, these others arc likely to be disappointed if they hope that mandating a particular method will lead to standardization. For we know
tha t teaching is more than following a recipe. Any method is going to be
shaped by a teacher's own understanding. beliefs, style, and level o f experience. Teachers are not mere conveyor belts delivering language through
inflexible prescribed and proscribed behaviors (Larsen-Freeman 1991);
they are professionals who can, in the best of all wo rlds, make their ow n
decisions. They arc informed by their own exper ience. the find ings from
research , and the wisdom of practice accumulated by the profession (sec,
for example, Kumaruvadivc!u 1994 ).
Furthermore. a method is deconrcxrualizcd. How a method is implemented in the classroom is goi ng to he af fected not on ly by who the
reacher is. but also by who the stude nts are, their and the teacher's cxpccrations of appropria te social roles. the instit utional constra ints and
demands. and factors connected to the wider sociocultural context in

which the instruction ta kes place. Even the 'r ight' method will not com-

To the Teacher Ed ucator

XI

pensare for inadequate conditions of learning or overcome sociopolitical
inequities. In addition, decisions that teachers make are often affected by
exigencies in the classroom rat her than by meth odological considerations, Saying that a part icular method is practiced certainly docs not give
us the whole pictu re of wha t is happening in the classroom. Then, too,
since a method is more abstract than a teaching activit y. it is not sur prising that teachers think in terms of activities rather than methodo logical
choices when they plan their lessons.
Thu s while I understa nd the criticisms, I do not believe that a study of
language teaching method s should be excluded from language teacher
education. It is not meth ods, but how they are used that is at issue. A
study of methods need not lead to the de-skilling of teachers but rath er
can serve a variety of useful functions when used appropriately in teacher
education. It can help teachers articulate, and perhaps transform, th eir
understa nding of the teaching/learning process. Method s can serve as
models of the integrat ion of theory (the principles) and practice (the techniques). The ir study can encourage con tinuin g educat ion in the lifelong
process of learning to teach (Larsen-Freeman 1998). Teachers and
teacher educators should not be blinded by the criticisms of methods and
thus fait to see their invaluable contribution to teacher education and
cont inuing development. Key to do ing so, though. is moving beyond
ideology to inquiry, a movement to which I hope this book will contri bute.

CHANGES IN THE SECOND EDITION
In addition to some modest updating of all the method s presented in the
first edition, Cha pter 6 has undergone a substantial revision to reflect the
evolution of Suggesropedia (first edition ) to Desuggestopedia in this edition. Further, the Int roduction (Chapter 1) has been expanded. Contr ary

to those who fear th at a method will be imposed on pract itioners, my
expe rience as a teacher educator is rhar the challenge lies in getti ng teachers to leave behind teaching as th ey were ta ught and become awa re of,
and op en to, alterna tives. I therefore welcome the opportunity tha t the
expanded chapter has given me to elaborat e on one way that openne ss
can be encouraged.
Anoth er change is the inclusion of methods that have come into prominence since the first edition of this book. In orde r to keep this book from
becoming roo long, I have grouped a number of methods in two chapters.
In addition to considerations of length, I have justified this decision
because ir seems th ese methods have in common the views that first,


XII

To th e Teac he r Educa tor

lan gua ge ca n best be learned wh en ir is taught th rou gh com muni cation,
rat her than for it (Chapte r to, on con tent- base d, task-based, and participarory approaches), a nd seco nd , that language acq uisitio n ca n be
en ha nced hy wo rki ng nor o nly on language, bur a lso on the process of
learn ing (Chapter It, o n learning stra tegies, cooperative lea rning, a nd
mult iple intelligences).
A further substantial mod ificati on is that the ep ilogue o f th e first editio n ha s grown inro a full cha pte r of its own (Chapter 12 ) in (his second
ed ition. Readers of th e first ed ition have rold me that they wis hed that J
had concluded w ith a mo re explicit eva lua tion and comparison of the
met hods. I chose not to do so in the first edition of t his bo o k. as I am not
of the opi nion that (he pu rpose of learni ng about methods is so o ne can
adopt the right one, or that I could choose for oth ers which one that
would be. However, in this second edition , I have respo nded to readers'
requests by provid ing a summary chan of the method s discussed in this
book, and by so doing, high lighting their ma jor differences. I have also
used th e op portu nity tha t a fu ll final chapter presents to indu lge myse lf in

sharing with reader s my views o n mak ing informed met ho do logica l
cho ices.
A wo rd a bo ut nomenclature is also in o rder. I am using (he term
'm eth od ' here nor to mean a formula ic presc ription, hut rather a coheren t
set o f links between principles and certa in techniques an d procedu res.
Anth o ny (1963) has made the case fo r a tripartite hier archy. As he p ut it:
, ... techniques ca rry o ut a meth od which is co nsistent wit h a n a pproach'
(p. 64 ). Fo llowing Am ho ny, in certa in o f the chapters, J wi ll introd uce a
particular method by sho wing how it is an exa mple o f a more genera l
approach ro la nguage teach ing. However, not all methods d iscussed in
this book conveniently follo w from a gene ral approach. They all do ,
th ough, have both a concep tual and an operational co mpo nent, finin g
the definition in Richards et al. (1992): Dictionary of Language Teaching
& Applied Linguistics (a method is 'a way of teaching a language wh ich
is ba sed o n systema tic principles and procedures' ), and justif ying my use
of the term . Admittedly, I so metimes have foun d it difficult to use the term
' method' with more recent innovations, such as co nrenr-based insrruction and coo perative learnin g. At times, I hav e resorted to the term
' metho dological innovation s.'
Even so, so me langua ge ed ucato rs migh t obj ect to th e inclu sion o f conrent-ba sed, ta sk-ba sed, and part icipatory ap proaches in a method s book ,
fo r th ey m ight be more comforta ble ca lling the se sylla bus types. N ever rhcl css, ot hers feci that a method designation is ver y appropriate. Snow
(199 1), for instan ce, cha racterizes con ten t-ba sed instr uct ion as a ' metho d

To the Teac her Edu cat or

Xlll

wit h many faces' both to mak e (he case for co rircnr-bascd instruction as a
method o f la nguage teac hing, a nd (0 ca pture the great varie ty o f for ms
an d settings in whic h it rakes place. Kuma ravadivelu ( 1993) observes that
the rerm '(ask' is often used w ith reference (Q bot h co ntent an d mcrhodology of language (cachin g. Indeed, w ithin the strong version of a communicative appro ach (Howatt 1984 ), (he traditiona l separatio n o f syllabus

design a nd method ology is blurred . If stu dents learn (Q communicate by
com municating (Breen 1984 ). (hen (he desti na tion and the route becom e
o ne and the same (Nu na n 1989). f ina lly. if we apply the definition of a
met hod we are using in this boo k, 'A met hod is a coherent set of thou ghtin-act ion links,' then the th ree rightfu lly belong.
Some migh t also ques tion whet her the three arc distinctive enough to
be treated separately. For example. Skeha n (1998) makes the point that
o ne could regard much content-based instruction (as well as project
work, which we will also briefly consider in Chapter 10) as particular
examples of a task-based approach. And others have suggested that taskbased and participatory ap proaches are a form of content-based instruction.ln any case, although it should be acknowledged that these methods
a rc unified by (he assumption rhat students learn (Q communicate by
co mmunica ting, (heir scope an d their particular foci seem distin ctive
eno ugh ( 0 warra nt independen t treatm ent.
Fina lly, alt hou gh I ha ve made every effo rt towa rd a faith ful render ing
of eac h meth od and method ological in nova tion, (here will und o ubtedly
be those wh o would not to tally accep t my rendition . Th is is under stan d ab le and pro bably inevitable. My descr iption is, as it must be, a product
o f my own experience.
It is my since re hope (hat this book will bot h inform a nd stim ula te its
readers and th at it will enco urage them to reflect, inq uire, and experiment. If it meet s these goa ls, then ir may help to restore fa ith in the app ropriate use of reachi ng met hod s in lan guage reacher ed ucat ion.

Brattleboro, Vermollt

Dian e Lar sen-Freeman

REFERENCES
Allwright, Dick. 1988. O bservation ill th e Classroo m . London : Longnun.

Anthony, Edward. 196 3. 'A pproach, met ho d, a nd technique.' Ellglish
Language Teaching Jailmal 17: 6]-7 reprinted in Allen, H . and R.
Campbell (cds.) : Teaching ~llglish as ,1 Second Language. (2nd edn.)
1972. New York: ~1cGraw· Hi ll.

