| The newest is always the best or so many people | | | | English as a Second Language is called the |
| believe but what if we took the best of the old and | | | | Communicative method. It is the polar opposite of ALM |
| combined it with new technology to deliver it? For | | | | with its focus being strictly on communication not |
| literally thousands of years there were only a few | | | | structure. The challenge comes in that while the goal |
| teaching methodologies for foreign language education. | | | | of communication is the right thing to aim for by not |
| Then with the advent of world war two there was | | | | using some drills or practice the ESL/foreign language |
| suddenly a need to teach foreign languages to large | | | | student will never be able to reach the higher levels of |
| numbers of people in a very short period of time. | | | | fluency. Being able to communicate at the lower levels |
| They named the new approach the Army Method | | | | sooner is an advantage of the Communicative Method |
| because it was primarily taught to soldiers. Later, it | | | | over all the others but it can leave the student with |
| was renamed the Audio Lingual Method or ALM for | | | | broken English. |
| short. It is based on using substitution drills where the | | | | In the end, supplementing the new methodologies e.g. |
| base structure stayed the same and one part say the | | | | the Communicative Method with the old methods e.g. |
| subject was changed. There was a lot of choral | | | | the Audio Lingual Method may produce the best |
| response with the instructor asking individuals to | | | | results in the end for the student. However, even if the |
| respond occasionally to check accuracy. There was | | | | teacher wanted to they could not use ALM in today's |
| some translation involved to get the general meaning | | | | classroom. If the administration didn't stop it then peer |
| of the structure across to the students. The classroom | | | | pressure from colleagues would. English as Second |
| sounded like a jungle of parrots going off all at once. | | | | Language and other foreign language students as well |
| Someone decided it was more efficient to put the | | | | can find the drills and practice they need to achieve |
| students into labs with their own listening station and | | | | the highest levels of language fluency on the internet. |
| headset. The student had no control over what | | | | Now students can learn English with free lessons |
| happened and there was little feedback. If the student | | | | online. Being internet base these lessons also allow the |
| got lost or couldn't understand then they were just | | | | students maximum control over the flow of the |
| sitting there until the "session" ended. Something like the | | | | materials. Most web based ESL programs' core is |
| brainwashing programs in George Orwell's 1984. But | | | | ALM, Army Method, due to the nature of computer |
| given what was known about language and the | | | | programs. However, if the student wants to chat in |
| technology available it produced a huge amount of | | | | English there are chat rooms and now with AI, Artificial |
| translators for the military in a very short period of | | | | Intelligence, the student can even get some |
| time. Then after the war ended more methodologies | | | | communicative practice in as well. Combining the best |
| were created, discovered or even "re-discovered" in | | | | of both worlds, traditional methodology with modern |
| some cases and the Audio Lingual Method was | | | | technology, will bring the student along the pathway of |
| pushed aside and largely forgotten. | | | | foreign language learning to fluency. |
| The current method largely adopted for Teaching | | | | |