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APPLIED LINGUISTICS

MID TERM PROJECT


LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODS

Submitted to: Dr. Fakhira Riaz


Submitted by: Aammara Aziz Butt
Aysesha Asad
Asma ur Rehman
Hira Wazir
Safia Sher Bahadur
Samra Saghir
Zara Abbas

M.phil - II (Language & Linguistics)


Date: March 21st, 2018

Fatima Jinnah Women University, the Mall, Rawalpindi.

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Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 4
Grammar Translation Method .................................................................................................................. 5
Historical background ............................................................................................................................ 5
The Characteristics of Grammar-Translation Method ....................................................................... 6
Objectives................................................................................................................................................. 6
Focus on Skills ......................................................................................................................................... 6
Teaching Methodology ........................................................................................................................... 7
Techniques ............................................................................................................................................... 7
Advantages............................................................................................................................................... 8
Disadvantages .......................................................................................................................................... 8
Reasons why it is still used ..................................................................................................................... 8
Criticism .................................................................................................................................................. 9
Grammar Translation Method in Pakistani Context ........................................................................ 10
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 11
Direct Method............................................................................................................................................ 11
Background and Introduction ............................................................................................................. 11
Approach (Theoretical Basis) .............................................................................................................. 12
Goals and Objectives ............................................................................................................................ 13
Techniques ............................................................................................................................................. 14
The Role of teacher ............................................................................................................................... 15
Advantages............................................................................................................................................. 15
Disadvantages (Criticism) .................................................................................................................... 16
Direct Method in Pakistani Context .................................................................................................... 16
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 16
Audio Lingual Method ............................................................................................................................. 17
Background ........................................................................................................................................... 17
Approaches ............................................................................................................................................ 18
Theory of language ........................................................................................................................... 18
Theory of learning............................................................................................................................. 19
Objectives............................................................................................................................................... 20
Method ................................................................................................................................................... 20
Techniques ............................................................................................................................................. 21

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Learner’s Role ....................................................................................................................................... 22
Teacher’s Role ....................................................................................................................................... 22
Procedure ............................................................................................................................................... 23
Criticism ................................................................................................................................................ 23
Audio-lingual method in Pakistani Context ....................................................................................... 24
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................. 25
Reference ................................................................................................................................................... 26

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Introduction
All the methods of language teaching are a pre-packaged set of specifications of how the
teacher should teach and how the learner should learn derived from a particular theory of
language and language learning. For the teacher, methods prescribe what materials and
activities should be used, how they should be used and what role should the teacher play.
Whereas for learners, methods prescribe what approach to learning the learner should take and
what roles the learner should adopt in the classroom.

Underlying each method is a theory on the nature of language and language learning of which
comprises the approach. These theories are derived from the areas of linguistics,
sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics and are the source of principles and practices of
language teaching.

So the techniques carry out a method which is consistent with an approach.

“An approach is a set of correlative assumptions dealing with the nature of language
teaching and learning. 1t describes the nature of the subject matter to be taught. Method is
an overall plan for the orderly presentation of language material, no part of which
contradicts, and all of which is based upon, the selected approach. An approach is
axiomatic whereas a method is procedural. Within one approach, there can be many
methods. A technique is an implementation - what actually takes place in a classroom. It is
a particular trick or strategem used to accomplish an immediate objective. Techniques must
be consistent with a method, and therefore in harmony with an approach as well.”
(Anthony 1963, p. 63-7)

There are six basic methods that have been practiced to assist the process of language teaching
and learning over the past two centuries. Neither of these methods is completely outlawed nor
completely employed in language classrooms. Three of these methods have been discussed
here in chronological order.

 Grammar Translation Method (GTM)


 Direct Method (DM)
 Audio-Lingual Method

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Grammar Translation Method
Historical background
A glance back in history reveals that in the Western world, foreign language learning in schools
was synonymous with the learning of Latin or Greek. Latin, thought to promote intellectuality
through mental gymnastics, was until relatively recently held to be indispensable to an
adequate higher education. Latin was taught by means of what has been called the Classical
Method: focus on grammatical rules, memorization of vocabulary and of various declensions
and conjugations, translation of texts, doing written exercises. As other languages began to be
taught in educational institutions in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Classical
Method was adopted as the chief means for teaching foreign languages. Little thought was
given at the time to teaching oral use of languages; after all, languages were not being taught
primarily to learn oral/aural communication, but to learn for the sake of being ‘scholarly’ or,
in some instances, for gaining a reading proficiency in a foreign language. Since there was
little if any theoretical research on second language acquisition in general, or on the acquisition
of reading proficiency, foreign languages were taught as any other skill was taught.

