ALM

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ALM: Audiolingual Method
Contents:

Background
Structuralism
Behaviorism
Key Features
Typical Techniques
Criticisms & Comments
References
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Background
WW2 & the demand for language skills for military purposes, leading to the setting up of Army Specialized Training Program Courses of Language (ASTP).
In the late 1950s: increased attention being given to FLT in the US + strong reactions against previous methods.
Need for a radical (triet de, quyet liet) change & rethinking of LT methodology promoted by the launching of the first Russian satellite in 1957 .
Schools drew on earlier experiences of the army programs & the Aural-Oral or Structural Approach developed by Fries.
This ‘Army Method’, known as the Audiolingual Method (ALM), was based on the linguistic theory of structuralism & the psychological theory of behaviorism very popular at the time.
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Structuralism
Proposed by American linguists in the late 1950s.
Language viewed as a system of structurally related elements for the encoding (ma hoa) of meaning - these elements are phonemes, morphemes, words, structures, and sentence types.
Main characteristics of structuralism:
elements in language are thought of as being linearly produced in a rule-governed (structured) way;
language samples could be exhaustively (thau dao) described at any structural level of description;
linguistic levels thought of as systems within systems (pyramidal structure), i.e., phonemic systems lead to morphemic systems, and these in turn lead to the higher level systems of phrases, clauses, and sentences.
Learning a language, therefore, entails (doi hoi, dan den) mastering the elements or building blocks of the language and learning the rules by which these elements are combined, from phoneme to morpheme to word to phrase to sentence.
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Behaviorism
The human being is an organism capable of a wide range of behaviors. The occurrence of these behaviors depends on 3 crucial elements in learning:
a stimulus (serves to elicit behavior);
a response (triggered by a stimulus);
and reinforcement (serves to mark the response as being appropriate or inappropriate and encourages the repetition or suppression of the response in the future)
To apply this theory to language learning is to identify
the organism as the foreign language learner,
the behavior as verbal behavior,
the stimulus as what is taught of the foreign language,
the response as the learner’s reaction to the stimulus, and
reinforcement as the extrinsic approval and praise of the teacher or fellow students or the intrinsic self-satisfaction of target language use.
Language mastery is represented as acquiring a set of appropriate language stimulus-response chains.
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Key Features I
Focus on form rather than meaning
Memorization of structure-based dialogs
Language items not often contextualized
Language learning means learning structures, sounds, words
Mastery or ‘overlearning’ is the target
Drilling is a central technique
Native-like pronunciation is sought
Grammatical explanation avoided
Communication activities come only after a long process of rigid (khat khe) drills and exercises
The use of L1 & translation forbidden
Reading & writing deferred (bi hoan lai) until speech is mastered
(Finocchario & Brumfit, 1983)
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Key Features II
The target linguistic system will be learned through the overt (cong khai) teaching of the patterns of the system
Varieties of language recognized but not emphasized
The sequencing of learning units determined by principles of linguistic complexity
The teacher controls the learners and prevents them from doing anything that conflicts with the theory
Language learning is habit formation, so errors must be avoided at all costs
Accuracy in terms of form is a primary goal
Students are expected to interact with the language system, embodied in machines or controlled materials
The teacher is expected to specify the language that students are to use
Intrinsic (BAN CHAT) motivation will spring from an interest in the structure of language
(Finocchario & Brumfit, 1983)
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Typical Techniques
Oral drills + pattern practice are typical activities in ALM. For example:
Repetition: where the student repeats an utterance as soon as he hears it
Inflection: where one word in a sentence appears in another form when repeated
Replacement: where one word is replaced by another
Restatement: The student re-phrases an utterance
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Examples
Simple drills:
Inflection: Teacher: I ate the sandwich. Student: I ate the sandwiches.
Replacement: Teacher:He bought the car for half-price. Student: He bought it for half-price.
Restatement: Teacher: Tell me not to shave so often. Student : Don`t shave so often!
More complex drills:
“Teacher: There`s a cup on the table ... Repeat
Students: There`s a cup on the table
Teacher: Spoon
Students: There`s a spoon on the table
Teacher: Book
Students: There`s a book on the table
Teacher: On the chair
Students: There`s a book on the chair
etc.”
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Criticisms & Comments

In terms of theory, 1960s, the theoretical foundations of ALM (structuralism & behaviorism) got attacked as being unsound (khong vung chac).
Transformational Grammar (Chomsky): fundamental properties of language derive from innate (bam sinh) aspects of the mind & from how humans process experience through language. His theories focus on the mental properties people bring to bear on language use and language learning.
Cognitive (lien quan den nhan thuc, dua tren hieu biet, kinh nghiem) Code Learning: Rule acquisition vs. habit formation. Practice activities should involve meaningful learning and language use.
In terms of practice,` results looked short of expectations. Students often found unable to transfer skills acquired through Audiolingualism to real-life communication outside the classroom, and many found ALM procedures to be boring & unsatisfying.

“linguistic behavior involves innovation, formation of new sentences and patterns in accordance with rules of great abstractness and intricacy.”
(Chomsky 1966, cited in Richards and Rodgers, 2001, p. 64)
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References
Barker, James L. On The Mortality of Language Learning Methods. Speech Nov. 8 2001. http://www.didascalia.be/mortality.htm
Brown, H. Douglas, 2001: Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy (2nd Edition), Pearson Longman.
Harmer, Jeremy. The Practice of English Language Teaching. 3rd Edition. pg. 79-80. Essex: Pearson Education Ltd., 2001
James L. Barker lecture on November 8th 2001 at Brigham Young University, given by Wilfried Decoo.
Larsen-Freeman, Dianne, 2000: Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching (2nd Edition),  New York: Oxford University Press.
Prator, Clifford H. & Celce-Murcia, Marianne, 1979:  “An outline of language teaching approaches.”  In Celce-Murcia, Marianne & McIntosh, Lois (Ed.), Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language,  Newbury House.
Richards, Jack & Rodgers, Theodore, 1986: Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, New York: Cambridge University Press.