The Application of Audio Lingual Method to Sixth—grade Primary School English Teaching

房薇薇

【Abstract】The audio lingual method is a distinctive teaching method centering on listening and speaking， which is widely used in English teaching for many years. I analyze the sixth-grade primary school English textbooks with the application of this method. Through analysis， I consider that the audio lingual method is suitable for English teaching of primary school students since oral practice is their main teaching aim.

【Key words】the audio lingual method； listening and speaking； primary school

Introduction

The audio lingual method is an appropriate one for the primary school students. Sixth-grade primary school students who are about 12 years old， are still in an elementary level of language learning. And children have the great ability of imitation and memories.

1. Basic Principles of the Audio Lingual Method

1.1 Listening and Speaking- Oriented Teaching Method Auxiliaried by Reading and Writing

Language is at first a vocal phenomenon and writing is only the symbol which records the speech. The audio lingual method claims listening and speaking as the most prior and first parts when mastering English. Teachers have to select specific grammatical patterns in the dialogues.

1.2 Habit Formation through Repetitive Drills

Learning a language is developing a habit. Language acquisition is a process as which concludes stimuli and response. Learners require more and more drills to obtain a language. Through pattern drills， the verbal behavior can be learned.

1.3 Centering on Sentence Patterns

Under the influence of structuralism， it emphasizes that language is the structural system combined by small language unites through grammatical rules. Sentence patterns possess not only structural meaning but also the lexical， social and cultural meanings. The structure of the language is identified with its basic sentence patterns.

1.4 Mother Tongue Excluded or Restricted

Structural linguistics insisted that we should interpret directly by using the method of directing， situation and context. For the primary stage learners， this method is too difficult to grasp. The audio lingual method aims at training students oral English. Using the mother tongue and translation method will absolutely hinder students learning of English.

1.5 Comparing the Structures of Language

The audio lingual method deems that learners should compare English with the mother tongue， so as to find differences between the two languages and explore the difficulty of English learning. Teachers should train students to aim at the specialized difficulty.

2. Analysis of the Audio Lingual Method Teaching Materials

In the late 1960s and early 1970s， more and more teaching materials were written in the light of the audio lingual method. The most famous books were English 900 and Success with English. They focus on the practice of oral English with repetitive sentence type exercises. And it embodies the principle of giving precedence to listening and speaking. In 1978， the Peoples Education Press formulated the syllabus for elementary and secondary school， and wrote the new English textbooks for it. It emphasized the sentences repetition exercises and no use of mother tongue. Its teaching materials have improved constantly.

3. Teaching Procedures with the Case of Sixth-grade Primary School English Textbook

I use the Unit 6 which is titled by “How do you feel？”. I divide this process into six sections： recognition， imitation， repetition， variation， selection and after-class activity.

Section One： Recognition.

The teacher provides students a model dialogue containing the main sentence patterns and make students understand it better through the means of objects， pictures， gestures， mime and context of situation.

In the Unit 6， the first two pages of pictures appear at first. I expunge the words in the picture and put these pictures to the computer. I will ask students to discuss the pictures in groups and then stand up to tell the whole class what the pictures can tell us. After that， I will speak the sentences and require students to read after me.

Section Two： Imitation.

This stage needs teachers correct students pronunciation errors and make sure students shall imitate correctly.

In this unit， Teachers may choose the basic sentences which are closely related to the topic “feelings” to their students， such as “I am happy”， “It was so good”. Students read after their teacher or tapes. They should read as many times as possible. At the same time， teachers explain the difficult points and solve any problems students have. If time is enough， teachers could let every student speak these sentences to check their correctness.

Section Three： Repetition.

Students are asked to repeat these patterns for many times so as to recite them. In this unit， I take “I am so happy” as an example. When I read this sentence one time， students shall read it two or more times. Then I would make some multiple choices for them. Through a large number of practices like this， students can grasp the basic sentences easily. Teachers could settle this kind of practice by oral or written forms.

Section Four： Variation.

This section aims to enhance students ability of sentences memorizing. There are three kinds of varieties： substitution， conversion and expansion. Substitution is a way of changing a word with another one whose function is as same as the first one. E.g. “I feel happy.” “Happy” could be substituted by “Sad”， “Ill” and so on. Conversion is to change the sentence structures or the functional words. “I feel happy” could be converted to “I dont feel happy”. Expansion means adding modifiers to the sentence. For instance， “I feel happy” could be changed to “I feel very happy”， “I feel very happy today” and so on.

Section Five： Selection.

During this procedure， students choose the sentences they have learned in this class to describe a specific situation， event or scene. Teachers give them some topics and ask them to make a dialogue or practice in other forms.

In the unit 6， “Lets Learn”， “Write and Say” and “Play card games” are all the brilliant exercises to check students understanding about the lessons contents. Students can get a whole image about the feeling words， such as “happy”， “sad”， “angry” etc. They are able to link the sound image with situations directly.

Section Six： After-class activity.

Teachers shall assign students to draw some pictures about feelings after class. In the next class， students would describe “How do they feel？” according to the pictures they have drawn.

Conclusion

The audio lingual method is still a vital teaching methodology in English teaching of the primary school. It conforms to these students age features and could meet the needs of oral teaching of English. The ultimate aim is to improve students English level by means of appropriate teaching methodologies.

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