Audio-Lingual Method & Language Acquisition Stages

Posted on Feb 9, 2025 in Pedagogy

Audio-Lingual and Army Methods

The audio-lingual method, also known as the Army Method, is a teaching style used in foreign language instruction. It’s rooted in behaviorist theory, which posits that certain traits in living beings, including humans, can be trained through reinforcement. Correct usage receives positive feedback, while incorrect usage receives negative feedback.

This approach is similar to the earlier direct method. Like the direct method, the audio-lingual method advocates for teaching a language directly, without using the students’ native language to explain new words or grammar. However, unlike the direct method, the audio-lingual method focuses less on vocabulary and more on drilling students in grammar.

Behaviorism and Language Learning

According to behaviorists, language learning occurs through conditioning. In their first year, children hear numerous speech sounds from their parents and gradually associate these sounds with accompanying situations. For example, a child learns to recognize the sounds of endearment a mother makes while feeding them.

Over time, these sounds become pleasurable even without food. This marks the beginning of language conditioning. The more frequent the exposure, the stronger the effect. The strength of the association between sounds and situations depends on the satisfaction the child derives from the conditioning process.

Soon, the child begins imitating speech sounds to control their environment and attract their mother’s attention. While many random signals may go unheeded, if the child produces a vocal stimulus the mother recognizes as appropriate, she responds. This behavior is rewarded or reinforced, while inappropriate behaviors are neglected.

When a behavior is rewarded, it strengthens the association between the utterance (stimulus) and the desired response (e.g., milk). Initially, learning occurs through random association, but repetition rapidly strengthens it. The child confirms that a specific vocal utterance is the correct stimulus for the desired response and repeats it when needed.

Stages of Language Acquisition

Children’s language development typically follows a predictable sequence, though the age at which they reach milestones varies. Each child’s development is characterized by the gradual acquisition of abilities. For instance, “correct” use of English verbal inflection emerges over a year or more, starting from omitting verbal inflections to using them nearly always correctly.

There are various ways to characterize the developmental sequence. One way to name the stages, focusing on the unfolding of lexical and syntactic knowledge, is as follows: