Audio-Lingual Method

Audio-Lingual Method is usually also referred to as an Army Method. It is a style of teaching foreign languages. One of the most important features of this method is the practice of reinforcement. In simple terms, to encourage the correct use of a trait, positive feedback is given. On the other hand, negative feedback is given if an incorrect use of a trait is made. This is similar to the basic notions of behavioural psychology which emphasizes greatly on the idea of reinforcement.

This method is primarily about teaching a foreign language without making use of the native language. Hence, this way, new grammatical rules are taught to students who are only exposed to the target language. Using this method, the teacher would tell the students the correct way of using a certain grammatical rule for instance. The students are expected to repeat.

The same structure is followed. The teacher keeps telling the students new words and the students repeat those after the teacher. As self-explanatory as it sounds, this all implies that the students basically are supposed to memorize all what they are being taught to say. This is more like a drill, whereby the student is expected to keep repeating it until they are able to use the learnt words or rules by themselves and in a more spontaneous manner. Most important feature of this method is that the language is learnt mainly through dialogue. The reading and writing parts, hence, are learnt at the later stage.

Like every foreign language teaching method, this method has several advantages and disadvantages. The audio-lingual method is a teacher-dominated method. This might lead to a faster learning. The learner has a little control over what is being taught. All these serve as big advantages for the users of this method. On the other hand, one of the disadvantages is the passive role of the learner. This might lead to slight demotivation.