Shifting from Audiolingualism to Communicative Language Teaching: A Huge Step Forward in Language Teaching Methodology

 

Introduction

Teaching, in general sense, is a single word which carries a world of meaning and a long history along with itself. It dates back to human origination. Throughout history, man has always tried to cope with the world around him; therefore, to satisfy his needs, he has been compelled to learn from other people and teach one another subsequently. Miscellaneous methods have been devised in this regard either in harmony with or in contrast to each other. Recent centuries, however, experienced the most changes.

When it comes to language teaching, and foreign language teaching in particular, again, it does not sound like a new field. Learning languages other than mother tongue, which comes by itself and there is no need for formal teaching or learning, has been of man's concern even in early stages of human civilization. Clearly, immigrants, traders and the like had to learn the language of the people they faced or at least to communicate in an understandable language. Terms such as Lingua Franca, "a language to ease communication among people in areas where many languages are spoken"1 pidgin language and Creole emerged accordingly.

Along with the incredible developments and rudimentary changes in our kaleidoscopic world, the need for teaching and learning languages grew larger and more crucial. Nowadays you can be aware of the finest event in remote places just at the click of your finger. Industry has found its way in any cell of human life, and it demands interaction among all parts of the world. Education has also a considerable share in exchanging information and thereby intensifies the importance of language education. Altogether, language is a prerequisite for our global village.

In reference to the main concern of the present study, it must be noted that the researcher has tried to delve into language teaching methodology and to prominent method of teaching including Audiolingual Method (ALM) and Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) in particular.

Regarding language teaching, it seems to be necessary to give a brief history of the subject and its fundamental components. Then, the above-said methods will be explained in detail respectively. Comparing and contrasting the key elements of the methods will lead us to the conclusion mentioned at the last part of this research.