Late in the nineteenth century, the Classical Method came to be known as the Grammar
Translation Method. There was little to distinguish Grammar Translation Method from what
had gone on in foreign language classrooms for centuries, beyond a focus on grammatical rules
as the basis for translating from the second to the native language. But the Grammar
Translation Method remarkably withstood attempts at the outset of the twentieth century to
reform language teaching methodology, and to this day it remains a standard methodology for
language teaching in educational institutions.

Johann Seidendtucker, Karl Plotz, H. S. Ollendorf, and Johann Meidinger were the leading
proponents of GTM. They regarded GTM as the off spring of German Scholarship. The object
of German Scholarship was ‘to know something about everything rather than the thing itself’.
It was first known as the Prussian Method in United States. This is a method which involves
no theory to back it and no literature offers a justification or rationale for it, which relates it to
the issues in education, linguistic or psychological theory.

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The Characteristics of Grammar-Translation Method
1. Classes are taught in the mother tongue, with little active use of the target language.
2. Much vocabulary is taught in the form of lists of isolated words.
3. Long elaborate explanations of the intricacies of grammar are given.
4. Grammar provides the rules for putting words together, and instruction often focuses
on the form and inflection of words.
5. Reading of difficult classical texts is begun early.
6. Little attention is paid to the content of texts, which are treated as exercises in
grammatical analysis.
7. Often the only drills are exercises in translating disconnected sentences from the target
language into the mother tongue.
8. Little or no attention is given to pronunciation.

Objectives
The goal of foreign language study is to learn a language in order to read its literature or in order
to benefit from the mental discipline and intellectual development that result from foreign language
study. Grammar Translation is a way of studying a language that approaches the language first
through detailed analysis of its grammar rules, followed by application of this knowledge to the
task of translation sentences and texts into and out of the target language. It hence views language
learning as consisting of little more than memorizing rules and facts in order to understand and
manipulate the morphology and syntax of the foreign language. The first language is maintained
as the reference system in the acquisition of the second language.

Focus on Skills
Reading and writing are the major focus, little or no systematic attention is paid to speaking or
listening.

Vocabulary selection is based solely on the reading texts used, and words are taught through
bilingual word lists, dictionary study, and memorization. In a typical Grammar-Translation text,
the grammar rules are presented and illustrated, a list of vocabulary items is presented with their
translation equivalents, and translation exercises are prescribed.

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The sentence is the basic unit of teaching and language practice. Much of the lesson is devoted to
translating sentences into and out of the target language, and it is this focus on the sentence that is
a distinctive feature of the method.

Accuracy is emphasized. Students are expected to attain high standards in translation, because of
the high priority attached to meticulous standards of accuracy which, as well as having an intrinsic
moral value, was a prerequisite for passing the increasing number of formal written examinations
that grew up during the century.

Teaching Methodology
Grammar is taught deductively by presentation and study of grammar rules, which are then
practiced through translation exercises. In most Grammar-Translation texts, a syllabus was
followed for the sequencing of grammar points throughout a text, and there was an attempt to teach
grammar in an organized and systematic way.

The student’s native language is the medium of instruction. It is used to explain new items and to
enable comparisons to be made between the foreign language and the student’s native language.

Techniques
Diane Larsen-Freeman, in her book Techniques and Principles in Language
Teaching (1986:13) provides a list of some common/typical techniques closely associated with
the Grammar Translation Method.

1. Translation of a Literary Passage

2. Reading Comprehension Questions

3. Antonyms/Synonyms

4. Deductive Application of Rule

5. Fill-in-the-blanks

6. Memorization

7. Use Words in Sentences

8. Composition

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Advantages
1. It is an effective way for the application of grammar and sentence structure.

2. The translation exercises help the students to compare the native language with the target
language, which in turn enhance their ability to understand meaning of words and
complicated sentences.

3. It also enables the students to understand how the mother tongue functions in order to give
them the capacity to communicate their thought.

4. The memorization of grammar rules and vocabulary of the target language provides the
students with good mental exercises which help to develop their mind.

5. The emphasis on accuracy enables the students to learn the correct grammar of the target
language.

Disadvantages
1. It does not focus on the four basic skills of English i.e. listening, speaking, reading and
writing.

2. It is the easiest method for a teacher to employ. It does not require for a teacher to be good
at speaking English or make good lesson preparations.

3. It does not enhance or encourages the students’ communicative competence.

4. Students have little motivation to go beyond grammar analogies, translation and exercises.
So, in this way it may make the language learning experience uninspiring and boring.

5. It is an unnatural method in a way that it starts with the teaching of reading and not
listening.

Reasons why it is still used

The Grammar Translation Method is still common in many countries. Brown in his
book Incremental Speech Language (1994) explains why the method is still employed.
According to him;

1. This method requires few specialized skills on the part of teachers.

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2. It gives teachers a sense of control and authority in the classroom.
3. It works well in large classes.
4. Grammar rules and Translation Tests are easy to construct and can be objectively scored.

5. Many standardized tests of foreign languages still do not attempt to test communicative
abilities, so students have little motivation to go beyond grammar analogies, translations
and other written exercises.

Criticism
Grammar Translation dominated European and foreign language teaching from the 1840s and in
modified form it continues to be widely used in some parts of the world today. Howatt points out
it was not necessarily the horror that its critics depicted it as. Its worst excesses were introduced
by those who wanted to demonstrate that the study of French or German was no less rigorous than
the study of classical languages. This resulted in the type of Grammar-Translation courses
remembered with distaste by thousands of school learners, from whom foreign language learning
meant a tedious experience of memorizing endless lists of unusable grammar rules and vocabulary
and attempting to produce perfect translations of stilted or literary prose.

It is remarkable, in one sense, that this method has been so stalwart among many competing
models. It does virtually nothing to enhance a student’s communicative ability in the language. In
another sense, however, one can understand why Grammar Translation Method. It requires few
specialized skills on the part of teachers. Tests of grammar rules and of translations are easy to
construct and can be objectively scored.

Although the Grammar-Translation Method often creates frustration for students, it makes few
demands on teachers. It is still used in situations where understanding literary texts is the primary
focus of foreign language study and there is little need for a speaking knowledge of the language.
Contemporary texts for the teaching of foreign languages at the college level still sometimes reflect
Grammar-Translation principles. These texts are frequently the products of people trained in
literature rather than in language teaching or applied linguistics. Consequently, though it may be
true to say that the Grammar-Translation Method is still widely practiced, it has no advocates. It
is a method for which there is no theory. There is no literature that offers a rationale or justification
for it or that attempts to relate it to issues in linguistics, psychology, or educational theory.

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Grammar Translation Method in Pakistani Context
Our education system in Pakistan has the Grammar Translation Method deeply rooted in the
practice of teaching the foreign language. Teachers in the government and private colleges and
schools of Pakistan favoured teaching by the Grammar Translation Method. They believe that by
translating texts into mother tongue can lead to effective learning of the target language. In the
Pakistani system following practices were practised in the teaching of foreign language through
the Grammar Translation Method.

1. This method involved an increase in the learner’s knowledge on literature by reading the
texts of diverse topics. Students were asked to read the lessons in the foreign language from
their text books. The teachers used to help the students with forms of the words rather than
the meaning while reading.

2. Then, after reading, the teachers side by side used to point out the meaning of the words
which were difficult to understand by giving the alternative words from the native language
of the learners. So, meaning of words also involved a kind of translation into the native
language. The teacher used to translate the paragraphs side by side after completion of each
paragraph. And sometimes the teacher used to translate three or four sentences.

3. The teachers as well provided the description of the grammatical rules. After presenting
the rules descriptively, they were assumed to be comprehended by the learners by
memorization of these rules. Later, these rules were employed in translation of the passages
in the lessons. Thus, a lot of time was consumed in the translation of the texts.

4. An extensive practice of memorization of the grammatical rules and vocabulary was as


well practised in the classes. Student’s vocabulary was built economically and effectively
through the alternatives provided in their native language.

5. The teacher used to focus on translation of passages in the exercises at the end of each
lesson through the written as well as the oral practice. Though in the other countries
students were mostly put to work but in the scenario at Pakistani school level, mostly the
teachers aided the students and most of the time the teacher ruled the class by making
translations for the learners himself.

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6. In this type of language learning practice, the teachers were the one to provide the students
with the aid they need to understand the rules and translate the texts. The teacher’s authority
in these classes was paramount. Whereas, students were put to work when they were asked
to translate the exhaustive and extensive paragraphs in their native language from the
foreign text. It was a difficult task on the part of the students to translate such long texts
into the and out of the foreign language.

7. Other practices involved the compositions and making sentences out of the words. The
compositions in the foreign language assigned to the students provided the students to write
composition in the foreign language by thinking in their own language and translating that
into the foreign language. other than that, fill in the blank exercises were also included at
the end of each lesson in the exercise.

8. The evaluation of the student’s performance was based on the tests which involved the
translation of the passages, words/meaning both in written and oral forms.

