ALM This method of Language Learning is also called the Aural-Oral Method.

This method is said to result in rapid acquisition of speaking and listening skills. The audiolingual method drills students in the use of grammatical sentence patterns. When this method was developed it was thought that the way to acquire the sentence patterns of the second language was through conditioning or helping learners to respond correctly to stimuli through shaping and reinforcement. The Audiolingual Method is based on the following principles:

Speaking and listening competence preceded reading and writing competence. Use of German is highly discouraged in the classroom. The development of language skills is a matter of habit formulation. Students practice particular patterns of language through structured dialogue and drill until response is automatic. Structured patterns in language are taught using repetitive drills. The emphasis is on having students produce error free utterances. This method of language learning supports kinesthetic learning styles. Only everyday vocabulary and sentences are taught. Concrete vocabulary is taught through demonstration, objects, and pictures. Abstract vocabulary is taught through association of ideas. The printed word must be kept away from the second language learner as long as possible.
The Characteristics of ALM

Brown has summarized the Characteristics of Audio-Lingual Method as follows: 1. New material is presented in dialog form. 2. There is dependence on mimicry, memorization of set phrases, and overlearning. 3. Structures are sequenced by means of contrastive analysis and taught one at a time. 4. Structural patterns are taught using repetitive drills. 5. There is little or no grammatical explanation. Grammar is taught by inductive analogy rather than deductive explanation. 6. Vocabulary is strictly limited and learned in context. 7. There is much use of tapes, language labs, and visual aids. 8. Great importance is attached to pronunciation. 9. Very little use of the mother tongue by teachers is permitted. 10. Successful responses are immediately reinforced. 11. There is great effort to get students to produce error-free utterances. 12. There is a tendency to manipulate language and disregard content.

Minimal pairs "A minimal pair is a pair of words that differ in a single phoneme. Minimal pairs are often used to show that two sounds contrast in a language. For example, we can demonstrate that [s] and [z] contrast in English by adducing minimal pairs such as sip and zip, or bus andbuzz. Since the only difference in these words is the [s] vs. [z], we conclude that they belong to distinct phonemes. However, a similar test would show that [a:j] and [Aj] are distinct phonemes in English, since writer and rider appear to be minimal pairs distinguished in their second elements, not their fourth."

Expansion drill

Expansion drills : These drills give practice in building longer and more complex sentences. They are effective for practicing the placement of items like adjectives and adverbs. Sentence expansion drills can be done by yourself or with a native
speaker of the language and are one avenue to practicing the language in ways that build upon the knowledge you already have. The name does much to explain this drill, but the basic idea is to start with a core simple sentence and then to expand it one part at a time. This is best understood if demonstrated so you might start with a simple sentence and proceed like this:

I eat food. I eat food with a fork. I eat food with a fork at a restaurant. I eat lots of food with a fork at a restaurant. I eat lots of food with a fork at a restaurant with my friends. I often eat lots of food with a fork at a restaurant with my friends. This is all pretty simple, but when you are beginning to learn a new language and to understand how the structures of the language work, this can be an intentional way to practice and give yourself a lot of repetition. Single slot substitution drill

Single-slot substitution drills : Students here are asked to find out the opened up slot in a given sentence. The teacher gives the appropriate cues which could be at the same time verbal or visual. This series of drill requires more than simple repetition in which the students will repeat a sentence from the dialog and replace a word or phrase in the sentence with the word or phrase the teacher give them. This word or phrase is called the cue which can be a picture. Chain Drill Chain drill is the series of drill to give the student an opportunity to say the lines individually and let the students use the expression in communication with someone else, even though the communication is very limited.