The direct method of teaching foreign languages, sometimes called the natural method,

refrains from using the learners' native language and uses only the target language. It was
established in Germany and France around 1900. Characteristic features of the direct method
are
Teaching vocabulary through pantomiming, real-life objects and other visual materials.
Teaching grammar by using an inductive approach (i.e. having learners find out rules
through the presentation of adequate linguistic forms in the target language).
Centrality of spoken language (including a native-like pronunciation).
Focus on question-answer patterns.
Teacher-centering.

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: