The Audio-Lingual Method was a language teaching method influenced by behaviorist psychology that claimed to transform language teaching into a science. It was based on intensive oral drilling of basic language patterns and contrastive analysis to predict and address learning difficulties. Language learning was viewed as habit formation through stimulus-response conditioning techniques like repetition drills. While it was a dominant method in the 1950-60s, it declined in popularity due to criticism of its behaviorist underpinnings and rejection of the idea that language learning is imitation rather than creative use of internalized competence.

1. The Audio-Lingual Method

2. This method “claimed to have
transformed language teaching from an
art to science, which would enable
learners to achieve mastery of a
foreign language effectively and
efficiently” (Richards & Rogers, 1987,
p.48).

3. Background
● Army method” during the World War II
(fast and easy foreign language
acquisition).
● Based on Bloomfield’s informant method
(memorization and repetition in
language patterns).
● According to Fries, language should be
taught by using “intensive oral drilling of
its basic patterns” (Richards, 1987)
● Influenced by behaviorist psychology.

4. Contrastive Analysis
1. The problems of learning a foreign
language could be attributed to the
conflict of different structural systems
(i.e., differences between grammatical
and phonological patterns of the native
tongue and the target language.
2. Contrastive analysis could predict and
address the problems through carefully
prepared materials. (Richards & Rogers,
1987)

5. ALM Theory of Learning
Reinforcement (behavior
likely to occur again and
become a habit
Stimulus Organism Response
Behavior
No reinforcement/
Negative reinforcement
(behavior not likely to occur
again)

6. What do these titles reflect the
the theory and practice of ALM?
1. Conditioning syntactic performance of
children at varying grade levels by
Audio-Lingual drills on transformations.
(Ney, 1968)
2. Experiment to gauge the effectiveness of
the Audio-Lingual Method and the
language lab. (Maynes, 1962)

7. Introduction
1. An oral-based approach.
2. It drills students in the use of
grammatical sentence patterns.
3. Based on behaviorist psychology
(Skinner).
4. Conditioning →helping learners to
respond correctly to stimuli through
shaping and reinforcement.
5. Habit-formation

8. Principles
● New words or structure patterns are
presented through dialogues
● To learn through imitation and repetition
(drills)
● Students should overlearn

9. Principles
● Correct responses are reinforced
● Errors should be avoided and corrected
immediately
● The teacher guides and controls
students’ behavior

10. Techniques
● Backward build-up drill
● Repetition drill
● Chain drill
● Single/multiple-slot substitution drills
● Transformation drills
● Question-and-answer drill
● Complete the dialogue
● Grammar game

11. Questions for discussion
1. Do you agree that language learning is
habit formation?
2. Should students’ errors be prevented as
much as possible?
3. What is the role of ALM in today’s
language classrooms?

12. ALM today

13. The Decline of Audiolingualism
1. The MIT linguist Noam Chomsky rejected
structuralist approach to language
description as well as the behaviorist
theory of language learning.
2. Learning is not imitated behavior.
3. Sentences are not learned by imitation
and repetition, but “generated” from
the learners’ underlying “competence.”

14. References
Richards, J.C. & Rogers, T. S. (1987)
Approaches and Methods in Language
Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.