XIV

To th e Teacher Educ ato r

Arend s, Richard . 1998. I.eam ing to Teach. (4th cd n.) New Yo rk: Mctirawt lill.
Bartolo me, Lilia. 1994. 'Beyo nd the method s fetish: Tow ar d a hum an!...ing ped agogy.' Harvard Educatio nal Review 64/2: 173- 94.
Breen, Mi chael. 1984. ' Process syllab uses for the lan guage classroom' in
Brumfi t, C. (cd.): General English Syllabus Design- Curriculum an d
Sy llabus Design for the General Englisb Classroom (Ef L Docu ments
118). Ox fo rd: Pergam o n Press for the British Council.
Freem an , Don ald . 199 1. 'To ma ke the tac it explicit : Teac her educa tio n,
emerging disc o urse and co ncept io ns of teach ing.' Teaching and
Teacher Education 7: 439- 54.
Freeman, Donald. 19 92 . ' Language teacher edu cation , eme rging discou rse, a nd ch ange in classroo m practice' in Flo, v-erdcvv, j., M. Brock ,
and S. H sia (cds.): Perspectives on Second Language Teacher Education. Ho ng Kong: City Po lytechni c o f H on g Kon g.
Holliday, Adrian. 1994 . App ropriate M etbo doiogy and Social Contex t.
New York : Cambridge University Press.
Ho watt, A. P. R. 1984. A J-listory o f e nglish Language Teaching . Ox for d:
Oxford Universi ry Press.
Katz, Ann e. 1996. 'Teach ing sty le: a way to u nder stand instr uct io n in lan guage cla ssrooms' in Bailey, K. and D. Nuna n (eds.) : Voices from the
Language Classroom. Ca mbridge: Ca mb ridge University Press.
Kumaravadivclu , B. 1993. ' The name of the task an d the task o f naming:
Meth od o logical aspects o f task-based pedagogy' in Croo kes, G . and S.
Gass (cds.) : Task s in a Pedagogical Context. Clcvcdon : M ultilingua l
M att ers.
Kuma rava divclu, H. 19 94. 'The posrmerhod co nd ition: [Ejmcrging stra tegies for second/ foreign lan gu age teaching.' T ES OL Q uarter/)' 28/ 1:
27-48.
Larsen-Free ma n, Diane. 1991 . ' Resea rch on language reachi ng meth odo logies: A review of rhc past an d an age nda fo r the future' in de Bot , K.,

R. B. Ginsberg, and C. Kramsch (cds.): Foreign l .angnagc Research in
Cross-cultura l t'ersnectioe. Amster da m/Philadelphia : Jo hn Bcniamin s
Publishing.
Lorscn-Frccman, Dian e. 199 H. ' Learn ing reachin g is a lifelo ng process.'
Perspecuuce XX IV/2: 5- 1I .
Lon g, Mi chael. 199 1. ' FOCll S o n fo rm: I\. design featu re in language teaching methodo logy' in de Bot, K., R. B. Ginsbe rg. a nd C. Kramsch (eds.):
Foreign Language Research in Croes-cutturol Perspoctiue, Amsterdam/
Philadelphia: John Bcn jami ns Pub lishing.

To th e Teach er Educator

xv

Lorti e, Dan. 1975. Schoolteacher: A Socio logical Stud)'. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Nu nan, David. 1989. Desiglling Tasks {or the Commu nicative Classroom. Ca m bridge: Ca mbridge University Press.
Pcnn ycook , Alastair. 1989. 'T he concept o f method, interested kno wledge, and the po litics (If language teaching.' T ESOL Q uarterly 23/4 :
59 1-6 15.
Prabhu, N . S. 1990. 'T here is no best method-why?' T F.SOL Q uarterl)'

24/2, 16 1- 76.
Richards.jack. 1990. Th e Language Teaching Matrix . Ca mbridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sh ulman, Lee. 1987. ' Knowledge-base and teac hing: Foundations o f th e
new reform.' Harvard Educational Review 57/ 1: 1- 22 .
Skehan, Peter. 199 8. 'Task- based instruction.' A nnual Review ofApplied
Linguistics: Fou ndations ofSecond Language Teaching. Volume 18.
Snow, M argu erit e Ann. 199 1. 'Content-based instru ct ion: A method
with many faces' in Alaris, j. E. (ed.). Georgetown Univers ity Rou nd
Table 0 11 Languages and linguistics. Washington, DC: Georgetown
Univer sity Press.

1

Introduction

GOALS OF THIS BOOK
One of th e goa ls of this book is for you to learn about many different langu age teaching meth o ds. I will u se th e term 'la ngua ge teaching me th od '
to mean a coherent set of links between actions and thoug hts in language
teaching . The actions are the techniques and the thoughts are the pr inciples in the title of t his book: Techniq ues and Principles in Language
Teaching.
A seco nd goa l is to help yo u uncover t he t houghts that guide yo ur own
ac tions as a teac her. Th ey may not be ones of which you arc a ware.
Seeking to deter mine wh ich princip les of the methods you rea d a bo ut
here are most [dis jha rm onious with your own think ing will help yo u to
uncover some of your imp licit thoughts an d beliefs about reaching.
A third goa l is to introduce you to a variety o f techniques, some of
which wil l be new. Although certain tech niques may require furt her tra ining, or hers ca n be immedia tely implemented . Feel free to experiment and
adapt those techniques to your teaching con text.

THOUGHT-iN-ACTION LINKS
It is impo rtant to recogni ze th at methods link thoughts and act ions
beca use teachi ng is not entirely a bou t on e o r the other. Of co urse t his is as
tru e a bou t your own teachin g as it is ab out any meth od you will read
abo ut in this bo ok . As a teac her o f langua ge, you have rhoughts ' about
your subject matter-what la nguage is, what culture is- and ab out your
stu dents-who they are as learners and how it is they learn . Yo u also have
thoughts nbour yourself as a teac her and what yo u can do to help your
stu dents learn. lt is very important for you to become aware of the
thoughts that guide your actions in the classroom. With this awareness,
you will be able to examine why you do what you do and perhaps choose

to think about or do things d ifferentl y.
I I will usc the term lllOlIghl> for the sake of simplicity; howl'vrr, I mean for thoughts
helief" ;ltt ;tllde" v.,I1,es, and awarene" as well.

to

inrllll.le


2

lntrodnc tion

As an exam ple-, lcr me relate a n a necdote abo ut a teac her with who m I
was work ing a few yea rs ago. I will ca ll her H eather, alt ho ugh th at is no t
her real nam e. h om her st udy o f method " in Stevick ( 1980), I leat her
became very iureresred in how ro work with teac her co ntrol and st uden t
init iative in her teach ing. Heat her determ ined tha t during her student
reachin g internship she would exe rcise less co ntrol o f th e- lesso n in orde r
ro enco urage her stu dents to rak e mo re init iative. She- deci ded ro na rro w
t he goal down to having stu dents take initiat ive in posing the q uest io ns in
the classroom, recog nizing t hat so o ften it is th e reacher who asks all the
q uestions, not the st ude nts.
r was Heath er's teaching supe rviso r. When I ca me to observe her, she
was very d iscou raged. She felt that th e stu dents we re not taking the initia tive that she was trying to get them to take, bur she did nor know what
was wrong.
When I visited her class, I obse-rve-d the following:
H EA T H ER

JUAN

ANNA
II E ATl I ER

ANNA
.\-l UR I E I.

Juan, ask Anna what she is wearing.
What a re you wearing?
I am wearing ,1 dr ess.
Anna, as k Muriel wha t she is writ ing.
Wha t a re yo u w riting?
I am wr iting a letter;.

Th is pattern co nt inued fo r so me time. It was d ea r to see that Heat her
had successfu lly avoided the commo n problem o f th e teacher as king a ll
t he qu est ion s in the cla ss. The teacher did not ask the qu estion s- the SUl dents d id. Ho wever, Heath er had no t rea lized her asp ira tion o f enco uraging student initiative since it was she who took t he in itiative by pro mp ting
the st udents rc ask the qu estions. Heath er an d I d iscussed the mat ter in
the po st-o bservation conference.
Hea ther came to sec that if she tru ly wa nted student s to take mor e initiative, then she wo u ld ha ve to set up th e situation in a wa y th at her par ticipatio n in an activity was not essen tia l. We ta lked a bout severa l wa ys
o f her do ing th is. Du ring this discussion, Heather ca me to a no ther imporrunt awa reness. She rea lized t hat since she wa s a fairly inexp erienced
reach er; she felt insecu re a bout having th e stu dent s mak e rhc decision s
abou t who says what to wh o m wh en. Wha t if the stu dents were ro usk her
man y q uestions that she co uld not answe r? Wh ile having st udents ta ke
in itiative in the cla ssroom was co nso na nt with her values, Heat her rea lized tha t she should t hink furt her abou t rhc level of st ude n t init iative with
which she co uld be com fo rta ble at th is po int in her ca reer as a teacher. Wt'
talked a bo ut oth er opt io ns she coul d pursu e as well. Th e poi nt wa s tha t it

Introdu ction

3

was no t necess ar ily sim ply a matt er of H eat her imp roving her techniqu e;
she co uld sec th at th at W,}S one possi bility. Another was to rethink the
wa y in which she t ho ught a bo ut her teac hing (Larsen -freema n 199 3 ).
Th e lin ks between tho ught a nd action were very impo rt ant in
Hea ther's teaching . She came to rea lize tha t when so met hing was no t
going as she had intended, she co uld change o ne or she cou ld cha nge the
ot her. Heat her had a n idea o f what she wanted to acco mplis h- but the
action she chose to carry o ut her idea did not accomplish her purpose.
When she exa mined her intentions mo re clea rly, she saw that she was no t
yet ready to h aw her stu de nts' ta ke complete init iative in the lesson.

