What are the goals and principles of Audio-lingual method? Discuss its advantages and disadvantages. [NU. 2012]



Ans. Audio-lingual method is a way of teaching where students do what teachers ask them to do. Students repeat some selected dialogues after the teachers and memorize rules of grammar and phrases through repeated drills. Through practising drills, learners form a habit of using the learned language in context.

The main goals of the Audio-lingual Method are:
i) to help learners form a habit of using some patterns of a language in context
ii) to develop speaking and listening skills

iii) to communicate in the target language properly
iv) to make learners competent to be successful communication.

The main principles of this method are:
i) learning is habit formation
ii) drilling and repetition of some selected patterns and structures of the target language
iii) focusing on forms and pronunciation, not on meaning
iv) giving positive and negative feedback based on correct and incorrect responses
v) emphasizing memorization of selected phrases and patterns
vi) using audio-visual materials

There are many advantages of this method. First, learners get to practice the target language through speaking and listening. Teachers use a lot of visual aids that is also helpful for the learners to internalize the linguistic structures. Some of the techniques of Audio-lingualism are still used at some places. Memorization of some idioms/phrases is still common in many situations. This helps learners memorize and remember chunks of the target language and use them whenever necessary. However, language learning cannot be habit formation. Learners can memorize some parts of a language, but to become competent users of the target language, learners need to use their freedom of using phrases and structures. This is the major disadvantage of Audio-lingualism. Learning a foreign or second language is a process where mistakes are a part. (Nobody can learn a foreign language entirely by memorizing some sentences and patterns. Language learning is a fluid pattern where success comes through a course of time. Teachers can use drilling of dialogues for the students; however, students should have independence in making sentences and using words on their own while communicating or practising a new language.

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