The work of Harold E. Palmer, the individual responsible for consolidating the ideas of the nineteenth-century reform movement into what became known as the Direct Method of second language teaching, is examined. The ideas began with Palmer's conviction that language should be taught by an aural-oral methodology, and he developed teaching techniques that involved a long period of attentive listening by the student, followed by carefully graded introduction to oral skills. Correct intonation was an important part of this introduction, and Palmer advanced this field. Although his status in Japan in the field of English language teaching was extremely high, his success in promoting the method was limited due to a continued emphasis on reading as the prime language teaching objective. Internationally, his work has influenced language teachers and administrators on several continents throughout much of the twentieth century. (Contains 25 references.) (MSE)