A CO H EREN T SET
Returning to th e methods in thi s hook, we will see th at it is the link
between tho ught s and actions that is common to them all. But t here is
anot her way in which links arc made in methods, and that is the con nection between one thought-in-action link and another. A method is a
coherent set of such links in the sense tha t there sho uld be some theoren calor philosophical compa tibility among the links. If a teac her believes
tha t language is made up of 3 set o f fixed pa trc ms, it mak es little sense for
him o r her to use tech niqu es which help lea rner s discover the abs tract
ru les underly ing a lan guage to enable them to create no vel patterns.
To sa)' th ere is a coherence amo ng th e links do es not mea n, ho wever,
that t he techniques o f on e met hod ca nnot be used with a no ther. T he techniqu es ma y loo k very different in practice th ough, if the tho ughts behind
t hem d iffer. Fo r exa mple, Stevick ( 1993) has sho wn th at the simpl e technique o f teaching student s a di alog using a pict ure to p ro vide a context
ca n lead to very di fferent con clusions about teaching and learni ng
de pend ing on how the technique is managed . If t he stu dent s first loo k at
the pictu re, d ose th eir eyes w hile the teach er reads th e dia log, and th en
repeat t he d ia log hit by bit a fte r the teacher, repeating until they have
learn ed it fluently and flawl essly, the st udents co uld infer th at it is th e
teache r who is the provider o f a ll language and its mean ing in th e cla ssroom. Th ey co uld further infer th at th ey sho uld use that 'part of their
bra ins that co pies bur not the pa n th at crea tes' ( 1993 : 432) ,

If, on the ot her han d , befo re they listen to or rend th e d ialog, t hey look
at the p ict ure and describe it usin g wo rds a nd phrases they ca n sup ply,
a nd then they guess wha t till' people in th e pictu re might be saying to eac h
o ther befo re they hear the dialog, they m ight infer that th eir initiat ive is
welcomed , and that it is a ll right to be wrong. If th ey then pract ice the dielog in pairs witho ut str iving fo r perfec t recall, th ey migh t a lso in fer th at


4

Introdu ction

they sho uld 'usc the par t of their bra ins that creates' and that guessing
and app rox imatio n arc acceptable ( 1993 : 432 ). We can see from this
exa mple how a pa rticular technique rnigbr look very different (and might
lead students to very di fferent conclusions a bou t the ir learni ng), depend ing on how it is managed. Thi s may, in turn , be a prod uct of the tho ughts
and beliefs of the reacher who is putting the techn iq ue into practice .
It is not my pur pose to have you sift through the met hods presented
here in ord er to choose the one with wh ich yo u feel the mos t philos op hicallv in rune. Instead, I hope that you will use what is here as a foil to
make exp licit yo ur own beliefs about the teaching/learning process,
beliefs based upon your experience and your professiona l tra ining, the
research you know about, and even your social values. It is not a question
of choosing between intact methods; nor should the presence of any
method in this boo k be construed as an endorsement by me. Further, this
book is not a substitute for actual trainin g in a particular method, and
specific training is adv ised for some of them. Final ly, Tdid not set o ut to be
comprehensive and deal with all la nguage teaching methods. Th e rncrhods - included in this book represent methods whi ch are pract iced tod ay
an d w hich reflect a diversity of views on the reaching and learn ing
pro cesses. By co nfro nt ing such diversity, an d by viewing the thought-inaction link s that ot hers ha ve made , I ho pe that yo u will arrive at your
own perso nal conceptual izatio ns of how th o ughts lead to actions in your
teaching and how, in turn , your teaching leads to learn ing in your st udents (Prabhu 1992). Ultim ately, the choice am ong techniques and prin ciples depends on learning o utcom es, a theme to which I will return in the

final chapter of this book.

DOUBTING GAME AND BELIEVING GAME
Some of wh at yo u encounter here will no doubt con firm what you do or
believe alr ead y; other things you read a bou t may challenge your notions.
When ou r fundamenta l beliefs are cha llenged, we arc often q uick to dismiss the idea . It is too threa tenin g to am well-estab lished beliefs.
I will never fo rget o ne of the first times I heard Caleb Ca tregno discuss
the Silent Way, a method presented in this hook (sec Chapter 5). It wa s at
a language reach ing con vention in New York City in 1976. Several th ings
Garrcgno tal ked a bo ut that day were contrary to Illy own beliefs at the
l it ,hOI,ld be acknowledged rh.ir not .\11 01 rhc or igin'lwr, "I the tlIeth,,,ls presented in thi, book
would call their contribution 'I 'method' bn:au se they note that the term is son"'li"", >ass,.><.:iilled
with form ulaic practice. I hope thnr I h,we made it clear that fur me a mcrhod is a way of con ·
nccnng partic ular principles w ith particu lar l~chni4 ue s into a ""herem package, nOla formula.

Introduction

5

time. 1 found myself listen ing to him a nd at the same time hear ing t his
do ubtfu l voice in my head saying 'Wait a minute .... '
Gancguo said that day that a teacher shou ld never praise a student, not
even sav 'Good' or smile. 'Wait a minute,' I heard the voice in my head
echoing, ' Everyone knows t hat being a good teacher means giving pos itive feedback to stu dents and being concerned about their affective side
or their feelings. Besides, how will the students know when they are right
if the teac her doesn't tell them so?'
Later, though, Tfoun d myself thi nking, 'On the other han d, Cattcgno, I
can see why you are reluctant to give feedback. You have made me think
about the power of silence. Without having the teacher to rely on, students have to assume responsibility for the work-just as you so ofte n
say, "only the learner can do the learn ing." 1can see how this silence is in

keeping wit h yo ur belief that the students must do without the overt
approval of t he teacher. They must co ncent rate on developing and then
satisfying their own "inner criter ia." Lea rnin g to listen to themselves
is part of lessening thei r reliance on the teacher. Th e teacher will not
nlwa vs be (here, Also, they will be encouraged co form crite ria fo r
correcting their ownmisrakes-c-for mon ito ring their o wn progress . J also
see how you think rhnr if the teacher makes a big deal out of stude nts' success, he impl ies that w ha t the stu dent is do ing is o ut of the o rdinary-a nd
that the jo b of lear ning a language must be difficult . Also, 1 see that in
your view students' security is pro vided for by their just being accepted
without regard for any linguistic successes or diffi cu lties they might be
having.'
What are th e differences betw een the two voices I hea rd in my head -cbetween the ' Wait a minute' and the 'On the other hand' responses? Well,
per haps ic would be d ear er if we reflected for a moment on what it
requires co uph old each posit ion. What I have attempted to do is play two
game s described in an art icle, 'The Doubting Game a nd the Believing
Gam e,' which appea rs in an append ix to a boo k authored by Peter Elbow
( 1973) . Elbow believes that do ubting and believing are games becau se
they are ru le-govern ed, ritualized pro cesses, which are not real life. The
do ubting game, Elbow says , req uires logic and evidence. 'It emp has izes a
model of knowing as an act of discriminat ion: putting something on tria l
to sec w het her it is wanting or not' (Larsen -Freeman 19S.t 15). I think its
practice is someth ing far more common to the aca demic worl d than its
co unrcrpa rr-c-rhc believing game. 'O ur con tempora ry ed ucatio n, then,
indo ctrinates us in the glor ification of do ubt , has created in faa w hat
cou ld a lmost be ca lled a religion or theology of do ubt, in which to he seen
to he intelligent we have to be seen to do ubt everything, to always point


6

Introduction

Introduction

what's wrong and rarely to as k what is right or good .. . ' (Rinpcc hc
1993: 123-4). Man y o f us arc ver y good at pla ying th e doubting gam e

[0

th en, bur we do so at a COSt. We ma y find fault with a new idea before g iving it a proper chance.
What docs p laying t he believing ga me req uire, t he n? The believing
game 'emphasizes a model of knowing as an act o f constructing, a n ac t of
in vesrm enr, an act o f invo lvement' (Elbo w 19 73: 163 ). It is nor just the
with ho lding o f doubt. Rather, u asks us to put on the eyeglasses of
another person-e-re adopt his or her perspecrive-c-ro sec the method a s
th e origina tor sees it. Fur ther, it req uires a willingn ess to explore what is
new.
While it ma y a ppea r th at th e traits amibured to the believing game a rc
more desirabl e to possess, Elbo w is not arguing that we should allow the
doubting muscle to atrophy, no r am 1. I am not advocating an abandonment of the doubting game, bur ra ther that you attempt to understand
first before you judge. Therefore, do not be qu ick to dismiss a princip le or
tec hniq ue sim ply beca use, at first glance, it a ppea rs to be at odds w ith
yo ur own beliefs or impo ssibl e to apply in your own situatio n. For
instance, in on e o f the methods we w ill conside r, t he st udents th emselves
decide what th ey wa nt to say and rhe rea cher th en t ranslates it into th e
ta rget language (th e language rhat rhey ar e studyi ng ). If yon re ject rhis
technique as impractica l becau se yo u do not know you r students' native
langua ge or because yo ur students speak a number o f different nat ive languages, t hen yOll ma y be missing o ut on so mething valuable. You shou ld
first as k what th e pu rpose o f t ra nslat ing is: Is t here a pr inciple behind its
use in wh ich you believe? If so, ca n yo u a pply it another way, say by inviting a bilingual spea ker to come to your class now and again or by having

your stu dents act om or paraph rase what they want to be able to say in
the language they are studying?