Conclusion
The Grammar Translation Method was developed for the study of ‘dead’ languages and to facilitate
access to those languages’ classical literature, but English is certainly not a dead or dying language.
Although the Grammar Translation Method is greatly devoid of any reference to the present-day
language usage, still today it is used in foreign language teaching, especially in the third world
countries. Much of its popularity stems from its relatively simple teaching requirements. Anyone
with good reading and writing skills can teach language as per the Grammar Translation Method,
no fluency in the target language is required. Therefore, it is apparent that this method will always
occupy its place in the field of foreign language teaching to some extent and also its use will not
be limited.

Direct Method
Background and Introduction
The Direct Method (also known as the Natural Method) arose towards the end of the 19th century
when, reacting against what they considered to be the shortcomings of the Grammar Translation
Method. This method gets its name from the fact that students are encouraged to make direct

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associations between objects or concepts and the corresponding words in the target language. It
was also a total immersion method in direct contrast to grammar translation in which all instruction
was in the students' L1.

The advocates of this method believed that a language was best learnt when the learner was
exposed to that language environment. Just as the children learnt their mother tongue by listening
to it and speaking it, they could learn any language if they were provided with opportunities to
listen to that language and speak that language. To be precise, if anyone wanted to teach English,
they must be able to provide an English environment for the learners. Prof. Gurey says:

“But essentially it (the Direct Method) is a principle, not a teaching method, a system that
operates through many methods; a way of handling the new language and of presenting to
the class. It demands direct bond, that is, a direct association, between word and meaning
and between sentence and idea (…) instead of an indirect one through the mother tongue.”

Practitioners of this method use L2 exclusively and never use translation. Everyday vocabulary
and structures are taught, and grammar is learnt inductively by generalizing from examples. Oral
communication skills are taught by question and answer exchanges between teachers and learners,
with all new learning points being introduced orally.

Concrete vocabulary is introduced in context and taught through realia, pictures and
demonstration. Abstract vocabulary is taught by association of ideas. Emphasis is placed on correct
pronunciation. Self-correction of errors is encouraged. The emphasis was placed on
correct usage and pronunciation.

Approach (Theoretical Basis)


This method seems to be clearly based on the assumptions of Behaviorism as the practitioners of
this method take language as primarily spoken and the process of language teaching follows the
Natural order of language acquisition; starting from listening and speaking skills as was believed
by Behaviorists. Moreover, the role of Environment is also important in this method as
environment is used to help students understand the meaning, by using real objects and examples
and events from the everyday life of the learners. In addition to this, the teacher acts as the stimulus
provider; initiating any learning activity and then guiding the learners how to complete it thus

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equating the role of parents as the stimulus providers as propagated by behaviorists. So it can be
said that behaviorism makes the theoretical basis for the direct method.

Goals and Objectives


The objective are speaking and listening comprehension, not translation. It attempted to give
students practice in spontaneous oral communication, and encouragement in thinking in the target
language.

Direct method lessons are organized around topics, such as body parts, food and clothing. As
students become more proficient, the topics include many of the cultural aspects of the countries
where the target language is spoken. Students learn about the geography, history and customs of
the target culture. In this process vocabulary is emphasized and grammar is only taught
inductively. Teachers work on pronunciation and standard grammatical form, but they help
students to self-correct rather than correcting directly. Even though speaking and listening skills
are emphasized, reading and writing are taught from the beginning. Teachers create situations in
which students can communicate for real purposes. Students are evaluated through actual use of
the target language with activities such as oral interviews and assigned written paragraphs.

In the Direct Method, reading materials are introduced only after an oral presentation of the same
has been done. Further, they are encouraged to seek direct comprehension by inferring meanings
from the context. When this cannot help, explanations are given in the Target Language itself. No
native language translation is given in any case. Jack C. Richards and Theodore S. Rodgers, in
their Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching (2001:12), summarize the principles and
procedures of the Direct Method as follows:

1. Classroom instruction is conducted exclusively in the Target Language.

2. Only everyday vocabulary and sentences are taught.

3. Oral communication skills are built up in a carefully graded progression organized


around question-and-answer exchanges between teachers and students in small, intensive
classes.

4. Grammar is taught inductively.

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5. New teaching points are introduced orally.

6. Concrete vocabulary is taught through demonstration, objects, pictures; abstract


vocabulary is taught by association of ideas.

