A Study On The Spread Of The Direct Method In Foreign Language Instruction In The Modern China(1902-1949)

Foreign languages provide an important channel for Chinese people,since the mid-19th century,to view the world and expand knowledge.Generally,between the mid-19th and mid-20th century,only two foreign language teaching methods were adopted,namely the Grammar-Translation Method and the Direct Method.The former dominated the late Qing Dynasty.The Direct Method was ushered into China in 1902 and,since then,has exerted a far-reaching influence on the teaching of English in our country.Although it’s no more than a teaching method of English,it’s well worth a study since it’s both the outcome and the reflection of the time.The Direct Method came of age in Europe and America in the last 20 years of the 19th century.Until then,ancient Latin dominated the foreign language curriculum.Giving little weight to listening and speaking,the classical language curriculum was more concerned with reading and writing and,following the same logic,adopted the Grammar-Translation Method.The last two decades of the 19th century witnessed radical development of transport,the growing trade and the increasing mobility of people.In response,modern languages of many countries began to find their place in foreign language curriculum.Classical language began to make room for modern languages.Meanwhile,trade and interpersonal communication highlighted the importance of listening and speaking.This gave rise to the Direct Method which attached importance to the pragmatic use of language and to conversational skills.The new method came into being with the joint effort of different individuals from different countries.Gouin from France,Vietor and Berlitz from Germany and Sweet and Palmer from England proposed different teaching methods from different angles,each named in an unique way,such as the Gouin serial method,the Berlitz method or the phonetic method.All these methods,regardless of their original names,later converged into one method recognized as the Direct Method.In the late Qing dynasty,there’s a trend to learn from the west.In response,foreign language curriculum gave weight to reading and writing,and to the Grammar-Translation Method.Since the start of the 20th century,the Direct Method was introduced and promoted in our country,undergoing the embryonic stage(1902-1914),the developmental stage(1915-1928),and the further-development stage(1929-1949).In 1902,the English man Swan came to Soochow University,teaching English using the Gouin serial method.In 1906,Brownell Gage adopted the name the Direct Method in the Ya Li university.The practice of both Swan and Gage can be considered the embryo in the communication of the Direct Method in our country.With the rise of the New Culture Movement in 1915,Zhuang Qi published Wai Guo Wen Zhi Shou Fa(The Direct Method in Teaching a Foreign Language),and Guo Bingwen published his English article "The Berlitz Method of Teaching Foreign Languages".Both can be identified as the start of modern Chinese people communicating the Direct Method.Another great milestone in the communication is 1929,when the principles of the Direct Method found their place firmly in the national curriculum standards.1929 is significant because it witnessed the first curriculum standards,followed by the curriculum standards of 1932,1936,1941,1948,that had been written with the leading Direct Method scholar Zhang Shiyi in charge.The channels of communication between the developmental stage and the further-development stage were fairly similar,consisting mainly of journal articles,teaching methodology books,textbooks and word-of-mouth communication.The difference between the two stages lied in the increase of channels,regional channels in particular.As far as the communicated substance is concerned,the communication focused on the basic principles of the Direct Method prior to 1929 and,after 1929,on the reflection of the method,resulting in a method compromising the Direct and the traditional method.The communication of the Direct Method was mainly promoted by a team of scholars represented by Zhang Shiyi,Lu Dianyang,Zhou Yueran,Lin Yutang,Endicott and Faucett.Zhang Shiyi has been unanimously recognized as the most outstanding communicator of the Direct Method.There’s nobody matching him in terms of the duration,space and influence of communication,Lu Dianyang served as an English teacher and educational officials in succession.The multiple identities gave him a chance to observe and communicate the Direct Method from different perspectives.The greatest contribution of Zhou Yueran and Lin Yutang lie in their textbooks,the Model English Readers of the former and the Kaiming English Book of the latter.Both textbooks have been recognized as the most popular Direct Method textbooks during the first half of the 20th century.Although Endicott is a foreigner,his communication of the Direct Method is as passionate and extensive as Lu Dianyang and Zhou Yueran,his influence most notable in the south west of China.Faucett came to China twice,his teaching experience mostly tied with the spread of the Direct Method.How the Direct Method was accepted prior to 1949 could be perceived on three levels,namely the attitude of the educational authorities,the attitude of teachers and students and the behavior of teachers.First and foremost,the Ministry of Education issued relevant national curriculum standards,examined and approved the Direct Method textbooks and supported the academic study