1 Wha t arc the goals of teachers wh o use this method?

3 Wh at a re so me chcracrerisrics of the reaching/learn ing process?

We will learn ab out th e meth od s by enterin g a cla ssroom where eac h
met hod is being pra cticed. In mo st chapters in this book, on e language
teaching method is presen ted. However, in a few cha pters. a more genera l
approac h to langua ge teachin g is descr ibed . and w hat arc depicted in th e
chapter a rc one o r mo rt' method s that a re exa m ples o f the a pproac h. j I
ha ve ass u med that observ ing a class w ill give you a grea ter und er stan d ing
Fo lI"wi ng Anth nn,,'. (1'h',l) uSC' of the' term oJppro..lch
with Th e'nature o f lanjl.uoljl.C'. lear ning , a nd l..a.'hing.

o f a particular method and will give yo u more of an opportunity to reflect
on you r o wn pra ctice than if )'O U were to simply read a description of it. It
sho uld be ackno wledge d , however. that th ese cla ssroom encounters ar c
ideal ized. Anyone wh o is or has been, a language teacher o r st udent. wilt
im med iately recogn ize that lesso ns seldo m go so smo othly as the o nes
yo u will sec hen,' , In rhe rea l wo rld students do not a lways catch on
quick ly and teachers ha ve to contend wit h many ot her social and classroom man agem ent matters than wha t arc depicted here. As I have already
ack nowledged, a met hod docs not reflect everythi ng th at is transpirin g in
th e classroom.
We will observe the techniqu es th e teacher is using a nd his or her
behav ior. In th e even-num bered chapters, the teacher is fema le; in the
odd-numbered cha pters, the teacher is ma le. After observ ing a lesson, we
will infer the principles on which the teacher's behavior and techniques
a re based. Although in most cases, we w ill observe only th e one beginning

o r intermediate-level cla ss for ea ch method, once the p rinciples are clea r.
they can he app lied to o ther situa tions. To illustrate the application of the
principlcs ar mo re tha n o ne level of profi ciency, in two insta nces, w ith the
Silent Way a nd Desuggcsropcdia, we will first visit a beginning- level class
and th en later briefly visit a class at a high-int er media te level. It sho uld he
noted that when learners arc at the ad van ced level, th e di stinctive techniques associated wit h a method may be less visible becau se advanced
lea rne rs ma y ha ve special, well -defin ed need s, such as learnin g how to
read and write academic texts. 1iowcvcr; as we have seen w ith Stevick 's
exa mp le of teach ing a d ia log, the way teachers think a bo ut language
teachin g and learn ing will st ill shape ho w they work at alllevels.
After we have ident ified the principles, we will an swer the followi ng
ten questions:

2 Wha t is t he role of th e teacher ? What is the ro le of the stude nts?

LAYOUT OF CHAPTERS

J

7

To

m...m a \.('1 "f a~.umplion~ de.lling

4 Wh ar is t he nature of stu dent-reac her int eracti on ? Wh at is the natu re
of srudcn t-s tudcn r int era ct ion?
S How arc rill' feelings of th e st uden ts dea lt w irh?
6 Ho w is lan guage viewed? Ho w is cult ure viewed?

7 What a rea s o f language ar e emphasi zed? \X'hat language skills arc
emphasized?
8 Wha t is the rol e o f the students' native language ?


8

Introduction

9 How is evaluat ion accomplished?
10 How do cs the teacher respond to srudcnr errors?
T he ans wers to these questions will add to our understa nd ing of eac h
method a nd allo w us to see some salient differences among the methods
presente d here. Befo re read ing the answers to these q uestions in the book ,
you migh t try to answer them first yourself after going thro ugh the first
part of the chapter. Th is migh t increase your understan ding of a method
an d give you practice with reflecting on an experience.
Following these questions, we will review the techniques we observed
in the lesso n. In some cases the techniques wi ll be expanded so th at yo u
can try to put them into practice if yo u wish . Indeed, as we mentioned earlier, another purpose of t his book is to present a variety of techniques,
some of wh ich may be new to you , and to encourage you to experiment
with them. We know that the more experienced teachers are, the broader
the ir repertoire of techniques is (Arends 1998). Presumably, such versatility allows teachers to deal more effecti vely with the unique con stellation
of stude nts w ith whom they are wo rking at an y on e time.
In the co nclus ion to eac h chapte r, you will be asked to th ink a bo ut how
all of this info rmati on can be of use to yo u in your teac hing. It is yo u who
have to view these method s through the filter of yo ur own beliefs, needs,
knowledge, and experience. By playing the believing game, it is my hop e
tha t no matter wh at yo ur assessment of a parti cu lar method, you will nor
have reached it without first, so to speak, getting inside the method and

looking out.
At the end of each chapter are two types of exercises. The first type
allows you to check your initial understanding of the method presented .
The second type of exercise asks you to make the connection between
what you understand about a met hod and your own teaching situ ation.
Wher ever possible, I encourage yOlI to work wit h someone else as you
cons ider these. Teachin g can be a solitary act, but colla bo rating wit h
oth er teachers can help enr ich o ur exper ience and nurture our grow th.

REFE RENCES AND ADDITIONAL RES OURCES
Anthony, Ed ward. 1963. 'Approach, method , a nd technique.' English
l.anguage Teaching journal 17: 63-7 repr inted in Allen, H. and R.
Camp bell (eds.): Teaching Eng/ish as a Second Language. (2nd cdn.)
1972 . New Yo rk : M criruw-Hill.
Arends, Richard . 1998. Learning to Teach. (4th cdn.] New Yor k:
McGraw -Hill.

Introduction

9

Elbow, Peter. 1973. Writillg ioitbout Teachers. New Yo rk: O xfo rd
University Press.
Larsen -Freem an, Dian e. 1983. 'Seco nd langua ge acquisi tion: Gett ing the
who le pictu re' in Bai ley, K., M . Long, an d S. Peck (cds.): Second
Language Acquisition Studies. Row ley, M A: Newbu ry Ho use
Publishers.
Larsen-Freeman, Diane. 1993. ' For eign language teachi ng methodo logy
and language teac her education.' Plenary add ress delivered at the
International Cong ress of Applied Lingui stics 1993, Amsterd am.

Pra bh u, N . S. 1992. 'The dynamics of the language lesson .' TESOr.
Quarterly 26/2: 225-41.
Rich ard s, Jack, John Platt , and He idi Platt. 1992. Dictionary of
Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics (second edition). London:
Longman.
Rinpochc, Sogyal. 1993. Th e Tibetan Book o f Livi ng and Dyin g. New
York: Ha rperColl ins.
Stevick, Ea rl W. 1980. Teaching Languages: A Way and Ways. Row ley,
MA: Newb ur y House.
Stevick, Earl W. 1993. 'Social meanings for how we teach' in Alaris, J.
(ed.) . Georgetown University Roun d Tahle all Languages and
Linguistics. Washin gto n, DC: Georgetown University Press.
Stevick, Earl W. 1998. Working with Teaching Methods: W hat 's at Stake?
(Revised version of Stevick 1980 .) Bosto n, MA: H einle & H ein le.


2

The Grammar-Translation
Method

INTRODUCTION
T he Grammar-Tra nslati on M eth od is no t new. It ha s had d ifferent names,
but it has been used by lan guage teac her s fo r many yea rs. At one time it
wa s ca lled the Classical Met hod since it wa s first used in the teaching of
th e cla ssical lan guages, Latin an d Gr eek (Chastain 1988). Earlier in t his
century, th is met hod wa s used for the purpose of help ing st udents read
a nd app reciate foreign langua ge literature. It was also ho ped that, through
th e st udy of th e gra mma r of th e ta rget language, stude nts wo uld become
mo re fam iliar wi t h th e grammar of their native language an d that thi s

familiarity wou ld help them speak and wr ite t heir nati ve language better.
Finall y, it was thou ght tha t foreignlanguage lea rn ing would help students
grow intellectu all y; it was recog nized that stu dents wo uld probably never
use th e ta rget lan guage, but th e meum! exercise o f lea rn ing it would he
benefi cial anyway.
Let us try to understand the Grammar-Tra nslat ion Met hod by o bserving a class w here the teacher is using ir. T he class is a high-inter med iate
level English class at a uni vers ity in Co lo mbi a. Th ere a rc forr y-rwo students in th e class. Two -hour classes a re co nducted three tim es a week.