7. Both speech and listening comprehension are taught.

8. Correct pronunciation and grammar are emphasized.

Techniques
1. Reading aloud: students take turns reading sections of a passage, play, or whatever
teaching materials. The teacher uses gestures, pictures, realia, examples, or other means to
make the meaning of the section clear.
2. Question and answer exercise: Students ask and answer questions in full sentences and
practice new words and grammatical rules.
3. Self-correction: To make students self-corrected by asking them to make a choice between
what they said and an alternative answer he supplied; or the teacher may repeat a student
said, using a questioning tone or to repeat what the students said and stop before the error
to signal that something is wrong with students’ answers.
4. Conversation exercise: For communication purpose, teaching contains conversational
activities: starting with questions in the target language which contained a certain grammar
structure, then let students ask questions with each other with the same sentence patterns.
Finally, let student have free talk.
5. Fill-in-blank exercise
6. Dictation: A normal speed – phrase by phrase, normal speed again.
7. Map drawing: A map with unnamed geographical features. The teacher gives directions
and students label the map. Then change the roles.
8. Paragraph writing: To write a paragraph in their own words by using the teaching
materials a model.
The following principles are seen in the guidelines for teaching oral language and are still followed
in contemporary Berlitz schools:

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Never translate: demonstrate Never jump around: follow your plan

Never explain: act Never go too fast: keep the pace of the student

Never make a speech: ask questions Never speak too slowly: speak normally

Never imitate mistakes: correct Never speak too quickly: speak naturally

Never speak with single words: use sentences Never speak too loudly: speak naturally

Never speak too much: make students speak much Never be impatient: take it easy

Never use the book: use your lesson plan Cited in Titone 1968: 100-101)

The Role of teacher


The role of the teacher is to direct class activities, but students and teacher are partners in the
learning process, and there is a large amount of Learner-Learner interaction.

Advantages
1. It follows the natural order in which a child learns L1, that is, listening, speaking, reading,
and writing.
2. It lays great emphasis on speaking, the most important skill for many learners.
3. Students learn the correct pronunciation and better oral skills because no native language
is used and communication is main activity in the class.
4. It avoids the unnatural block of translation in the communication process.
5. Learners learn the language, not about the language.
6. Learners have an active role.
7. Lively classroom procedures motivate the learner.
8. The learning is contextualized.
9. The emphasis on speech makes it attractive for those who need real communication in L2.
10. The teaching of vocabulary through realia brings authenticity into the classroom.

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Disadvantages (Criticism)
1. Learning L2 is not like learning L1. The child learning L1 has no previous language-
learning experience, but the learner learning L2 does.
2. There is little systematic structural practice.
3. Learners run the risk of inducing incorrect rules.
4. The method can be effectively used only by teachers who are native speakers.
5. The learner is confronted with unstructured situations too soon.
6. A great deal of teacher-energy is required.
7. Students may be afraid of asking questions.
8. It’s hard to practice the methods in a class with more than 20 students.
9. It’s hard to explain abstract words. It takes much time for teacher to explain the words that
might be trivial.

Direct Method in Pakistani Context


Variations of the method are used in schools today, though more commonly in the private than in
the public sector. In private sector mostly the techniques of use of Realia, Fill-in-the-blank
exercises, Paragraph writing, Dictation and Conversation practice are practiced whereas public
sector schools prefer to use Reading aloud, Fill-in-the-blank Exercises and Dictation mostly as
classroom activities.

Conclusion
The Direct Method was quite successful in private language schools, such as those of the Berlitz
chain, where paying clients had high motivation and the use of native-speaking teachers was the
norm. But despite pressure from proponents "of the method, it was difficult to implement in public
secondary school education. It overemphasized and distorted the similarities between naturalistic
first language learning and classroom foreign language learning and failed to consider the practical
realities of the classroom. In addition, it lacked a rigorous basis in applied linguistics.

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Audio Lingual Method
Background
During the emergence of America as a major international power. There was a growing demand
for foreign expertise in the teaching of English. Thousands of foreign students entered the United
States to study in universities, and many of these students required training in English before they
could begin their studies. These factors led to the emergence of the American approach to ESL,
which by mid-1950 had become Audiolingual.
In 1939, the University of Michigan, developed the first English language institute in the United
States. It specialized in the training of teachers of English as a foreign language and in teaching
English as a second or foreign language. Charles fries, director of the institute, was trained in
structural linguistics, and he applied the principles of structural linguistics to language teaching.
Fries and his colleges rejected approaches such as those of direct method, in which learners are
exposed to the language, use it and gradually absorb its grammatical patterns. For fries, grammar
or “structure”, was the starting point. The structure of the language was identified with its basic
sentence patterns and grammatical structures. The language was taught by systematic attention to
pronunciation and by intensive oral drilling of its basic sentence patterns. Pattern practice was a
basic classroom technique. According to (Hockett, 1959) it is these basic patterns that constitute
the learner’s task. They require drill, drill and more drill, and only enough vocabulary to make
such drills possible.
Fries set forth his principles in Teaching and Learning English as a Foreign Language (1945),
in which problems of learning a foreign language were attributed to the conflict of different
structural systems i.e. differences between the grammatical and phonological patterns of native
language and the target language.
The approach developed by linguists at Michigan and other universities became known variously
as Oral Approach, the Aural-Oral approach and the Structural Approach. It advocated aural
training first, then pronunciation training, followed by speaking, reading and writing. Language
was identified with speech and speech was approached through structure. This approach influenced
the way languages were taught in the United States throughout the 1950s. As an approach to the
teaching of English as a foreign language the new orthodoxy was promoted through the University
of Michigan’s journal, “Language Learning” this approach led to the method that came to be
known as Audiolingual.

