Chapter Six The Audiolingual Method

. Key points()
1.Definition ()
The Audiolingual Method is a method of foreign language teaching which emphasizes the
teaching of listening and speaking before reading and writing. It uses dialogues as the main form
of language presentation and drills as the main training techniques. Mother tongue is discouraged
in the classroom.
2.Ba!ground()
The Audiolingual Method was developed in the U.S. during the Second orld ar. At that
time! the U.S. government found it a great necessit" to set up a special language#training
program to suppl" the war with language personnel. Therefore! the government commissioned
American universities to develop foreign language program for militar" personnel. Thus the
Arm" Specialized Training $rogramme %AST$& was established in '()*.The ob+ectives of the
arm" programme were for students to attain conversational proficienc" in a variet" of foreign
languages. The method used was known as the ,informant method -%&! since it used a
native speakers of the language! the informant ! and a linguist. The informant served as a source
of language for imitation! and the linguist supervised the learning e.perience. The intensive
s"stem adopted b" the arm" achieved e.cellent results.
/inguists and applied linguists during this period were becoming increasingl" involved in the
teaching of 0nglish as a foreign language. In '()' the first 0nglish /anguage institute in the U.S.
was established to in the Universit" of Michigan. The director of the institute was 1harles
2ries%&! who applied the principles of structural linguists to language teaching. The result
is an approach which advocated aural training first! then pronunciation training! followed b"
speaking! reading and writing.
The emergence of the Audiolingual Method resulted from the increased attention to foreign
language teaching in the U.S. towards the end of the '(34s.The need for a radical change and
'
rethinking of foreign language teaching methodolog" made language teaching specialists set
about developing a method that was applicable to conditions in U.S. college and universit"
classrooms. The" drew on the earlier e.perience of the arm" programmes and the Aural#5ral or
structural Approach developed b" 2ries and his colleagues! adding insights taken from
behaviorist ps"cholog". This combination of structural linguistic theor"! aural#oral procedures!
and behaviourist ps"cholog" led to the Audiolingual Method! which was widel" adopted for
teaching foreign languages in 6orth American colleges and universities.
".Theoretial Basis()
'& theor" of language %&
The theor" of language underl"ing Audiolingualism was derived from a view proposed b"
American linguists in the '(74s and '()4s. The view then came to be known as structural
linguistics with 8loomfield and 2ries as its representatives. Structural linguistics views language
as a s"stem of structurall" related elements for the e.pression of meaning. These elements are
phonemes! morphemes! words! structures! and sentence t"pes. The grammatical s"stem consists
of a list of grammatical elements and rules for their linear combination into words! phrases!
phrases and sentences.
According to a structural view! language has the following characteristics9
%'&0lements in a language are produced in a rule#governed %structural& wa". %
&
%*& /anguage samples could be e.haustivel" described at an" structural level of
description. %!"#$%&'()*+,-.&
%7& /anguage is structural like a p"ramid! that is! linguistic level is s"stem within
s"stem. %/01234&'5678967&
%)&/anguage is speech! not writing. %:;<3=>;?1&
*
%3&/anguages are different. %@=AB&
The views of language above offered the foundation for the Audio lingual Method.
*& Theor" of learning%CD&
'8ehaviourist ps"cholog"*EFGC
The learning theor" of Audiolingualism is behavioral ps"cholog" which is an empiricall"
based approach to the stud" of human behaviour. 8ehaviourism tries to e.plain how an e.ternal
event%a stimulus& caused a change in the behaviour of an individual%a response& without using
concepts like,mind-or ,ideas- or an" kind of mental behaviour. 8ehaviourist ps"cholog" states
that people are conditioned to learn man" forms of behaviour! including language! through the
process of training or conditioning.
%*& The three crucial elements in learning9 a stimulus! a response and reinforcement. % CD
HIJKLMNOPQRSTUVW&
The occurrence of these behaviours is dependent upon three crucial elements in learning9 a
stimulus! which serves to elicit behaviour: a response triggered b" a stimulus: and reinforcement!
which serves to mark the response as being appropriate %or inappropriate& and encourage the
repetition %or suppression& of the response in the future. /earning is thus described as the
formation of association between stimuli and responses.
