THE AUDIOLINGUAL

METHOD

1.Background

2.Approach

WHAT IS AUDIOLINGUAL METHOD?

Audiolingual method is a style of teaching used in teaching foreign languages.

It is based on behaviorist theory, which professes that certain traits of living things, and in this case humans, could be trained through a system of reinforcement—correct use of a trait would receive positive feedback while incorrect use of that trait would receive negative feedback.

BACKGROUND

The United States involvement in World War II

brought a significant change in the teaching of languages in U.S. Schools.

o U.S. Government asked the universities to develop foreign language program.Thus the Army Specialized Training Program was established in 1942.

The Army Specialized Training Program was a military training program instituted by the United States Army during World War II at a number of American universities to meet wartime demands for junior officers and soldiers with technical skills.

Army method had a significant impact on linguistics and the way foreign languages were taught. It was based on Leonard Bloomfield’s technique (informant method) of memorization and repetition in simple foreign language patterns.

LEONARD BLOOMFIELD

In brief, the linguist, without knowing the language, was trained to absorb its basic structure from the informant/native speaker and together with students gradually learned how to speak this language.

The methodology of the Army Method ,like the Direct method, derived from the intensity of contact with the target language rather than from any well developed methodological basis.

Linguists and applied linguists during this period were becoming increasingly involved in the teaching of English as a foreign language.

There was a growing demand for foreign expertise in the teaching of English.

Many students entered the United States to study in universities. And these factors led to emergence of the American approach to ESL which by the (mid 1950s) had become Audiolingualism.

In 1939,the University of Michigan developed the firs English Language Institute in United States.Director of the Institute was Charles Fries and he was trained in structural linguistic.

Fries and his colleagues rejected approaches such as those of Direct Method, in which learners are exposed to the language, use it ,and gradually absorb its grammatical patterns.

For Fries, grammar ,or “structure “was the starting point.

According to Fries, the structure of the language was identified with is basic sentence patterns and grammatical structures.

Audio-lingual approach suggests that students be taught phonology, morphology, and syntax of the language; all these patterns can be learned through contrastive analysis of the differences between the native tongue and the target language, which helps students to acquire new language easier. Audiolingual Method is based on Speaking ReadingListening writing

Fries published “his principles in Teaching and Learning English as a Foreign Language (1945), in which the problems of learning a foreign language were attributed to the conflict of different structural systems.

The idea of contrastive analysis of two languages was presented in this work. It was essential in order to prevent potential problems in second language acquisition and it became the basis for a major branch of applied linguistics called systematic comparisons. This development of systematic comparison provided a new perspective towards Foreign Language Teaching.

THE AURAL ORAL STRUCTURAL METHOD

The Aural-Oral Structural Approach was invented by Charles Fries.

According to Fries, language should be taught by using “intensive oral drilling of its basic patterns”. This method emphasizes proper pronunciation and intonation.

APPROACH Theory of language The theory of language underlying

Audiolingualism was derived from a view proposed by American linguists in the 1950s_ a view that came to be known as structural linguistics.

Structural linguistics had developed in part as a reaction to traditional grammar.

Many nineteenth century language scholars had viewed modern European languages as corruption of classical grammar

The reaction against traditional grammar was prompted by the movement toward positivism and empiricism.

A more practical interest in language study emerged.

A new interest in phonetics , phonology , morphology , and syntax developed.

Language was viewed as a system of structurally related elements for the encoding meaning , the elements being phonemes ,morphemes ,words , structures and sentence types.

THEORY OF LEARNING It is closely tied to Behaviorism,thus

made drilling,repetition,and habit formation central elements of instruction.

Proponents of ALM felt that this emphasis on repetition necessitated a corollary emphasis on accuracy.

Language learning:process of mechanical habit form.

Language mastery:acquiring a set of appropriate language stimulus-response chain.

Behaviorism of Language Leaning: -Classical /Operant Conditioning:helping learners to respond

correctly to stimuli through shaping/reinforcement.

Behaviorism,including: Mistakes are bad and should be

avoided,as they make bad habits. Positive reinforcement helps students

to develop correct habits. Behaviorist psychology claimed that

it knows the “secrets of all human learning including languages” (Richards & Rodgers, 1987).

Stimulis Organism

Response

Reinforcement

No-Negative Reinforcement

Habit formation

The descriptive practices of structural linguists:

Language beginning with the phonological level and finishing with the sentence level-assumed-appropriate

Speech was held to be primary and writing secondary.

Structure is what is important and unique about a language-early practice-mastery of phonological structures rather than vocabulary.

PSYCHOLOGY FOUNDATIONS OF ALM

1)First language learning is a process of mechanical habit formation.

2)Language skills are learned more effectively in spoken form before written form.

3)Analogy provides a better foundation for language learning than analysis.

4)The meaning that the words of a language have for the native speaker only in a linguistic and cultural context and not isolation.

DESIGN Like the 19th cent.,they advocated a return to speech-based instruction with the primary objective of oral proficiency.

