Compare and Contrast the Communicative Approach with the Audio-Lingual Method from the Point of View of Teacher, the Learner, the Activities and Types of Materials Used, and Any Underlying Theory of Language or Learning.
Compare and contrast the Communicative Approach with the Audio-lingual Method from the point of view of teacher, the learner, the activities and types of materials used, and any underlying theory of language or learning. Discuss to what extent the Communicative Approach was an improvement over the Audio-lingual Method. Introduction The essay is about the communicative approach and the audio-lingual method which are both ways of teaching a foreign language. The communicative language teaching makes use of real life situations by using communication and interaction. The teacher sets up a situation that the students are likely to face in real life. Unlike the audio-lingual method of language teaching, which relies on repetitions and drills, the communicative approach can leave students in suspense as to the outcome of the exercise, which will vary according to their reactions and answers. The real life simulations change from day to day. Students’ motivation to learn comes from their desire to communicate in meaningful ways about meaningful topics. While the communicative approach offers all these things the audio lingual method is exactly the opposite, as it will be explained in the essay below. The origins of the communicative approach are many. It is said by linguists that one teaching methodology tends to influence the next. In this case the communicative approach could be said to be the product of educators and linguists who became dissatisfied with the audio-lingual and grammar-translation methods of foreign language instruction. Many linguists at that period felt that students were not learning enough realistic. They did not know how to communicate using appropriate language, gestures or expressions. In other words they were not able to communicate and to use properly the language they have studied. Communicative language teaching is an approach to the teaching of second and
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