Audio-Lingual Method : Concept, Characteristics, History, Merits, Demerits, Activities

 

Audio-Lingual Method : Concept, Characteristics, History, Merits, Demerits, Activities

                                     IITE B.ED. SEM-2 Pedagogy of English-L2 2.1 

By. Dr. Alpeshkumar Nakrani 

Assistant Professor 

Smt. J. J. Kundalia Graduate Teachers’ College

Concept of Audio-Lingual Method

• The audio-lingual teaching method is defined as a method which emphasizes on repetition of the words to help the students to be able to use the target language communicatively. The purpose of the repetition/drills is to break down the troublesome sentences into smaller part.
• This method make the learner understand the second language by memorizing and practice speaking with drilling from the people communication.
• The Audio-lingual Method is a method of foreign language teaching which emphasizes the teaching of listening and speaking before reading and writing. It uses dialogues as the main form of language presentation and drills as the main training techniques. Mother tongue is discouraged in the classroom.
• It’s also called “Army method”.
• The method was first developed in the University of Michigan in 1945 by Charles Fries, after the Second World War. Also called “Michigan Method”
• For its views on language, audiolingualism drew on the work of American linguists such as Leonard Bloomfield
• The Audio-Lingual Method is an oral – based approach that drills students in the use of grammatical sentences patterns.

Principle of Audio-Lingual Method

• Language forms do not occur by themselves; they occur most naturally within a context.
• The native language and the target language have separate linguistic systems. They should be kept apart so that the students’ native language interferes as little as possible with the students’ attempts to acquire the target language. •
• One of the language teacher’s major roles is that of a model of the target language. Teachers should provide students with a native- speaker-like model. By listening to how it is supposed to sound, students should be able to mimic the model.
• 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.
• Language learning is a process of habit formation. The more often something is repeated, the stronger the habit and the greater the learning

 History of Audio-Lingual Method

The Audio-lingual method is the product of three historical circumstances. For its views on language, audio-lingualism drew on the work of American linguists such as Leonard Bloomfield.

1. The prime concern of American Linguistics at the early decades of the 20th century had been to document all the indigenous languages spoken in the USA. However, because of the dearth of trained native teachers who would provide a theoretical description of the native languages,

History of Audio-Lingual Method

It was developed in the United States during World War II

Known as the Army method

the term “Audio-lingualism” was coined by Professor Nelson Brooks (1964)

2. 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.

3. Behaviorism of skinner: The idea is for the students to practice the particular construct until they can use it spontaneously. The lessons are built on static drills in which the students have little or no control on their own output; the teacher is expecting a particular response and not providing the desired response will result in a student receiving negative feedback.

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).

Characteristics of Audio-Lingual Method

• Based on the principles of behavior psychology.
• Spoken form first, written form later. Dialogues are the chief means of presenting language items. They provide learners an opportunity to practice, mimic and memorize bits of language.
• Grammar is taught inductively through drills. And examples.
• Vocabulary is limited and learned in context, not in isolation.
• Purpose language is the medium of instructions.
• Audio-visual aids are used
• Teacher-dominated method.
•  Correct pronunciation and grammar emphasized. Errors are carefully avoided because they lead to the formation of bad habits. Focus is on pronunciation
• Successful responses are immediately reinforced.
• The language teacher introduces the dialog by modeling it two times; at other times, she corrects mispronounciation by modeling the proper sounds in the target language.
• Process New vocabulary and structural patterns are presented through dialogues.
• Student-teacher interaction is teacher-directed
• The emphasis is placed on the acquisition of the patterns of the language The natural order of skills presentation is adhered to : listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
• The habits of the students’ native language are thought to interfere with the students’ attempts to master the target language. The target language is mostly used in the classroom instead of the native language.
• Students memorize dialog through mimicry. Certain sentence patterns and grammar points are included within the dialogue.
• The teacher is regarded as an orchestra leader- conducting, guiding and controlling the students’ behavior in the target language.
• Students are taken to be the imitators of the teacher’s model or the tapes.
• Listening and speaking are given priority in language teaching, and they precede reading and writing.
• Mother tongue was not given much importance, similar to the direct method, but it was not deemphasized so rigidly.

Merits of Audio-Lingual Method

• It was the first method to have a theory.
• It made language learning accessible to a large groups of ordinary learners.
• It was the first method to lay stress on the development of language syntax, whereas the other methods were preoccupied with morphology and vocabulary.
• Developing simple techniques and making use of language lab.
• It aims at developing listening and speaking skills, which constitutes a step away from the Grammar Translation Method.
• The stage of the class more interesting and lively. All students act in the classroom.
• Teachers are easy to teach even if in big class group, because by using drilling, the teacher can control participation of each participants.
• The students can imitate the way of native speaker in pronounce the sentences or the words.

Demerits of Audio-Lingual Method

• This is a teacher-centered method. The ALM makes considerable demands upon the teacher.
• The basic steps of imitation, repetition, and reinforcement turns students into parrots who can produce many good utterances but never create anything new.
• Students lacked an active role in the classroom.
• Very little attention is paid to communication and content.
• Students were not able to transfer skills to real communication outside the classroom.
• Many student found boring and unsatisfying
• No creativity. Students repeat and memorize what they do not understand.
• The techniques used by this method become “ tedious and boring, causing fatigue”.
• Make advanced students bored.
• The basic steps of imitation, repetition, and reinforcement turns students into parrots who can produce many good utterances but never create anything new.
• Only language form is considered while meaning is neglected.

Process/ Activities in Audio-Lingual Method

Students first hear a model dialogue The dialogue is adapted to the students’ interest or situation through changing certain keywords or phrases Certain key structures from the dialogue are selected and used as the basis for pattern drills of different kinds The students may refer to their textbook, follow up reading, writing, or vocabulary activities based on the dialogue may be introduced Follow up activities may take place in the language laboratory, where further dialogue and drill work is carried out.

Process/ Activities in Audio-Lingual Method

There are two major types of activities in ALM;

(a) mimicry- memorization of dialogs through repetition to help students learn contextualized structures, vocabulary items, pronunciation, and cultural points

(b) pattern drills of grammatical structures. to enhance automaticity, fluency, and accuracy in grammatical

Process/ Activities in Audio-Lingual Method

For example, the teacher asks each student in turn, "What did you eat for breakfast?" And the students answer truthfully: "I ate cereal and milk" or "I ate two eggs and toast." Students may also prepare their own dialogues based on the original lesson and present them to the class.

 

 

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