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The emergence of Audiolingual method resulted from the increased attention given to foreign
language teaching in the United States towards the end of 1950s. The need for a radical change
and rethinking of foreign language teaching methodology was prompted by the launching of first
Russian satellite in 1957. The US government acknowledged the need for a more intensive effort
to teach foreign languages in order to prevent Americans from becoming isolated from scientific
advances made in other countries. Therefore, language teaching specialists drew on earlier
experiences of Army program and the Aural-Oral or structural approach developed by fries and
his colleagues, adding insights taken from behavioural psychology. This combination of structural
linguistic theory, contrastive analysis, aural-Oral procedures and behavioural psychology led to
the Audiolingual method. The term Audiolingual, was coined by professor Nelson Brooks in 1964.
This method claimed to have transformed language teaching from art into a science, which would
enable learners to achieve mastery of foreign languages efficiently. This method was widely
adopted in North American colleges and universities. Although the method began to fall from
favour in the late 1960s.

Approaches
Theory of language
Theory of language underlying audiolingual was derived from a view proposed by American
linguists in 1950s- a view that came to know as structural linguistics. Structural linguistics had
developed in part as a reaction to traditional grammar. Traditional approaches to the study of
language had linked the study of language to philosophy and to mentalist approach to grammar.
Grammar was considered a branch of logic, and grammatical categories of Endo-European
languages were thought to represent ideal categories in languages. The reaction against traditional
grammar was prompted by the movement towards positivism and empiricism and by increased
interest in non-European languages on the part of scholars. As linguists discovered new sound
types and new patterns of linguistic invention and organisation, a new interest in phonetics,
phonology, morphology and syntax developed. By the 1930s, the scientific approach to the study
of language was thought to consist of collecting examples of what speakers said and analysing
them according to different levels of structural organisation rather than according to categories of
Latin grammar. Language was viewed as a system of structurally related elements for the encoding
of meaning, the elements being phonemes, morphemes, words, structures and sentence types.

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An important tenet of structural linguistics was that the primary medium of language is oral:
speech is language. Since many languages do not have a written form and we learn to speak before
we learn to read or write. Therefore, it was assumed that speech had a priority in language teaching.
This scientific approach to language analysis appeared to offer the foundations for a scientific
approach to language teaching. According to an American linguist, William Moulton, language is
speech, not writing….a language is a set of habits… teach the language, not about the language…..
a language is what its native speakers say, not what someone thinks they ought to say…. Languages
are different.

Theory of learning
Proponents of Audiolingual were drawing on the theory of a well-developed school of American
psychology---- behaviourism. The prominent Harvard Behaviourist B.F. Skinner had elaborated a
theory of learning applicable to language learning in his book verbal behaviour.
Proponents of audiolingual advocated the following principles drawing on the behaviourist theory:
1) Foreign language learning is basically a process of mechanical habit formation. Good
habits are formed by giving correct responses rather than by making mistakes. By
memorizing dialogues and performing pattern drills the chances of producing mistakes are
minimized. Language is a verbal behaviour and can be learned by inducing the students to
do likewise.
2) Language skills are learned more effectively if the items to be learned in the target language
are presented in spoken form before they are seen in written form. Aural-oral training is
needed to provide the foundation for the development of other language skills.
3) Analogy provides a better foundation for language learning than analysis. Analogy
involves the process of generalization and discrimination. Explanations of rules are
therefore not given until students have practised a pattern in a variety of contexts. Drills
can enable learners to form correct analogies. Hence the approach to the teaching of
grammar is inductive rather than deductive.
4) The meanings that the words of a language have for the native speakers can be learned only
in linguistic and cultural context and not in isolation.

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Objectives
Brooks distinguishes between short-range and long-range objectives of an audiolingual program.
Short-range objectives include training in listening comprehension, accurate pronunciation,
recognition of speech symbols as graphic signs on the printed page and ability to reproduce these
symbols in writing. Long-range objectives include the use of a second or foreign language as the
native speakers use it and the possession of some knowledge about the second language as a true
bilingual has.
This means that the focus in early stages is on oral skills, with gradual links to other skills as
learning develops. Oral proficiency is equated with accurate pronunciation and grammar and the
ability to respond quickly and accurately in speech situations.

