Ch 4 the audio lingual method

The Audio-Lingual Method

This method “claimed to have

transformed language teaching from an

art to science, which would enable

learners to achieve mastery of a

foreign language effectively and

efficiently” (Richards & Rogers, 1987,

p.48).

● Army method” during the World War II

(fast and easy foreign language

acquisition).

● Based on Bloomfield’s informant method

(memorization and repetition in

language patterns).

● According to Fries, language should be

taught by using “intensive oral drilling of

its basic patterns” (Richards, 1987)

● Influenced by behaviorist psychology.

Background

1. The problems of learning a foreign

language could be attributed to the

conflict of different structural systems

(i.e., differences between grammatical

and phonological patterns of the native

tongue and the target language.

2. Contrastive analysis could predict and

address the problems through carefully

prepared materials. (Richards & Rogers,

1987)

Contrastive Analysis

ALM Theory of Learning

Stimulus Organism Response

Behavior

Reinforcement (behavior

likely to occur again and

become a habit

No reinforcement/

Negative reinforcement

(behavior not likely to occur

again)

1. Conditioning syntactic performance of

children at varying grade levels by

Audio-Lingual drills on transformations.

(Ney, 1968)

2. Experiment to gauge the effectiveness of

the Audio-Lingual Method and the

language lab. (Maynes, 1962)

What do these titles reflect the

the theory and practice of ALM?

1. An oral-based approach.

2. It drills students in the use of

grammatical sentence patterns.

3. Based on behaviorist psychology

(Skinner).

4. Conditioning →helping learners to

respond correctly to stimuli through

shaping and reinforcement.

5. Habit-formation

Introduction

● New words or structure patterns are

presented through dialogues

● To learn through imitation and repetition

(drills)

● Students should overlearn

Principles

● Correct responses are reinforced

● Errors should be avoided and corrected

immediately

● The teacher guides and controls

students’ behavior

Principles

● Backward build-up drill

● Repetition drill

● Chain drill

● Single/multiple-slot substitution drills

● Transformation drills

● Question-and-answer drill

● Complete the dialogue

● Grammar game

Techniques

1. Do you agree that language learning is

habit formation?

2. Should students’ errors be prevented as

much as possible?

3. What is the role of ALM in today’s

language classrooms?

Questions for discussion

ALM today

1. The MIT linguist Noam Chomsky rejected

structuralist approach to language

description as well as the behaviorist

theory of language learning.

2. Learning is not imitated behavior.

3. Sentences are not learned by imitation

and repetition, but “generated” from

the learners’ underlying “competence.”

The Decline of Audiolingualism

Richards, J.C. & Rogers, T. S. (1987)

Approaches and Methods in Language

Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.

References