2. Outlines
Historical Background
The Basic Principles of The Audio-Lingual Method
The Techniques and Activities Used by the Audio-Lingual
Method
The Role of the Teacher and the Student in the Audio-Lingual
Method
Advantages and disadvantages of the Audio-Lingual Method
The decline of the Audio-Lingual Method
Conclusion
3. Historical Background
The Audio-lingual Method was developed in the U.S. during the Second
World War. At that time, the U.S. government found it a great necessity to set
up a special language-training programme to supply the war with language
personnel. Therefore, the government commissioned American universities
to develop foreign language program for military personnel.
4. Thus the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) was established in
1942.The objectives of the army program was for students to attain
conversational proficiency in a variety of foreign languages. The method
used was known as the “informant method”, since it used a native speakers of
the language, the informant, and a linguist. The informant served as a source
of language for imitation, and the linguist supervised the learning
experience. The intensive system adopted by the army achieved excellent
results (Rivers, 1992).
5. The Audio-Lingual Method is based on two main theories:
Structuralism:
A Language is a system of structural related elements, like phonological units,
grammatical units, and lexical items, for the transmission of meaning. So, to
learn the target language is to master the elements of the target language
system.
6. Behaviorist psychology Behaviorist
psychology states that people are conditioned to learn many forms of
behavior, including language, through the process of training or
conditioning.
7. The Basic Principles of The Audio-
Lingual Method
The five Slogans which were established for the teaching process
and used by the teachers who adopted this method were:
1- Language is speech, not writing.
The Audio-Lingual laid emphasis on the spoken skill before
giving the learner the written form (pronunciation, intonation
and colloquial forms).
8. 2- A language is a set of habits.
The Audio-Lingual Method was based on habit formation. Language is
acquired during childhood at the same way as children acquire other
social habits by imitation and memorization. Learners acquire Language
automatically by using dialogue material.
3- Teach the language not about the language.
This slogan represents a reaction against the main principle of the
Grammar Translation Method ( allotted time to communicate in the target
language without analyzing grammar).
9. 4- A language is what its native speakers say, not what someone else thinks they
ought to say.
Teachers shouldn’t impose the grammatical points according to specific criteria,
but in order to learn, students should speak the language as it is used by its native
speakers.
5- Languages are different.
The notion of universal grammar was rejected in this case. So each language is
analyzed according to its own features without any relation to another language (
Al-Mutawa N, and Kailani T 1998).
10. The Techniques and Activities Used by
the Audio-Lingual Method
The Audio-Lingual Method has a different techniques in contrast with the
Grammar Translation Method and the Direct Method. It lays emphasis on mimicry
as a main technique. This is done through memorization of the dialogues and
imitative repetition.
The use of drills and patterns practice includes the following:
11. 1- Repetition: where the student repeats an utterance as soon as he hears it,
without looking at printing materials.
EX:
I used to know him. – I used to know him.
I used to know him years ago…
2- Inflection: Where one word in a sentence appears in another form when
repeated.
EX:
I bought the ticket. -I bought the tickets.
He bought the candy -She bought the candy.
12. 3-Replacement: Where one word is replaced by another word.
EX:
He bought this house cheap. He bought it cheap
Helen left early. She left early.
4-Restatement: The student rephrases an utterance and addresses it to
someone else, according to instructions.
EX:
Tell him to wait for you. Wait for me.
Ask her how old she is How old are you?
13. 5-Completion.
EX:
I have a………… I have a cat.
6-Transposition: A change in word order is necessary when a word is added.
added.
EX:
I’m hungry. /so/ - So am I
7- Expansion. When a word is added it takes a certain place in the sequence.
sequence.
EX:
I know him.(hardly). – I hardly Know him.
14. 8- Contraction: A single word stands for a phrase or clause.
EX:
Put your hand on the table. -Put your hand there.
9-Transformation: A sentence is transformed by being made negative
or interrogative or through changes in tense, mood, voice, aspect, or
modality.
EX:
He knows my address.
He doesn't know my address.
15. 10-Integration: Two separate utterances are integrated into one.
EX:
They must be honest. It is important that
This is important. they be honest.
11- Rejoinder: Student makes an appropriate rejoinder to a given
pattern. (polite, answer the question, agree, disagree, express
surprise, etc.) EX:
Thank you. You're welcome.
What is your name? My name is Sam.
16. 12-Restoration: is one of the most common patterns that can be found in
ESL textbooks.
EX:
kids/waiting /school bus Kids are waiting for school bus.
13- Use of minimal pairs.
EX:
ship sheep (Freeman, 2000)
17. The Role of the Teacher and the
Student in the Audio-Lingual Method
The teacher’s role in the Audio-Lingual Method ‘is like an orchestra leader.’
He leads and directs students in their style of learning the language. He is
also responsible for supplying the students with a good model for imitation.
Whereas, the student’s role is considered as an imitator of what is being said
in front of him, either by a teacher or a tape. They follow what is directed by
their teacher and to respond as rapidly as possible (Freeman,2000).
18. Advantages and Disadvantages of the
Audio-Lingual Method
Advantages:
1- It was the first method to have a theory.
2- It made language learning accessible to a large groups of ordinary
learners.
3- It was the first method to lay stress on the development of
language syntax, whereas the other methods were preoccupied with
morphology and vocabulary.
4- Developing simple techniques and making use of language lab.
19. Disadvantages:
1- No creativity. Students repeat and memorize what they do not understand.
2- The techniques used by this method become “ tedious and boring, causing
fatigue”.
3- Make advanced students bored.
4- Many students in the class.
20. The Decline of the Audio-Lingual
Method
In the1960s many linguists criticized Audiolingualism, claiming that the
theoretical foundation of this approach is weak and students were found to be
unable to use skills learned in the classroom in real communication.
In 1966, Chomsky criticized behaviorist theory, that was the main basis of
Audiolingualism. He claimed, that this theory could not function as a model of
how humans learn languages. Chomsky introduced an alternative theory of
language learning.
21. He explained that languages are not acquired by repetition and imitation, but
“generated from the learner’s underlying competence” .
With the appearance of Chomsky’s transformational grammar theory,
Audiolingualism lost its popularity. (Richards & Rodgers, 1987).
22. Conclusion
The Audio-Lingual Method aims to develop communicative competence of
students using dialogues and drills. The use of dialogues and drills are effective
in foreign language teaching as they lead the students to produce speech.
Repetition of the dialogues and the drills will enable students to respond
quickly and accurately in spoken language.
23. Activities
True or False.
Q1- The students in the Audio-lingual Method are passive.
Q2- New vocabulary and structures are presented through dialogues.
Q3- There is student-to-student interaction, but it is directed by the teacher.
Q4- Errors are accepted in the Audio-Lingual Method.
Q5- There is no theory for the Audio-Lingual Method.
24. REFRENCES
Al-Mutawa, N. and Kailani, T. (1998). Methods of Teaching
English to Arab Students. Longman: Harlow.
Freeman, D. L. (2000). Techniques and Principles in Language
Teaching. Oxford University Press: Oxford.
Richards, J. C and Theodore S. Rodgers. (1997). Approaches
and Methods in Language Teaching. Cambridge University
Press: USA.
Rivers, W. (1981). Teaching Foreign-Language Skills. The
University of Chicago Press: Chicago and London.
