University of Basra

College of Education for Human Sciences

Department of English

M. A. student 2022- 2023

Presented by: Zohel Khaled Abdul-Majeed

Presented to: Ph. D.Rana Abdul Settar Abid

The Audio-Lingual Method

The method has three historical roots. First, Leonard Bloomfield’s structuralism,
language is learned through its structure. Second, behaviourist psychologists such
as B.F. Skinner (1975) were forming the belief that all behaviours (including
language) were learnt through repetition and positive or negative feedback. The
third factor was the outbreak of World War II, which created the need to
send a large number of American servicemen all over the world. It was,
therefore, necessary to provide these soldiers with at least basic verbal
communication skills. Because of this, it came to be known as the “army
method” or the ASTP (Army Specialized Training Program).
The Audio-Lingual Method is an oral-based approach. It was coined by Charles
Fries (1945) of the University of Michigan. He applies principles from structural
linguistics to develop the method. Accordingly, it has been referred to as the
‘Michigan Method’.and later in its development, principles fro It has a strong
scientific and theoretical basis in linguistics and psychology.
The method appeared as a reaction to the Grammar Translation Method.
Accordingly, The most important skills are listening and speaking however
speaking here is a matter of repetition to form a habit. It concentrates on drilling
students in pattern practices to overcome the habit of their native language and
form a new one. The students are imitators of the model and try to respond to
the teacher’s question as accurately and as rapidly as possible.
 Theory of Language Learning
Audiolingualism views language as a set of structures, containing phonemes,
morphemes, and syntax, the sentence patterns which can be deduced by
analyzing the language used by native speakers. The audiolingual syllabus is
organized according to these linguistic structures, which are shown in dialogues
and pattern drills.
The second idea of the Audiolingual Method is that language is primarily
spoken, since the natural order for children in learning their first language is
learning it orally before learning its written form. Thus, the Audiolingual Method
teaches listening and speaking before reading and writing. Reading and writing
are introduced later and have material that was first learned.
the Audiolingual Method is based on the learning theory behaviourism, a well-
known school of psychological thought in the first half of the twentieth century.
Behaviourism declares that all learning happens as humans respond to external
stimuli and their response is either rewarded or punished, which helps to increase
or decrease the behaviour.
Since the formation of correct linguistic habits is dominant, priority is placed on
proper pronunciation, intonation, and grammar usage. Errors were intolerable
and corrected at the spot because they lead to forming incorrect habits.

features of the Audio-Lingual Method

1- Foreign language is the same as any other kind of learning and can be
clarified by the same rules and principles (Stimulus-Response- feedback).
2- Foreign language learning is diverse first language learning.
3- Foreign language learning is a process of habit formation.
4- Errors are the outcome of first language interference and should be avoided.
5- Focus is moved from reading, translating and deductive grammar rules to
listening, speaking and inductive grammar in the spoken language.
Dialogues and pattern practice form the basis of audiolingual classroom
practice. Their use of them is a distinctive feature of the Audiolingual Method.
The techniques used by the Audiolingual Method are:
1. Repetition drill: concerning the lines of the dialogue, Students are asked to
repeat the teacher’s model as accurately and as quickly as possible.
2. Single-slot substitution drill: the teacher utters a line from the dialogue.
Next, the teacher says a word (called cue). The students repeat the line from
the dialogue substituting the cue into the line in its proper place.
. 3. 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.
4. Expansion drill： this drill helps students to produce longer sentence bit by
bit, gradually achieving fluency. The main structure is repeated first, then
students have to put cue phrase in its proper place.
5. multiple- slot substitution drill: this drill is similar to the single- slut
substitution drill. The difference is that the teacher gives cue phrases, one at a
time that fit into different slots in the dialogue 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. They
then say the line, fitting the cue phrase into the line where it belongs.
6. Backward build-up drill: this drill is used when a long line of dialogue is
giving students trouble. The teacher breaks down the line into several parts.
The students repeat a part of the sentence, usually the last phrase of the line.
Then, following the teacher’s cue, the students expand what they are repeating
part by part until they can repeat the entire line. The teacher begins with the
part at the end of the sentence (and works backwards from there) to keep the
intonation of the line as natural as possible. This also directs more student
attention to the end of the sentence, where new information typically occurs.
7. Chain drill ： a chain drill gets its name from the chain of conversation that
forms around the classroom as students, one by one, ask and answer questions
of each other. The teacher begins the chain by greeting a particular student or
asking him a question. That student responds and then turns to the student
sitting next to him. The first student greets or asks a question of the second
student and the chain continues. 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.
8. Complete the dialogue: selected words are erased from a dialogue students
have learned. Students complete the dialogue by filling the blanks with the
missing words.
9. Transformation drill: the teacher gives students a certain kind of sentence
pattern, an affirmative sentence for example. Students are asked to transform
this sentence into a negative sentence.
10. Use of minimal pairs： the teacher works with a pair of words which differ in
only one sound; for example, ‘ship/ sheep’. Students are first asked to find the
difference between the two words and later to say the two words. The teacher
selects the sounds to work on after she has done a contrastive analysis, a
comparison between the students’ native language and the language they are
studying.
11. Grammar game: the games are designed to get students to practice a
grammar point within a context. Students are able to express themselves,
although in a limited way.
12. Dialogue memorization: Dialogue or short conversations between two
people are often used to begin a new lesson. Students memorize the dialogue
through mimicry, students usually take the role of one person in the dialogue,
and the teacher the other. After the students have learned the first person’s
lines, they switch roles and memorize the other person’s part. Another way of
practising the two roles is for half of the class to take one role and the other
half to take the other. After the dialogue has been memorized, pairs of
individual students might perform the dialogue for the rest of the class.

Advantages
 1. It was the first method which was based on scientific linguistic and
psychological theories.
2. According to its easy techniques, this method enlarged the range of the
language learner.
3. Language learning involved learning different skills. Starting from listening,
speaking, and then reading and writing.
4. They encourage the use of a simple technique.

Disadvantages
1. Equal importance is not given to all four skills at the time.
2. Meaning is neglected.
3. Teacher-dominated method.
4. A mechanical method because of only pattern practice.
5. It is boring to students.