Audio aids are instructional materials that can only be heard and not seen. They provide images of concepts, people, and situations to students. Some key advantages of audio aids include saving time, reducing the teacher's burden, motivating students, and facilitating different learning styles. Examples include radios, tape recorders, and language labs. While audio aids increase interest and comprehension, disadvantages include potential boredom if overused, reliance on properly-functioning equipment, and inability to use in all locations. Effective use of audio aids involves planning, preparation, and discussion to maximize their educational benefits.

1. DEFINITION
➢Audio aids are instructional materials in which the message can be heard only and not seen.
➢They are models and devices that can be heard and give an image of something, somebody and
some situations.

2. CHARACTERISTICS
❑Relevancy:The aids are relevant to the topic which needs to be improved.
❑ Accuracy:The audio aids are exact and accurate.
❑ Interest: They meet interests of learners
❑ Comprehensibility: they relate the new experience with past experience and which are
within the comprehension of the students who are to use it.
❑Motivation:Audio aids motivate and act as a catalyst for learners as they make the learning
process in the classroom interesting especially in activity-oriented subjects for effective
learning.

3. CON’T
✓Useful and purposeful teaching; they are so crucial and of benefit in the teaching learning
process.
✓Minimum verbalism; physical interaction between the teacher and learner is reduced.
✓Realism:Audio aids possess the quality and niche of developing real concepts of different
areas of life.

4. EXAMPLES
❖Radio
❖Gramophone
❖Linguaphone
❖Audio cassette player
❖Language laboratory
➢Tape recorder
➢Teleconferencing

5. ADVANTAGES
➢ They are time saving because they explain the idea easily and precisely.
➢ Reduces burden of teacher.
➢ The teacher can improve his own English by audio aids.
➢ They are the sources of a variety of experiences for students.
➢ English is a difficult language.They make learning English easy at certain levels.
➢ The teacher can follow up the principle of from concrete to abstract with the help of audio aids.
➢ Meet the individual differences requirements ; the use of various types of audio aids helps in
meeting the requirements of different types of pupils.

6. CON’T
❑Audio aids make lessons more enjoyable, clear and comprehensible for students.
❑Audio Aids for second language motivate the students so that they can learn a language
easily without having any difficulty.
❑Audio aids are effective to increase student’s memory.What they learn with the help of
these aids imprints in their mind. It also makes their learning permanent.
❑Audio aids can facilitate the better understanding of the subject which discourages the
act of confusion.

7. CON’T
✓ Increase student’s interest and motivate them to learn better.
✓ Audio aids make the class room live and active and avoid dullness because of involvement of every
student. It provides direct experience to the students.
✓ They are helpful in perceptual and conceptual learning.
✓ They are helpful in capturing and sustaining attention of students.
✓ They are easy and inexpensive to make and update.
✓ Use of audio aids help in maintaining discipline in the class since all the students' attention are focused in
learning.
✓ Audio aids provide opportunities for effective communication between teacher and students

8. DISADVANTAGES
➢Too much of audio material used at one time can result in boredom.
➢All concepts may not be learned effectively through audio aids due to variation in
teaching learning situations.
➢Most of the time the equipments are costly hence some of the schools cannot afford
them.
➢ It needs a lot of time for teacher to prepare lesson to have interactive classroom
session.

9. CON’T
➢ Also teacher's valuable time may be lost in gaining familiarity with new equipment.
➢ Some students may feel reluctant to ask questions while recording is playing
➢small rooms can be a physical barrier.
➢In places where electricity is not available i.e. in rural areas, it is not feasible to use audio-
visual aids that requires electricity.
➢The sound and vision, quality of the copies or home-produced materials may not be ideal.

10. ELEMENTS
❑Spoken word; this is what is heard
❑Recognizable sound effects; this is the created sound applied to emphasize other
contents.
❑Music; sound used to express and modulate emotions.

11. PROCESS
➢Planning by the instructor
➢Selection of the aid
➢Preparation of the equipment
➢Preparation of the students
➢Summary of the information
➢Discussion of the information

12. EFFECTIVENESS
✓ Use of audio aids is absolutely effective because;
✓ They make the whole process simple, productive and enrich the learning activities.
✓ They increase the interest and ability of learners to remember the content.
✓ They provide the learners with maximum language exposure outside the classroom. Learners
can practice all the language skills using the resources of the language lab for developing their
language proficiency.
✓ They help the learners to provide self-feedback. Learners can listen to a track and then speak
the same text and record their own voice so that they can listen to their own pronunciation.

13. CON’T
• They ensure better language input and exposure to the learners than the classroom
settings.
• They help to create a relaxing environment which is very important to lower the anxiety
level of the learners. Since anxiety works as a barrier of learning a new language to
ensure the maximum learning condition.
• They promote positive transfer of learning.
• They reduce verbal instructions

14. REFERENCES
• Saima Rasul, Qadir Bukhsh, Shazia Batool, procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 28, 78-
81, 2011.
• J Naga Madhuri, Research Journal of English Language and Literature 1 (3), 108-122, 2013.
• Helen Coopen, Pergamon Press Inc., 44-01 21st Street, Long Island City, NewYork 11101,
1969
• DanielTang Kuok Ho, Rangis Intai,Asia Pacific Journal of Educators and Education 32, 91-
106, 2017