concerned.Under the influence of the Ministry of Education,the provincial bureaus of education and the management of school gave their active support to the Direct Method.Individually,there were teachers and students vigorously supporting and those expressing deep doubts about the new teaching method.On the class level,some teachers from the prestigious schools of economically advantaged regions such as Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces practiced the new method actively,yet they belonged to the minority.The vast majority of teachers,however,kept a distance from the Direct Method.Generally,the practice of the new method in the first half of 20th century was limited.The limited practice of the Direct Method can be attributed to the limitations of instructional conditions available at this time.Firstly,there’s a lack of qualified English teachers.Admittedly,there were English teachers,but they tended to give more weight to literature than to practical use,to reading and writing than to listening and speaking.Hence their lingering attachment to the Grammar-Translation Method and their neglect of the Direct Method.Besides unqualified teachers,the restrictions to the practice of the new method also included large class size,the gap between students’ age,and the inadequacies of textbooks.There’s a lack of balance between the high-level spread and the grass-root practice of the Direct Method in the 1902-1949 China.This is inseparable from the thoughts of the time.The foreign language teaching in China of that time witnessed a conflict between written and oral language,and between literature and pragmatism.The former concerns the view of foreign language functions.The written language proponents gave weight to the potential of foreign language to transmit knowledge and favored the Grammar-Translation Method,while oral language proponents highlighted the potential of foreign language to facilitate interpersonal communication and promoted the Direct Method.In the 1902-1949 China,foreign language teaching methods were adopted in response to the time.When there’s a need of listening and speaking,the Direct Method gained popularity.At other times,a high value was placed on the potential of foreign language to bring in western knowledge by means of reading and writing.As a result,there’s an attachment to the Grammar-Translation method and alienation from the Direct Method.The conflict between literature and pragmatism is the root cause of the scarcity of qualified English teachers.The conflict can be traced to the battle between the English Department and the Western Literature Department of the South East University in the early 20th century.Chaired by Zhang Shiyi,the English Department gave weight to the training of English teachers,promoting the instruction of routine language and,in response,the Direct Method.The Western Literature Department,represented by Mei Guangdi and Wu Mi,sought to breed cultured students by bringing them close to western classics.Mei and Wu originally belonged to the English Department and,due to their conflict with Zhang Shiyi,managed to gain independence later on.Zhang Shiyi was supported by Guo Bingwen,the president of the South East University,both advocating of the Direct Method.Hu Shi,the heavyweight proponent of the New Culture Movement,also gave his explicit support to the Direct Method.Hu,Guo and Zhang had all studied in the Teachers College,Columbia University,the center of pragmatism,all cultured by the pragmatic philosophy of Dewey.Mei Guangdi and Wu Mi were supported by Liu Boming,the vice president of the university.Mei and Wu had learned with Babbit,the great master of New Humanism,and Liu had learned philosophy.All three were the admirer of humanistic education.The conflict between the English Department and the Western Literature Department of the South East University had a far-reaching influence on foreign language teaching in China prior to 1949.The influence was poles apart in and out of the South East University.In the South East University,the English Department gained the upper hand,with Zhang Shiyi,Lu Dianyang and Zhou Yueran,the three masters of the Direct Method,cultivating the young Direct Method advocates led by Shen Tongqia and Wu Tang.Outside the South East University,however,most English departments of other universities bore great resemblance to the Western Literature Department of the South East University,seeking to breed talents of culture and deep learning.Fairly speaking,there’s no simple right-or-wrong difference between the pragmatic and humanistic education.The problem is most of the western literature students,after graduation,turned to become English teachers in the middle school.Lacking in teaching methods and leaning towards classic literature,they shew little favor towards to the Direct Method.The second half of the 20th century witnessed the rise of Applied Linguistics and the rise of foreign language teaching methods.Of all the methods,the communicative approach has been applied most extensively.Both the Direct Method and the communicative approach belong to the naturalistic school,sharing considerable similarities.Therefore the communicative approach can be perceived as the extension and further development of the Direct Method.Meanwhile,the Grammar-Translation Method has survived and,to some extent,caused a conflict with the communicative approach.The spread of the Direct Method in the first half of the 20th century,then,can cast a light on the foreign language teaching in the present time.