The Audio-lingual Method and Communicative Language Teaching

What is communicative approach to a language teaching? Attempt a comparative study between Communicative language teaching and audio lingual method.

The audio-lingual method(ALM), also known as ‘Army Method’ or ‘New Key’,is a method for teaching foreign languages advocated by Charles Fries, the director of the English Language Institute at the University of Michigan, developed in the USA in 1939.The Method arises as a direct result of the need for foreign language proficiency in listening and speaking skills during and after World War II.  Now we will discuss what the Audio-lingual method is,what its principals is, what typical techniques employed in this method, the limitation and how it differs from communicative language teaching and direct or natural method and grammar translation of method.

The definition of audio-lingual method: 161

To define the audio-lingual method Wikipedia writes:

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

In the audio-lingual method, lessons were often organized by grammatical structure and presented through short dialogs. Often, students listened repeatedly to recordings of conversation (for example. in the language lab) and focused on accurately mimicking the pronunciation and grammatical structures in these dialogs.

The following example shows a typical Audio-lingual drill:

Inflection:

Teacher: I ate the sandwich.

Student: I ate the sandwiches.

 Replacement:

Teacher: He bought the car for half-price.

Student: He bought it for half-price.

 Restatement:

Teacher: Tell me not to smoke so often.

Student: Don't smoke so often!

The Objectives Audio-lingual method: 

1.     The development of oral proficiency in the language through carefully selected vocabularies which form a general service list for the learner to use.

2.        To make students able to use the target language communicatively and automatically without stopping to think.

Principles of Audio-lingual method:

1.  Language is speech and not writing.  So Correct pronunciation, stress, rhythm and intonation are emphasized.

2. Listening and speaking should be taught before reading and writing.

3. Language is a set of habit. Learning is controlled through behavior.

4. It teaches the language not about the language.

5. Instructions are given in the target language.

6. Students’ native language interferes as little as possible with the students’ attempts to acquire the target language.

7. Teaching is directed to provide students with a native-speaker-like model.

8.     Errors are carefully avoided because they lead to the formation of bad habits.

9. Positive reinforcement helps the student to develop correct habits.

10.  Students are encouraged to learn to respond to both verbal and nonverbal stimuli.

11. The teacher is regarded as an orchestra leader-conducting, guiding and controlling the students’ behavior in the target language.

12. Language is not seen separated from culture. Culture is the everyday behavior of people who use the target language.

13. Students are taken to be the imitators of the teacher’s model or the tapes.

14. he dialogue is the chief means of presenting vocabulary, structures and it is learned through repetition and imitation.

15.  Mimicry, memorization and pattern drills are the practice techniques that are emphasized.

16.The meanings of the words are derived in a linguistic and cultural context and not in isolation.

117. Audio-visual aids are used to assist the students’ ability to form new language habits.

Technics used inAudio-lingual method:

1. Students listen to a native-like model such as the teacher of a tape-recorder.

2. Students repeat the new material chorally and individually.

3. Teachers correct students’ errors immediately and directly.

4. Dialogues are memorized by reversing roles between (teacher-student) (student- student).

5. Students are encouraged to change certain key words or phrases in the dialogue.
Students are encouraged to induce grammatical rules.

6. Filling-in the blanks exercise is used.

7. Substitution drills, chain drills, transformation drills and expansion drills are used.

8.Dialogue is copied in students’ notebook.

9.Students are asked to read aloud.

Limitation of Audio-lingual Method: 

In the late 1950s the theoretical underpinnings of the Audio-lingual method were questioned by linguists such as Noam Chomsky (1959),Wilga Rivers(1964), Philip Smith (1965). They pointed out some limitation of Audio-lingual Method, such as: 

1.     Audio-lingual Method is unable to create sustainable, long-term communicative competence in language learners.

2.     The linguistic principle upon which the theory is based emphasizes surface form of language and not the deep structure.

3.     The method does nothing to address the issue of error and their analysis.

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is an approach to the teaching of second and foreign language that emphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of learning a language. It is also referred to as “communicative approach to the teaching of foreign languages” or simply the “Communicative Approach”. 

“Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics” defines Communicative Language Teaching as:

“An approach to foreign or second language teaching which emphasizes that the goal of language learning is communicative competence and which seeks to make meaningful communication and language use a focus of all classroom activities.”

The communicative approach was developed particularly by British applied linguists in the 1980s as a reaction away from grammar-based approaches such as Situational Language Teaching and the audio-lingual method.

Objectives of Communicative Language Teaching:

The two major objectives of CLT are:

1.     to develop the communicative competence of the learners.

2.     to involve learners in the learning process so that language develops automatically.

Jack C. Richards and Richard Schmidt (1985) point out the five major principles of Communicative Language Teaching are:

1.Learners use a language through using it to communicate

2. Authentic and meaningful communication should be the goal of class-room activities

3. fluency and accuracy are both important goals in language learning

4. Communication involves the integration of different language skills

5. Learning is a process of creative construction and involves trial anderror

Techniques used in CLT

H D Brown (1994) and  DavidNunan (1991) mention several techniques used in CLT.  The main techniques are:

1. Before presenting the material, a discussion of the function and situation is made between students and teacher.
2. The teacher asks students to re-order sentences within a dialogue or a passage.
3. Students are involved in language games and role-play.
4. The class works in groups.
5. The teacher gives instructions in the target language.
6. A problem solving task is used as a communicative technique.
7. Questions and answers are of two types: those which are based on the material given and those which are related to the student’s personal experiences and are centered around the material theme.

Difference between the ALM and CLT

Finocchiaro and Brumfit (1983) presented some difference between ALM and CLM. The main differences which they discussed are as follow:

1.     In ALM, language is a set of habits, so errors are carefully avoided as they lead to the formation of bad habit.

In CLM, language means communication, so errors are overlooked and seen as the natural outcome of the development of communicative skills.

2.     In ALM, Language is speech so correct and native-speaker like pronunciation, stress, rhythm and intonation are sought.

In CLM, Language is the means of communication so comprehensible pronunciation, stress, rhythm and intonation are acceptable.

3.     In ALM, Accuracy is more important than fluency

In CLM, Fluency is much more important than accuracy. 

4.     In ALM, Learning a Language is learning its structures, sounds, or words.

In CLM, Learning a language is learning how to communicate using the language.

5.     In ALM, The students concentrate on structure and form more than meaning

In CLM, Learner focuses on meaning more than structure and form

6.     In ALM, the teacher is regarded as an orchestra leader-conducting, guiding and controlling the students’ behaviour in the target language.

In CLM, The teacher acts as an advisor during communicative activity, a facilitator of students’ learning, a manager of classroom activity, or a co-communicator.

7.     In ALM, the dialogue is used as the chief means of presenting vocabulary, structures and it is learned through repetition, imitation and memorization.

In CLM, the dialog is used in communicative functions and is not normally memorized.

8.     In ALM, drilling is a central technique.

In CLM, drilling may occur, but peripherally.

9.     In ALM, Communicative activities only come after a long process of rigid drills and exercises.

In CLM, Attempts to communicate may be encouraged from the very beginning.

10.   In ALM, The use of the student’s native language is forbidden.

In CLM, Judicious use of native language is accepted where feasible.

11.  In ALM, Translation is forbidden at early levels.

In CLM, Translation may be used where students need or benefit from it.

12. In ALM, Reading and Writing are deferred till speech is mastered.

In CLM, Reading and Writing can start from the first day, if desired.

13.  In ALM, Linguistic competence is the desired goal.

In CLM, Communicative competence is the desired goal

14.   In ALM, The teacher is expected to specify the language that students are to use.

In CLM, The teacher cannot know exactly what language the students will use.

Finally, we can say that both the AL1io-Lingual Method and Communicative Language Teaching are two methods firmly grounded in the linguistic and psychological theory. Both may have some shortcomings and drawbacks but are both very effective and widely used in language teaching and learning. 

Works Cited 

Harmer, Jeremy. The Practice of English Language Teaching. New York: Longman

Brown, H.D. Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. 4th. New York: Longman, 2000.

Hughes, A. Testing for Language Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,1989.

Wikipedia

Richards, Jack C. and Schmidt, Richard. Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics. New York: Longman, 1985. 

This paper is prepared for you by Talim Enam, BA (Hons), MA in English.

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