1. The Audio-Lingual Method and Speech Development

The aim of qualification paper is to point out the strategies and modern approaches in teaching speaking. The objectives of qualification paper: to figure out the essentials of speaking in teaching English, to analyze modern strategies in teaching speaking skills, to stress the usage of techniques in teaching speaking. The object of the qualification paper is teaching English-speaking skills. The subject of the qualification paper is investigating the topic strategies and modern approaches in teaching speaking skills.
Main part

1. The Audio-Lingual Method and Speech Development

The Audio-Lingual method, which was proposed by American linguists in 1950s, was developed from the principle that “a language is first of all a system of sounds for social communication; writing is a secondary derivative system for the recording of spoken language” [5, 43]. Thus, the purpose of the Audio-Lingual method is to use the target language communicatively. According to this method, speech is given priority in foreign language teaching. The Audio-Lingual Method is a teaching method that developed in the United States in 1940’s during World War II. At that time, there was an urgent need for people to learn foreign languages rapidly for military purposes. That is why it was also referred to as the Army method. Audiolingualism appeared as a reaction to The Grammar-Translation Method, which did not prepare people to use the target language for communicative purposes as it focused on the writing skills at the expense of the speaking skills.

The Audio-Lingual method teaches language through dialogues that focus on habit formation of students. Larsen-Freeman states that students will achieve communicative competence by forming new habits in the target language and overcoming the old habits of their native language [12,33] . The Audio-Lingual method considered language simply as form of behavior to be learned through the formation of correct speech habits [12,34]. in other words, the goal of this method is to form native language habits in learners (Dendrinos, 1992).

Similarly Richards and Rodgers stress that foreign language learning is basically a process of mechanical habit formation, and good habits are formed by giving correct responses rather than by making mistakes [8, 45]. Dialogues and pattern drills that students need to repeat, are often used to form habits. Hence, as Larsen-Freeman [8,23] says the more often something is repeated, the stronger the habit and the greater the learning.

The founders of the Audiolingualism Method, Lado, Fries, and others, not only possessed a convincing and powerful linguistic theory but also worked under the influence of the prominent school of psychology- the behavioral psychology. The psychology of learning, according to this view- point disregards intentions, the thinking, the conscious planning and the internal process of the learner. It emphasizes the externally observable responses (R) to specific stimuli (S), among which need mention, the classical conditioning of Pavlov and the 'operant conditioning' of great American linguist B.F.Skinner. Reinforcement plays a vital role in these S-R theories, whereas learners are considered 'organisms'. The stimulus serves as a tool to elicit a response, and consequently the appropriate response is enforced while the inappropriate response is suppressed. Language mastery is represented as acquiring a set of appropriate language stimulus-response chains. Foreign language learning is basically considered as a process of mechanical habit formation. The focus is on the mastery of phonological and grammatical structures and the sequence is assumed to start with phonological level and end up with sentence level. The learning principles include habit formation, aural-oral, analogy and learning meaning in linguistic and cultural context. Speech is more basic to language than the written form. Since Audiolingualism was theoretically based on the dominant linguistic and learning theory of the time, it demanded a complete reorientation of the foreign language curriculum. As for its objectives, two types of objectives were distinguished, those of the short-term and those of the long-term. The short-term objectives include, as Brooks [7, 21] has stated, "training in listening comprehension, accurate pronunciation, recognition of speech symbols and reproduction of these symbols in writing. Whereas the long-term objectives include mastery of native-like language.

To start with, speaking is one of the four language skills besides listening, reading, and writing. Like all the language skills, speaking is a complex skill that requires a simultaneous use of a number of different abilities which often develop at different rates. According to Hornby, five factors play an important role in the production of an appropriate speech, viz. (1) Pronunciation which includes the segmental features-vowels and consonants and the stress and intonation patterns, (2) Grammar, i.e., producing the correct form of sentences, (3) Vocabulary which has to do with appropriate word-choice with respect to its context, (4) Fluency which is the ease and speed of the flow of speech, and (5) Self-confidence which is seen as a crucial affective factor in the speaking competence [9, 31]. Therefore, by mastering these five components, learners become able to produce a comprehensible, appropriate and correct oral output The Audio-Lingual method focuses on oral skills. It aims to improve students’ speaking achievement. Language items are presented to students in spoken form without reference to the mother tongue so that they can learn language skills effectively. The goal of the Audio-Lingual method is, via teaching vocabulary and grammatical patterns through dialogues, to enable students to respond quickly and accurately in spoken language. The dialogues are learnt through repetition and such drills as repetition, backward build-up, chain, substitution, transformation, and question-and-answer are conducted based upon the patterns in the dialogue [10,3]. Tim Bowen explains the contributions of this method to language learning as:

“Most teachers will at some point require learners to repeat examples of grammatical structures in context with number of aims in mind: stress, rhythm, intonation, ‘consolidating the structure’, enabling learners to use the structure accurately through repetition, etc. Question and answer in open class or closed pairs to practice a particular form can also be argued to have its basis in the audio-lingual approach, as can, without doubt, any kind of drill.”

