AUDIO LINGUAL METHOD
brajesh kumar
the New Key[1], is a style of teaching used in
language instruction. It is based on behaviorist
ideology, 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.
Applied to language instruction, this means that the
instructor would present the correct model of a
sentence and the students would have to repeat it. The
teacher would then continue by presenting new words
for the students to sample in the same structure. In
audio-lingualism, there is no explicit grammar
instruction—everything is simply memorized in form.
The idea is for the students to practice the
particular construct until they can use it
spontaneously. In this manner, 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 that
will result in a student receiving negative feedback.
This type of activity, for the foundation of language
learning, is in direct opposition with communicative
language teaching.
Example
“Teacher: There's a cup on the table ... repeat
Students: There's a cup on the table
Teacher: Spoon
Students: There's a spoon on the table
Teacher: Book
Students: There's a book on the table
Teacher: On the chair
Students: There's a book on the chair
etc."
Historical Roots
The Audio-lingual method is the product of three
historical circumstances. For its views on language,
audiolingualism drew on the work of American linguists
such as Leonard Bloomfield. 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,
linguists had to rely on observation. For the same
reason, a strong focus on oral language was developed.
At the same time, behaviourist psychologists such as
B.F. Skinner were forming the belief that all
behaviour (including language) was learnt through
repetition and positive or negative reinforcement. The
third factor that enabled the birth of the
Audio-lingual method was the outbreak of World War II,
which created the need to post large number of
American servicemen all over the world. It was
therefore necessary to provide these soldiers with at
least basic verbal communication skills.
Unsurprisingly, the new method relied on the
prevailing scientific methods of the time, observation
and repetition, which were also admirably suited to
teaching en masse. Because of the influence of the
military, early versions of the audio-lingualism came
to be known as the “army method.”[1].
In Practice
As mentioned, lessons in the classroom focus on the
correct imitation of the teacher by the students. Not
only are the students expected to produce the correct
output, but attention is also paid to correct
pronunciation. Although correct grammar is expected in
usage, no explicit grammatical instruction is given.
Furthermore, the target language is the only language
to be used in the classroom.[1] Modern day
implementations are more lax on this last requirement.
[edit]
Fall from popularity
In the late 1950s, the theoretical underpinnings of
the method were questioned by linguists such as Noam
Chomsky, who pointed out the limitations of structural
linguistics. The relevance of behaviourist psychology
to language learning was also questioned, most
famously by Chomsky's review of B.F. Skinner's Verbal
Behavior in 1959. The audio-lingual method was thus
deprived of its scientific credibility and it was only
a matter of time before the effectiveness of the
method itself was questioned.
In 1964, Wilga Rivers released a critique of the
method in her book, “The Psychologist and the Foreign
Language Teacher.“ Subsequent research by others,
inspired by her book, produced results which showed
explicit grammatical instruction in the mother
language to be more productive.[citation needed] These
developments, coupled with the emergence of humanist
pedagogy led to a rapid decline in the popularity of
audiolingualism.
Today
Despite being discredited as an effective teaching
methodology in the 1960s, audio-lingualism continues
to be used today, although it is typically not used as
the foundation of a course, but rather, has been
relegated to use in individual lessons. As it
continues to be used, it also continues to gain
criticism, as Jeremy Harmer notes, “Audio-lingual
methodology seems to banish all forms of language
processing that help students sort out new language
information in their own minds.” As this type of
lesson is very teacher centered, it is a popular
methodology for both teachers and students, perhaps
for several reasons but in particular, because the
input and output is restricted and both parties know
what to expect.
BRAJESH
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