Paradigms in language learning and teaching

PROJECT WORK





“Paradigms in Language learning and teaching”



TEACHER: Lic. María Martha Espindola



STUDENTS:

• Paola Almeida

• Noelia F. Quiroga Benica

• Mirian Rau

• Natalia Anahí Romero Buchanan




TOPIC: “The Audiolingual Method and how it evolved into current PPP”



YEAR: 2011




The Audiolingual Method and how it evolved intocurrent PPP

Introduction:

The Audiolingual Method is a style of teaching used in teaching foreign languages. This method of language learning is also called the Aural-Oral Method. It is based on behaviorist theory, which proposes that certain qualities in human beings could be trained through a system of reinforcement. The correct use of a trait would receive positive feedback whileincorrect use of that trait would receive negative feedback.
This approach to language learning was similar to the Direct Method. The Audiolingual method (just as the Direct Method) suggested that students should be taught a language directly, without using the students' native language to explain new words or grammar in the target language. However, unlike the Direct Method, the Audiolingual methoddidn’t focus on teaching vocabulary. Rather, the teacher drilled students in the use of grammar.
Theoretical Framework
The Coleman Report in 1929 suggested that American schools and colleges should use a reading- based approach to foreign language teaching. This reading-based approach emphasized the teaching of comprehension with texts. Teachers taught from books containing short reading passagesin the foreign language which were preceded by lists of vocabulary. The aim was rapid silent reading. In the practice, teachers discussed the content of the passage in English. The people involved in the teaching of English as a second language in the United States between the two world wars used either a modified Direct Method approach, a reading-based approach, or a reading approach (Richards &Rodgers 2001). During this period there was little attempt to treat language content systematically. The grammar and the sentence patterns included in the textbook were introduced at the whim of the writer. Neither the grammar nor the vocabulary was standardized. Besides there was not a consensus on what was the most important content for each level (beginning, intermediate or advanced learners).But the entry of the United States into World War II had an important effect on language teaching in America.
When the World War II broke out, the US was thrust into a worldwide conflict and Americans needed to become orally proficient in the languages of their allies and also their enemies. The United States military provided the foundation of special intensive language courses that focused onaural/oral skills. These courses came to be known as the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) or more colloquially, the Army Method (Brown, 2001). These courses were characterized by a great deal of oral activity: pronunciation, pattern drills and conversation practice. Many of the founding stones of the discarded Direct Method were borrowed and put into practice in this new approach. Thesuccess of the Army Method and the revived the interest in foreign languages incited school and other educational institutions to adopt the new methodology. In the 1950’s, the Army Method came to be known as the Audiolingual Method.
The language theory underlying Audiolingualism derived from a view that came to be known as structural linguistics. Structural linguists had developed as a reaction totraditional grammar. This reaction against traditional grammar was prompted by the movement towards positivism and empiricism, which was promoted by Darwin’s On the Origin of species. Also a new interest in phonetics, phonology, morphology and syntax developed. According to structural linguists, the main medium of language is oral: Speech is language (Richards & Rodgers 2001). It was considered that...