OBJECTIVES-accurate pronunciation and grammar.-ability to respond quickly and accurately

in speech situation.-knowledge of sufficient vocabulary to

use with grammar patterns.

BROOKS

1)Short range2)Long range-as the native uses

THE SYLLABUS

ALM-a linguistic or structure based approach to language teaching.

Firstly-a linguistic syllabus + a lexical syllabus

Items of -phonology-morphology-syntax

A basic vocabulary items.

TYPES OF LEARNING AND TEACHING ACTIVITIES

Audio lingual method relies on structured dialogues and repetitive drills to reinforced targed language forms. Dialogues and drill form are the basis of audolingual classroom practices.

TYPES OF LEARNING AND TEACHING ACTIVITIES

interaction

imitator Teacher-directed

There are various kinds of drills . Repetition :students attempt to repeat exactly what the teacher says. Exp:This is the seventh month.-This is the seventh month.

Inflection:one word in an utterance appears in another form when repeated.Exp: I bought the ticket.

I bought the tickets.

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Replacement: one word in an utterance is replaced byanother. Exp: He bought this house cheap. he bought it cheap.

Restatement : The student rephrases an utterance and addresses it to someone else ,according to instructions.

Exp: Tell him to wait for you . -wait for me.

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Completion: The student hears an utterance that is complete except for one word ,then repeats the utterance in completed form. Exp:we all have …own troubles. we all have our own troubles. Transposition :A chance in word order is necessary when a word is added.Exp: I am hungry.( so) – so am ı

Expansion : When a word is added it takes a certain place İn the sequence.Exp: I know him (well) –ı know him well.

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Contraction : A single word stands for a phrase or clause.

Exp: put your hand on the table. put your hand on there.

Transformation :A sentence is transformed by being made negative or interrogative or through changes in tense ,mood,voice,aspect,or modality.

Exp: He knows my address. He doesn’t know my address. Does he know my address? He used to know my address.

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Integration :Two separate utterance are integrated into one.

Exp: They must be honest .this is important. ıt is important that they be honest.

Rejoinder: the student makes an appropriate rejoider to a given utterance.

Be politeAnswer the question AgreeAgree emphaticallyExpress surprise

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Restoration: The student is given a sequence of words that have been culled from a sentence but still bear its basic meaning.

Exp:student/wait/bus

The students are waiting for the bus .

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LEARNER ROLES

Learners are imitators of the teacher’s model or the materials s/he supplies

Learners should learn to respond to both verbal and nonverbal stimuli from the teacher

They follow the teacher’s directions and respond as accurately and as rapidly as possible

TEACHER ROLES

The teacher is a model of the

target language – the teacher and the materials s/he brings are the only resources of the target language

The teacher should be like an orchestra leader – conducting, controlling the students’ behaviour in the target language

The teacher is responsible for helping students to overcome the habits of their native language – through comparing the students’ native language and the target language

The teacher is also responsible to present information about the culture of the target language

THE ROLE OF INSTRUCTION MATERIALS

Materials are under the control of teacher

Tape recorders Audiovisual equipments Language laboratories

PROCEDURE

Little provision for grammar and talking about the language

Target language as the center of instructions

Discouragement of translation and the use of native language

BROOKS’ PROCEDURE LIST: The modelling of all learnings by the

teacher The early and continued training of the

ear and tongue The learniing of structure through the

practice of patterns of sound, order and form rather than by explanation

Summarizing of the main points of structure

Shortening of the time spent

Minimizing of vocabulary until structures have been learned

The study of vocabulary only in context

Practice in translation only as a literary exercise at an advanced level

IN A TYPİCAL AUDİOLİNGUAL LESSON: Hearing the dialogues including basic

structures Changed certain key words by students The selection of certain key structures

from the dialogue and practice in chorus, or individually

Imitative writing More dialogue and drill work

THE DECLINE OF AUDIOLINGUALISM

unable to transfer skills to real communication outside the classroom

boring and unsatisfying attacked as being invalid in terms of

both language theory and learning theory

 -Noam Chomsky (cognitive code learning)   ‘Language is not a habit structure’.

CONCLUSION Mechanistic aspects of language

learning and language use

Similarity between Situational Language Teaching And Audiolingulism:

Focusing on the basic structures of the target language

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SITUATIONAL LANGUAGE TEACHING AND AUDIOLINGUALISM :

-SİTUATİONAL LANGUAGE TEACHİNG DOES NOT HAVE THE STRONG LİNKS TO LİNGUİSTİCS AND BEHAVİORAL PSYCHOLOGY THAT CHARACTERİZE AUDİOLİNGULİSM

REFERENCES Chomsky, S. 1966. Linguistic

theory. Reprinted in J. P. B. Allen and P. Van

Buren (eds.), Chomsky: Selected Readings, pp. 152-9. London: Oxford

University Press. Fries, C. C, 2nd A. C. Fries. 1961

Foundations for English Teaching Tokyo:

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