Method
Audiolingual demands a complete reorientation of foreign language curriculum. It advocated
speech-based instruction with the primary objective of oral proficiency and dismissed the study of
grammar or literature as the goal of foreign language teaching.
Its focus in early stages is on oral skills, with gradual links to other skills as learning develops. The
teaching of listening comprehension, pronunciation and vocabulary are all related to development
of oral fluency. Reading and writing skills may be taught but they are dependent on prior oral
skills. Language is primarily speech in this theory but speaking skills are themselves dependent on
the ability to accurately perceive and produce the major phonological features of target language,
fluency in the use of key grammatical patterns in the language and knowledge of sufficient
vocabulary to use with these patters.
Therefore, the starting point is a linguistic syllabus which contains the key items of phonology,
morphology and syntax of language arranged according to their order of presentation. In addition,
a lexical syllabus of basic vocabulary items is usually specified in advance. A corpus of structural
and lexical items graded into three levels is proposed in Foundations of English Teaching by
Fries and Fries.
The language skills are taught in the order of listening, speaking, reading and writing. Listening is
viewed largely as training in aural discrimination of basic sound patterns. The language may be
presented entirely orally at first, written representations are usually withheld from learners in early
stages.

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When reading and writing are introduced, students are taught to read and write what they have
already learned to say orally.

Techniques
Following types of learning and teaching activities are involved in the classroom;
Dialogues and drills form the basis of audiolingual classroom practices. Dialogues provide the
means of contextualizing key structures and illustrate situations in which structures might be used
as well as some cultural aspects of target language. Dialogues are used for repetition and
memorization. Correct pronunciation, stress, rhythm and intonation are emphasized. After a
dialogue has been presented and memorized, specific grammatical patterns in the dialogue are
selected and become the focus of various kinds of drills and pattern-practice exercises.
Drills and pattern-practice is distinctive feature of Audiolingual method. Various kinds of drills
are given by Brooks in 1964:
1) Repetition: the student repeats an utterance aloud as soon as he has heard it. He does this
without looking at the printed text. the utterance must be brief enough to be retained by the
ear.
Example: I used to know him…..i used to know him.
2) Replacement: one word in an utterance is replaced by another.
He bought this house cheap…… he bought it cheap.
3) Inflection: one word in an utterance appears in another form when repeated.
Example: I bought the ticket……. I bought the tickets.
4) Restatement: student rephrases an utterance and addresses it to someone else, as
instructed.
Example: tell him to wait for you…… wait for me.
5) Completion: students hear an utterance that is complete except for one word, then repeats
the utterance in repeated form.
Example: I will go my way and you go…… I will go my way and you go yours.
6) Transposition: A change in word order is necessary when a word is added.
Example: I am hungry……… so I am.
7) Expansion: when a word is added it takes a certain place in the sequence.
Example: I know him….. I hardly know him.

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8) Contraction: a single word stands for a phrase or a clause.
Example: put your hand on the table….. Put your hands there.
9) Transformation: a sentence is transformed by being negative or interrogative or through
changes in tense, voice, aspect or modality.
Example: he knows my address…, he doesn’t know my address.
10) Integration: Two separate utterances are integrated into one.
Example: I know that man. He is looking for you……I know the man who is looking for you.
11) Rejoinder: the student makes an appropriate rejoinder to a given utterance. he is told in
advance to respond in one of the following ways:
Be polite, answer the question, agree, agree empathetically, disagree etc
Agree examples: he is following us….. I think you are right.
Be polite example: thank you…. You are welcome
12) Restoration: The student is given a sequence of words that have been culled from a
sentence but still bears its basic meaning. He uses these words with a minimum of changes
and additions to restore the sentence to its original form.
Example: students, waiting, bus….. The students are waiting or the bus.

Learner’s Role
In accordance with behaviourist learning theory, teaching focuses on the external manifestations
of learning rather than on the internal processes. Learners play a reactive role by responding to
stimuli, and thus have a little role over the content, pace or style of learning. They are not
encouraged to initiate an interaction, because this may lead to mistakes.

Teacher’s Role
Audiolingual is a teacher-dominated method, as the role of teacher is central and active. The
teacher models the target language, controls the direction and pace of learning, and monitors and
corrects the learner’s performance. The teacher must keep the learners active and attentive by
varying drills and tasks and choosing relevant situations to practice the structures.

