The Dialogue Approach
To communicate rapidly and effectively in a foreign language

The Natural Learning Environment

4. A Guided Experience

• 4.1. A Confident Climate
• 4.2. Socratic Maieutics
• 4.3. Error Management
  The Dialogue method is founded on the principle of retroaction or feedback, the cybernetic system promulgated by M.A. Crowder in his efforts to replace a human master with a machine that simulates interpersonal relations.
  
  When errors occur in the course of discovery, it indicates that the learner’s information is imperfect; rather than sanction this, one must discover where the difficulty lies. Thanks to the derivative structure that the Dialogue trainer employs, the difficulties are surmounted and the learner produces an adequate response. Instead of one-way training, into the trap of which most methods based on questioning run the risk of falling, the Dialogue process proposes an interactive means of discovery. The learner’s response determines the element he or she is given immediately afterwards. If the discovery is immediate, the learner can immediately reach the stage in which he or she grasps the point permanently. If an error arises, that error allows the instructor to find which aspects of mental functioning provokes it and to formulate an appropriate remedy, at all levels personalized.
• 4.4 Verifiable, Immediate, Tangible Progress