1. Introduction
"A method of foreign or second language teaching which makes use of translation and grammar
study as the main teaching and learning activities."
The Grammar Translation Method was the traditional way in which Latin and Greek were taught
in Europe. In the 19th century it began to be used to teach “modern” languages such as French,
German, and English, and it is still used in some countries today. The Grammar Translation
Method emphasizes on reading rather than the ability to communicate in a language.
Features of the Grammar Translation Method
 In this method mother tongue is involved.
 Vocabulary items are taught in the form of word lists.
 Elaborate explanations of grammar.
 Focus on the morphology and syntax.
 Reading of difficult texts early in the course.
 Practice focuses on exercises translating sentences or texts from mother tongue to the
target language and vice versa.
Grammar Translation Method was still in use in some classrooms during the late decades of the
20th century because it bears some advantages.
Advantages of the Grammar Translation Method
 This method saves teacher time.
 It is an easy method child learns through mother-tongue.
 It is a practical method. It takes minimal time for higher classes. And made teacher work
easy.
 This method is not expensive and it does not take any audio-visual aids.
 It made English grammar easy. Child compares English grammar with the grammar of
mother tongue. Through this child memorize language easily.
Disadvantages of Grammar Translation Method

2.  The children loss free expression in English. They first think in mother-tongue and then
translate their ideas into English.
 This method encourages word for word translation. The student learn to keep the
translation and kill the sense.
 There is no scope of creative writing in this method.
 It binds language in the grammar rules.
 There is no conversation in target language. It neglects speech.
 It makes teacher work boring
Activity of the Grammar Translation Method
Miss Sadaf uses Grammar Translation method in her class room. She asks her student to read out
passage from their text book and translate into Urdu. She ask student to read out passage bit
louder.
“At last Napoleon made a terrible mistake. He led his army into Russia. The Russian people fled
before him burning their corn and carrying off their cattle so that he and his men might have
nothing to eat. They even set fire to the city of Moscow rather than let the French find a refuge
there. The soldiers were half starved, and with starvation came sickness; yet Napoleon stayed on
up to autumn. At length, in October, he determined to France.”
After reading this passage teacher ask student to translate this passage in to mother tongue.
Teacher help student with new vocabulary item. Student translates in this way.
“Akher kar Napoleon say aik khofnak galti sarzad howe. Iss ny Russe per foje kashi ki. Ahle
Russe bheroon ki terhan un k agey bhag nikaly ur jaty howy anaj ko nazer-e-atish krty ur
mowasheon ko apny sath lety gaey take usy ur iss k satheon ko wahan khany ko kuch na mily.
Unhon ny tu Masco k sheher ko bhe agg laga di ur yh bhe na gawara kea k francesseon kowahan
panah mily. Sepahe mary bhok k adh mohe ho k reh gaye. Iss faqa kasha sy who bemaar ho
gaye. Iss k bawajod Napoleon musam-e-khezan tk wahan parha raha. Liken akher kar October k
meheny main uss ny France jany ka fesala kea.”
Student read and translates this passage in this manner. Teacher asks some question regarding
this passage from the class. Students answered the questions in mother-tongue. Teacher gave

3. students exercises of synonyms and antonyms, cognates, fill in the blanks and use words in
sentences. At the end of this activity teacher gives the student a topic to write about in the target
language.
The Direct Method
Introduction
The Direct Method is also called Natural Method. The Direct Method was established in
Germany and France around 1900. It appeared as an answer to the Grammar Translation Method.
It is a method for teaching foreign languages that uses the target language, discarding any use of
mother tongue in the classroom. This method for teaching English was introduced in Sub-
continent in the early 20th century.
The Direct Method is based on the direct involvement of the student when speaking, and
listening to, the foreign language in common everyday situations. Consequently, there is lots of
oral interaction, spontaneous use of the language, no translation, and little if any analysis of
grammar rules and syntax. The focus of the lessons is on good pronunciation, often introducing
learners to phonetic symbols before they see standard writing examples.
Principle of direct method
The principle of direct method is establishing a direct bond between the English word, phrase or
idiom and its meaning. The principle of direct bond implies that the mother tongue of learner
does not intervene. The learner tries to understand the foreign word or expression as it stands,
without learning over the native language.
Features of direct method
 By this method it is possible to establish a direct association between the experience and
expression, which should be one of the features of direct method.
 There should be no use of mother tongue. It should be reduced to a minimum or almost
the hearing and speaking of English.

4.  The third quality of this method is that every sentence, which is complete, is a unit only;
it is a means of expressing ideas.
 The direct method emphasizes the oral aspects of teaching. Spoken words should be
made the basis and as far as possible the medium of instruction.
 In the direct method grammar is taught inductively rather than deductively.
 There is a focus on everyday vocabulary.
 Visual aids are used to teach vocabulary.
 Particular attention is placed on the accuracy of pronunciation and grammar.
 A systematic approach is developed for comprehension and oral expression.
Advantages of direct method
One of its positive points is that it promises to teach the language and not about the language.
More advantages can be listed as follows:
 It makes the learning of English interesting and lively by establishing direct bond
between a word and its meaning.
 It is an activity method facilitating alertness and participation of the pupils.
 According to Macnee, "It is the quickest way of getting started". In a few months over
500 of the commonest English words can be learnt and used in sentences. This serves as a
strong foundation of further learning.
 Due to application of the Direct Method, students are able to understand what they learn,
think about it and then express their own ideas in correct English about what they have
read and learnt.
 Psychologically, it is a sound method as it proceeds from the concrete to the abstract.
 This method can be usefully employed from the lowest to the highest class.
 Through this method, fluency of speech, good pronunciation and power of expression are
properly developed.
 It is a natural method which teaches language the same way the mother tongue is
acquired. Only the target language is used and the learning is contextualized.
 Its emphasis on speech made it more attractive for those who have needs of real
communication in the target language.

