I sem - General English - Audio lingual method

Dear learners,

Yet another interesting method of teaching a second language is Audio lingual method.

The Audio-lingual method, Army Method  is a style of teaching used in teaching foreign languages. It is based on behaviourist  theory, which postulates that certain traits of living things, and in this case humans, could be trained through a system of reinforcement. An important belief of structural linguistics is that a language is primarily what it is spoken and only secondarily what is written. Speech is language. We learn to speak before we learn to read and write. So the structural linguistics pays emphasis on the spoken skills of a language (Brooks, 1964)

THE AUDIO LINGUAL METHOD

The teaching of English as a second language in the United States between the two world wars used either a modified Direct Method Approach. The Audio lingual Method (ALM) gained attention in the 1950s, largely in the USA where it was rooted in the military's need during World

recite the basic sentence patterns and grammatical structures. The students were given only “enough War II to train large volumes of personnel in disparate languages.

    Charles C. Fries, the director of the English Language Institute at the University of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States, believed that learning structure, or grammar was the starting point for the student. In other words, it was the students' job to vocabulary to make such drills possible.” (Richards, J.C. et-al. 1986). Fries later included principles for behavioural psychology, as developed by B.F.Skinner, into this method.

THE PRINCIPLES OF THE AUDIO LINGUAL METHOD

Ø  Language learning works best with a context.

Ø  Try not to mix the L1 and L2 so interference does not occur.

Ø  Teachers are used as role models for the language. 

Ø  Students will mimic the correct form.

Ø  Language learning is habit. Repeat and drill often.

Ø  Correct errors immediately. Do not allow bad habits to develop.

Ø  Language is for communication.

Ø  Substitution drills help students understand how language works.

Ø  Positive reinforcement is good for changing habits.

Ø  Verbal, and non verbal (flashcards, pictures) stimuli are used in class.

Ø  Students learn to answer automatically, without thinking first.

Ø  Grammar structures come first, vocabulary will follow.

Ø  Rules will be induced from using examples.

Ø  Follow the natural order that children do when language learning; listening, speaking, reading then writing.

Ø  The teacher has a responsibility to teach the culture of the target language users.

LEARNERS ROLES 

Learners play a reactive role by responding to stimuli, and thus have little control over the content, pace or style of learning. They are not encouraged to initiate interaction, because this may lead to mistakes.

The fact that in the early stages earners do not always understand  the meaning of what they are repeating is not perceived as a draw back, for by listening to the teacher, imitating accurately, and responding to and performing controlled tasks they are learning a new form of verbal behavior. 

TEACHERS ROLE

In Audio Lingualism, as in Situational Language teaching, the teachers role is Central and Active, it is a teacher Dominated method.

The teacher must keep the learners attentive by varying drills and tasks and choosing relevant situations to practice structures.

  Language learning is seen to result from active verbal interaction between the teachers and the learners.

PROCEDURE

Brooks lists the following procedures the teacher should adopt in using  the Audio Visual Method:

       a.The modeling of all learning's by the teacher.

       b.The Subordination of the Mother tongue to the second language.

       c.The early and continuous training of the ear and tongue without recourse to graphic symbols.

       d.The minimizing of vocabulary until all common structures have been learned. 

       e. The study of vocabulary only in context.                      

              MERITS

   Ø Listening and speaking skills are emphasized and, especially the former, rigorously developed.

       Ø The use of visual aids is effective in vocabulary teaching.

       Ø The method is just as functional and easy to execute for larger groups.

       Ø Correct pronunciation and structure are emphasized and acquired.

       Ø It is a teacher-dominated method.

       Ø It is a mechanical method since it demands pattern practice, drilling, and memorization.

      Ø The learner is in a directed role; the learner has little control over the material studied or the method of study.

          DEMERITS

ØThe behaviourist approach to learning is now discredited. Many scholars have proved its weakness.

ØIt does not pay sufficient attention to communicative competence.

ØOnly language form is considered while meaning is neglected.

ØEqual importance is not given to all four skills.

ØIt is a teacher-dominated method.

ØThe learner is in a passive role; the learner has little control over their learning.

Do compare and contrast the Audio lingual method with that of the Direct method and let me know it...