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Procedure
Since audiolingual is an oral approach to language teaching, it is not surprising that the process of
teaching involves extensive oral instruction. The focus of instruction is on accurate and immediate
speech. There is a little provision for grammatical explanation and talking about the language.
Target language is used as a medium of instruction, translation and use of native language is
discouraged.
1) A typical audiolingual lesson follows the following procedure:
Students first hear a model dialogue, containing the key structures that are the focus of the lesson.
They repeat each line of the dialogue individually and in chorus. The teacher pays attention to
pronunciation, intonation and fluency. Correction of mistakes of grammar or pronunciation is
direct and immediate. The dialogue is memorized gradually line by line. A line may be broken
down into several phrases if necessary.
2) The dialogue is adapted to the student’s interest or situation, through changing certain
keywords or phrases.
3) Certain key words from the dialogue are selected and used as the basis for pattern drills of
different kinds. These are first practiced in chorus and then individually.
4) The students may refer to their textbook, and follow up reading, writing or vocabulary
activities based on the dialogue may be introduced. At the beginning level, writing is purely
imitative and consists of little more than copying out sentences that have been practiced.
5) Follow up activities may take place in language laboratory

Criticism
Audiolingual reached its period of most widespread use in 1960s and was applied to the teaching
of foreign languages in the United States and teaching of English as a second or foreign language.
But then came criticism on two fronts.
On one hand its theoretical foundations were attacked as being unsound in terms of both language
theory and learning theory. On the other hand practitioners found that the practical results fell short
of expectations. Students were often found to be unable to transfer acquired skills to real
communication outside the classroom. Many found the experience of studying through this method
to be boring and unsatisfactory.

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The theoretical attack on audiolingual beliefs resulted from changes in American linguistic theory
in 1960s. The MIT linguist Noam Chomsky rejected the structuralist approach to language
description as well as the behaviourist theory of language learning. “Language is not the habit
structure. Ordinary linguistic behaviour characteristically involves innovation, formation of new
sentences, and patterns in accordance with rules of great abstractness and intricacy.” (Chomsky
1966). Chomsky’s theory of transformational proposed that fundamental properties of language
derive from innate aspects of the mind and how humans process experience through language. His
theories were to revolutionize American linguistics and focus the attention of linguists and
psycholinguists on the mental properties, people bring to bear language use and language learning.
Chomsky also proposed an alternative theory of language learning to that of behaviourists and
argued that behaviourism could not possibly serve as a model of how humans learn languages,
since much of human language use in not imitated behaviour but is created a new from underlying
knowledge of abstract rules. Sentences are not learned by imitation and repetition but “generated”
from learner’s underlying “competence.”
Suddenly, the whole audiolingual paradigm was called into question: pattern practice, drilling,
memorization. These might lead to language-like behaviours, but they were not resulting in
competence. This created a crisis in American language teaching circle. Temporary relief was
offered in the form of a theory derived in part from Chomsky---cognitive code learning.
This criticism, refers to a view of learning that allowed for a conscious focus on grammar and that
acknowledged the role of abstract mental process in learning rather than defining learning simply
in terms of habit formation. Practice activities should involve meaningful learning and language
use. Learners should be encouraged to use their innate and creative abilities to drive and make
explicit the underlying grammatical rules of the language.

Audio-lingual method in Pakistani Context


There is an overall rejection of ALM in Pakistani Environment. ALM is not the right choice for
Pakistani teachers to employ with their students. According to the research findings of Khurshid
et al. the major conclusion is that only 3% of Government secondary school teachers were in the
favour of Audio Lingual Method (ALM). This low percentage (3%) showed that the ALM method
is very less popular in our Government Secondary schools to teach the students.

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There are a number of reasons why this method is widely rejected. Usually Audio-visual aids are
not available in most schools of Pakistan. The sounds of English and correct pronunciation is not
available to the students. The Audio Lingual method emphasis on the use of audio-visual aids.
These aids make the lesson interesting and easy. Unfortunately schools of Pakistan are not
equipped with audio-visual aids such as flashcards, charts, pictures, models, filmstrips,
gramophone records, tape recorders etc.

Conclusion
To conclude it can be said that all the methods discussed above have their varying implications in
language teaching and learning process, depending upon the requirements of the learners and the
context. None of these methods can be completely applicable nor be completely discarded. With
all of their imperfections, these methods are still practiced all over the world in second language
teaching-learning settings.

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Reference

Anthony, Edward M. (1963). Approach, Method, and Technique. English Learning 17: 63-67.
An Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Larsen-Freeman, D., (1986). Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching. Oxford


University Press

Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. S. (2001). Approaches and methods in language teaching.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

https://oswaldoipc.wordpress.com/2007/06/22/the-grammar-translation-method

http://tanvirdhaka.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-grammar-translation-method.html

http://cte.univsetif.dz/coursenligne/TEFLCOURSE/ressources/TheDirectMethod.html

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