behaviourism vs cognitive

THE AUDIO-LINGUAL HABIT THEORY VERSUS THECOGNITIVE CODE-LEARNING THEORY1):SOME THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS*)

Kenneth Chastain

Les professeurs de lang u es ont convaincus, depuis le debut des anneescinquante, que les precedes audio-linguaux etaient bases sr des principesd'apprentissage sains. L'experience n'a pourtant pas toujours confirme ces vues.

La psychologic cognitive moderne e$t basee sjir des faits neuro-psycholpgiquesrecemment decouverts. Beaucoup de chercheurs modernes ont nie l'importancefondamentale de Timitation et de la repetition.

L'auteur termine en soulignant I'importance d'un exam en approfondi, a lalumiere des formules theoriques actuelles, des resultats obtenus. Nos connais-s an ces ne sont pas completes. Le professeur de langues doit suivre avec attentionles recherches en marche dans ce domaine.

\Seit 1950 etwa sind vide Fremdsprachenlehrer berzeugt, da die Methoden desaudio-lingualen Unterrichts auf einer wissenschaftlich fundierten Lerntheorie ba-sieren. Vergleichende Unterricht s expefimente haben diese Ansicht jedoch nichtimmer besttigt.

Die moderne Erkenntnispsychologie grndet ihre Theorie des Spracherwerbsauf neuro-psychologische Vorgnge, die erst krzlich entdeckt wurden. Vielemoderne Forscher bestreiten die fundamentale Bedeutung der Imitation undWiederholung beim Erlernen von Fremdsprachen.

Der Artikel unterstreicht die Bedeutung einer grndlichen berprfung derbisherigen Forschungsergebnisse im Lichte des heutigen Wissensstandes. UnsereKenntnisse vom Lernproze sind lckenhaft. Der Fremdsprachenlehrer sollte da-her die gegenwrtig auf diesem Gebiet durchgefhrten Forschungen und Ex-perimente aufmerksam verfolgen.

INTRODUCTIONSince the early fifties the language teacher has been urged to adoptaudio-lingual procedures which, he was assured, were based onsound (no pun intended) psychological principles of learning. How-ever, experience has not, in many cases, confirmed the expectations

*) The author gratefully acknowledges the contribution of Professor John F.Feldhusen of Purdue University.

!) John B. Carroll, "The Contributions of Psychological Theory and Educa-tional Research to the Teaching of Foreign Languages," Modern Language Journal, 49(1965), p. 278.

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98 IRAL, VOL. VII/2, MAY 1969

of the converts, and many problems have arisen concerning earlyclaims of the audio-lingual advocates. Presently, the new science ofpsycholinguistics is searching for solutions to still unansweredquestions. Such ideas as those proposed by Chomsky and such booksas The Genesis of Language by Smith and Miller, although having hadno great influence on language teaching up to the present time, havecaused language teachers to pause and to reconsider ideas previouslyaccepted as confirmed principles of language learning. For example,in Genesis of Language Fodor states, "... imitation and reinforcement,the two concepts with which American psychologists have tradi-tionally approached problems about language-learning, are simplyuseless here."2) If he is right, then profound changes in recom-mended teaching procedures can'be expected.

Even though the language teacher's role lies at the opposite endof the spectrum from the speculative realm of language learningtheory, an examination of the theory behind current teaching methodsand procedures is beneficial toward gaining an increased under-standing of the basic concepts involved in his work. The purpose ofthis paper is to discuss the development of the audio-lingual habittheory and to review some of the comments now being made whichsupport a more cognitive approach to language teaching.

THE AUDIO-LINGUAL HABIT THEORYThe roots of the audio-lingual method are to be found in the twentiesamong those doing work in descriptive linguistics. The dominantinfluence in the early beginnings of the movement was that of Bloom-field. The methods applied in the Armed Forces language schoolswere actually those which had been developed by 'Bloomfieldianlinguists' in establishing various centers for intensive languagecourses prior to the war. Some time after the war these same basictenets were adapted to the language programs in the nation'sschools.3)

However, in order to understand more fully the direction lan-guage teaching has taken one must be aware that Bloomfield was a

2) Frank Smith and George A. Miller, The Genesis of Language (Cambridge, Mas-sachusetts, 1966), p. 112.

3) Jacob Ornstein and William W. Gage, The ABC's of Languages and Linguistics(Philadelphia, 1964), pp. 59-61.