Nunan is of the opinion that Audio-Lingual method “has probably had a greater impact on second and foreign language teaching than any other method. It was, in fact, the first approach which could be said to have developed a ‘technology’ of teaching and based on ‘scientific’ principles” [5,44].

The Audio-Lingual method mainly consists of the following features:

• 
  The teacher reads a dialogue by modeling it. It has been always motivating to put the subject matter in context, and students stand a better chance of retaining what they have learnt. Students learn the target language within a concrete context that will enable them to relate what they learn to real-life learning environments. Teachers as a role model will encourage and inspire the students to strive for learning the target language.
  
• 
  Students repeat the dialogue. Through repetition students can use the target language automatically, and fluently as well. In this method it is desirable that students form a habit formation to use the target language with ease, therefore, the more they repeat, the easier they will speak the target language without thinking.
  
• 
  Some words or phrases are changed in the dialogue. Drills used in this method will allow the students to have practice. Through drills such as single-slot substitution, multiple-slot substation, and transformation students are given the opportunity to produce speech in the target language, furthermore, these patterns will let them see how language functions. Students learn how to respond correctly when they practice the drills.
  

The Audio-lingual Method benefits from an analytic, structure-based and linguistic syllabus to language teaching. The syllabus contains key items of phonology, morphology and syntax arranged according to their order of presentation, which may have been derived from a contrastive analysis L1 and L2.

Vocabulary syllabus id graded into three levels; elementary, intermediate, and advanced. The order that language skills are presented is listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The learning process is viewed as one of habituation and conditioning without the intervention of any intellectual analysis. The activities of teaching and learning process follow a hierarchy; recognition, discrimination, imitation, repetition and memorization. Dialogs are viewed as the core of an audio-lingual lesson and much time is allotted to repetition and memorization of the dialog.

Another distinctive feature of audiolingualism is the active use of drills and pattern

practice. These drills include free response, directed discourse, single and multipleslot substitution, transformation, repetition and expansion. They are adaptations of the dialog with a more personal application to the students' own situation and will provide further consolidation of learning and give opportunity for more flexible use of material. However, some audio-lingual text writers prefer to develop drills on structures different from those in the dialogs, believing in this way they can provide a more logical development of basic language requirements. Students are systematically introduced to the reading of the printed script after oral work. In more advanced stages, attention turns more and more to reading materials of well written passages, carefully chosen for the level of difficulty of language. Writing is imitative in early stages, while in higher stages written composition provides students with further opportunities to use the material they have learned in a more individual fashion. In accordance with the theoretical assumptions of learning underlying the method, learners are considered as reactive and imitator organisms. They are interaction initiators, respond to and perform controlled tasks, and have no control over content, pace and style of learning. Teacher like an orchestra leader has a central, active and dominant role who models, controls, monitors, corrects, introduces, sustains and harmonizes all four skills and active verbal interaction between teacher-learner and learner-learner. Teaching materials are teacher-oriented aiming at the development of language mastery. In the early stages, students' textbooks are not available and students may copy some of the course elements which they have listened to, repeated and responded. Later text books containing dialogs and cues for drills and exercises are provided. Tape recorders and audiovisual equipment play an important role in audio-lingual classes.

Evaluation in audio-lingual classes is based on learner's performance on discrete-point tests and also on learner's class activity.

The process of instruction follows an implicit strategy of learning rather than

an explicit one. As mentioned earlier, this method acts according to a sequence of

recognition, discrimination, imitation, repetition and memorization procedure. It is

an inductive teaching and learning method. Extensive oral practice in a target

language-dominant class is the focus of instruction and the use of the mother tongue

is discouraged. As it is with any other method, audio-lingual method has strength and weaknesses. It is the only method so far based on the dominant linguistic and

learning theory of its age. It has emphasized accurate pronunciation and enhanced

auditory memory and listening comprehension at native speed and speed of speech.

Amongst its weaknesses which need mention here are; over-abundance and excessive dependence on skills and lack of variety of activity and real language

practice. Since its underlying theoretical assumptions considered the role of the

external processing of learning superior to that of internal processing, assumed as

irrelevant or secondary, they were strongly questioned and doubted. This, consequently, led to the decline of audiolingualism. However, it has been modified,

undergone profound changes and is still practiced eclectively throughout the world

and some of the so-called new methods such as versions of communicative language

teaching use its rich and ripe techniques.

The Audio-Lingual Method aims to develop communicative competence of students using dialogues and drills. The use of dialogues and drills are effective in foreign language teaching as they lead the students to produce speech. Repetition of the dialogues and the drills will enable students to respond quickly and accurately in spoken language. Teachers need to pay attention to the techniques for using ALM method.

1. Focus on Practical Pronunciation.

The audio-lingual approach, based upon language structure, naturally treated the sounds of language as important building blocks for the creation of utterances, that is, meaningful strings of sounds.

