Devices

Devices

expressions are explained through the use of one or more of the following devices;
Using gestures, facial expressions, or performing the acts implied in class;

a. The use of synonyms and antonyms (opposites);
b. The use of explicatory context, e,g, the use of words in one or more sentences that show the meaning;
c. The use of objects which are brought to class by the teacher;
d. The use of pictures found in the textbooks or outside them;
e. Explanation in the foreign language, straightforward language.

An objective critique of the direct approach shows that has certainly brought about a great deal of improvement when compared to the old grammar- translation approach.

The direct approach has certainly yielded better results and has sometimes produced foreign learners with native – like mastery of the foreign language. It has proved itself more suitable for large classes as compared to the translation approach. Also, some of the principles underlying the direct approach are scientifically sound. However , the following weaknesses are often attributed to the direct approach;

1. Sometimes, in our attempt to eliminate the native language in the class, we complicate matters. In stead of going directly from the concept or object to the foreign symbol, learners make a mental trip to the native symbol on their on . Such a trip is often full of pitfalls.

2. Vocabulary is presented not on the basis of frequency but on the basis of demonstrability in class. Sometimes, useless words are presented early in the course just because they can be presented easily to learners.

3. The approach does not involve sufficient emphasis on oral practice. Often only the first weeks are developed to oral work. As a matter of fact, many advocates of the direct approach use reading as the skill through which all languages activities are channeled.
4. The approach is tiring to the teacher since the teacher is the cornerstone of the activities in class. He often performs gestures, Draw diagrams and pictures and he does most of the talking, reading, and explaining.

5. T assume that a foreign language is learnt in the same way as the native language is to assume something which, on the face of it, seems contrary to common sense. We learnt our mother tongue without interference from any other language. But when we learnt a foreign language we approach it with a set of well- established native linguistic habits. Such a background cannot be ignored because it decides , to some extent, the shape and type of difficulty we face when learning or teaching a foreign language . If the new , foreign , linguistic habits conformed completely to the old native , ones, there would be no problem . If the new habits differ completely or partly from the old ones , there will be learning problems.

6. The teacher often has to use expressions very much above the level of his students if he insisted on the use of nothing but the foreign language . This results in vagueness and lack of communication between the teacher and the class.



Structural Approach;
The principles underlying the structural approach are the combined premises of structural linguistics and behaviorist psychology. From the first , these ideas have been exploited ; language is oral, arbitrary, systematic and changing; from the second , the following principles have been exploited; foreign language learning is habit- formation, it is the acquisition of four skills and it is acquired through imitation and memorization.


Best Regards
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