Audio lingual language programs

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peterbeischmidt
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Re: Audio lingual language programs

Postby peterbeischmidt » Sat Jan 02, 2016 6:49 pm

diplomaticus wrote:
Serpent wrote:For Indonesian, I liked http://www.learningindonesian.com :)

Did you utilize the premium lessons? Care to share your view of how far the free ones got you and if the paid ones are worth it?

Unless the materials offered on this website can be called audio-lingual, would you mind moving this discussion elsewhere?
Speakeasy wrote:I notice that the Indiana University CeLt archive has the recordings: http://www.iu.edu/~celtie/greek_archive.html. However, they are available only to registered students, staff, and faculty members.

Peter Bien is still alive and well. Maybe he can be asked. I noticed that he authored a new textbook for Modern Greek not too long ago, and this time he adopted the 'communicative approach'. It sure would be interesting to talk to him about how the two approaches (audio-lingual vs. 'communicative') compare.
Last edited by peterbeischmidt on Sat Jan 02, 2016 6:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Serpent
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Re: Audio lingual language programs

Postby Serpent » Sat Jan 02, 2016 6:55 pm

Yes, the materials are audiolingual. There are optional PDF guides but I never used them.

I didn't do the paid lessons, no. The free ones end kinda abruptly, I had been expecting a wrap-up at the end.

Along with GLOSS it's definitely the best resource I've used for Indonesian.

BTW, the authors asked for input on old HTLAL when they were about to start making the podcast :)
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Re: Audio lingual language programs

Postby Serpent » Sat Jan 02, 2016 9:19 pm

Serpent wrote:The free ones end kinda abruptly, I had been expecting a wrap-up at the end.
BTW I just mean the last free lesson. I guess they recorded them before deciding to release only the first 32 for free, or they deliberately make you feel like continuing your routine by paying for the premium lessons. There's no closure :lol:, no goodbye to the free listeners or even an acknowledgement that the free lessons end here.
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Re: Audio lingual language programs

Postby Speakeasy » Mon Jan 04, 2016 6:14 pm

Intrigued by diplomaticus' question concerning an audio-lingual method for learning Indonesian, I listened to a few of the audio recordings available on the Indiana University CeLt archives for "Indonesian Basic Course (Bahasa Dialect)" and I confirm that this is an audio-lingual course. I erroneously assumed that this was an old FSI or DLI course, but I could not find a reference to it. So, I sent a request for information to the CeLt who kindly responded today as follows: "Our old card catalog lists those materials simply as “Intensive Indonesian Program” by Harsono & Baird, 1965." I "Googled" the title and authors, but my search did not yield a source for the text. Does anyone have an idea of how a copy might be located?
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peterbeischmidt
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Re: Audio lingual language programs

Postby peterbeischmidt » Mon Jan 04, 2016 8:16 pm

Speakeasy wrote:So, I sent a request for information to the CeLt who kindly responded today as follows: "Our old card catalog lists those materials simply as “Intensive Indonesian Program” by Harsono & Baird, 1965." I "Googled" the title and authors, but my search did not yield a source for the text. Does anyone have an idea of how a copy might be located?


I tried to find out whether any libraries in my area have a copy, and, while that doesn't seem to be the case, I found an entry for what appears to be another audio-lingual course for Indonesian:

Code: Select all

Titel: An audio-lingual course in Bahasa Indonesia / H. Hendrata
Sonst. Personen: Hendrata, Hendy
Ort/Jahr: Carlton : Hendrata, [1987]
Land: Australien


They also seem to have the tapes, unless they've thrown them away without updating the catalogue.

Incidentally, I must say I'm really impressed by the audio-lingual method. I found out about it only about half a year ago, when I began using FSI Korean*, and while I initially rejected the idea of going through drills, I've since come to appreciate it like few other things in language learning. I now find it both enjoyable and highly effective to go through drills, provided they are sufficiently varied and interesting. I think it's deplorable that thorough audio-lingual courses have been produced for only a relatively small number of languages, and I'm wondering why the methodology went out of style so early? Was it that educators thought they had found something better? Or was it simply that the zeitgeist turned against it?


