THE AUDIO-LINGUAL VS THE SILENT WAY

THE AUDIO-LINGUAL METHOD
The audio lingual method is also an oral-based approach. The way to acquire the sentence patterns of the target language was trough conditioning-helping learners to respond correctly to stimuli through shaping and reinforcement. Language forms do not occur by themselves, but they occur most naturally within the context. The native language and the target language have separate linguistic systems. One of the language teacher’s major roles is that a model of the target language.language learning in the process of habit formation. It is important to prevent learners from making errors. The purpose of language learning is to learn how to use the language to communicate. Particular parts of speech occupy particular “slots”in the sentences. Positive reinforcement helps the students to develop correct habits.
Each language has a finite number of patterns. Pattern practice helps student to form habits which enable the students to use the patterns. Students should overlearn (learn to answer automatically without stopping to think.
The teacher should be like an orchestra leader, conductingguiding, and controlling behaviour of the students in the target language. The major objective of language teaching should be for students to acquire the structural patterns. Students will learn vocabulary afterward. The learning of a foreign language should be the same as the acquisition of the bative language. We do not need to memorize rules in order to use our native language. The major challange of foreign language teaching is getting students to overcome the habits of their native language. Speech is more basic to language than the written form.


THE SILENT WAY
The purpose of using teaching with the silent way method is to enable students using the language for self-expression to express their thought, perceptions, and feelings. Students become independent by relying on themselves. The teacher should give them only what they absolutely need to promote their learning. The teacher is an engineer or technician. ‘only the learner can do the learning’. The teacher relying on what his students already know, can give what help is necessary, focus on student’ perceptions, force their awareness and provide exercise to insure their facility with the language.
The role of students is to make use of what they know, to free themselves of any obstacles that would interfere with giving their attention to the learning task, and no actively engage in exploring the language. Students begin their study of language throughits basic building blocks, its sounds. The teacher sets up the situation that focus student attention on the structure of language. For much of the student-teacher interaction, the teacher is silent. The teacher constantly observes the students.
Pronuntiation is worked on from the beginning. There is also a focus on the structures of the language, although explicit grammar rules may never been supplied. Vocabulary is somewhat restricted at first.
Meaning is made clear by focusing the student’perceptions, not by translation. The teacher may never give a formal test, he accesses student learning all this time. Students error are seen as natural, indispensable part of learning process. The teacher works with the student’s getting them to self-correc.