Audiolingual

The audio-lingual method, Army Method, or New Key,[1] is a style of teaching used in teaching foreign languages. It is based on behaviorist theory,[citation needed] which postulates that certain traits of living things, and in this case humans, could be trained through a system of reinforcement. The correct use of a trait would receive positive feedback while incorrect use of that trait would receive negative feedback.[citation needed]

This approach to language learning was similar to another, earlier method called the direct method.[citation needed] Like the direct method, the audio-lingual method advised that students should be taught a language directly, without using the students' native language to explain new words or grammar in the target language. However, unlike the direct method, the audio-lingual method did not focus on teaching vocabulary. Rather, the teacher drilled students in the use of grammar.

Applied to language instruction, and often within the context of the language lab, it 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. 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 the desired response 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.

Charles C. Fries, the director of the English Language Institute at the University of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States, believed that learning structure, or grammar was the starting point for the student. In other words, it was the students' job to recite the basic sentence patterns and grammatical structures. The students were given only “enough vocabulary to make such drills possible.” (Richards, J.C. et-al. 1986). Fries later included principles for behavioural psychology, as developed by B.F. Skinner, into this method.



Explanation

Based on Skinner’s Behaviorism theory, it assumed that a human being can be trained using a system of reinforcement. Correct behaviour receives positive feedback, while errors receive negative feedback.

This approach to learning is similar to the Direct Method, in that the lesson takes place entirely in the target language.

Emphasis is on the acquisition of patterns in common everyday dialogue.

The Audio-lingual Method was widely used in the 1950s and 1960s, and the emphasis was not on the understanding of words, but rather on the acquisition of structures and patterns in common everyday dialogue.

These patterns are elicited, repeated and tested until the responses given by the student in the foreign language are automatic.

Some characteristics of this method are:

Drills are used to teach structural patterns
Set phrases are memorised with a focus on intonation
Grammatical explanations are kept to a minimum
Vocabulary is taught in context
Audio-visual aids are used
Focus is on pronunciation
Correct responses are positively reinforced immediately
Modern Usage

The Audio-lingual Method is still in use today, though normally as a part of individual lessons rather than as the foundation of the course. These types of lessons can be popular as they are relatively simple, from the teacher’s point of view, and the learner always knows what to expect.

Some of the most famous supporters of this method were Giorgio Shenker, who promoted guided self learning with the Shenker method in Italy, and Robin Callan, who created the Callan method.

Developments & Problems

This extensive memorization, repetition and over-learning of patterns was the key to the method’s success, as students could often see immediate results, but it was also its weakness.

It was discovered that language was not acquired through a process of habit formation.

The method’s insistence on repetition and memorization of standard phrases ignored the role of context and knowledge in language learning. As the study of linguistics developed, it was discovered that language was not acquired through a process of habit formation, and that errors were not necessarily bad.

It was also claimed that the methodology did not deliver an improvement in communicative ability that lasted over the long term.

Summary


Structuralism

The structural view to language  is the view behind the audio-lingual method. This approach focused on examining how the elements of language related to each other in the present, that is, ‘synchronically‘ rather than ‘diachronically‘. It was also argued that  linguistic signs were composed of two parts, a signifier (the sound pattern of a word) and a signified (the concept or meaning of the word). The study of language aims at describing the performance ,the“parole” as it is the only observable part of language.

Behaviorism

Behaviorism  is a philosophy of psychology based on the proposition that all things which organisms do — including acting, thinking and feeling—can and should be regarded as behaviors. It contends that leaning occurs through associations, habit formation and reinforcement. When the learner produces the desired behavior and is reinforced positively, it is likely that behavior be emitted again.

The Audiolingual method

The objective of the audiolingual method is accurate pronunciation and grammar, the ability to respond quickly and accurately in speech situations and knowledge of sufficient vocabulary to use with grammar patterns. Particular emphasis was laid on mastering the building blocks of language and learning the rules for combining them. It was believed that learning structure, or grammar was the starting point for the student. Here are some characteristics of the method:

language learning is habit-formation,
mistakes are bad and should be avoided, as they are considered bad habits,
language skills are learned more effectively if they are presented orally first, then in written form,
analogy is a better foundation for language learning than analysis,
the meanings of words can be learned only in a linguistic and cultural context.
The main activities include reading aloud dialogues, repetitions of model sentences, and drilling. Key structures from the dialogue serve as the basis for pattern drills of different kinds. 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. It is taught inductively.  Furthermore, the target language is the only language to be used in the classroom.

Advantages

It aims at developing listening and speaking skills which is a step away from the Grammar translation method
The use of visual aids  has proven its effectiveness in vocabulary teaching.
Disadvantages

The method is based on false assumptions about language. The study of language doesn’t amount to studying the “parole”, the observable data. Mastering a language relies on acquiring the rules underlying language performance. That is,  the linguistic, sociolinguistic, and discourse competences.
The behaviorist approach to learning is now discredited. Many scholars have proven its weakness. Noam Chomsky ( “Chomsky, Noam (1959). “A Review of B. F. Skinner’s Verbal behavior”) has written a strong criticism of the principles of the theory.
Read more about the Audiolingual Method: Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching (Cambridge Language Teaching Library)

Ckeck also Brown’s book: Principles of Language Learning and Teaching (6th Edition)