1.

The Direct Method

In this method the teaching is done entirely in the target language. The learner is not allowed to
use his or her mother tongue. Grammar rules are avoided and there is emphasis on good
pronunciation.

 teaching concepts and 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

Definition

Direct method in teaching a language is directly establishing an immediate and audio visual
association between experience and expression, words and phrases, idioms and meanings, rules
and performances through the teachers' body and mental skills, without any help of the learners'
mother tongue[3].

1. Direct method of teaching languages aims to build a direct way into the world of the target
language making a relation between experience and language, word and idea, thought and
expression rule and performance.
2. This method intends for students to learn how to communicate in the target language
3. This method is based on the assumption that the learner should experience the new language in
the same way as he/she experienced his/her mother tongue without considering the existence
of his/her mother tongue.

Audio-lingual

The theory behind this method is that learning a language means acquiring habits. There is much
practice of dialogues of every situations. New language is first heard and extensively drilled
before being seen in its written form.

The audio-lingual method, Army Method, or New Key,[1] is a method used in teaching foreign
languages. It is based on behaviorist theory, which postulates that certain traits of living things,
and in this case humans, could be trained through a system of reinforcement. The correct use of a
trait would receive positive feedback while incorrect use of that trait would receive negative
feedback.[2]

This approach to language learning was similar to another, earlier method called the direct
method.[3] Like the direct method, the audio-lingual method advised that students should be
taught a language directly, without using the students' native language to explain new words or
grammar in the target language. However, unlike the direct method, the audio-lingual method did
not focus on teaching vocabulary. Rather, the teacher drilled students in the use of grammar.
Applied to language instruction, and often within the context of the language lab, it means that
the instructor would present the correct model of a sentence and the students would have to
repeat it. The teacher would then continue by presenting new words for the students to sample in
the same structure. In audio-lingualism, there is no explicit grammar instruction: everything is
simply memorized in form.

The idea is for the students to practice the particular construct until they can use it
spontaneously. The lessons are built on static drills in which the students have little or no control
on their own output; the teacher is expecting a particular response and not providing the desired
response will result in a student receiving negative feedback. This type of activity, for the
foundation of language learning, is in direct opposition with communicative language teaching.

Examples
Inflection: Teacher: I ate the sandwich. Student: I ate the sandwiches.
Replacement: Teacher: He bought the car for half-price. Student: He bought it for half-price.
Restatement: Teacher: Tell me not to smoke so often. Student: Don't smoke so often!
The following example illustrates how more than one sort of drill can be incorporated into one practice
session:
“Teacher: There's a cup on the table ... repeat
Students: There's a cup on the table
Teacher: Spoon
Students: There's a spoon on the table
Teacher: Book
Students: There's a book on the table
Teacher: On the chair
Students: There's a book on the chair

The structural approach

This method sees language as a complex of grammatical rules which are to be learned one at a
time in a set order. So for example the verb "to be" is introduced and practised before the present
continuous tense which uses "to be" as an auxiliary.

Suggestopedia

The theory underlying this method is that a language can be acquired only when the learner is
receptive and has no mental blocks. By various methods it is suggested to the student that the
language is easy - and in this way the mental blocks to learning are removed.

In practice

Physical surroundings and atmosphere in classroom are the vital factors to make sure that "the
students feel comfortable and confident",[2] and various techniques, including art and music, are
used by the trained teachers. The lesson of Suggestopedia consisted of three phases at first:
deciphering, concert session (memorization séance), and elaboration.[1][3]

Deciphering: The teacher introduces the grammar and lexis of the content. In most materials the
foreign language text is on the left half of the page with a translation on the right half, i.e.
meanings are conveyed via the mother tongue not unlike the bilingual method.

Concert session (active and passive): In the active session, the teacher reads the text at a
normal speed, sometimes intoning some words, and the students follow. In the passive session,
the students relax and listen to the teacher reading the text calmly. Baroque music is played in
the background.

Elaboration: The students finish off what they have learned with dramas, songs, and games.

Then it has developed into four phases as lots of experiments were done: introduction, concert
session, elaboration, and production.[1][3]

Introduction: The teacher teaches the material in "a playful manner" instead of analyzing lexis
and grammar of the text in a directive manner.

