Retracing the Direct Method in Spain amongst English manuals & the historical press (1900-1950): Supporters and opponents

Abstract

Análisis histórico de la presencia del Método directo en España entre 1900 y 1950. Se han consultado los diferentes manuales de inglés publicados en España durante ese período así como la prensa histórica a través de dos repositorios de prensa histórica.

This article surveys the presence of the Direct Method (henceforth, DM), between the first half of the twentieth century in Spain. We will narrow down our study to the particular case of English manuals published in Spain as well as the private and official institutions which were prone to adopt the DM. My purpose, therefore, is to outline some implicit or explicit traces of or references to the DM in manuals, prefaces and other paratexts of the time as well as in some extracts of the historical press. In this regard, we have found some manuals that implemented the DM or ‘scientific method’, ‘conversation method’, ‘practical method’, as it was also known in Spain, thus proving that the DM became a debated topic among some manual writers and intellectuals interested in the study of foreign languages. We can conclude that the DM’s presence in Spain is rather scarce in terms of actual English manuals that subscribed to it in contrast to the larger amount of references for or against found in the paratexts of some manuals, in the curricula of some institutions, and in the historical press.