%7& The application of this theor" to language learning%X#CDHYZ&
To appl" this theor" to language learning is to identif" the organism as the foreign language
learner! the behaviour as verbal behaviour! the stimulus as what is taught %language input&! the
response as the learner;s reaction to the stimulus! and the reinforcement as the approval or praise
%or discouragement& of the teacher or fellow students.
%)& /anguage learning9 a mechanical process of habit formation%CDOJ[\D
]^_`&
7
According to this behaviourist ps"cholog"! learning a language is a process of acquiring a set
of appropriate language stimulus#response chains! a mechanical process of habit formation.
#.Basi $riniples(abc)
' Main features%Fdef&
8" drawing on the structural linguistics and behaviourist ps"cholog"! the Audiolingual
Method formed its own distinctive characteristics.
There are mainl" five of them9
%'& Separation of language skills into listening! speaking! reading and writing! with
emphasis on the teaching of listening and speaking before reading and writing:% g
hRiRjRklmno3#pCHVqrhi3sjkt&
%*& Use of dialogues as the chief means of presenting the language:%u<pCH
Fd^vt&
%7& 0mphasis on certain practice techniques9 mimicr"! memorization and pattern drills:
%VqwxRyzRU{|}~t&
%)& <iscouraging the use of the mother tongue in the classroom:%#pCH
Zt&
%3& Use of language lab.%Z&
*5b+ectives%pC&
The general ob+ective of the Audiolingual Method is to enable the target language
communicativel"! Short#range ob+ectives include training in listening comprehension! accurate
pronunciation! reading comprehension and production of the Audiolingual Method are the
)
development of master" in all four language skills! beginning with listening and speaking! and
using these as a basis for the teaching of reading and writing. /ong#range ob+ective! or the
ultimate goal! is to develop in the students the same t"pes of abilities that native speaking have!
to use it automaticall" without stopping to think.
7& TechniquespCn
<ialogues and pattern practice form the basis of audiolingual classroom practice. The use
of them is a distinctive feature of the Audiolingual Method. The techniques used b" the
Audiolingual Method are9
%'& =epetition drill ~DOThis drill is often used to teach the lines of the
dialogue. Students are asked to repeat the teacher;s model as accuratel" and as quickl" as
possible.e.g.9
T S
This is a bookThis is a book.
Students do this without looking at their book. The" have to produce the appropriate sounds first.
%*& Substitution drill% ~D&OThe students repeat the line from the dialogue which
the teacher has given them! substituting the cue into the line in its proper place. e.g.9
T 1 S
The" drink wine. beerThe" drink beer.
coffeeThe" drink coffee.
teaThe" drink tea.
The ma+or purpose of this drill is to give the students practice in finding and filling in the
slots of a sentence.
%7& >uestion#and#answer drill% ~D& OThe drill gives students practice with
answering questions. The students should answer the teacher;s question ver" quickl". It is also
possible for the teacher to cue the students to ask questions as well. This gives students practice
with the question pattern. e.g.
'. T9 Are there an" questions? Ss9 6o! there aren;t an".
T9 Is there an" milk? Ss9 6o! there isn;t an".
3
T9 Are there an" sandwiches? Ss9 6o! there aren;t an".
T9 Is there an" wine? Ss9 6o! there isn;t an".
*. T9 he read The Times Ss9 hat did he read?
T9 @e said ,Aood morning.- Ss9 hat did he sa"?
T9 @e saw ,The Sound of Music. - Ss9 hat did he see?
%)& 0.pansion drill% {~& OThis drill helps students to produce longer
sentence bit b" bit! graduall" achieving fluenc". The main structure is repeated first! then
students have to put cue phrase in its proper place. e.g.
T9 The" go to the cinema.
Ss9 The" go to the cinema.