Concert session (active and passive): In the active session, the teacher reads with intoning as
selected music is played. Occasionally, the students read the text together with the teacher, and
listen only to the music as the teacher pauses in particular moments. The passive session is done
more calmly.

Elaboration: The students sing classical songs and play games while "the teacher acts more like
a consultant".[1]

Production: The students spontaneously speak and interact in the target language without
interruption or correction.

Teachers

Teachers should not act in a directive way, although this method is teacher-controlled and not
student-controlled. For example, they should act as a real partner to the students, participating in
the activities such as games and songs "naturally" and "genuinely." [1] In the concert session, they
should fully include classical art in their behaviors. Although there are many techniques that the
teachers use, factors such as "communication in the spirit of love, respect for man as a human
being, the specific humanitarian way of applying their 'techniques'" etc. are crucial.[3] The
teachers not only need to know the techniques and to acquire the practical methodology
completely, but also to fully understand the theory, because, if they implement those techniques
without complete understanding, they will not be able to lead their learners to successful results,
or they could even cause a negative impact on their learning. Therefore, the teacher has to be
trained in a course taught by certified trainers.
Here are the most important factors for teachers to acquire, described by Lozanov.[1]

1. Covering a huge bulk of learning material.

2. Structuring the material in the suggestopaedic way: global-partial – partial-global, and global in
the part – part in the global, related to the golden proportion.
3. As a professional, on one hand, and a personality, on the other hand, the teacher should be a
highly regarded professional, reliable and credible.
4. The teacher should have, not play, a hundred percent expectation of positive results (because
the teacher is already experienced even from the time of the teacher training course).
5. The teacher should love his/her students (of course, not sentimentally but as human beings) and
teach them with personal participation through games, songs, classical arts, and pleasure.

Total Physical Response (TPR)

TPR works by having the learner respond to simple commands such as "Stand up", "Close your
book", "Go to the window and open it." The method stresses the importance of aural
comprehension.

otal Physical Response (TPR)

TPR works by having the learner respond to simple commands such as "Stand up", "Close your
book", "Go to the window and open it." The method stresses the importance of aural
comprehension. [More]

Communicative language teaching (CLT)

The focus of this method is to enable the learner to communicate effectively and appropriately in
the various situations she would be likely to find herself in. The content of CLT courses are
functions such as inviting, suggesting, complaining or notions such as the expression of time,
quantity, location.

The Silent Way

This is so called because the aim of the teacher is to say as little as possible in order that the
learner can be in control of what he wants to say. No use is made of the mother tongue.

Community Language Learning

In this method attempts are made to build strong personal links between the teacher and student
so that there are no blocks to learning. There is much talk in the mother tongue which is
translated by the teacher for repetition by the student.

Immersion
This corresponds to a great extent to the situation we have at our school. ESL students are
immersed in the English language for the whole of the school day and expected to learn math,
science, humanities etc. through the medium of the target language, English.

Immigrant students who attend local schools find themselves in an immersion situation; for
example refugee children from Bosnia attending German schools, or Puerto Ricans in American
schools. .

Task-based language learning

The focus of the teaching is on the completion of a task which in itself is interesting to the
learners. Learners use the language they already have to complete the task and there is little
correction of errors.

(This is the predominant method in middle school ESL teaching at Frankfurt International
School. The tasks are subsumed in a major topic that is studied for a number of weeks. In the
topic of ecology, for example, students are engaged in a number of tasks culminating in a poster
presentation to the rest of the class. The tasks include reading, searching the internet, listening to
taped material, selecting important vocabulary to teach other students etc.)

The Natural Approach

This approach, propounded by Professor S. Krashen, stresses the similarities between learning
the first and second languages. There is no correction of mistakes. Learning takes place by the
students being exposed to language that is comprehensible or made comprehensible to them.

The Lexical Syllabus

This approach is based on a computer analysis of language which identifies the most common
(and hence most useful) words in the language and their various uses. The syllabus teaches these
words in broadly the order of their frequency, and great emphasis is placed on the use of
authentic materials.