AUDIO-LINGUAL HABIT THEORY 99

behaviorist. He rejected mentalistic interpretations of learning infavor of a mechanistic approach. 4>5) Such statements as, "The com-mand of a language is not a matter of knowledge: the speakers arequite unable to describe the habits which make up their language.The command of a language is a matter of practice," and "LAN-GUAGE LEARNING IS OVERLEARNING: ANYTHING ELSEIS OF NO USE"6) prepared the way for a new methodology basedon language acquisition through a process of habit formation con-sistent with behavioristic principles of learning. Given Bloomfield'slinguistic background stressing speech as behavior and his accept-ance of behavioristic theories of learning, one can more easily com-prehend the directions which language teaching has taken. Politzerstates that 'behaviorism' was one of the basic contributions of lin-guistics to the teaching of modern foreign languages in the 1940's.7)Modern linguistic science maintains that language is behavior. Theaudio-linguists maintain that only classroom procedures which inducebehavior in the classroom will develop the terminal behaviors desired.

These methodological tenets of the audio-lingual habit theoristsare closely related to the Skinnerian model of learning.8) Skinner feelsthat verbal behavior like any other behavior is composed of stimulus-response bonds. In his opinion language is a mechanical, not anintellectual, process. In order for behavior to be conditioned the stu-dent must be led through a series of stimulus-response situations inwhich his active response is followed by immediate reinforcement.Many of the current practices in language teaching such as patterndrills and mimicry-memorization drills are the practical outgrowthof Skinnerian principles of successive approximation to desiredbehavior. These theoretical considerations have promoted a methodin which, in the early stages of the learning process, meaning has beenpostponed in order to stress development of automatic responses.The plan is to practice the pattern to a saturation point of an "auto-

4) S. Hattori, "The Sound and the Meaning of Language/' Foundations of Language,1 (1965), pp. 98-99.

5) Ornstein and Gage, p. 57.6) L. Bloomfield, Outline Guide for the Practical Study of Foreign Languages (Baltimore,

1942), p. 12.7) Robert L. Politzer, "The Impact of Linguistics on Language Teaching: Past,

Present and Future/' Modern Language Journal, 48 (1964), p. 149.8) Bernard Spolsky, "A Psycholinguistic Critique of Programmed Foreign Lan-

guage Instruction", IRAL, 4 (1966), . 12.




matic, n on thoughtful" response.9) Valette states that new curriculummaterials have been devised on the assumption that foreign-languagelearning is basically a mechanical process of habit formation.10) Mor-ton and Lane have applied Skinner's concepts of "operant condition-ing" to second language learning and have found that the tasks in-volved in developing second language skills are "indistinguishablefrom those undertaken in the operant conditioning laboratory."11)

THE COGNITIVE CODE^LEARNING THEORY

The audio-lingual habit theory is now being seriously challenged forthe first time on theoretical as well as practical grounds. The cognitivecode-learning theory, although in agreement with some of the pre-vailing opinions held by foreign language teachers prior to the 'NewKey', is nevertheless of more recent theoretical formulation. There isa correspondence between its basic theories and the counter-move-ment against the behaviorist psychologists which has developed inthe last fifteen years.12) These theories rest upon neuro-psychologicalbases of thought and language now being proposed by cognitivepsychologists. The advent of computer simulation of problem solvinghas stimulated attempts at developing theoretical frameworks withinthe 'black box' avoided so carefully by the behaviorist psychologists.Such theories are beginning to challenge Skinner's theories and tomove beyond the realm of animal type learning.

Audio-lingual practices are based on the theory that language isbehavior. However, Chomsky questions this viewpoint saying, "... itseems to me impossible to accept the view that linguistic behavior isa matter of habit, that it is slowly acquired by reinforcement, associa-tion, and generalization..."13) In fact, the almost infinite variety of

9) Wilga M. Rivers, The Psychologist and the Foreign Language Teacher (Chicago,1964), pp. 26-38.

) Rebecca M. Valette, " Evaluation of the Objectives in Foreign-Language Teach-ing", IRAL, 4 (1966), p. 132^.

11) F. R. Morton and H. L. Lane, "Techniques of Operant Conditioning Appliedto Second Language Learning", (An address to the International Congress of Ap-plied Psychology), Copenhagen, 1961.

12) W. E. Lambert, "Psychological Approaches to the Study of Language Part I:On Learning, Thinking and Human Abilities", Modern Language Journal, 47 (1963),p. 56.

