Audio Lingual Method

The lesson begins with the presentation of a dialogue, which

the teacher plays on the tape recorder or acts out herself.

• - I need to take your personal details. First of all, what’s your name?
• - Jordan Turner.
• - And where are you from?
• - Norwich.
• - How old are you, Jordan?
• - I’m 20.
• - And when is your birthday?
• - 11th July.
• - Thank you. Now I need you to sign here.
 Description of Audio-Lingual Method (ALM)

• The audio-lingual method became the dominant in the 1960s.

• It is based on the Behaviorist learning theory and the structural linguistic
theory.
• According to the Behaviorist learning theory, learning a language-like
learning any skill-is simply a process of forming habits, and the correct
language habits are best formed by repeating examples of correct words
and grammar until they become automatic.
 The aim of the Audio-Lingual Method
• The Audio-Lingual Method (ALM) promotes the use of English for
communication in everyday situations.
• ALM claims that this can be achieved by helping the learner to form new habits
• Language item becomes automatic
• The learner can respond to a linguistic stimulus (a question or a statement)
automatically, without thinking.
• And it is through constants mechanical drilling that the learner can be trained
without thinking.
Main principles of the Audio-Lingual Method are:

• a. Language of instruction
• Teaching and communication in the classroom is carried out only in the
target language.
• The first language is considered to be an obstacle
• Instead of translating new words, the teacher uses gestures, facial
expressions, pictures and other kinds of visual aids.
 b.Which language systems?

• The Audio-Lingual Method is focused on the structural patterns – the

grammar – of the target language.
• These patterns are typically presented in the context of dialogues which
are about everyday situations:
• Catching a bus, buying a theatre ticket, asking the way…
• The grammar rules are presented inductively; students first see the
grammar in texts or dialogues, and then are helped to ‘induce’ the
grammar rules.
• Grammatical structures are presented in strict sequence;
• First easy structures are introduced and then more difficult ones.
• Pronunciation is very important
• Vocabulary is extremely limited at the early stages of instruction.
• This is based on the view that communication is possible with very few
words
 c. Which language skills?
• Of the four language ‘skills’ – listening, speaking, reading and writing –
only listening and speaking are dealt with in the early stages of learning.
• Reading and writing are postponed to the later and higher stages of
language learning.
A foreign language should be learnt in the following order: listening-
speaking-reading-writing.
 d.What king of languages
• Colloquial, conversational language is given priority.
• Thus, ‘ functional’ language such as ways of greeting and saying goodbye,
requesting and giving information, asking for and refusing permission are
certainly part of the Audio-Lingual syllabus.
• However, achievement of accuracy prevails over fluency, ‘making correct
sentences’ is important, whereas ‘saying something that is interesting is
not.
 e. The role of the teacher
• The teacher is in complete control of everything that goes on in the class.
• The teacher initiates and directs all the activities, which may include
working in groups and acting out prepared dialogues.
• She corrects the students’ mistakes immediately and serves as the model
for good pronunciation
 f. The role of the student
• The teacher has therefore a very active role and the students’ job is to
obey her without questioning what she says.
• However, students are active for the whole duration of the lesson because
they know they have to learn the new dialogues accurately and quickly.
• They follow the teacher’s instructions and imitate her (or the audio
cassette’s) correct sentences as precisely as possible.
 g.Who speaks to whom?
• The teacher initiates all interaction, between herself and the students, and
between students themselves.
• She decides which students should speak, when they speak and who they
should speak to.
 h.Student-student interaction
• Interaction between students is directed by the teacher and is very limited.
• They usually speak to each other only in chain drills, or in action out
dialogues.
• But this interaction is initiated and tightly controlled by the teacher, and in
no way involves any real communication
 Main types of Audio-Lingual Method activities

• Dialogue memorization
• Repetition drill
• Transformation drill
• Substitution drill
• Chain drills
 Conclusion
• As we can see, the Audio-Lingual Method focuses on oral skills ( listening
and speaking) and accuracy.
• It also aims to prepare students for everyday situations by using colloquial
language in the dialogues and texts that they study. This is positive feature
of the Audio-Lingual Method, and gives it some validity.
• However, students’ performance is limited to the language presented to
them. They are not required to say anything they have not learnt before.
• The Audio-Lingual Method promotes the importance of listening over the
other skills.
• This does not match the needs of all learners, as different learners have
different learning styles.
• Although the dialogues are usually based on everyday situations, meaning
or context is not regarded as important when structures are drilled.
• Above all, repetition and memorization of the dialogues do not guarantee
that the learners will become successful communicators in English
because they usually find it hard to transfer the learnt patterns to real-life
communication.