Process

  1. All discussion, classroom language, excercises, and teacher talk, is the target language.
  2. The goal of the instruction is for the students to guess, or work out, the rules of the language.
  3. 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.

Teacher: Is the weather nice today? Student: No, it is not nice today. Teacher: Will you go to the beach anyway this weekend? Student: Yes, I will go to the beach anyway this weekend. Teacher: Will you go to the beach even though it is not nice? Student: Yes, I will go to the beach even though it is not…

  1. The direct method insists on accuracy and errors are corrected in class.
  2. After several exchanges of the sort given above, when the teacher considers that enough examples have been given, the rule is discussed and explained in the target language.