13) Noam Chomsky, "Linguistic Theory", Northeast Conference Reports on LanguageTeaching: Broader Contexts (Menasha, Wisconsin, 1966), p. 43.




speech patterns in the native speaker's repertoire can not be accountedfor on the basis of stimulus-response learning. If language acquisitionoccurred as a result of stimulus-response learning, Miller, etal. saythat a childhood 100 years long with no interruptions for sleeping,eating, etc., and perfect retention of every string of twenty wordsafter one presentation would be necessary to account for the languageskill.l4) A native speaker is continually creating new utterances, notmerely repeating identical responses to previously met stimuli. McNeillagrees, saying, "The use of language resembles more writing a playthan performing in one".15) Spolsky points out, "Knowing a lan-guage involves not just the performance of language-like behaviors,but an underlying competence that makes such performance possible.By ignoring this, it has been easy to make exaggerated claims for theeffectiveness of operant conditioning in second-language teaching." 16)Osgood has separated the ability to use language into three levels:(1) a "representational level", (2) an " integrational level", and (3) a"skill level". Actual oral response is an internally coordinated reactioninvolving all three of these levels.17) Miller etal., in Plans and the structureof Behavior have proposed that our behavior, including language, iscontrolled by cognitive processes which develop plans which theorganism then proceeds to carry out. Hebb says that sentence con-struction can not be explained as a series of conditioned responses.He feels that there is a strong indication that thoughts run well aheadof speech.18)

Various writers have expressed objection to a behavioristic modelof learning in general and of language learning in particular. Tabaquestions the value of practice without understanding underlyingprinciples.19) Briggs and Hamilton comment, "There is increasingevidence that, for meaningful learning, the roles of overt responding,practice, and reinforcement can be overemphasized, to the neglect ...of subsumption and - other cognitive processes..."20) Gagne de-

14) G. A. Miller, etal., Plans and the Structure of Behavior (New York, I960), p. 146.*5) David McNeill, "Some Thoughts on First and Second Language Acquisi-

tion", (mimeographed) (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1965), p. 3.) Spolsky, p. 123.17) Psycholinguistik. A Survey* of Theory and Research Problems, editors, Charles E.

Osgood and Thomas A. Sebeok (Bloomington, Indiana, 1965), p. 95.) Lambert, p. 58.l) Hilda Taba, Curriculum Development Theory and Practice (New York, 1962), p. 82.20) Leslie J. Briggs and Nancy R. Hamilton, "Meaningful Learning and Reten-

tion: Practice and Feedback Variables", Review of Educational Research, 34(1964),p. 546.



102 IRAL, VOL. VII/2, MAY 1969 . f

scribes the learning process as having several levels. His descriptionproceeds from the simplest to most complex types of learning. In hismodel stimulus-response learning, as promoted by the behaviorists,is a foundation for, but a small part of, higher intellectual pro-cesses.21) Others feel that there may be more than one level of languagelearning22) and perhaps various levels of language itself. Valdmanstates that the new methodology has a very thin psycho-pedagogicalbase in the normal classroom situation.23) McKinnon notes thatpattern practice used in audio4ingual classes is adequate to teach thesound system of language, but not to teach meaning.24) Miller etaLsuggest that skills are actions which were originally voluntary butwhich have become automatic through overlearning.25) Gesell statesthat early speech in a young child i part of a" complete physicalresponse, but that by age three the cognitive processes begin to sep-arate from the total overt response of the child.26) McNeill doubts theapplicability of a stimulus-response model to language learning dueto the fact that the early grammar of a child is not like that of adultsand therefore could not be the result of mere imitation. In his opinionchildren are born with an innate cognitive ability to develop their owngrammatical system.27) Penfield in discussing a child's ability to learnlanguage explains:

After the age of 12 or 13, however, nature withdraws thatgift and replaces it by the power to reason. At that age, heprefers to reason rather than to memorize; he seeks generalprinciples that will enable him to increase his stock of knowl-edge by a process of reason. In other words, he wants rulesof grammar as a lielp to learning. This law of bilingualismexplains why an intelligent adult is never successful in master-ing a foreign language without learning in a function awaycertain fundamental principles that govern the structure of the

21) Robert M. Gagne, The Conditions of Learning (New York, 1965)* pp. 3161.22) Rivers, pp. 43-46.23) Trends in Language Teaching, ed. Albert Valdman (New York, 1966) pp. IXX.24) Kenneth McKinnon, An Experimental Study of the Learning of Syntax in Second

Language (unpublished Ed. D. dissertation, Cambridge, Massachusetts: HarvardUniversity, 1965).

