The Audio Lingual
Method (ALM) of teaching languages was first developed in the United States
during World War II. People in a hurry needed to learn foreign languages for
military-supportive activities. It is based on descriptive linguistics and
behavioral psychology.
Principals for effective application of Audio Lingual
Method
- Language is learned in a sort of naturally designed context where the learners are exposed to be engaged in a free and frank environment to practice the language.
- The native language and the target language have separate linguistic systems in audio lingual method
- One of the roles of the language teacher is to be a model of the target language. Teachers should provide students with a native-speaker-like model
- Language learning is a process of habit formation. The more often something is repeated the stronger the habit and the greater the learning
- It is important to prevent learners from making errors that lead to bad habits
- The purpose of language learning is to learn how to use the language to communicate
- Particular parts of speech occupy particular slots in sentences. In order to create new sentences students must learn which part of speech occupies which slots in sentences.
- Positive reinforcement helps students to develop productive habits
- Students need to learn to respond to both verbal and nonverbal stimuli
- The teacher should be like an orchestra leader conducting, guiding, and controlling the students’ behavior in the target language
- In the audio-lingual method, the actual objective of language teaching should be to enable students to acquire the structural pattern
- The learning of a foreign language should be the same as the acquisition of the native language
- Speech is more basic to language than the written form
- Language cannot be separated from culture
Techniques in Audio Lingual Method
- Dialogue memorization
- — Backward build-up (Expansion) Drill
- Repetition Drill
- Chain Drill
- Single –Slot Substitution Drill
- Multiple-slot Substitutions Drill
- Transformation Drill
- Question and Answer Drill
- — Use of minimal Paris
- Complete the dialogue
- Grammar game