THE AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD

Like the Direct Method, the Audio-Lingual Method is also an ORAL BASED method.
In both methods it is advised that students be taught the language directly, without using the
students' native language to explain new words or grammar in the target language.
While Direct Method is emphasizing vocabulary acquisition through exposure realia, pictures
etc), the Audio-Lingual Method drills learners in THE USE OF GRAMMATICAL
SENTENCE PATTERNS.
The purpose of language learning is to learn how to use the language to communicate
Teacher uses only the target language in the classroom. (To convey the meaning, actions,
ictures, or realias are used)
The theory behind the method (its approach) is

Language learning is a process of HABIT FORMATION.

The more often something is repeated, the stronger the habit and the greater the learning.
1-Foreign language learning is basically a process of mechanical habit formation
2-Language skills are learned more effectively if the language items are presented in spoken
form before they are seen in written form.
3-Rules should be elaborated after the acquisition process has completed. (Grammar is
inductive rather than deductive)
4-Language is meaningful in its linguistic and cultural context. Then, language learning
should include the teaching cultural system of the target community.
Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis
Native and target Languages are compared and contrasted to find out the similarities and
differences. Language units that will probably pose difficulties in learning are determined.
Teachers pay special attention to these points and try to prevent errors that might result in
formed habit.
The teacher does a contrastive analysis of the target and native languages in order to locate
the places where the students will have trouble.
A comparison between the native and target languages will tell the teacher in what areas her
students will probably experience difficulty.
* I am afraid from dog
* Madonna will marry with Coskun the Mtecaviz
In the method dialogs are used frequently. Aim is to use language patterns within a context.
According to methods principle, language forms do not occur by themselves; they occur most
naturally within a context.
Students are given no grammar rules; grammatical points are taught through examples and
drills.
Mispronunciations should immediately be corrected by modeling the proper sounds.
Prevent learners from making errors is very important otherwise learners might form
unwanted habits based on these errors.
The native language and the target language have separate linguistics systems so they should
be kept apart in order to prevent interference.

Students should learn to respond to both verbal and nonverbal stimuli.

Positive reinforcement helps the students to develop correct habits.
Each language has a finite number of patterns.
Pattern practice helps students to form habits which enable the students to use the patterns.
Students should over-learn. (They should learn to answer automatically without stopping to
think)
New vocabulary is introduced through lines of the dialog; and vocabulary is limited.
The learning foreign language should be the same as the acquisition of the native Language.
We do not need to memorize rules in order to use our native Language.
The rules necessary to use the target language will be figured out or induced from examples.
The major challenge of foreign Language teaching is getting students to overcome the habits
of their native language.
Language cannot be separated from culture. Culture is not only literature and the arts, but also
the everyday behavior of the people who use the target Language. One of the teacher's
responsibilities is to present information about that culture.
QUESTIONS
What are the goals of teachers who use the Audio-Lingual Method?
Enable students to use the target language communicatively.
They believe that students need to over-learn the target language and use it automatically
without stopping to think.
Students can achieve this by forming new habits in the target language and at the same time
they should overcome the old habits of their native language.
What is the role of the teacher?
Teacher is like an orchestra leader who is directing and controlling the Language behavior of
her students.
Teacher is also responsible for providing her students with a good model for imitation.
What is the role of the students?
Students are imitators of the teacher's model or the tapes supplied as model speakers. They
follow the teacher's directions and respond as accurately and as rapidly as possible.
What are some characteristics of the teaching/learning process?
New structural patterns and vocabulary are presented through dialogs.
Dialogs are learned through imitation and repetition.
Students' successful responses are positively reinforced.
Grammar is induced from the given examples and explicit grammar rules are not provided.
Information about the target culture is given in the contexts by means of dialogs.
Oral work comes first and written work is based upon the oral work they did earlier.
What is the nature of student teacher interaction?
Most of the interaction is between teacher and students and is initiated by the teacher.
When students take different roles in dialogs, they are directed by teacher.
What is the nature of student student interaction?
There is student-to-student interaction in chain drills.
How is the language viewed?
As descriptive linguists claim, each language has its own unique system. These systems have
different levels which are phonological, morphological, and syntactic levels. Each level has its
own distinctive patterns.
How is the culture viewed?
Culture consists of the everyday behavior and lifestyle of the target language speakers.
Everyday speech is emphasized. The level of complexity of the speech is graded, and
beginners are presented only simple patterns.

