Audiolingual method

The Audiolingual Method is a method for teaching foreign languages. Linguists at the University of Michigan invented this method in the late 1950s. In the Audiolingual method, students first hear a language. Later, they speak the language, and after that, they read and write in it. This way of language teaching is similar to the Direct Method. Like the Direct Method, the Audiolingual Method does not use the students’ native language. For example, if you are in an English class in Turkey, the teacher only speaks English, and no Turkish. However, unlike the Direct Method, the Audiolingual Method does not teach vocabulary. Rather, the teacher drills grammar. In the Audiolingual method, grammar is most important for the student. In other words, the student must repeat grammar patterns after the teacher. The students do not learn lots of vocabulary. This method also uses psychology. The students get a reward for speaking correctly. They get punishment if they speak incorrectly; because it is based on habit formation, which is establishesd by stimulus, response and reinforcement. It gives priority to speaking the target language, and using the native language is not allowed.