T9 5n Sunda"s
Ss9 The" go to the cinema on Sunda"s.
T9 Alwa"s.
Ss9 The" alwa"s go to the cinema on Sunda"s.
T9 6earl".
Ss9 The" nearl" alwa"s go to the cinema on Sunda"s.
%3& 1lause combination drill %{~D&OStudents learn to combine two simple
sentences into a comple. one. e.g.
T9 It ma" rain. @e;ll sta" at home.
Ss9 If it ma" rain! he;ll sta" at home.
T9 It ma" be sunn". e;ll go to the beach.
Ss9 If it ma" be sunn"! we;ll go to the beach.
T9 It ma" snow. The";ll go skating.
Ss9 If it ma" snow! the";ll go skating.
%B& 8ackground build#up drill% or backchaining j{~D&9This drill is used when a
long line of dialogue is giving students trouble. The teacher breaks down the line into several
parts. The students repeat a part of the sentence! usuall" the last phrase of the line. Then!
following the teacher;s cue! the students e.pand what the" are repeating part b" part until the"
are able to repeat the entire line. The teacher begins with the part at the end of the sentence %and
B
works backward from there& to keep the intonation of the line as natural as possible. This also
directs more student attention to the end of the sentence! where new information t"picall" occurs.
e.g.
T9 the flowers
Ss9 the flowers
T9 watering the flowers
Ss9 watering the flowers
T9 is watering the flowers
Ss9 is watering the flowers
T9 Ian is watering the flowers.
Ss9 Ian is watering the flowers.
%C&1hain drill%~D& OA chain drill gets its name from the chain of conversation
that forms around the classroom as students! one#b"#one! ask and answer questions of each other.
The teacher begins the chain b" greeting a particular student! or asking him a question. That
student responds! and then turns to the student sitting ne.t to him. e.g.
T9 @ello! what;s "our name?
S'9 M" name is Dohn Smith. %@e turns to the student ne.t to her.& @ello! what;s "our
name?
S*9 M" name is Mar" 1linton. %She turns to the student ne.t to her.& @ello! what;s "our
name?
S79 M" name is $eter.
EE
%F&1ompletion %{~D&OStudents hear an utterance that is complete e.cept for one
word! and then repeat the utterance in completed form. e.g.
T9 I;ll go m" wa" and "ou goGGGGG
Ss9 I;ll go m" wa" and "ou go "ours.
T9 e all haveGGGGown troubles.
Ss9 e all have our own troubles.
%(& Use of minimal pairs %9u~D3~D& OThe teacher works with
C
pair of words which differ in onl" one sound: students are first asked to find the difference
between the two word and later to sa" the two words. e.g.
shipsheep liveleave leaplip bitbeat
)&$rocedures%pC&
In a t"pical audiolingual lesson the following procedures will be observed9
%'&=ecognition %& 9 Students first hear a model dialogue %either read b" the teacher or
on the tape& containing the ke" structures that are the focus of the lesson and tr" to understand
the meaning of the dialogue with the help of the teacher;s gestures! mime! and conte.t or
situation established in advance.
%*&Imitation and repetition %wxU.&OThe students repeat each line of the dialogue!
individuall" and in chorus. The students must imitate the right pronunciation! intonation and
fluenc".
%7& $attern drills % {|}~&O1ertain ke" structures from the dialogue are selected and
used as the basis for pattern drills of different kinds.
%)& 2ollow#up activities % ~D& OThe students now are allowed to look at their
te.tbooks. The" are usuall" asked to do some follow#up reading! writing or vocabular" activities.
This will guide their use of the language.
A sample lesson
In order to come to a better understanding of this method! let us now enter a classroom where
the Audiolingual Method is being used. The students are 0nglish beginners9
1lass begins! the teacher reads the following dialogue to the students who are e.pected to
imitate and eventuall" memorize it9
T9 All right! class. I;m going to read a dialogue to "ou. /isten carefull".
Sall"9 Aood morning! 8ill.
