Communicative Language Teaching vs. Audio-lingual Method

Communicative Language Teaching

Audio-Lingual Method

Students work with the language independently (motivated by the teacher)

Students work as told by the Teacher .They are controlled by the teacher

Students are expected to interact personally with each other either in pairs, triads, groups in the target language.

Students interact either with the teacher or with teacher controlled material. They interact with each other in the form of Chain drills. The communication is limited in scope

Students are expected to share their needs to ease the process of learning

Students are not expected to personalize during the process of learning.

Students are autonomous Learners as they are using the language and can use other cognitive strategies to accomplish the task (set by the teacher) independently

Students are not autonomous learners

Students are not aware of the final objective and are in suspense of the outcome out of the class exercise. The teacher cannot know exactly what language the students will use.

Students are expected to be aware of the outcome of the activity and they have to work towards accomplishment of the objective laid

Students have to get motivated to do the class exercise

Students are not expected to be motivated but just do the activity as told to them.

Students are expected to master the 4 skills of language learning

Students are expected to master sound system and grammatical patterns

Students are not required to imitate but to understand the language

Students needs to be an imitator of the teacher or teacher supplied language material

Students are not required to memorize  scripts, dialogs, material

Students are required to memorize scripts, dialogs and material

Students grasps language through negotiation with each other or with teacher

Students grasps language through dialog delivery – repetition and  imitating

Students are expected to be acquainted and understand the vocabulary. Meaning is paramount

Students are not expected to be acquainted with the vocabulary. Meaning is not paramount

Students are not drilled with Grammar patterns for memorization

Students are drilled with grammar patterns for memorization

Students are expected to make mistake as it is considered a part of learning

Students are not expected to make mistakes or any error.

Students are not expected to learn the habits of the target language speakers.

Students are expected to acquire the habits of the target language speaker. With positive reinforcement, students are expected to repeat and learn the new habits.

Students are expected to communicate effectively

Students should “overlearn” i.e. learn to answer automatically without stopping to think.

Students might be aware about the culture. Students are not expected to have behave and speak like native speakers. Comprehensible pronunciation is sought

Students are expected to be aware about the culture of the target language speakers. The students are expected to speak like native speakers

Students are encouraged from the beginning to communicate in the target language.

Students are not expected to communicate from the very start. They are expected to participate in the communicative  activities only after a long process of rigid drills and exercise

Students can judiciously use the native language where feasible

Students are not expected to use native language at all.