EXPERIENCE
As we enter the classroom, th e class is in the middle o f read ing a pa ssa ge
in th eir tex tbook . T he passage is an excerpt enti tled 'The Boys' Ambition '
from Mark Twai n's Ufe 0 11 the Mississippi. Each student is ca lled o n to
read a few lines from the passage. After they have finished rea d ing, th ey
arc aske d to transla te into Span ish the few lines they ha ve just read. Th e
teac her help s them with new vocabulary items. When the stud ent s ha w
finished rea d ing and translat ing th e passage, rhc reac her asks them in
Spani sh if th ey ha ve an y q uestio ns. One girl rai ses her hand and says,
' Wha t is padd le wh eel ?' Th e teacher replies, ' Fs una m eda de paletas.:
Th en she cont in ues in Spa nish to exp lain ho w it looked a nd wo rked on
the srcarnboa rs which mo ved up and down th e M ississipp i Rivet duri ng


12

The Grammar-Translation Method

The Grammar-Translation Method

Mark Twa in's childh ood. Another student says, 'No und erstand "gorgeo us." , T he teacher translates, ' Primorosc:'
Since the stude nts have 11 0 mo re questio ns, the reacher asks them to

write the answers W the co mprehensio n quest ions wh ich app ear at the
end of the excer pt. Th e q uestion s are in English, and the stude nts are
instructed to write the a nswers to them in English as well. Th ey do the
first one together as an exa mple. A stu dent read s out loud , ' W hen did
M ar k Twa in live?' Another stude nt rep lies, 'Ma rk Tw ain lived fro m 1835
to 1910.' ' Bueno,' says the teacher, and the students begin working qui erly by themselves.
In addition to questions that ask for information contained within the
reading passage, the stud ents answer two other types of q uestions. Fo r
the first type, they have to make inferences based on thei r understanding
of the passage. For example, one question is: 'D o you th ink t he boy was
ambitio us? Wh y or w hy not?' The other type of q uestion req uires the stu dents to relate the passage to their own exper ience. For example, on e of
the questions based o n th is excerpt asks them, ' Ha ve yo u ever though t
abo ut running a way from ho me ?'
After one-half hou r, the teacher, speaki ng in Spa nish, asks the stude nts
to sto p an d "heck their wo rk . On e by one eac h student reads a question
and th en read s his or her respo nse. If it is cor rect, the teacher ca lls o n
another student to read the next q uestion. If the answ er is incorrect, the
teacher selects a different student to supp ly the correct answer, or the
teac her herself gives the right answer.
Announcing the next acti vity, the teacher as ks the students to turn the
page in their text. T here IS a list of words the re. The introduction to the
exer cise tells the stude nts that these arc wo rds taken from the passage
they have just read. The students see the wo rds 'ambition,' 'career,'
'wharf,' ' tran q uil,' 'gorgeous,' 'loathe,' 'envy,' an d 'humbly.' They are
told tha t some of these are review words an d that o thers are new to them.
T he stud ent s arc instructed to give the Span ish word fo r each of them.
Th is exerc ise the class does toget her. If no one knows the Spanish cquiva lent, the teache r gives it. In Part 2 of thi s exercise, the students a re given
English words like 'love,' ' nois y, ' ' ugly; a nd 'proudly,' and are directed to
find the opposites of these word s in the passage.
When they have fi nished this exercise, the teacher reminds them th at

English wo rds tha t look like Spani sh word s arc called 'cogna tes.' Th e
English vty," she says for exa mple, often cor responds to the Spanis h end~ n ~s. -dad a nd -tad. She calls the st ll d ent~ ' atten tion to the wo rd 'p ossibiltty In the passage a nd tells them that tim word is the same as the Spa nish
posib ilidad. T he teacher asks the students to find other examples in the

13

Exercise 2A
These word s arc taken from the passage you have just
read. Some of them arc review wo rd s and others arc new.
Give th e Span ish tran slation fo r eac h of them. You ma y
refer back to th e reading pa ssage.
ambition
career
wharf
tr an q uil

go rgeous
loathe
envy
humbly

Exercise 2B
Th ese words all have anton yms in the reading passage.
Find the antony m for each:
love
noisy

ugly
proudly

excerpt . Hands go up; a hoy an swers, 'Obscuri ty.' 'Bien ,' sa ys the reacher.
When all of these cognates from t he pa ssage have been identified , the stu dents arc told to turn to the next exercise in the chapter and to answer the
q uestion, 'What do these cognates mean? ' There is a lung list of English
wo rds ('c uriosity,' 'opportunity,' 'liberty,' crc.], whi ch the students translate into Spanish.
The next section of the chapter deals wit h gram mar. The stude nts follow in their books as the teacher reads a descript ion of two -wo rd or
phrasal verbs . This is a review for them as they have encount ered ph rasa l
verb s befo re. Nevertheless, there are some new two-w ord verbs in the
passage rhe stu dents haven't learne d yet. These a rc listed following the
description, and the stud ents arc asked to translate them into Spanish. Then
they arc given the ru le for use of a direct ob ject with two-word verbs :

If rhc two -word verb is sepa rable, the direct object may com e betw een
the verb a nd its panicle. Ho wever, separatio n is necessary w hen the
direct object is a pronou n. If the verb is inseparable, then ther e is no
scpnrarion of the verb a nd particle by the object. Fo r example:
Jo hn put away his book.
0'

Joh n put his book aw ay/John put it away.


14

Th e Grammar-Tran slation Method

T he Gram m ar-Tran slation Method
dr ink
sing
sW im
ring

begin

hilt not
Jo hn put awa y it.
(beca use 'put away' is a sepa rab le tw o-word verb)
T he teacher went ove r the ho mework.
bnt no!
Th e teac her went the hom ewo rk over.
(beca use 'go ove r' is an inseparable tw o-word verb).

wake up
fad e o ut
break dow n

get o n
layup
turn bac k

drunk
sung
sw um
rung
begun

4 Write a compos ition in the ta rget language abo ut an amb ition they ha ve.

After read ing over the rule and the examples, the students a re asked to te ll
wh ich of the fo llow ing two-word verbs, taken from the passage, are separa ble and which insepara ble. They refer to the pa ssage for clues. If they
cannot tell from the pa ssage, they use their dictionar ies o r ask their
teacher.

turn up
run away
go away

d rank
sang
swam
rang
began

15

ta ke in

Finally, they are asked to put o ne of these phrasal ver bs in the blank of
each of the ten sente nces they a rc given. They do the first two togeth er.
1 M ar k Twain decided to _ _ beca use his pa rent s wo uld n' t let him
get a job o n the river,
2 Th e sreamboa tmen _ _ a nd disc ha rge freight at eac h po rt on the
M ississippi River.
When the students a rc finished with this exercise, they read the ir an swer s
a loud.
At the end of the chapter there is a list of voca bula ry items that
appea red in the passage. The list is divided into two pa rts: the first contains words, and the second, idioms like 'to give someone the co ld sho ulde r.' Next ro each is a Span ish word or phrase. Fo r hom ework , the
teacher asks the students to memorize the Spa nish trans lat ion for the first
twent y wo rds and to write a sentence in English using each word .
In the two remaining lesson s this week, the students will be asked to:

S Memorize the remaining vocabulary items a nd w rite sentences for
each .

6 Take a quiz on the g rammar and vocabu lary of th is chapter. They will
be asked to tra nslat e a Spanish paragraph a bou t steamboa ts into
English.

T HI NK I NG ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE
Thi s has been just a brief introduction to the Grammar-Translation
M ethod , bu t it is prohahly true that this met hod is not new to many of
you. Yo u may have stud ied a langu age in this way, or you may he teach ing w ith this meth od right now. Whether this is true or not, let us see w hat
we have learned about the G rammar-Tra nslat ion Method. We arc able to
make a nu m ber of ob servations abou t the class we atten ded. Our o bservat ion s will be listed in the left column; fro m them we wi ll try to ident ify
the pr inciples of the Gra mma r-Tra nslatio n Method . Th e principles will
be listed in the right co lumn . We will make o ur o bserva tions in order, follow ing the lesson plan of the class we o bserved.
Observations

1 The class is reading an excer pt
from Mark Twain's Life Oil the
Mississippi.

A fundamenta l purpose of
lea rning a foreign language is to be
a ble to read literature written in it.
Literar y language is superio r to
spoken language. Students' study
of the tar get culture is limited to its
literatu re an d nne arts.

2 Srudc nrs translate the passage
from English to Spanish.

An important goa l is for students

to be able to tran slate each
langua ge into the oth er. If students
ca n rmnsla rc from o ne langua ge
into an ot her, they are considered
success ful language learners.