8ill9 Aood morning! Sall".
Sall"9 @ow are "ou?
F
8ill9 2ine! thanks. And "ou?
Sall"9 2ine. here are "ou going?
8ill9 I;m going to the post office.
Sall"9 I am too. Shall we go together?
8ill9 Sure. /et;s go.
T9 /isten one more time. This time tr" to understand all that I am sa"ing. %6ow the teacher has
the whole class listen to her. Sometimes she uses actions to help conve" meaning. All of
the teacher;s instructions are in 0nglish.&
T9 Understand? 6ow I;m going to repeat the dialogue. Sa" each of the lines of the dialogue
after me. %The students repeat each line several times before moving on to the ne.t line!
hen the class comes to the line ,I;m going to the post office-! the" stumble a bit in their
repetition. The! at this point! stops the repetition and uses a backward build#up drill. &
T9 =epeat after me9 post office.
Ss9 post office.
T9 to the post office
Ss9 to the post office
T9 going to the post office
Ss9 going to the post office
T9 I;m going to the post office.
Ss9 I;m going to the post office.
%The students repeat the dialogue after the teacher several times.&
T9 Aood. 6ow I;m going to talk for Sall" and talk for 8ill.
T9 Aood morning! 8ill.
Ss9 Aood morning! Sall".
T9 @ow are "ou?
Ss9 2ine! thanks. And "ou?
T9 2ine. here are "ou going?
Ss9 I;m going to the post office.
T9 I am too. Shall we go together?
Ss9 Sure. /et;s go.
6e.t the class and the teacher switch roles in order to practise a little more! the teacher sa"ing
(
8ill;s line and class sa"ing Sall";s. Then the teacher divides the class in half so that each half
gets to tr" sa" on their own either 8ill;s or Sall";s line. To further practise the lines of this
dialogue! the teacher has all the bo"s in the class take 8ill;s part and all the girls take Sall";s.
T9 2ine. 6ow. /ook at Dohn and me. Then do the same.
T9 Aood morning! Dohn.
D9 Aood morning. Miss 8rown.
T9 @ow are "ou?
D9 2ine! thanks. And "ou?
T9 2ine.
Then Dohn understands through the teacher;s gestures that he is to turn to the student sitting
beside him and greet her. That student! in turn! sa"s her lines in repl" to him. hen she has
finished! she greets the students on the other side of her. This chain continues until all of the
students have a chance to ask and answer the questions. Since there are )4 students in the class!
the teacher divides the class in half and asks the other half do the same. The last student from
each half directs their greeting to each other.
T9 6ow! I;d like two of "ou to perform the whole dialogue for the class. An"one wants to tr"?
%A bo" and a girl put up their hand! when the" have finished! two others do the same. 6ot
ever"one has a chance to sa" the dialogue! but b" now the teacher is sure the students know
the dialogue rather well.&
T9 6ow! look at these pictures9 a bank! a drugstore! a park! a bus station! a librar"! a school
%0ach time she shows a picture! she sa"s the phrase! and the students get the meaning and
sound of that phrase.& I;m going to the bank.%2rom her e.ample the students realize that
the" are supposed to take the cue phrase! ,the bank-! which the teacher supplies! and put it
into its proper place in the sentence. &
T9 I;m going to the bank###the drugstore
Ss9 I;m going to the drugstore.
T9 the bus station
Ss9 I;m going to the bus station.
T9 the park
Ss9 I;m going to the park.
T9 the librar"
'4
EE
After the students have gone through the drill sequence three times! the teachers no longer
provides a spoken cue phrase. Instead she simpl" shows the pictures at a time! and the students
repeat the entire sentence putting the name of the place in the picture in the appropriate slot in the
sentence.
T9 6ow! I;m going to the post office. Sall". %The students understand and produce ,Sall" is
going to the post office.-&
T9 8ill
Ss9 8ill is going to the post office.
T9 to the park
Ss9 8ill is going to the park.
T9 she
Ss9 She is going to the park.