5. Disadvantages of Direct Method
Disadvantages of direct method are listed below:
 There are many abstract words which cannot be interpreted directly in English and much
time and energy are wasted in making attempts for the purpose.
 This method is based on the principles that auditory appeal is stronger that visual. But
there are children who learn more with visual than with their oral- aural sense like ears
and tongue.
 The method ignores systematic written work and reading activities and sufficient
attention is not paid to reading and writing.
 Since in this method, grammar is closely bound up with the reader, difficulty is
experienced in providing readers of such kind.
 There is dearth of teachers trained and interested in teaching English in this method.
 This method may not hold well in higher classes where the Translation Method is found
suitable.
 In larger classes, this method is not properly applied and teaching in this method does
not suit or satisfy the needs of individual students in large classes.
 This method is expensive. It is depends upon the use of expensive aids such as projector,
language laboratory, linguaphone etc.
 This method is useful in early stage. It does not work well in higher classes.
Activity of direct method
In private school, teacher made activities with the help of direct method to teach target language.
Teachers made this activity for junior primary and senior primary classes. These activities are
helpful in learning target language.
Miss Saba made group activity for junior primary class. Teacher made activity of making fruit
salad through this activity teacher teaches cleanness of food by using song. Teacher told learner
about this activity at least a week in advance. Teacher divides learners into groups of six or
seven. She asks every learner brings one kind of fruit from home. And ask learners what they

6. must do before they cut up the fruit. The learners first wash their hands and then wash the fruit to
remove dirt and germs. Teacher discusses the importance of doing this. Each learner uses a knife,
preferably a plastic knife and a plate. They cut their fruit in small pieces with the help of the
teacher. The teacher sprinkles a little sugar over the fruit salad and each learner receives a
helping of fruit salad. The learners enjoy their salad. Learners must be taught to help clean up
after the activity. The teacher divides the class into groups. Each group sings a different part.
One group sings the first verse twice. Another group sings the next two lines, the next group the
next two and so on.
This song can be sung with actions.
Song
Bye Bye Germs
I wash, wash, wash…
And I rub, rub, rub …
All the fruit in my tub… (2)
Hey germs, you’ve got to go!
You want to stay, Oh no!
The germs say, “Bye, Bye, we are on our way.”
See you another day, if we may.
No, No, we are sorry,
You are not welcome, besides we really are in a big hurry.
Miss Naghat made activity for senior primary class. She read story for learners about Healthy
Toilet Habits.

7. Maryam learnt her lesson
Maryam was very excited. She smelt noodles boiling. That was her favorite food. She kept
asking her mother how much longer she had to wait before she ate her boiled noodles. She
waited patiently on the steps outside. When it was done, her mother called out for her to come
and help herself from the dish on the table. It looked delicious. Just then Maryam decided to go
to the toilet. She rushed to the toilet with only the boiled noodles on her mind. She ran out and
went inside the kitchen. She took the noodles from the plate and ate it hurriedly. She loved it. In
the afternoon, Maryam suddenly felt her tummy ache. She began to feel sick. She had a runny
tummy and suffered from stomach cramps. She felt weak and tired. Her mother said that she
should drink more liquids and she would be fine. Maryam was not getting any better that day so
her mother took her to the clinic the next day.
The nurse said that Maryam was dehydrated and had diarrhea. She gave Maryam’s mother some
tips on how to care for her. The nurse asked Maryam many questions. Maryam then realized the
reason why she was ill. It was because she did not wash her hands after going to the toilet. She
was in a hurry to eat the boiled noodles. Maryam could not believe how sick she felt. She blamed
herself for being so careless. She did not realize that not washing her hands after visiting the
toilet could make her so sick.
After telling the story teacher asks many question about this story and discuss story in class
room. And ask learners to answered question in target language.
Conclusion
In translation method student lose free expression in English. It neglects the speech. This method
did not fulfill all the demands. In spite of its achievements, the direct method fell short from
fulfilling the needs of educational systems. One of its major shortcomings is that it was hard for
public schools to integrate it. Direct Method did not take well in public education where the
constraints of budget, classroom size, time, and teacher background made such a method difficult
to use.

8. After a short popularity in the beginning of the 20th century, it soon began to lose its appeal
because of these constraints. It then paved the way to the Audio-lingual Method.
Bibliography:
 www.investopedia.com/terms/d/direct_method.asp

9.  www.genomine.org/papers/directfdr.pdf
 www.brighthubeducation.com
 http://www.englishraven.com/method_gramtrans.html
 www.createphpbb.com/topcu/viewtopic.php?t=341&sid...
 web1.arthurphil-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/.../MethodsOfImplementation_...