Assessment Question:
SLTL 2
Essay (2000 words)
2a) The Audiolingual approach is strongly associated with the theorectical framework of Behaviourism. Describe the underlying ideas of Audiolingualism, the concepts of the learner and of learning that it is based on and its preferred techniques. Draw closely on relevant literature.
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Practical task (2000 words)
2b) Drills belong to the repertoire of techniques in Audiolingualism. Think of ways in which you can vary drills and make them more meaningful and more communicative. Describe one of these ways in detail and provide examples from your experience as a language teacher and/or learner. You don’t have to design a concrete lesson plan but you need to explain in which way(s) the changes you recommend would make the drills more meaningful and communicative.
Introduction
Audiolingualism/Audiolingual method is a second or foreign language teaching method that prioritizes speaking and listening before reading and writing. It is derived from two aspects of theories: behaviorism (learning theory) and structuralism (language field). The basis of this teaching method is that learners should be taught a foreign language using a system of reinforcement (Richard & Rodgers 2000:44). This means that, in this case, the correct use of the foreign language terms by the learner will receive positive reinforcement, and the incorrect use of the terms will receive a negative feedback. An important point to note is that, the supporters of this teaching method believed that, students should be taught a foreign language directly. This means that the teachers should not explain new words using the students’ native language (Rivers 1964:19-22). This essay will be divided into 5 parts to discuss audiolingual from different aspects. Firstly, the essay will provide some underlying ideas of audiolingualism, which contain its theories of language and learning, the syllabus of audiolingual, and the objectives of audiolingualism. Secondly, the essay discusses the concepts of learners and learning that it is based on, which consists of the roles of learners and teachers and the learning procedures. Thirdly, it will further provide its preferred techniques and its characteristics. Finally, the essay will summarize the audiolingual method above and provide some criticisms of audiolingualism and its cons and pros.
The underlying ideas of AudiolingualismThe origins of Audiolingualism is from the end of the Second World War. To supply the demand of the US government that requires a huge amount of people who were fluent in Chinese, French, and other foreign languages, the army programs use ‘Army Method’(other names for audiolingual method) to learners to attain conversational proficiency in various languages. (Richard&Rodgers 2000:44). It needs students to drill with native speakers for a long period. Although they did not necessarily know the language, they were trained to speak with native speakers and acquired excellent results with the intensity of interaction with the target language.
2.1 The theory of language
In the 1950s, Audiolingualism has been strongly influenced by Structural Linguistics raised by American linguists. Structural Linguistics can be seen as predecessor of Audiolingual, has emerged and prompted by the movement towards positivism and empiricism. In positivism, there is the belief that genuine knowledge can only be derived from the experiences of the natural phenomena, and on the other hand, in empiricism, the belief is that, knowledge originates from things that canbe experienced by an individual’s sensory faculties. It was developed as an alternative teaching concept to the traditional grammar method (Richard & Rodgers 2000:48). (Since traditional grammar stressed language is a branch of logic and over-emphasizes written words and categories of grammar). During the 1930s and 1950s, a linguistics school was interested in a new approach(structural Linguistics) that can emphasize on teaching phonetics, phonology, morphology, and syntax. They considered that a scientific approach to language learning should consist of inductive teaching (providing plenty of examples of native speaks) and analyzing them based on the different structural organization levels rather than the categories of grammar. Structural linguistics viewed language as a system compose of the elements such as phonemes, words, and sentence types, and the elements for expressing meaning. Structural linguistics is a pyramid structure and it consists of various grammatical items and elements for their linear combination into words, phrases, clauses, and sentences. The language can be learned by mastering the grammatical elements that can be combined in an additive way from phoneme to morpheme than words to phrases and sentences. Learners can understand language step by step. Moreover, the important tenet of structural linguistics was the priority of language is oral: Speech is language. And the linguistics principles have been proclaimed by American linguist William Moulton in 1961: “language is used for speech, instead of 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…Language is different”. (quoted in Rivers 1964:5, Richard & Rodgers 2000: 50). According to Richards and Rogers, they felt that when teaching a foreign language, it should be taught in a manner that the learner can effectively communicate with the native speaker of that language. To put it into perspective, the learner should be taught to speak in a similar manner as the native speakers of that language. In this view, language has its several features. Firstly, elements are produced in a rule-governed way. Secondly, Language samples could be exhaustively described at any structural level of description. Thirdly, it is pyramid structured. This means that, the learner should first be introduced to the most fundamental aspects of the language such as grammar, and tense, and then the other forms of information, which are less important should be introduced at later stages when the learner is more conversant with the language (Richard & Rodgers 2000: 49). The structural linguistics provide a foundation for audiolingual from the perspective of language theory. It also needs to refer to the psychological learning and learning theory.
2.2 The theory of learning
The audiolingual method derived its theoretical basis from behaviorism, which contains one of the central propositions that considers language as simple as a form of behavior (Thornburry 1999: 21). It is a stimulus-response and reinforcement theory. Behaviorists believe that a human being is a mechanic organism which enable to complete various repertoire of behaviors. The occurrence of behavior is related to three crucial elements: stimulus, which serves elicit behavior, a response triggered by a stimulus, and reinforcement, which judge the response whether it is proper (Richard & Rodgers 2000: 50). Learning a language is a process of acquiring a series of appropriate language stimulus-response chains. (Richard & Rodgers 2000: 50). In other words, only responding to a stimulus with correct answers will be reinforced. To apply the theory to language learning, there is the need to stress the stimulus that is to be taught, the learner, determine the expected response, and the reinforcement. Firstly, language learning is a process of mechanical habit formation. Secondly, Language skills can be learned more effectively if the target language items have been demonstrated in the spoken form before the written form. Thirdly, an analogy is more helpful than analysis in language learning. Drills help learners to form deductive knowledge and form correct analogies. Fourth, Teaching a language should involve cultural factors and shouldn’t in isolation (Rivers 1964:19-22). To advocate these principles, B.F Skinner, Harvard behaviorist, stated that there is no difference between the fundamental aspect of non-verbal behavior and verbal behavior. Moreover, he thought the reward was much more effective than punishment in a teaching situation (Skinner 1957:10). With the language and learning theories, audiolingual has its relatively solid theoretical basis for applying.
The concepts of learners and learning
3.1 Learners’ roles
Audiolingualism regards learners as ‘mechanistic, non-cognitive system,’ (Crookes 2009: 6). According to audiolingualism, learners play reactive roles, and they must imitate new forms of verbal behaviors. When they are in the classroom, they should pay attention to the imitation of native speakers. They are viewed as organisms that can be directed by skilled training techniques (such as drills and dialogues) to produce correct responses (Richard & Rodgers 2000: 56). In accordance with the theory of behaviorism, learners aren’t encouraged to initiate their interaction with teachers because it will increase the possibility of leading mistakes. They should pay more attention to the correct output of the target language and the accuracy of pronunciation.
3.2 Teachers’ roles
Audiolingual-method is a teacher-dominated model where the teacher role is active and central. It is the essential element in the instruction of language learning. The teacher controls the pace of the learning process and is responsible for the direction of language learning. Besides, teachers also as monitors to correct the learners’ performance. The duty of the teacher is to keep learners attentive and actively by modeling the language, changing, and varying drills and tasks, selecting the relevant situations to practice language structures. However, the audiolingual method works with the efforts of both teachers and learners. “If teachers can’t provide sufficient information and reinforcement or learners don’t memorize, or they haven’t got sufficient feedback to the language practice, audiolingualism is not to blame. Based on the requirements of teachers, teachers need be trained professionally in the order of four language skills: learning, speaking, reading, writing (Brooks 1964: 143, Richard & Rodgers 2000: 56)”. In this case, Brooks was providing the argument that before blaming a teaching method, there is the need to assess the teachers’ skills, and their ability to motivate the students to learn. If they score highly on all the parameters, and the students are making the right effort, and are still not learning, then the teaching method can be blamed. However, if on the other hand, the teachers and the students are not making the right effort, then the teaching method should not be blamed.