T9 8ill and Sall"
Ss9 The" are going to the park.
T9 to the post office
Ss9 The" are going to the post office.
T9 Her" good. 6e.t we;ll do different thing. I sa"! ,She is going to the post office.- Iou make a
question b" sa"ing! ,Is she going to the post office? - I sa"! ,@e is going to the park.- Iou ask!
,is he going to the park?- <oes ever"bod" understand? 5k! let;s begin.
T9 The" are going to the park.
Ss9 Are the" going to the park?
T9 M" mother is going to the drugstore.
Ss9 Is she going to the drugstore?
EE
hen the class has had enough practice! the teacher decides to move on to the ne.t drill.
T9 %$oints at a picture& Are "ou going to the football field? %She answers her own question.& Ies
I;m going to the football field. %She holds up a picture of a school.& Are "ou going to the
school? %She herself answers.& Ies! I;m going to the school. %Then she poses a question to the
class.& Are "ou going to the librar"? %The class respond together.& Ies! I;m going to the librar".
T9 Her" good. %She again shows the class one of the pictures! a supermarket this time! and asks.&
''
Are "ou going to the bus station? %She answers her own question.& 6o! I;m going to the
supermarket. 6ow! answer m" questions according to the pictures I show "ou.
T9 %@olding up a picture of a librar"& Are "ou going to the librar"?
Ss9 Ies! I;m going to the librar".
T9 %turns to student ' with a picture of a school& Are "ou going to the librar"?
S'9 6o! I;m going to the school.
T9 %Turns to student * with a picture of a park& Are "ou going to the school?
S*9 6o! I;m going to the park.
T9 Aood. 6ow look at the dialogue in "our book! read it in pairs and then use the phrases on the
phrases on the blackboard to take the place of ,the post office.- ork in pairs. %She writes
the following phrases on the blackboard9 the park! the school! the cafJ! the bus station! the
supermarket! the drugstore! the librar"! etc.&
2or the final few minutes of the class! the teacher returns to the dialogue with which she
begins the lesson. She repeat it once! then has one half do 8ill;s lines and the other half do
Sall";s. The students move through the dialogue smoothl". The" then swap roles and do the
same. The teacher smiles! ,Her" good. 1lass dismissed.- %Adapted from /arsenfreeman! '(FB&
%. Su&&ary and Co&&ents (U)
'& Advantages9 %&
'The first method to have a theor" %J8a-pC&
The audiolingual theor" is probabl" the first language teaching theor" that openl" claims to
be derived from linguistics and ps"cholog".
%*& Making language teaching possible to large groups of learners %pC5
#CDH)*&
It attempts to make language learning accessible to large groups of ordinar" learners.
ith large classes! drills are of particular use in that the" ma.imize student participation.
%7& 0mphasizing sentence production ! control over grammatical structures and
'*
development of oral abilit" %Vq{RR:o&
The Audiolingual Method stresses s"ntactical progression and uses pattern drill to help
the students gain control over grammatical structures! which is a much more interesting wa" of
learning grammar than working through written e.ercises. hat;s more! drilling can be
positivel" beneficial in helping a student to develop his oral abilit".
%)& <eveloping simple techniques and making use of language lab %p*3Z
&
It leads to the development of simple techniques of varied! graded! and intensive practice
of specific features of the language! and more scientificall" selected and s"stematicall" arranged
materials and structural patterns to go with. Moreover! the teaching techniques with tape
recordings and language lab drills offer practice in speaking and listening which are considered
of primar" importance in language learning.
%3&<eveloping the separation of the language skills %uo)*&
The Audiolingual Method develop the separation of the language skills into a pedagogical
device! that is! listening! speaking! reading and writing .It la"s emphasis on listening and
speaking which did not gain so much importance from Arammar#Translation Method.
*&<isadvantages%&
'eak basis of its theor"%a-&
The theoretical basis of the Audiolingual Method was found to be weak. The behaviourist
theor" could not possibl" serve! as a model of how humans learn language! since much of human
language is not imitated behaviour! but is created anew from underl"ing knowledge of abstract
rules.
