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1.Foreignlanguageteachinginahistoricalperspective
‘Direct,comesfromtheabsenceofanymediatingroleofgrammar,translation,or
dictionary.Languagelearningisanaturalabilityofhumansandcanbedoneintu-
itivelyprovidedthereareopportunitiesforinteractionorconversation,inother
words,toquoteHowatt(1984:193):‘someonetotalkto,somethingtotalkabout,
andadesiretounderstandandmakeyourselfunderstood.Interactionisatthe
heartofnaturallanguageacquisition,orconversation,asLambertSaveurcalled
itwhenheinitiatedtherevivalofinterestthatledeventuallytothedirect
method.,Lockestatedthatthemostappropriateandefficientwaytoalanguageis
byconversationandpracticeratherthanrulesofgrammar.
Ashasbeenmentionedabove,thesourceofinspirationfortheDirectand
NaturalMethodsoftencamefromvariousinformalobservationsofchildrenplay-
ingwiththeirmothertongueandtheeffortlesswayinwhichtheywereableto
masteritwithoutexplicitinstructioningrammar.Theuseofsuchmethodswas
certainlyprevalentinthosefamilies,notnecessarilyonlyaristocratic,whocould
affordtohavetheirchildreneducatedathomewithalive-intutor,anativespeaker
ofthelanguage,mostoftenFrench,butalsoEnglishandGerman.Theprinciple
oftheDirectMethodwaslearningthelanguageinsituationalcontext,linking
newwordstotheirmeaning,e.g.namingobjectsintheenvironment,stressing
oralwork,introducingwritingtoconsolidateoralwork,listeningpractice(short
lecturesaboutinterestingtopics),inductivelearningofgrammarfromtexts,and
gradedreading.
OneoftherepresentativesoftheNaturalMethodisHeinrichPestalozzi
(1746–1827),wholivedandworkedinSwitzerlandandisstillconsideredtobean
importantfigureinthehistoryofeducation.His‘objectlessons,involvedlearn-
ingforeignlanguagevocabularyitemsthroughnamingtherespectiveobjectsas
wellascommentingonthemandbuildingallkindsofsentenceswiththem.
However,Howatt(1984)pointsoutcriticallythatitishardtoenvisagewhathap-
pensinthemethodoncetheteacherrunsoutofobjectstobeusedandthelearn-
ersarereadyformorecomplexmaterial.Headdsthatinfactitishardtoenvisage
themethodbeyondtheintermediatelevel.Anotherrepresentativeofthismove-
mentwasGottliebHennessinGermany,whousedPestalozzi,stechniquetoteach
standardGermantospeakersofotherdialects,establishedhisownlanguage
schoolandaddedFrenchasaforeignlanguage.HeemigratedtotheUnitedStates
andmetLambertSauveur(1826–1907),withwhomhecollaboratedtoopen
aschoolinBoston.Itsprogrammewasquiteintensive:ahundredhoursofinten-
siveinstruction,twohoursaday,fivedaysaweekforfourandahalfmonths.In
1874,SauveurwroteAnIntroductiontotheTeachingofLivingLanguageswithout
GrammarorDictionary.Themostimportantelementofthemethodwasthedia-
logueoftheteacherwiththestudents,namingvariousclassroomobjects,stresson
oralworkandwrittenmaterialusedmainlytoconsolidateoralwork,delayedat
leastbyamonth.Hedidnotusethenativelanguagesothelearnershadtounder-
standthematerialonthebasisofsituationalclues.Errorcorrectionwasnotused.
Sauveurrealizedthattherewasadifferencebetweenearnestquestions,through
whichtheteachergenuinelyseeksinformation,andotherquestionswhichare