ORAL-SITUATIONAL

APPROACH
History
developed by British applied
linguists
Harold Palmer and A.S. Hornby
a method derived from the
Direct Method

Introduction
Relies on structural view of
language
Emphasis is on the
presentation of structures
in situations.


Language is primarily speech
A language is a set of habits
By using situations the use of
mother tongue can be avoided

Objectives
A practical command of the four basic
skills of a language through structure
Accuracy in both pronunciation and
grammar
Errors are to be avoided at all costs
Automatic control of basic structures
and sentence patterns

Characteristics
Language teaching begins with the
spoken language
The target language is the
language of the classroom
New language points are
introduced and practiced
situationally
Vocabulary selection
procedures are followed
Items of grammar are graded
from simple to complex
Reading and writing are
introduced once a sufficient
lexical and grammatical basis is
established
The Syllabus
Structural syllabus and a word
list
Prepared by a team of language
experts and methodologist
Types of Activities
A situational presentation of new
sentence patterns
A drill-based manner of practicing


Procedure
Pronunciation
Revision
Presentation of new structure or
vocabulary
Oral practice (drilling)
Reading of material on a new
structure

Learner Roles
Listening and repeating what the
teacher says
Responding to questions and
commands
Teacher Roles
A model
A skillful manipulator
A review organizer


Advantages
Suitable for introduction to the
language
Values practical grammar and
vocabulary

Disadvantages
Teacher-controlled
Ineffective
Time consuming
Errors are not tolerated
BORING