) Miller, et'al., p. 82.26) Arnold Gesell, etal., The First Five Years of Life (New York, 1940), p. 43.27) McNeill, p. 32.




language and that enable him to generalize, to multiply hisexperience a thousand times .. .28)

RELATED THEORY

One of the principal characteristics of the audio-lingual approach isthe study and manipulation of structural patterns of the language.29)However, many language teachers have voiced complaints about thehypnotic effect of such drills. Audio-lingual habit theorists defendthem as being the proper method of developing automatic responsesto verbal or written dues given in the target language. Recent psycho-logical studies concerning the role of repetition in learning are rele-vant to this current practice of repetition as a basic aspect of languageacquisition. Rock precipitated a great deal of research on the subjectwhen he concluded that "repetition plays no role in the formation(as distinct from strengthening) of associations, other than that ofproviding the occasion for new ones to be formed, each in a singletrial."30) Estes stated that Kimble and associates found that only thefirst few trials were effective in strengthening stimulus-responsebonds.31) Murdock and Babick concluded that repetition had nodiscernible effect on recall.32) Although unwilling to accept Rock'sconclusion, Clark, Lansford, and Dallenbach, after having obtainedsimilar results, called for further studies and stated, "If, therefore,his results are confirmed, if they are not artifacts of his method, whichhas still to be proved, then all of the modern day theories of learningthat are based on repetition, or some form of it, will have to be aban-doned or very radically modified."33)

Associated with a great deal of repetition is the phenomenon ofverbal satiation. Constant repetition tends to weaken or actually causea total lapse of meaning of the repeated word on the part of the sub-

28) Wilder Penfield, Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 5 (1953).29) Robert L. Politzer and Charles N. Staubach, Teaching Spanish. A Linguistic

Orientation (Boston, 1961), p. 7.30) Irvin Rock, "The Role of Repetition in Associative Learning", American Jour-

nal of Psychology, 7O (1957), p. 193.^)W. K. Estes, "Learning Theory and the New -Mental Chemistry"', The

Psychological Review, 67 (I960), p. 2O8.*

2) Bennett B. Murdock, Jr. and Arthur J. Babick, "The Effect of Repetition onthe Retention of Individual Words", American Journal of Psychology, 74 (196l), p. 6O1.

33) Lester L. Clark, etal., "Repetition and Associative Learning", American Journalof Psychology, 73 (I960), p. 23.




ject. One article reported a dissipation of meaning within three orfour seconds. The theoretical explanation of this loss through repeti-tion is that after a period of continually activating the environmentalreferent associated with the word an inhibiting factor develops causinga loss of the mediators involved.34) Hull's reactive inhibition postulatestates, "As a word is repeated, the trace associated with it, and withits meaning, as well as the connection between the two, are repeatedlyactivated, and should lead to their own inhibition. Repeated activationof the traces and bonds limits their further activation/'35)

Another problem in the field of methodology is that of inductiveversus deductive presentation of materials. Scherer and Wertheimerconsider this to be the basic difference between the older methodologyand that of the newer.36) Lado and Carroll have called for furtherexamination of the results of inductive versus deductive presentationof grammar in learning a second language.37'38) Torrey found stu-dents taught inductively through pattern practice to be superior tostudents in classes in which grammar had been introduced deduc-tively.39) McKinnon conducted an experiment with two relevant fac-tors : (1) method of practice, and (2) inductive versus a deductivepresentation. The results indicated that active practice before listeningto the master tape was superior to listening prior to practice, thatpractice in which pictures indicated 'situational meaning' was superiorto no pictures, and both methods were superior to normal 'patternpractice'. In addition 'discovery learning' was not as effective as deduc-tive presentation of structure.40)

Related to inductive learning in languages is the problem of trans-fer of learning across sense modalities. Dunkel examined a largenumber of studies and concluded that results of studies comparingtransfer as a result of visual versus auditory presentations did not

34) W. E. Lambert and L.A. Jakobovits, "Verbal Satiation and Changes in theIntensity of Meaning 9\ Journal of Experimental Psychology, 60 (I960), pp. 376378.

35) Michael Wertheimer and Willie Mae Gillis, "Satiation and the Rate of Lapseof Verbal Meaning*', The Journal of General Psychology, 59 (1958), p. 79.