I Writ e out the tra nslation of the read ing passage into Span ish.
2 State the rule for the usc of a d irect o bject with two -word verb s, and
apply it to o ther phrasal verbs.
3 Do the remai ning exercises in the chapter that include practice with
on e set of irregular past participle fo rms. The student s will be asked to
memor ize the prese nt tense, pa st tense, a nd past particip le fo rms of this
irregular pa rad igm:

Principles


16

The Grammar- Translation Method
Observations

Principles

3 Th e teacher as ks stude nts in
their nat ive language if they
ha ve a ny quest ions . A student
asks one and is answered in
her nati ve lang uage.

Th e ability to comm unicate in the
ta rget lan guage is not a goal o f
fo reign lang uage instr uction.

4 Stude nts wr ite o ut the answers
to reading comprehension
questions.

The pr imary skills to be developed
are reading and writing. Little
attention is given to speaking and
listening, and almost none to
pro nun ciation.

S The teacher decides whether
an answer is correct or not. If
the answer is incorrect, the
teacher selects a different
st udent to supply the co rrect
an swer o r the reacher herself
g ives the right a nswer.

Th e teacher is the autho rity in the
cla ssroo m. It is very important
that students get the cor rect
an swer.

(,

Students tr anslat e new words

from English into Spa nish.

It is po ssible to find native
language equ ivalents for all ta rget
language wo rds.

7 Stud ents learn that English
' vty' corresponds to -dad an d
-tad in Spanis h.

Learning is facilirarc d th ro ugh
attention to similar ities between
the target lan guage and the native
language.

8 Students arc given a gra mmar
rule for the lise of a direct
obj ect with two-word verbs .

It is importan t for students to
learn about the form of the ta rget
langua ge.

9 Students a pply a rule to
examples they arc given.

Ded uctive ap plication of a n
explicit gra mmar rule is a useful
peda gog ical techn ique.

Th e Grammar-Translation Method
Observations

17

Principles

11 The teacher asks students to
state the grammar rule.

Students shou ld be conscio us of
the grammatical ru les of the target
language.

12 Students memorize present
tense, past tense, and pa st
part icip le for ms o f on e set of
irr egular verbs.

Wherever possible, verb
conjuga tions and other
gra mm atical para digms sho uld be
co mmitte d to memory.

There were other activi ties planned for the rema inder of the week, but in
this book we will follow the practice of not listing an observation un less it
leads to our discovering a different principle of the method.

REVIEWING THE PRINCIPLES
T he principles o f th e Gr ammar-Tran sla tion Met hod a rc o rgani zed belo w

by ans wering the ten q uest ions posed in Chapter 1 (pages 7-8). No t all
the qu estions are addressed by the Gram ma r-Tra nslation Method ; we
will list all th e q uest ions, however, so tha t a com pa rison among th e mcth od s we will st udy wi ll be eas ier for you to make.
1 What are the goals of teachers who use the Grammar-Translation
Method?

According to th e teachers who usc the Gra mm ar-Tran slation Method,
a fundamental purpose of learn ing a fo reign language is to be able
to read literature writ ten in the target language. To do th is, students
need to learn about the grammar rules and vocabulary of th e target
language. In additio n, it is believed that studying a foreign lang uage
provides student s with good menta l exercise wh ich helps develop their
minds.
2 What is the role of the teacher? What is the role of the stu dents?

T he ro les a rc very traditiona l. T he tea cher is the authority in the class room. The stu dents do as she says so the y ca n learn wh at she knows.
3 What are some characteristics of the teaching/learning process?

10 Students memori ze
vocabu la ry.

Language lear ning provides good
menta l exe rc ise.

Students ar c ta ught to tra nslat e from on e lan guage to another. O ften
what they translate ar e readings in the target lang uage about some


18

The Grammar-Translation Method

The Grammar- Translation Method

aspect of the culture of the ta rget langua ge community. Students stu dy
grammar deductively; that is, they a rc given the grammar rules and
examples, are to ld co memorize them, and then a rc asked to a pply the
ru les to oth er exa mples. Th ey also learn grammatical pa radi gms such
as verb co njugatio ns. Th ey memorize native-langu age eq uivalents for
targ et-language voca bulary word s.

19

10 How does the teacher respond to st udent errors?

Havin g the st ude nts get the co rrect answer is considered very impo rta nt . If students ma ke errors o r do not know a n answer, the teach er
supplies them with the co rrect ans wer.

REVIEWING THE TECHN IQUES
4 What is the nature of stud ent-teacher interaction? What is th e nature
of student-student interaction?

Most of the inte raction in the classroom is from the teacher to the students. There is little student init iation and litt le student-student interaction.
5 How are the feeLings of the students deaLtwith?

T here arc no pr inciples of the method which relate to this area.
6 How is the langua ge viewed? How is cuLture viewed?

Litera ry lan guage is co nsidered superio r to spoken langua ge and is
therefore the language that students st ud y. Culture is viewed as con sisting of lirernture and the fine arts.

7 What areas of language are emphasized? What langua ge skills are
emphasized ?

Vocabulary aod gram ma r are emphas ized. Readin g and wr iting are the
prim ary skills that the students work on. T here is much less attention
given to spea king an d listening. Pronunci at ion receives litt le, if any,
at tention.
8 What is the role of the stud ents' native language?

Th e meaning of the tar get lan guage is made clear by translating it into
the students' native language. Th e language that is used in class is
mostly the students' native language .
9 How is eval uation accompli shed?

Writt en tests in which stu dents are asked co tr an slate from their na tive
language to the target lang uage or vice versa a rc often used. Q uestion s
ubour the ta rget cult ure or questions that ask students TO app ly gram mar rules are also common .

Ask yourself if any of the answers to the a bove q uestions make sense to
you . If so, you may choose to try some of the techniq ues of the GrammarTranslation Method from the review that follows . O n the other ha nd,
you may find t hat you agree very little wit h the answers to these ques tions, but that there a rc still some useful techn iques associa ted with the
Gram mar-Translation Me thod. Below is an expanded descr iption of
some of these techniques .
Translation of a literary passage

Students translate a reading passage from the ta rget language inro their
native language. Th e reading passage then prov ides the focus fo r severa l
classes: vocabu lary and grammatica l structures in the passage ar e studied
in subseq uent lessons. The passage may he excerpted from some wo rk
from the targ et lan guage lite rature, or a teac her may write a passage carefully designed to include particular grammar rules and vocabulary. Th e

translation may he wr itten or spoken or both. Studen ts shou ld not translate idioms an d the like literally, but rather in a way tha t shows that they
understan d their mean ing.
Reading comprehension questions

Student s answer questions in the target language based on their understanding of the readi ng passage. O ften the questions arc seque nced so that
the first group of questions asks for info rmation contained within the reading passage. In order to answe r the second group of questions, students wi II
have to ma ke inferences based on their understanding of the passage. Th is
mean s they \....ill have TO an swer qu estion s about the passage even though
the a nswers a rc nor conta ined in the passage itself. Th e third gro up of
question s req uires stude nts to rela re the passage co their own ex per ience.
Antonyms/ syn onym s

Students arc given one set of wor ds and a rc asked to find antonyms in the
reading passage. A similar exerc ise could be done by asking STUdents TO


20

The Grammar-Translation Method

find syno nyms for a pa rticular set of wor ds. Or students might be asked
to define a set of word s based on their understandin g of them as they
occur in the readi ng passage. Other exe rcises tha t ask students to wor k
with the vocabu lar y of the passage arc a lso possible.
Cognates

Students arc taught to recognize cog nates by learni ng the spelling o r
sou nd patterns that correspond between the lan guages. Students arc also
asked to memor ize wor ds that loo k like cognates but have mean ings in
the rargcr langu age that are different from those in the na tive language.

Thi s techniq ue, of cou rse, would onl y be useful in langua ges that share
cognates.
Deductive application of rule

Grammar rules arc presented with examples. Exceptio ns to each rule arc
also noted. On ce students understand a ru le, they are asked to apply it to
some different examples.

The Grammar-Translation Meth od

21

CONCLUSION
You have now had an opportunity to exa mine the pr inciples and so me of
the techniques of the Gra mma r-Tra nslat ion M ethod . Try ro make a co nnection between what you have understood and your own teaching situatio n and beliefs.
Do you believe th at a fundam ental reason for learning a foreign language is to be ab le ro read the literature written in the ta rget language? Do
yo u think it is important to learn about the target language ? Should culture be viewed as consisting of literature and the fine arts? Do you agree
with any of the oth er pr inciples underlying the Grammar-Translation
Meth od? Whic h ones?
Is trans lation a valuab le exercise ? Is answering reading comprehension
question s of the type described here helpful? Should gra mma r be presented deductively? Are these or any of the other techniques of the
Gra mmar-Tran sla tion Method ones which will be useful ro you in your
own teach ing? Which ones?

