انجمن علمی زبان دانشگاه آزاد یزد

Objectives of ALM

Some of the objectives of the audio-lingual method are accurate pronunciation, linguistic accuracy, quick and accurate response in speaking, and a sufficiently large vocabulary to use with grammar patterns to express oneself in practical, everyday situations. These objectives are achieved through memorization of dialogues and recombination of structures introduced through dialogues in drills. The development of a large vocabulary is of secondary consideration.

Absent from the audio-lingual method's objectives are (a) an emphasis on using language or vocabulary to create meaning, (b) recognition of errors as a useful part of language learning, (c) student interaction with each other and with native speakers of the target language while using the target language, (d) attention to grammatical explanations in instruction, (e) attention to the emotional aspects of learning, (f) acknowledgment of one's native language as a foundation on which to base learning a second language, and (g) acknowledgment of what some call “large C” cultural artifacts, such as masterpieces of the culture's literature, performing arts, and visual arts.

The audio-lingual method is a teacher-centric approach. The teacher controls interaction in the target language and directs classroom language learning drills and other activities. The typical instructional procedure in the audio-lingual method begins with students listening to the teacher modeling a dialogue. Students repeat each line of the dialogue after the teacher. Certain key words or phrases may be changed in the dialogue. Key structures from the dialogue are the basis for pattern drills of different kinds that follow. Students expand on the elements in the dialogue through substitutions in the pattern drills, which are organized in a particular sequence to lead students from simple repetition to more complex manipulations of language forms and structures.

Typical drills beyond the repetition drill include backward buildup drill, chain drill, single-slot substitution drill, multiple-slot substitution drill, transformation drill, question-and-answer drill, and minimal pairs.

The backward buildup drill helps students learn accurate placement of sentence stress and pitch patterns by starting from the end of an utterance and gradually building up to the beginning of the utterance. In a chain drill, the teacher asks one student a question, and after the student answers the question, he or she asks it of another student in the class. The drill continues until everyone has answered and asked the question. Single-slot substitution drills present students with a model sentence from the dialogue and cue words that students substitute into the dialogue line. Multiple-slot substitution drills supply more than one cue word to substitute in the sentence. In a transformation drill, students transform model sentences from one form to another (for example, from affirmative to negative, from active to passive, or from statement to question). In a minimal-pairs drill, students distinguish between words that differ from each other by only one sound. By drilling the difference, it is thought that students will improve their perception of the distinction and, consequently, their pronunciation.

 Source: SAGE REFERENCE ONLINE