All spoken languages are pronounced. Individual sounds can be isolated. In any language, there may be from 20 to hundreds of sounds. No matter how many sounds the language you teach employs, you will need to first have a basic understanding of what they are, how they are produced and how they work together to create utterances. Let’s look at how to gain that understanding and apply it to teaching. You don’t need to have a comprehensive list of all the sounds available for speaking the target language. It will suffice to help your students to first articulate, then recognize, the most basic sounds necessary.

Avoid using complex graphic representations of these sounds (don’t ask your students to memorize the IPA, for example). Instead, take advantage of readily recognized symbols that students use in their native language.

For example, both the voiced and unvoiced “th” sounds in English are articulated in the same way as the “z” sound in European Spanish. In early stages, before Spanish students see words written with “th,” you can transcribe the sound with a “z” for their notes, and they will make the sound you want. They will also remember it from those notes for home practice.

Also be moderate in the existence of similar sounds. The well-known “ship-sheep“ minimal pair in English, for example, does demonstrate the difference in meaning when a vowel sound is changed. On the other hand, though, if the context in the sentence indicates a woolly animal, it really doesn’t matter if the student has used the word for “boat” instead. So avoid being nitpicky with individual sounds when practicing sentences. Though you can easily find minimal pair exercises online, instead of focusing on repeating single sound changes in words out of context (which is fine for a quick pronunciation warm-up!), your students will have much more fun working with complete sentences. So try well-known tongue-twisters in the L2.

Now, tongue-twisters are often kind of silly sentences that aren’t all that useful in everyday situations. However, you can create your own twisters just by choosing a couple of sounds and finding useful words.

2. Do Structural Drilling Exercises.

As in many disciplines, the repetitive practice of basic constructs develops strength and agility for later improvisational work. In the audio-lingual method, this manifested itself in sentence structure drilling. The use of the word “drill” is kind of an unfortunate leftover from the “Army Method” that gave way to the audio-lingual method. Using that word can make students tremble with fear or yawn with boredom. So though “drilling” is useful and valid, you might want to simply call the activity something like “sentence practice,” or even “extended pronunciation practice,” which in the end, it actually is.

Structural drilling is useful in lots of ways:

• 
  It strengthens the vocal apparatus for future sentence production.
  
• 
  It builds strong habits in structural manipulation.
  
• 
  It settles automatic responses in everyday conversational exchange.
  

The most basic type of sentence structure practice involves the substitution of a particular word with another that would logically be found in the same place in the sentence. In the simplest kind of substitution, the student simply replaces one word with the cue word provided by the teacher. No other modification will occur within the sentence.

For example:

Teacher: I’d like a cup of coffee. Tea.
Students: I’d like a cup of tea.
Teacher: I’d like a cup of tea. Milk.
Students: I’d like a cup of milk.

Transformation practice involves slightly more complex substitution in which the change of one word requires modifications in other words. Subject-verb agreement may need to be reflected.

Again:

Teacher: I eat breakfast every day. He.

Students: He eats breakfast every day.
Teacher: He eats breakfast every day. They.
Students: They eat breakfast every day.

The teacher repetition of the sentence produced by the students serves a couple of purposes:

• 
  Through this repetition, the teacher can emphasize correctly any sound or articulation the students have shown problematic.
  

• 
  The repetition reinforces the listening aspect of language, allowing students to immediately recognize the sentence they have just pronounced.
  

Drilling can become a regular activity, both as a vocal warm-up and an inductive introduction to particular structures or vocabulary that will be the theme of the class. On the other hand, an entire hour of drilling might be something you would consider once or twice during a semester, but should probably not be the basic structure of your class. One criticism of the “drill” in the ALM was that it may have produced automatic responses, but that its overuse in class led to boredom and eventual reduction of student attention. So this type of exercise should probably be limited in time, not involving more than 10 to 15 percent of a class period.

3. Use Dialogue Practice

The natural next step in the construction of language, from sound through sentence, is dialogue, the exchange of information between two or more people. Structural linguists found that many conversational exchanges followed basic structures that can be studied and learned.

Everyday dialogues are probably the most familiar leftovers of the original audio-lingual method. Most modern language texts will include dialogue material and exercises, these often being the principle presentation text in a unit, especially in texts aimed at language use rather than language study for examination.

Dialogues can fall into many different categories. Standard everyday dialogues, or that type of verbal exchange that we tend to repeat over and again throughout our daily lives. These will include basic greetings and farewells, shopping dialogues and information requests, among others. Improvisational dialogues, or those that may begin standard but which will be unpredictable because of the personal interaction of the people speaking. These may include debate, discussion, argument and opinion sharing. An everyday dialogue can grow easily from previous sentence structure practice. You may present this dialogue in any number of fashions, from a printed handout to pictures, from sock puppets to repetition exercises—whatever means suit your teaching style.

These dialogues should be kept short and sweet, each student having three to five sentences to produce. For example: