Discuss advantages and disadvantages of Audio-Lingual Method

Question: Discuss goals, principles, advantages and disadvantages of Audio-Lingual Method.

Introduction

Audio Lingual Method is one of the earliest and established method of second language teaching. This method mainly focuses on the communicative competence with limited and common communicative structures.

Objective

1. To attain conversational skill in foreign language.
2. To increase demands for English courses for foreign students.
3. To develop communicative competence in learners.

Techniques or principles

1. Language is taught through dialogues with useful use of vocabulary and common structures of communication. For example:

Complex structure: This letter has been sent to you by Mr. Khan.

Common structure: Mr. Khan sends you this letter.

1. Memorization of dialogue line by line through repetition drills.
2. Native like phonetics.
3. Natural teaching method because reading and writing are taught after listening and speaking stage.
4. Perfect participation since there is enough question-answering session in ALM.
5. Inductive grammar teaching: In ALM, inductive grammar teaching method is applied. Inductive grammar teaching means that grammar is not taught with the explanation of syntactic process. Rather, the learners must identify the grammar and structure with inference or guess of the sentence structure. For example:

• • • • I went there
      • He went there
      • You went there
      • They went there
      • We went there

From the above sentences, the learners can understand that there is no necessity of change of verb in past simple tense whatever the subject is.

More Notes of ELT

Advantages or strength: advantages or strengths are the context of ALM.

1. Development of listening and speaking power.
2. Correct pronunciation.
3. Large class size could be maintained.
4. Limited useful vocabulary.
5. Lucrative for average students.
6. Participation of the learners.

Disadvantages or limitations:

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 and memorization.
5. Profitable for the hard-working learners.

Conclusion

However, it is transparent that Audio Lingual Method cannot be neglected out and out because the low proficiency-learners could be much benefited by this method. Even the semi-educated learners are benefit takers in case of learning target language.