Behaviorist theory is founded by J.B . Watson. Basically it is a
psychological theory of native language learning. This theory was advanced in
America as a new approach to psychology in the early decades of the 20th
century by making a particular emphasis on the importance of verbal behaviour.
This has received a considerable trust from the educational world of 1950s.
Behavirist theory is originated from
Pavlov’s experiment which indicates that stimulus and response work together. Ivan
Pavlov, Behaviorisma Russioan Psychologiat, conducted a series of experiments
in which he trained a dog to salivate when hearing a tuning fork through a
procedure that he has come to be known as classical conditioning. For him, the
procces of learning consisted of the formation of association betweeen stimuli
and reflexive responses. In his classical experiments he trained a dog to
associate the sound of a tuning fork fork with salivation until the dog
acquired a conditioned response that is salivation at the sound of the tuning fork. A previously neutral
stimulus (the sound of the tuning fork) had acquired the power to elicit a
response (salivation) that was originally elicited by another stimulus (the
smell of food).
Watson (1913), deriving from
pavlov’s finding has named this theory Behaviorism.
Following Pavlov’s finding, he adopted classical conditioning theory to explain
all types of learning. He rejects the mentalistic notion of innatess and
instinct. Instead, he believes that by procces of conditioning we can build a set of stimulus response
connections, and more complex behaviors are learned by building up series of
responses.
In 1938 B. F. Skinner published his Behavior of Organism. He followed
Watson’s tradition and added a unique dimension to Behaviorism. Other
psychologists therefore have called him a neo behaviorist. He created a new
concept called Operant conditioning.
According to skinner, Pavlov’s classical conditioning was a typical form of
learning utilized mainly by animals and slightlyapplicable to account for human
learning. He called Pavlov’s conditioning Respondent Conditioning. It was concerned
mainly with respondent behavior, behavior thath is elicited by a preceding
stimulus. Skinner’s Operant Conditioning
tries to account for most of human learning and behavor. Operant behavior is
behavior in which one operates on the environment. Within this model the
importance of stimuli is de-emphasized. More emphasis, however, is on the
consequence of stimuli.
Operants are classes of response
which are elicited and governed by the consequences they produce. Respondents,
on the contrary, are responses, which are elicited by identifiable stimuli.
Cedrtain pgysical reflex actions are respondents. Crying, for example, can be
either respondent or operant behavior. However, crying which is elicited In
direct reaction to a hurt is respondent behavior. However, crying which is an
emitted response, which produces the consequence of getting fed, cuddled, or
comforted is operant behavior. Such operant crying can be controlled.
Skinner’s operant conditioning seems
to be preoccupied with scientific controls. This has been widely applied in
clinical settings (i.e., behavior modification) as well as teaching (i.e.,
classroom management) and instructional development (i.e., programmed
instruction). He claimed that any subject matter could be taught effectively
and succesfully by a carefully designed program of step-by-step- reinforcement.
According to Skinner (1957),
reinforcement is the key element. The
events or stimuli (the reinfoncer) constitute a powerful force in the control
of human behavir. Reinforcers are far stronger aspects of learning than mere
association of a prior stimulus with a following responses. Human being are governed
by the consequences of their behavior. In studying human behavior, therefore,
we ought tostudy the effect of those consequences. A reinforcer is anything
that strengthens the desired response. It could be verbal praise, a good grade
or a feeling of increased accomplishment orsatisfaction.the theory also covers
negative reinforcers-any stimulus which results in the increased frequency of a
response when it withdrawn. It is different from adversive stimuli (i.e.
punishment) which result in reduced responses.
With regard to foreign language
instruction, Skinner’s verbal behavior
(1957) described language as a system of verbal operants. Therefore, the
teaching methodology based om skinner’s view rely the classroom procedures on
the controlled practice of verbal operant conditioning, then, is a mechanistic
approach to learning External
forces select stimuli and reinforce respomses until desires behavior is
conditioned to occur. Learning is the result of external factors operating on
and shaping the organism’s behavior. Given the proper reinforcement behavior
will change. In simple terms, the theory says that learning occurs in the
following manner: the learner responds to a stimulus. The response must be
active. The connection between the stimulus and the response is conditioned by
reinforcement. In sum, we can say that learning is basically viewed as a
process of conditioning behavior. From this tenet comes the definition of
learning as “a change in behavior”. In accordance with skinner’s theory, Brook
(1964:46) has defined learning as “a change in performance that occurs under
the conditions of practice”.
Skinner (2957:82) make quite clear
that learning language, although it is complex, is the same as learning other
learned behavior. He states that in all verbal behavior under stimulus control
there are three important events to be taken into accounts, namely: a stimulus,
a response, and reiforcement. These three are contingent upon each other. We
can see this in the following way: the stimulus, acting prior to the emission
of the response, sets the occasion upon which the response is likely to be
reinforced, under this contingency, through a process of operant
discrimination, the stimulus becomes the occasion upon which th response is
likely to be emitted. A representation of this can be seen in figure I below
Chart
1 : learning Process According to Behaviorism
Stimulus
à Organism (Human being) à Response Behavior à Reinforcement
à No Reinforcement
Markle (1969) and Skinner (1968) state
further that nehaviorist theory includes some basic tenets, namely : (1)
Behavior that is positively reinforced will reoccur; intermittent reinforcement
is particularly effectiove; (2) information should be presented in small
amounts so that responses can be reinforced (shaping); (3) reinforcements will
generalixe across similar stimuli (stimulus generalization) producing secondary
conditioning. They further exemplify the implications of reinforcement theory
as applied to the development of programmed instruction as follows: (1)
Practice should take the form of question (stimulus) – answer (response) frames
which expose the student to the subject in gradual steps; (2) require that the
learner make a response for every frame and receive immediate feedback; (3) try
to arrange the difficulty of the questions so the response is always correct
and hence a position reinforcement; (4) Ensure that good performance in the
lesson paired with secondary reinforcers such as verbal praise, prizes and good
grades.