3.3 Learning procedures
Brooks lists several procedures that can guide teachers to apply in using the audiolingualism (Brooks 1964). Here are some of the procedures. First, when learning a new language, the mother tongue is subordinate to the second language because of the inactivity of English. Secondly, the learning structure should focus on practice patterns of sound and pronunciation, order, and form rather than provision of explanations. Thirdly, there is the need to shorten the time span between performance and pronunciation without interrupting a response. This behavior can enhance reinforcement in learning. In a classical audiolingual lesson, the learning processes will be illustrated: Students hear a model dialogue that contains the core structures, and they repeat it in the chorus, then the teachers focus on the pronunciation, fluency, and intonation and correct the mistakes. And the dialogue is read aloud in chorus. The students don’t consult their books and memorize the correction version, which teachers have pointed out. The dialogue should be chosen to adopt students’ interests or situations by changing the core words or phrases. The core structure will be used in different drills, and they will be practiced in chorus, and some grammatical explanations will provide assistance. In the beginning, students will follow their coursebooks to read, write, and anticipate some vocabulary tasks based on the dialogue. Writing task at the first stage is more likely to copy the sentences which they have practiced. After students are more familiar with the key structures, drills and dialogues will be carried out to train them (Richard & Rodgers 2000: 58).
Its preferred techniques
Dialogues and drills are the most common techniques of the audiolingual method. Audiolingualism focuses on the output of accuracy and create good language habit. The advantages of dialogues is providing the underlying structures in the context. Through memorizing and repeating the dialogues, learners can understand situations (Richard & Rodgers 2000: 54). After emphasizing the stress, pronunciation rhythm, and intonation, the dialogue has been presented and memorized. The specific grammatical items and patterns in the dialogue will be chosen to apply to various drills and pattern-practice exercises. There are various kinds of drills and pattern practices in the audiolingual method, such as repetition, inflection, replacement, completion, transposition, question and answer drills, expansion, contraction, transformation, integration, rejoinder, and restoration. Repetition means students repeat the sentence aloud when they have heard. Replacement means one word in an utterance is replaced by another. For instance, Father went.- He went. Inflection means one word in the utterance will be changed to another form. Restatement means the student rephrases the utterance and addresses it to different people. Integration means two separate utterances are integrated into one. These drills and practices have their distinctive features, and they can be combined into language teaching and vivify the students’ performance in class. In the next practical task part, this essay will further explore more meaningful and communicative methods to vary drills.
Conclusion/Summary
The audiolingual method addresses the mechanic function of language learning and language use. (Richard & Rodgers 2000:61). It connects strongly to linguistics and behavioral psychology. Its focus on repetition and behavioral aspects of language can be viewed as both strengths and weaknesses. There are some advantages to it. Firstly, it can combine language and images. It is beneficial to cultivate the learners’ ability to consider in the target language. Secondly, according to the specific context situation, the learner’s ability to use language flexibly can be fostered. Thirdly, It can help learners grasp the target language naturally. However, the defects of the audiolingual method still exist. Firstly, it is over-emphasizing the principle of the entire structure. Secondly, it cuts the connection between the spoken and written form of the language. Thirdly, instead of actual communicative content, it is over-stressing the language forms. Fourth, students might not be able to use language in everyday communication outside the classroom. The famous MIT linguist Noam Chomsky rejected the structuralist approach to language description and the behaviorist theory of language learning (Richard & Rodgers 2000:59) He stated that Language is not a habit structure. Ordinary behavior typically involves creativity, formation of new sentences and patterns following rules of great abstractness and intricacy.(Chomsky 1966:153). The audiolingual method has experienced a decline mainly because of Chomsky’s rejection and the types of learning activities designed by the audiolingual method (Richard & Rodgers 2000: 58). However, it still survives today and is used for drill-based activities, dialogue-building, and the emphasis on practice.
Reference
Brooks, N. (1964) Language and Language Learning: Theory and Practice. 2nd ed. New York: Harcourt Brace.
Chomsky, N. (1966) Linguistic Theory. Reprinted in J.P.B. Allen and P.Van Buren(eds.), Chomsky: Selected Readings, pp. 152-9. London: Oxford University Press.
Carroll, J.B. (1953) The Study of Language: A Survey of Linguistics and Related Disciplines in America. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.
Cook, V. (2008) Second Language Learning and Language Teaching. London: Hodder Education.
Graham, H. (2011) Exploring English Language Teaching. London[New York]: Routledge.
Moulton, W.G. (1961). What is structural drill? International Journal of American Linguistics 29(pt.3): 3-15.
Scott, T. (1999) How to Teach Grammar. Harlow: Longman.
Richards, C. & Rodgers, S. (2001) Approaches and Methods In Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Practical Task (1936)
Introduction
As frequently used in audiolingualism, drills have been widely applied in foreign language classes for many years. Harmer (2001) stated that drilling is a mechanical way to force students to follow and practice language items in a controlled manner. Thornbury (2017: 87) indicated drills as a main technique of audiolingualism are designed to reinforce good habits. Therefore, drills are the main audiolingual method that emphasis repeating the dialogues and phrases which contain essential grammatical items and structure. Drilling acquires listening sentences or dialogues provided by tapes, native speakers, or other students. This process is called stimulus (essay 2.2), and repeating what they have heard is called response (essay, 2.2). Although drills have their advantages, it helps students memorize language by receiving feedback from their teachers and reinforcing their language skills. It still has disadvantages. One of the problems is that drills lack participation from learners because, they are completely controlled by the teachers. It needs students react mechanically rather than encourage them to organize the sentences. Moreover, the main problem for drills is that compared to other methods, it is fairly monotonous. Therefore, how to vary drills to create entertainment and make them more meaningful is what the essay mainly argues. This essay argues that there are various ways to enrich drills, however, if it wants to be communicative and meaningful, it should be changed and selected with some different reality based on the class’s scale and specific attributes of learners. This essay will divided into next five parts. This essay will list some methods in the second section, which will add drills’ enjoyment and implications. The third section, based on some personal learning experiences, will further explore drills in games explicitly. In the fourth part, according to some attributes of learners and scales of teaching classes, the essay will provide some suggestions and reasons to use these ways in practical situations. Finally, the essay will provide a brief conclusion to summarize above.
Varying drills in different ways
Drills require the right efforts from the teachers and students. Teachers need to correct the pronunciation of learners and vary the drills to make sure learners’ concentration. The students should participate in as many drills as possible. According to Harmer (1991: 92) advised, drilling should not be used too long or too frequently. Because drilling for a long time possibly will consume their concentrations and patience. Therefore, in this section, the paper will provide ways to create enjoyment and improve the quality of learning.
2.1 Drilling with flashcards
Instead of only drilling followed by teachers, drilling with flashcards shows its vividness, and it can be applied to most foreign language teaching classes. In the beginning, teachers will demonstrate the imagines and pronounce the vocabularies to students. In the process of presentation, teachers should not demonstrate the side, which contains the vocabularies. This is beneficial for learners to comprehend the real meaning of the material. After they have a primary recognition of the pictures and how the vocabularies pronounce, teachers will then demonstrate the words’ flashcards. In the complete process of drilling with flashcards, students should continuously repeat the target words. In the end, teachers will challenge their students when they are more familiar with the words by flipping the words rapidly. For example, when the teacher says ‘tree” the students point out the picture of a tree, and repeat ‘tree”. Teachers should then repeat several times for students to remember and turn the flashcard back to the tree’s picture. Learners then follow teachers to repeat the tree several times.