%*& 6ot developing language competence ! lack of effectiveness ! and boredom caused b"
endless pattern drills %=oo 3=5 3{|}~&
Techniques such as pattern practice! drilling! memorization! etc. might lead to language like
'7
behavior! but the" are not resulting in competence. Teachers complain about the lack of
effectiveness of the techniques in the long run! and students complain about the boredom caused
b" endless pattern drills.
7/earners having little control over their learning %CDCD&
/earners pla" a reactive role b" respond to stimuli! and thus have little control over the
content! pace or st"le of learning. The" are not encouraged to initiate interaction! because this
ma" lead to mistakes.
%)& Teacher;s domination of the class %ppC&
The teacher;s role is central and active .It is the teacher who alwa"s dominates the class.
The teacher models the target language! controls the direction and pace of learning! and monitors
and corrects the learner;s performance.
%3&Teacher#oriented materials%pkpEHG&
Materials in the audiolingual Method are primaril" teacher#oriented. The teacher;s book
contains the structured sequence of lessons to be followed! and the dialogues! drill! and other
practice activities.
II.points for discussion
1Is there anything in Audiolingual Method you find useful in your teaching situation?
Why or why not?
Ies! there are man" useful things we can learn from the Audiolingual Method. %'&It states
language is a structured s"stem and rule governed. If language learning were organized
according to its structure! language learning would be easier! especiall" to adult learners. %*&The
Audiolingual Method considers language abilit" made up of four skills and these skills can be
taught separatel". Since the natural order of skill acquisition is listening! speaking! reading! and
writing! the Method gives the primar" stress to the first two of the four skills. Speech is more
basic to language than the written form! and listening and speaking are the basic form of verbal
communication. In the classroom! the language skills are taught in the order of listening!
speaking! reading and writing. %7&Using pattern drills is the center of practice in Audiolingual
')
Method. It can help students not onl" gain control over grammatical structures! but also develop
their oral abilit". %)&The Audiolingual method also provides language teachers with man" useful
techniques. The simple drilling techniques provide varied! graded and intensive practice of
specific features of the language. The simple and direct approach is especiall" appropriate for
"oung students and less gifted ones. Moreover! teaching technique with tape recordings and
language lab drills offer practice in speaking and listening! which are considered of primar"
importance in language learning.
2.What conditions are needed if you want to apply the Audiolingual Method in your
teaching?
The general ob+ective of the Audiolingual Method is to enable the students to use the target
language comunicativel". The" should be able to respond quickl" and accuratel" in speech
situation. Therefore! teaching materials should be structurall" based: the chief means of
presenting the language should be the use of dialogues. And it is better to have tape recorders and
other audiolingual equipment which often have central roles in an audiolingual classroom. A
language lab is considered essential in it. If these conditions are met! we could possibl" appl" the
Audiolingual Method in our teaching.
3.Does it make sense to you that language learning results from hait formation? Why
or why not?
To a certain e.tent! language learning results from habit formation. The model of stimulus#
response# reinforcement accounts for how a human being learns a language. In learning
language! the stimulus is what is taught %language input&! the response is the learner;s reaction to
the stimulus! and the reinforcement is the praise of the teacher or fellow students. The habit is the
result of stimulus! correct response and reward again and again. The more frequentl" this
happens! the stronger the habit becomes. /anguage learning is a process of acquiring a set of
language stimulus#response chains! a mechanical process of habit formation.
!."hould the commission of errors e pre#ented as much as possile? Why or why not?
It depends on the using of language situation and the purpose of language teaching. hen
the focus of teaching is on language form! and when the students are doing mechanical pattern
drills in the classroom! the teacher should correct the students whenever errors are committed.
8ut when the students are engaged in communication! and the focus is on getting meaning
'3
across! errors should not be tacked on the spot! because the" would be too much concerned with
language forms and would never develop oral abilit". Unless communication is affected b" the
errors! students should not be corrected. In the same wa"! there might be more correction of
errors in written than in oral communication.
