What are the positive and negative aspects of using an Audiolingual Method-based curriculum in an EFL classroom? What special problems does this method pose for EFL students?
With an ALM-based curriculum, the class can focus on honing listening and speaking skills such as pronunciation and intonation, while experiencing immersion in the target language. During the WWII-era, this immersion helped create many fluent foreign language speakers in the army. For the teacher, an ALM-based curriculum means that lesson plans and tests are easy to construct.
However, an ALM-classroom may be boring and unsatisfying to students as it involves a lot of repetition. These repetitive exercises consist of contrived sentences taken out of context, and students feel as though they are not actually using the language. An ALM-based curriculum also demands a lot of energy on the part of the teacher, who needs to maximize the time spent in class. Reviewing a drill 8-10 times each for every concept covered is draining for both the teacher and the students.
For EFL students, an ALM-based curriculum does not accurately assess competence since students simply mimic what they hear. With this lack of feedback, they are unable to transfer these skills to real communication situations. Students also feel unmotivated because the repetition drills are boring and mechanical. Finally, ALM does not address a spectrum of the multiple intelligences and rather focuses on the most receptive (and thus least productive) of channels. This is important for students of EFL, as language ability is best developed in a learning environment that is comfortable and conducive.
Thanks, Roger! Take care~