2.2 Drilling with videos
Thornbury (2000: 57) stated that the main materials used as central roles in audiolingual courses are audiovisual equipment like apps and recorders. Drilling with videos is quite frequent in the process of teaching language. In my teaching practice, when using videos, I prefer to use comedy shows. The reason for this is that, in comedies, the native speakers are mainly in what can be considered as a natural setting, and how they speak, and pronounce words is likely to be the way the native speakers talk and pronounce these words. I feel that it is authentic, and helps the students to understand the language and important phrases. Teachers will provide learners with some videos such as some movie clips, cartoons, documentaries, and speeches to demonstrate the pronunciation of native speakers with more colorful imagines, which help learners memorize deeply. Teachers will pause the videos after one sentence is played and ask learners to repeat the whole sentence. Sometimes the videos will be paused to introduce some key grammar learners have mastered or learned in the class. Learners should repeat it by imitating the pronunciation to memorize the grammar. Moreover, drilling with videos has been widely used in teaching recently. In my class, I tend to organize competitions whereby students are expected to memorize the conversations in short videos, and ‘play-out’ the roles. For instance, I may use a 30-second clip with two native speakers, and then select two students to re-enact the conversation, and award the winners of the competition.. Teachers always organize some dubbing competitions for learners to participate in it fully. Some applications, such as Interested in Dubbing into English, are designed for drilling.
2.3 Drilling in games
Games have various forms and can be viewed as group works and competitions. Fauziati(2005: 130) stated that games are one of the speaking activities which can help motivate classes and create dynamically by providing an enjoyable environment. Learners in activities can use what they have been learned from drilling. For instance, they can practice to hold conversations of what they heard in pairs, or take the role of a teacher and student to enhance their learning process. Teachers can separate the class into several sections. The number of people in each section should be approximately the same. Teachers can set the drills like integration drills, which is re-integrating two separate utterances into one. Each group should provide their drills to the teacher as rapidly as possible. Furthermore, teachers can say one portion of the new structure they have taught in class and become another way of drilling material. The variation of the drilling material will attract the attention of learners. The implications of games should not challenge students but let them drilling and attract their concentrations. Games have various forms and can be viewed as group works and competitions. Fauziati(2005: 130) stated that games are one of the speaking activities which can help motivate classes and create dynamically by providing an enjoyable environment. Learners in activities can use what they have been learned from drilling. Teachers can separate the class into several sections. The number of people in each section should be approximately the same. Teachers can set the drills like integration drills, which is re-integrating two separate utterances into one. Each group should provide their drills to the teacher as rapidly as possible. Furthermore, teachers can say one portion of the new structure they have taught in class and become another way of drilling material. The variation of the drilling material will attract the attention of learners. The implications of games should not challenge students but let them drilling and attract their concentrations.
2.4 Drilling in pairs
Drilling in pairs is another effective method in the class, because it provides the opportunity for students to speak to their classmates, and learn the foreign language as an in-class activity. Since the material becomes more familiar, learners can be tested their comprehension by their partners. For example, drilling in pairs can be finished when learners are tested to memorize the vocabulary list. Student A chooses one of the word translations to ask student B, and then student B should say the word. Student A can make some marks to check the correct answers of student B. Then they can switch their roles and complete the process again. Although it is effective to help learners memorize the vocabulary, it still needs choral repetition to remember the proper pronunciation.