ACTIVITIES
Fi ll-i n· th e-bla nks
Students a rc given a series of senten ces with word s missing. Th ey fill in
the blanks with new vocabulary items or wit h items of a par ticular grammar type, such as prepositions or verbs with different tenses.
Memorization

Students are given lists of ta rget langu age voca bulary words and their
native langu age eq uiva lents and a re asked to memorize them. Students
are also required to memorize gram matica l rules and grammatica l para digms such as verb co njugations.
Use words in sent ences

In o rder to show that students understand the meanin g and use of a new
vocabu lary item, they nuke up sentences in which they use the new words.
Composition

The teacher gives the students ;1 topi c to writ e "hour in the ta rget language . Th e topi c is based upon so me aspect of the reading passage of th e
lesson. Sometim es, instead of creat ing a composition, students a rc asked
to prepare a precis of the reading passage.

A Check your understanding of the Grammar-Translation Method.

1 It has been said that the Grammar-Trans lation Method teac hes stu dent s ab o ut the targe t language, but not how to use it. Expla in the difference in your ow n wor ds.
2 Wbat are the clues that this meth od had its or igin in the teaching of the
classica l lan guages, Latin an d Gree k?
B Apply what you have understood about the Grammar-Translation
Method.

1 Think of a particular group of stu dents you have recently taught or arc
currently teaching. Choose a reading passage from a literary work or a
textbook or writ e one yo urself. Make sure it is at a level you r students
can understan d, yet not at a level t hat wou ld be too simp le for them.
Try tran slating it yourself as a test of its difficulty. Identify the vocab ulary you woul d choose to work o n. Plan vocabulary exercises you
wou ld usc to help your stude nts associat e the new word s with their
nativ e lang uage eq uivalents.
2 Pick a grammatical point or two contained in the same passage.
Pro vide th e explicit grammar rule that relates to each one and give

22

Th e Grammar-Translation M ethod
som e examples. Design exercises that require yo ur stude nts to apply
the rule to some different exa mples.

REFERENCES AND ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Chasta in, Kenneth. 1988 . Developing Second Language Sk ills. (3 rd cd n.]
San Diego , CA: Ha rco urt Brace j o vano vich.
Co lema n, A. 1929. Th e Teaching of Modem f oreign Languages ill the
United States. Vol. 12. American a nd Canadian Co mmittees o n
Modern Lang uages.
Howatt , A. P. R. 1984. A History ofEllgJish Language Teaching. Oxford :
Ox ford University Press.
Kelly, l oui s G. 1969. Tuienty-iive Centuries of La nguage Teaching.
Rowl ey, MA: Newbury H ouse.
Plotz , Karl. 18 87. Plementarbuch der Franz csiscben Sprache. Berlin: E
A. Herbig.
Stern, H . H. 1983. Fundamental Concepts of LAnguage Teaching.
Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Thomas, C. (ed.) . J901. Report of the Com mittee of Twelt!e uf the
Modem Language Association of Am erica. Boston : D. C. Heath.

3

The Direct Method

INTRODUCTION

As with the G ra mmar-Tr anslation Method, the Direct Method is not
new. Its principles have been applied by language teachers for many
vea rs. Most recently, it wa s revi ved as a method when the goal of inst ruc~ion became learning how to use a foreign language to communicate.
Since the Grammar-Translati on Method was not very effecrive in preparing students to use the target language co mm unicatively, the Direct
Method becam e popular.
The Dire ct Meth od has on e very basic rule: No tr an slati on is allowed.
In fact, the Direct Meth od receives its name from the fact that meanin g is
to be conve yed directly in the target language through the use of demonstration and visua l aid s, with no recou rse to the students' nat ive language
(Diller 1978).
We will now try to com e to a n understa nding of the Direct Met hod by
observing an English teac her using it in a senoia media (lower seconda ry
school) class in Ital y. Th e class has thirt y students who attend English
class for on e ho ur, three times a week. Th e class we o bserve is at the end
of its first year of English lan guage instr uct ion in a scucta media.

EXPERIENCE
The teacher is calling the class to order as we find scats toward the hack of
the room. H e has placed a big map of the United States in the front of the
classroo m. He asks the students to open their book s to a certai n page
number. Th e lesson is entitled ' Looking at a Ma p.' As the students ar c
called on one by on e, they read a sentence fro m the readi ng passage at the
beginni ng of the lesson . Th e reacher po ints to the par t of the map the sentence describes after eac h ha s read his sentence, T he passage begins:
We are loo king at a map of the United Sca tes. Canad a is rhc co unt ry to
the no rth of the United Stares, and Mexico is the country to the sou th
of the United Stares. Between Ca nada and the United States arc the
Great Lak es. Between Mexico and rhe United States is the Rio Grande


24

The Direct Meth od

River. On the East Coast is the Atlantic Ocean, and on the West Coast
is the Pacific Ocean. In the East is a mountain range called the
Appa lachian Mounta ins. In the West arc rhc Rocky Mountains.
After the st udents fi nish reading the passage, they arc asked if they have
any questions. A stu dent asks what a mountain range is. T he teac her
turns to the blackboard an d dr aws a series of inverted cones to illustra te a
mountain range.

The student nod s and says, ' J underst and .' Ano ther stud en t asks wha t
' bet ween' means. The teacher replies, 'You are sitt ing betw een Maria Pia
and Gio vanni. Paolo is sitting between Gabriella an d Cettina. No w do
you understa nd the meaning of " between "? ' Th e student answe rs, 'Yes, J
understan d.'
After a ll of the questions have been ans wered, the reacher asks some of
his own . 'Class, arc we looking at a 111;lp of Italy?'
The class rep lies in chorus, 'No!'
The teac her reminds the class to answer in a full sentence.
'No, we a ren't loo king ar a map of Italy,' they respond.
Th e teacher asks , 'A rc we look ing at a map of the United States?'
'Yes. We arc loo king at a ma p of the United Sta tes.'

The Direct Method

25

'Is Canada the country to the south of the United Stares?'
'No. Canada isn't the country south of the United States.'
'Arc the Great Lakes in the North of the United States?'

'Yes. The Great l.akcs are in the North.'
'Is the Rio Gran de a river or a lake?'
'The Rio Grande is a river.'
' It's a river. Where is it?'
'It's between Mexico an d the United States .'
' Wha t color is the Rio Grande on the map?'
'It's blue.'
' Point to a mountain ra nge in the West. What mountains are they?'
'T hey are the Rocky Mo unt ains.'
The question and a nswer session continues for a few mere minutes.
Finally, the teacher invites the student s to ask questions . Ha nds go up,
and rhc teacher calls o n stu dems to pose question s one at a time to wh ich
the class replies. After severa l questio ns have been posed, one girl asks,
' Where are the Appa lachian M o unt ains?' Befor e the class has a chance to
respond, the teacher works with the student on the pronunciation of
' Appalachia n.' Th en he includes the rest of the class in this practice as
well, expecting that they will have the same prob lem with this lo ng word.
After insuring that the stu dents' pro nunciation is correct, the teacher
a llows the class to an swer the question .
Later another stu dent asks, 'W hat is the ocean in the West Coast?' T he
teacher aga in interru pts before the class has a chance to reply, saying,
' What is the ocean in the West Coast? ... o r on the West Coa st ?' Th e student hesita tes, then says, 'On the West Coa st.'
'Correct,' says the teacher. 'N ow, repea t your question .'
'What is the ocean on the West Coast? '
T he cla ss repl ies in cho rus, 'The ocean on the West Coa st is the Pacific.'
Afte r the students have asked a bout ten q uestions, the reacher begins
asking question s and making sta teme nts aga in. T his rime, how ever, the
questions a nd sta tements are about the students in the classroom, and
co ntain one of the prepositions 'on,' 'at,' ' to,' ' in,' or 'between,' such ,1S,
'Anronclla, is your book on your desk?' 'Antonio, who is sitting between

Luisa an d Teresa ?' 'Emanuc!a, point to the cloc k.' The stu dents then
make up their ow n questions and srarcmcnrs ,1nd direct them to other STlIdents.
T he reacher next instructs the students to (Urn to an exercise in the lesson which asks them to fill in the blanks . T hey read a sentence out loud
and supp ly the missing word as they arc reading, for example:


26

The Direct Method

The Direct Method

Th e Atlantic Oc ean is _ _ the East Coas t.
Th e Rio Gr ande is _ _ M exico a nd the United States.
Hdoardo is loo king _ _ the map.
Finally, the reacher asks the stu dents to tak e OUt their not ebook s, and
he gives th em a dictation . Th e passage be d ictates is on e pa ragra ph long
and is a bo ut the geography of the United State s.
D uring the remaining two classes this week, the class will:
1 Review the features of Unite d States geography.
2 Fo llowin g t he teacher's dir ections, label blan k ma ps with these ge o ~
graphical features . Afrer this, the students will give directions to the
teacher, wh o will complete a ma p o n the blac kboard.
3 Pra ctice the pronunciation of ' river,' payi ng particu lar attention to the
/1/ in the first syllable (and contrasting it w ith liy/) and to the pronu nciat ion of Ir/.
4 Wr ite a paragraph about the ma jor geographical featu res of the United
States.