What areas of language are emphasized?

Vocabulary is kept to a minimum while the students are mastering the sound system and
grammatical patterns.
A grammatical pattern is not the same as a sentence.

What language skills are emphasized?

The natural order of skills is listening, speaking, reading and writing.
The oral/aural skills (speaking and listening) receive most of the attention.
Pronunciation is taught from the beginning often in language laboratories
What is the role of the students' native language?
The source for interference. (Students' native language is thought to interfere with the target
language.) A contrastive analysis between the students' native language and the target
language will reveal where this interference will take place more.
How is evaluation accomplished?
By means of tests including questions focused on only one point of the language at a time.
Students might be asked to distinguish between words in a minimal pair, or to supply an
appropriate verb form in a sentence.
How does the teacher respond to student errors?
Errors are never tolerated, for they are considered as unwanted habits.
THE TECHNIQUES
Dialog memorization
Dialogs or short conversations between two people are often used
After the students have learned the one person's lines, they switch roles and memorize the
other person's part. Another way of practicing the two roles is for half of the class to take one
role and the other half to take the other.
In the Audio-Lingual Method, certain sentence patterns and grammar points are included
within the dialog.
Backward build-up (expansion) drill
Preferred when a long line of a dialog is difficult for the students.
The teacher breaks down the long line into several parts.
The students repeat a part of the sentence, usually the last phrase of the line.
Then, following the teachers cue, the students expand what they are repeating part by part
until they are able to repeat the entire line.
office
post office
nearest post office
the nearest post office
Where is the nearest post office?
Repetition drill
Students are asked to repeat the teacher's model as accurately and as quickly as possible. This
drill is often used to teach the lines of the dialog.
Chain drill
A chain drill gets its name from the chain of conversation that formed around the classroom
by the students.
The teacher starts the chain by greeting and asking a question to a particular student. That
student responds, and then turns to the student setting next to him.
A chain drill allows some controlled communication, even though it is limited.
A chain drill also gives the teacher an opportunity to check each student's speech.

Single-slot substitution drill

The teacher says a line, usually from the dialogue.
Next, teacher says a word or phrase -called cue.
Student repeats the given line substituting the cue into the proper place within the line.
Main purpose of this drill is to give practice in finding and filling in the slots of a sentence.
-John: Jeremy, can you stay with me this night, for I would like to show you
my new music set [stamp collection]
Multiple-slot substitution drill
This drill is similar to the single-slot substitution drill.
The difference is that the teacher gives cue phrases, one at a time, which fit into different slots
in the dialog line.
The students must recognize what part of speech each cue is, or at least, where it fits into the
sentence, and make any other changes, such as subject-verb agreement.
-Tom is a successful engineer who works for Bosch Company
-Tom and Mary / lawyer
-Tom and Mary are successful lawyers who works for Bosch Company
Transformation drill
The teacher gives students a certain kind of sentence pattern, (a declarative sentence for
example) and asks students to transform this sentence into an affirmative one.

Question-and-answer drill
This drill gives students practice with answering questions.
The students should answer the teacher's questions very quickly.
It is also possible for the teacher to cue the students to ask questions as well.
This gives students practice with the question pattern.
Use of minimal pairs
The teacher works with pairs of words which differ in only one sound; for example,
ship/sheep big/pig buy/pie bore/pour
Students are first asked to perceive the difference between the two words and later to be able
to say the two words.
Complete the dialog
In the lines of a dialog some selected words are erased and students are asked to complete the
dialog by filling the blanks.
Grammar games
Especially games that require repetition preferred:
-Supermarket Game (Game starts with the statement of a students who needs a food
beginning with the letter A, the next student continues with the food that time beginning with
the next letter of the alphabet B
I am going to the supermarket to buy a few APPLES
I am going to the supermarket to buy some BREAD /a few BANANAS
I am going to the supermarket to buy some CHEESE