Describing drilling in games in more details
In this section, the essay will describe some personal experiences of drilling as a learner and a teacher. Drilling in games is quite popular in most language teaching classes because compared to other ways to vary drills, it is relatively easy to attract learners’ attention and arouse their interest and learning motivation. From my experience, when I’m a student in my junior school, once my teacher has divided us into several teams to finish a game about drills. She recorded a passage about ten regulations for protecting the library and passed it to us. Each team needs to work together to retell the entire article correctly. The group, which is the first to retell the article, will win the game. As the learner, I paid more attention to the tape than I usually did because there is a time limitation. All my classmates felt stressed and were concentrated on the part they need to retell. Therefore, the drills at that time were quite successful. Learners could be more concentrated and get a spirit of cooperation, because there is the aspect of time limitation, and a goal that learners are supposed to achieve in the classroom setting. As a teacher, once I was tutoring twins who aged 8 years old, I gave each of them a pen and played the games about drills. When I said one object in Chinese, they need to correctly point out the object’s location and said the object in English. The one who speaks rapidly will get one point—the one who scores more wins. The twins performed more actively and drilling loudly than they usually did. Therefore, from my teaching and learning experiences, drilling in games will become more vivid and meaningful.
The reasons of the ways recommended and suggestions
The use of drills in different ways should consider learners’ attributes and the scales of classes because the purposes of classes and the learners are different. Besides, this essay has stressed the important roles of teachers’ and learners’ (essay 3.1,3.2) in the class. Therefore, the drills should be changed in proper ways to deal with a different class. Although drilling in games are suitable for learners of all ages since the games attract more attention of learners to imitate actively, this essay suggests drilling in games is a more appropriate method for children because adults or older learners can draw upon cognitive abilities which allow them to understand and learn the language in the more abstract way than children (Hall, 2011: 127).
Meanwhile, this essay also suggested drilling with videos and drilling in pairs are more suitable for older learners. Some students in junior and senior high schools need to memorize a large member of vocabulary. Drilling in pairs can help them effectively memorize the vocabulary. Moreover, drilling with videos is quite popular in many countries, in various dubbing competitions. As a derivative of drilling with videos, dubbing contests can provide the fun of drill to learners and let learners memorize the key feature that occurred in the text.
The reasons to recommend drilling with flashcards are based on flashcards’ features, which are portability and applicability. Firstly, it can be widely applied in large classes to meet the curriculum’s demand, which to demonstrate some specific terms or introduce new vocabulary. Besides, it can be used for teaching younger learners by using flashcards to do various activities that could improve their communicative ability. For example, teachers can arrange several flashcards which only contain vocabularies, and some only contain pictures. Learners should match and pronounce them correctly to finish the game. Therefore, the flexibility of flashcards can combine the drilling to vary its implications.
Conclusion
In this practical task part, this essay has proposed varying drills to become more meaningful and communicative. Drilling has its advantages since it focuses more on learners’ accuracy and encourages teachers to correct the mistakes of learners. It still has drawbacks that this essay has struggled for dealing with. This essay has proposed several drilling methods such as drilling with flashcards, drilling in games, drilling in videos, and drilling in pairs to improve the issue of tedium. This essay has also suggested the attributes of learners and the scales of classes should take into account when choosing which ways should be used. Furthermore, some suggestions are addressed to the learners and teachers. Firstly, drills as an essential element in language teaching. Teachers should analyze different factors in class to achieve the effectiveness of drilling. Secondly, teachers have the responsibility to use drills creatively by combing various kinds of realia and materials. Thirdly, learners are encouraged to repeat more and drill actively in class to become more communicative and skillful.
Reference
Fauziati, E. (2005) Teaching of English As a Foreign Language (TEFL). Surakarta: Muhammadiyah University Press.
Harmer, J. (1991). The Practice of English Language Teaching. Longman.
Harmer, J. (2001). How to Teach English. Edinburgh Gate: Pearson Education Limited.
Hall, G. (2011). Exploring English Language Teaching. London&New York: Routledge.
Richards, C. &Rodgers, S. (2001) Approaches and Methods In Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Thornbury, S. (2017). The New A-Z of ELT. London: Macmillan, p.87f.