5 Discuss the proverb 'Time is m oney.' Stud ents wi ll talk a bo ut this is in
order to understan d that people in the United Stat es value p unctua lity.

T hey will compare this attitude with their own view of tim e.

THINKING ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE
Let us make some observations on our experience. These will be in
the co lumn on the left. Th e principles of the Direct M ethod that can
be in ferred from ou r ob servations will be listed in the colu mn on the
right.

Observations

Principles

The students read aloud a
pa ssage a bo ut United States
geogra phy.

Read ing in the target lan guage
shou ld he taught from the
beginn ing o f langua ge instruction;
however, the readi ng skill will be
developed through practice wit h
speak ing. La nguage is primarily
speech. Culture co nsists of more
than the fine arts (e.g. the students
study geograph y and cult ura l
attitudes).

Obse rvations

27

Prin ci ples

2 Th e teac her points to a pa rt of
the map after eac h sentence is
read .

Objects (c.g. rcalia or pictures)
present in the immediate
classroom environ ment sho uld he
used to help st udents und erstan d
the meanin g.

3 The teacher uses the target
language to ask the stu dents if
they have a qu estion. The
stud ents use the target
langua ge to as k their
qu estions.

Th e native language sho uld not be
used in t he classroom.

4 T he teac her answers the
st udents' questions by drawing
on the blackboard or giving
exa mples.

The teacher should demonstrate,
not explain or translat e. It is

desirab le that students make a
di rect association betw een the
target langua ge a nd mea ning.

5 Th e teacher asks questions
about th e map in the rarg er
lan guage, to whic h the
students rep ly in a co mplete
sentence in the target
language .

Students should learn to think in
th e target language as so on ,1S
poss ible. Vocabulary is acquired
mo re naturally if students use it in
full sente nces, rat her tha n
memor izing word lists.

6 Stud ents as k qu est ions ab out
the map.

The p urpose of lan gua ge lear ning
is com mun ication (therefore
students need to learn how to
ask questions as well as answer
them).

7 T he teach er work s with the
students on the pronun ciati on
of 'Appalach ian .'

Pronuncia tion sho uld be work ed
on righ t from the beginning of
lan guage instr uct ion.

8 The teacher corrects a
gramma r erro r by aski ng the
students to mak e a choice.

Self-co rrection facilita tes language
learn ing.


28

The Direct Method

The Direct Method
Observations

9 T he reacher asks questions
about the students; students
ask each other ques tions.

Principles

Lessons shou ld contain some
conversational activity-some
opportunity for studen ts to usc
language in real contexts. Students

should be enco uraged to speak as
much as possible .

10 The stude nts fill in blanks with
prepositions pra cticed in t he
lesson .

Gramma r sho uld be ta ught
ind uctively. There may never be an
explicit gram mar rule given.

11 The teacher dictates a
pa ragraph about United Stat es
geography.

Writing is a n important skill, to be
developed from the beginning of
language instru ction.

12 AII of the lessons of the week
involve United States
geography.

The syllabus is based Oil situations
or to pics, nor usually on linguistic
struct ures.

13 A pro verb is used to discuss
how people in the U.S. view
pu nctuality.

Learning another language also
involves learn ing how speakers of
that language live.

29

3 What are some characteristics of th e teachin g/learning process?

Teachers who usc the Direcr Method believe students need ro associate meaning and rhe target la nguage directly. In order to do this, when
the reacher introduces a new target language word or phrase, he
demonstrates irs meaning through the usc of rcalia, pictures, or pantomime; he never translates it into the students' native language.
Studen ts speak in the target language a great deal and communicate
as if they were in real situations. In fact, the syllabus used in the Direct
Metho d is based upon situations (for example, one unit wou ld consist
of la nguage that people would use at a bank, another of the language
that they use when going sho pping) or topics (such as geography,
money, or the weather). Grammar is taught induc tively; that is, the
students are present ed with exampl es and they figure out the rule or
generalization from the exa mples. An exp licit grammar ru le may
never be given. Stu dents prac tice vocabular y by using new words in
complete sente nces.
4 What is the nature of student-teacher interaction? What is the nature
of student-student interaction?

T he initiation of the interaction goes both ways, from reacher to students and from student to teacher, although the latter is often teacherdirected. Students converse with one another as well.
5 How are the feelings of the students dealt with?

REVIEWING THE PRINCIPLES
Now let us consider the principles of the Direct Method as they are

arranged in answer to the ten questions posed earl ier:
1 What are the goals of teachers who use the Direct Method?

Teachers who use the Direct Method intend that students learn ho w
to communicate in the target language. In ord er to do this successfully, students should lea rn to think in the target language.

There are no pr inciples of the metho d which relate to this area.
6 How is language viewed? How is culture viewed?

Language is primar ily spoke n, not written. Th erefore, student s study
common, everyday speech in the target language. They also study culture consisting of the history of the peop le who speak the target language, the geogra phy of the count ry or countr ies where the language
is spoke n, and information about the daily lives of the speakers of the
language.

2 What is the role of the teacher? What is the role of the students?

Although the reacher directs the class activities, the student ro le is
less passive than in the Grammar-Translation Method . The teacher
and the students are more like par tners in the teaching/lea rn ing
process.

7 What areas of langu age are emphasized? What language skills are
emphasized?

Vocabulary is emphasized over gramma r. Although work on all four
skills (reading, wri ting, speak ing, and listening) occurs from the start,


30

Th e Direct Method
ora l com m unication is seen as ba sic. T hu s the reading and writing
exerc ises arc base d upo n what the stu dents practice o rall y first.
Pron unciation also receives attention right from the beginning of a
cou rse .

8 What is the role of the students' native language?

T he students' na tive language should not be used in the classroo m.
9 How is evaluation accomplished?

We did not actu ally sec any formal evaluation in the class we
observed; however, in the Direct Method, students are asked to use
the langu age, not to demonstrate their know ledge a bou t the language. They are asked to do so using both ora l and writt en skills. Fo r
example, the students migh t he inte rviewed orally by the teacher o r
migh t be as ked to wr ite a pa rag ra p h a bout something they ha ve srud ied.
10 How does the teacher respond to student errors?

Th e teacher, emp loying var ious techn iques , tr ies to get stu dents to
self-co rrect whenever possi ble.

Th e Direct Method

31

an d grammatical structures. They have the opportunity to ask questions
as well as an swer them.
Getting students to self-correct

T he teacher of this class has the studen ts self-correct by ask ing them to

ma ke a choice between what they sai d and an a lternati ve answer he su pplied. Th ere are, however, ot her ways of getting stu dents to self-correct.
Fo r example, a teacher might simply repeat wh at a student has just sa id,
using a qu estioning voice to signal to the student tha t something wa s
wrong with it. Another possibility is fo r the teacher to repea t what the
student said , stoppi ng just before the error. T he student knows that the
next word was wrong .
Conversation practice

T he teacher asks students a n umb er of qu estions in th e ta rget language,
whi ch the students ha ve to under stan d to be a ble to an swer cor rectly. In
the class ob served, the teacher asked indi vidu al st udents q uest ions about
themselves. T he question s co ntai ned a particular gra mmar str uctu re.
Lat er, the students were able to ask each other their own questions using
the same grammat ical str uct ure.
Hll -ln-the-blank exercise

REVIEWING THE TECHNIQUES
Arc the re answers to the ten q uestions with whi ch you ag reed ? Then the
fo llowing techn iq ues may a lso be useful. Of course, even if you did not
agree with all the answers, there may be some techniques of the Direct
Method you can ad apt to your own approach to teachi ng. The follow ing
exp anded review o f techni q ues provides you with some details which will
help you do t his.

Thi s techniq ue has alread y been discussed in the Grammar-Translation
Method, but differs in its application in the Direct Method. All the items arc
in t he target lang uage; furthermo re, no explicit grammar rule wo uld be
applied. The students would have induced the grammar rule they need to
fill in the blanks fro m exa m ples and p ractice with earlie r parts of the lesson.
Dictation

Studen ts take [Urns rea d ing sections of a passage, play, or d ialog o ut loud.
At the end of each st udent's t urn, the teac her uses gestures, pictures,
rca lia, examples, or ot her means to make the meaning of the section clca r.

Th e teacher read s the passage three times. The first time the teacher reads
it at a nor mal speed, whil e the students just listen . Th e second time he
read s the passage phrase by phrase, pau sing long eno ugh to a llow stu dents to write do wn what they ha ve hear d. Th e last tunc the teacher again
rea ds at a no rmal speed, and stu dents check their work.

Question and answer exercise

Map drawing

Th is exercise is con d ucted only in the target lan guage. Stu dents are asked
q uestio ns an d ans wer in full sentences so tha t they practice new wo rds

Th e class includ ed one exa mple of a technique used to give students listenin g comprehension pr actice. T he st udents were given a map with the

Reading aloud