36) G. A. C. Scherer and M. Wertheimerj A Psycholinguistic Experiment in Foreign-Language Teaching (New York, 1964), p. 8.

37) R. Lado, Language Testing (London, 1961), pp. 381 and 386.38) John B. Carroll, "Research on Teaching Foreign Languages", Handbook of

Research on Teaching, ed. N. L. Gage (Chicago, 1963), p. 1072.39) Jane W. Torrey, The Learning of Grammar: An Experimental Study (Washington,

1965).40) McKinnon, pp. xiixiv.




seem to vary greatly, but he indicated that visual presentation wassuperior in teaching grammar.41) Later studies on the subject haveseemed to divide fairly evenly. Much research has supported a visual-auditory sequence. Apparently equal numbers of studies have foundthe opposite sequence to be more beneficial in aiding the learningprocess. Pimsleur et al. found, in contrast to an earlier study, that theamount of transfer depended upon the language being learned, thelearner, and his stage of development in the process of learning thelanguage.42) Asher concluded that in general transfer was greaterfrom visual to auditory but that the difference tended to disappear asstudents progressed.43)

CONCLUSION

Cognitive code-learning theories disagree with audio-lingual habittheories on two fundamental points: (1) what language is, and (2)how it is acquired. Mental processes are accorded primary positionsin seeking answers to both propositions. In this approach emphasisis placed on the mentalistic processes involved in learning ratherthan mechanistic ones. Although admitting that structural manipula-tion by the native speaker is an unconscious process, those who stressthe cognitive aspects of language learning question the methods andprocedures used by audio-lingual advocates to develop the speechprocess into an automatic, non-thinking skill. They feel that the factthat a habit is an action which can be performed without consciousthought in no way negates a process of conscious, continued applica-tion in developing the skill. For example, the fact that a man ties a tieor drives a car without conscious awareness of individual actions inno way signifies that this skill was attained without thinking througheach step in the beginning stages of learning. Thus, these instructorsplace primary emphasis on student comprehension of structure. Withfurther practice the student can perfect his ability to use these samestructures unconsciously, leaving his mind free to concentrate on thecontent of the speech.

41) H. B. Dunkel, Second Language Learning (Boston, 1948), p. 119-42) P. Pimsleur, et al.9 "Further Study of the Transfer of Verbal Materials Across

Sense Modalities ", Journal of Educational Psychology^ 5 5 (19 64).4*) John B. Carroll, "Research in Foreign Language Learning: The Last Five

Years'*, Northeast Conference Reports on Language Teaching: Broader Contexts (Menasha,Wisconsin, 1966), pp. 2324.



i106 IRAL, VOL. VII/2, MAY 1969 . f

There is little objective evidence to aid the teacher in determiningthe more efficient methodology. Carroll summarizes the existingsituation with regard to language learning by saying that previousstudies "... fail on either or both of two counts: (a) the questionsput to the test have not been adequately thought through, with theresult that the methods being compared are not different in anyimportant way, and (b) the experiments do not meet the standardsof modern educational research, with adequate controls, valid pretestand posttest measurements of ability and achievement, and rigorousand searching statistical analysis of the data."44), In discussing evidenceto support audio-lingual practices Brooks admits, "Up to the present,what is called the new approach is largely an act of faith; research toprove the validity of its basic principles is scanty."45) From a theoret-ical standpoint, the cognitive point of view has as much support as$ 'if not more than, the habit position.

The various and varied opinions presented in this very brief reviewshould be examined in the light of adequately controlled researchstudies and actual classroom experience. Careful consideration ofobtained results in relation to recent theoretical formulations shouldprovide new insights as to paths toward further progress in lan-guage teaching. Obviously, present knowledge about learning andlanguage teaching is not complete, and the language teacher shouldremain receptive to continuing innovations in the field. The followingquote by Corder in IRAL of November, 1967, emphasizes this pointand provides a fitting conclusion to these comments:

Both linguistics and psychology are in a state at the presenttime of what Chomsky has call eel 'flux and agitation'(Chomsky,1966), What seemed to be well established doctrine a few yearsago is now the subject of extensive debate. The consequenceof this for language teaching is likely to be far reaching and weare perhaps only now beginning to feel its effects.

Kenneth ChastainDepartment of Modern LanguagesPurdue UniversityLafayette, Indiana 47907

44) John B. Carroll, The Study of language (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1959),p. 179. . .

45) Ndson Brooks, "Language Learning: The New Approach", Phi DeltaKappan, 47 (1966), p. 359.



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