* For anyone considering to use FSI Korean: Don't be turned off by people rejecting it on the grounds that the language was too formal, or that the speakers had a strange accent. It's an excellent course in every regard. It's comprehensive, it's got wit and it makes you want to continue. I've also been making labels for every drill up to unit 28 using Audacity, so it'll be possible to go through the drills using Anki, for example, without having to constantly refer back to the barely legible PDFs.
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Re: Audio lingual language programs

Postby Speakeasy » Mon Jan 04, 2016 10:25 pm

peterbeischmidt wrote:I think it's deplorable that thorough audio-lingual courses have been produced for only a relatively small number of languages, and I'm wondering why the methodology went out of style so early? Was it that educators thought they had found something better? Or was it simply that the zeitgeist turned against it?


There is an excellent article on the audio-lingual method on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio-lingual_method. As we know from the materials that were subsequently made available to the public, the FSI and DLI adopted the method extensively. Also, a number of American authors applied this method to their own published textbooks for certain languages, but fashions change, even in academic circles!

I believe that the audio-lingual method was replaced by the student-centered learning method for which there is also an excellent article on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student-centred_learning.

In addition to regretting the decline in popularity of the audio-lingual method, what I deplore the most is what-seems-to-be the "obligatory discrediting" of it by proponents of any method that replaced it. We see this phenomenon in virtually every field of human endeavour -- the newly-anointed prophets always announce the latest received-truths and all that preceded them must be denounced as being a false doctrine, and woe betide anyone who (publicly) continues to support the abandoned doctrine! -- it must be part of human nature.
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peterbeischmidt
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Re: Audio lingual language programs

Postby peterbeischmidt » Sat Jan 23, 2016 12:00 pm

I've come across another audio-lingual course that I'd like to add to the list:

Japanese Language Patterns by Anthony Alfonso

On forum.koohii.com someone remarked that there's a "a matching set of 74 one-hour cassettes": http://forum.koohii.com/thread-5619-pos ... #pid100412

I already identified a library 500 km from where I live that appears to have the entire set. Looks like I'll embark on a weekend trip soon. :D I'm obviously mad.

For more details and a synopsis follow the link to "252 Japanese Language Books": http://www.trussel.com/jap/jbooks01.htm#166
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Speakeasy
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Re: Audio lingual language programs

Postby Speakeasy » Thu Mar 03, 2016 2:10 am

While searching the U.S. Government ERIC website, I came across document number ED039791 entitled "Audio-Lingual Drills for Foreign Language Teaching" which provides a list of supplementary drill materials for use in teaching French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish.

LINK: http://eric.ed.gov/?q=ED039791

I would be quite interested in locating all of these materials!
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Elexi
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Re: Audio lingual language programs

Postby Elexi » Thu Mar 03, 2016 9:35 am

In response Speakeasy's condemnation of the 'obligatory discrediting' by proponents of the communicative approach - I agree this is true and modern 'communicative approach' people with no real depth of knowledge often approach the subject in a decidedly cultic way in their condemnation of all other methods.

However, the communicative approach developed because changes in psychology (away from from the behaviorist underpinnings of drill and response) made the audio-lingual method look outdated at the time (the classic critique of it is Wilga Rivers, The Psychologist and the Foreign Language Teacher). In addition the Pennsylvania Language Experiment of the late 1960s (where a number of schools in Pennsylvania each adopted different approaches to language learning) found that the audio-lingual method was less effective than a traditional grammar translation and text method.

I say this because it may appear that the rejection of the audio-lingual approach was based on some irrational fadism - whereas there were statistics behind it.

I think now we can probably see that all methods have their place - after all Rosetta Stone and the Anki phenomenon is a kind of return to the audio-lingual drill - and both are used in some state schools.
Last edited by Elexi on Tue Mar 22, 2016 4:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Audio lingual language programs

Postby Daristani » Sat Mar 12, 2016 1:26 am

For those interested in audio-lingual language programs, another one not mentioned to date is the two-volume course for Brazilian Portuguese entitled "Português Contemporâneo", by Maria I. Abreu and Cléa Rameh, published by Georgetown University Press.

Cassettes were issued for both volumes, and the cassettes and both books seem to be available from the publisher:

http://press.georgetown.edu/book/languages/portugu%C3%AAs-contempor%C3%A2neo-i
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