$."hould the ma%or focus e on the structural pattern of the target language? Why or
why not?
It depends on the developmental language stages of the learners. The ma+or forms could be
on the structural pattern of the target language when "our ob+ective at the beginning stage is to
get the students to master the structures of the language. It also depends on "our view of
language and "our view of language teaching. If "ou hold that language is a s"stem of structures
without considering the other aspects of the language! the ma+or focus should be on the structural
patterns. And if "ou consider language teaching is to teach language as a bod" of knowledge! not
to develop students; abilit" as a communication tool! then the focus should be on the structural
pattern of the target language. 5therwise! the ma+or focus could be on the other areas.
&.Is dialogue a useful way to introduce new material? Why or why not?
Ies! dialogue is a useful wa" to introduce new material. <ialogues can provide a natural
conte.t for the language forms as long as it is from real communication! not artificiall"
e.pressed. <ialogues show the learner how language is used in real language interaction! and
the" can be good models of oral communication. <ialogues are also believed to reflect the
cultural aspects of the target language. 1ertain sentence patterns and grammar points are
included within the dialogue. These patterns and points are later practiced in drills based on the
line of dialogue.
C."hould dialogues e memori'ed through mimicry of the teacher(s model? Why or why
not?
6o! dialogues should not be memorized through mimicr" of the teacher;s model. A
dialogue is an individual case of language communication! between two persons. It onl" tells the
students that when the participants take a certain kind of social role! in a certain kind of situation!
about a certain topic! conversation goes that wa". <ialogues are thought to provide meaningful
conte.t for the ke" structures and to illustrate situation in which those structures might be used.
@ere! meaning is the center of a dialogue! and human communication varies. 6o dialogue is held
'B
in e.actl" the same wa"! in the same kind of situation and about same topic. Students do not have
to memorize the teacher;s model. Student should tr" their best to develop their language
competence! including communicative competence! discourse competence! and strategic
competence etc! so that the" can use the target language communicativel".

).Are structure drills #aluale pedagogical acti#ities? Why or why not?
Ies! structure drills are valuable pedagogical activities in language learning. ith large
classes! drills are of particular use in that the" can ma.imize student;s participation. A one#word
cue on the part of the teacher can elicit a complete utterance form the students and an enormous
number of such utterances can be produced within the space of two minutes. ith +udicious
mi.ing of choral and individual drill! each student can have the chance to respond productivel"
about five times a minute in class of twent" students or fewer. @owever! drills should be used
+udiciousl"! if over used! students will get bored.
*.+ould you adapt any of techni,ues to your own teaching? Why or why not?
Ies! we could adapt some kinds of techniques used b" the Audiolingual Method! such as
dialogues and pattern drills. The use of dialogues and pattern drills is a distinctive feature of the
Audiolingual Method. The" form the basis of audiolingual classroom practice. <ialogues are
thought to provide meaningful conte.t for the ke" structures and to illustrate situations in which
those structures might be used. 1ertain sentence patterns and grammar points are included within
the dialogue. Harious kinds of pattern drills are used for different purpose. Some ke" structures
from the dialogue are for the dialogue are selected and used as the basis for pattern drills of
different kinds.
1-.Which of the principles of the Audiolingual Method are acceptale to you?
Among the five principles of the Audiolingual Method! we think ,/anguage is speech! not
writing - and ,/anguage are different.- are more acceptable to us. The former means that
language is first speech and written form is onl" the recording of speech. Speech is more basic to
language than the written form. In the classroom! the language skills are taught in order of
listening! speaking! reading and writing. The later means that the native language and the target
'C
language have separate linguistic s"stems! so there is usuall" no e.act equivalent between two
languages. The habits of the students; native language would interfere with the students; attempts
to master the target language. The" should be kept apart so that the students; native language
interferes as little as possible with the students; learning of the foreign language.
'F