The Application of Behaviorist
Theory in Language Learning
Skinner’s
theory of behaviorism has profoundly influenced the direction of the second or
foreign language teaching. The simplicity and directness of this theory –
learning is a mechanical habit formation and proceeds by means of the frequent
reinfocement of a stimulus and response sequence – has enermous impact on
language teaching. It provides the learning theory, which underpins the widely
used Audiolingual Method (ALM) of the 1950s and 1960s. this method, which will
be familiar to many language teachers, has laid down a set of guiding
methological principles based on two concepts: (1) the behaviorist
stimulus-response concept based and; (2)and assumtion that second language
learning should reflect and imitate the perceived processes of mother tongue
learning. There are three crucial elements in learning, namely: a stimulus, a
response and reinforcement. A stimulus, which serves to elicit behavior, a
response triggered by a stimulus’ and reinforcement, which serves to mak the
response as being appriorate (or inappropriate) and encourage the repetition
(or suppression) of the response in the future. Learning is thus described as
the formation of association between stimuli and responses. (Skinner; Brown,
1980)
The application of this theory In
Audiolingual method is as follows: the organism as the foreign language
learner, the behavior as verbal behavior, the stimulus as what is thaught
(language input), the response as the learner’s reaction to the stimulus,a nd
the reinforcement as the approval or praise (or discouragement) of the teacher
or fellow students. And learning a language is a process of acquiring a
set of appropriate language stimulus-response
chains, a mechanical process of habit
formation. Some of the learning precepts include: (1) never translate; (2) New
language should always be dealt within the sequence of listening, speaking,
reading, and writing; (3) frequent repetition is essential to effective
learning; and (4)All errors must be immediately corrected. (Rivers, 1964 and
Hutchinson, 1980) Meanwhile Richards and Rodgers (1987) mention five major
principles of teaching and learning which include: (1) The separation of language skills into listening, speaking,
reading, and writing, with emphasis on the teaching of listening and speaking
before reading and writing, (2) The use of dialogues as the chief means of
presenting the language; (3) The emphasis on certain practise techniques:
mimicry, memorization and pattern drills; (4) The use of mother tongue in the
classroom should be discouraged; and (5) The use of language laboratory.
Classroom environment in audiolingualism,
therefore, is arranged in which there is a maximum amount of mimicry,
memorization and pattern drills on the part of the learners. Ausubel (1968)
calls this type of learning as rote learning. On the other part, the teacher is
supposed to give reward to the utterances coming closest to the model recorder
and to extinguish the utterances, which do not. There are various pattern
drills used in Audiolingual Method as presented by Brook (1964:156-61) as
follows:
1.
Repetition
2.
Inflection
3.
Replacement
4.
Restatement
5.
Completion
6.
Transposition
7.
Expansion
8.
Contraction
9.
Transformation
1 Integration
Rejoinder
Restoration
Under Audiolialism learner errors have
become a significant concern. Nelson Brooks (1964: 58), the proponent of
Audiolingual method, views learner
errors as sin to virtue, stating that “like sin, error is to be avoided and its
influence overcome, buat its presence is to be expected”. Thus, in the teaching
learning process, teachers must provide correct language models using different
types of pattern drill. Errors are neither desirable nor tolerated. They are
evidence of non-learning; learners fail to learn the linguistic elements. Some
language-teaching theorists even suggest that there is a danger of errors
becoming habits in their own right if they are tolerated. Errors should not be
tolerated sonce they are result of non-learning, rather than wrong learning.
Errors which always exist when a learner learns a foreign language should be
avoided.
Audiolingual method has problablyhad greater impact on
second and foreign language teaching compared with any other methods. It is
developed as reaction against more traditional method such as grammar
translationand reading methods. It is the incorporation of the linguistic
principle of Aural-Oral approaches with the
psychological learning theory. Behaviorist psycholgy and structural
linguistic provided its principle rationale. It was Professor Nelson Brooks who
coined the term in 1964. Its principles formed the basis of widely used series
such as the Lado English Series, English
900 (American English), and English 901 (British English). Although the
method began to lose its favor, Audiolingualism and materials based on
audiolingual principles continue to be widely used to day.
The theory of language underlying
Audiolingualism is derived from structural odr descriptive linguistics or
Bloomfieldian linguitics. Language is viewed as a system of structurally
realted elements for the encoding of meaning; elements are phonemes, morphemes,
words, and sentences. Learning a language is assumed to entail mastering the
elements of the language and learning the rules by which these elements are
combined, from the phoneme to morpheme t word to phrase to sentence. The theory
of learning underlying Audiolingual is derived from Behaviorism. Both fields
are mutually supportive to the emergence of Audiolingualism. Behaviorist,
Skinner has a lot to say about the way language worked and the linguist,
Leonard Bloomfield has a great deal to say about the psychological aspects of
language learning. Out of these influences emerge a number of learning
principles which become the psychological foundations of audiolingualism and
shape its methodological practices. Among of the more central are as follows:
(1)
Foreign
language learning is basically a process of mechanical habit formation. Good
habits are formed by giving correct
responses rather than making mistakes.
(2)
Language
skills are learned more effectively if the items to be learned in the target
language are presented in spoken form before they are seen in written form.
(3)
Analogy
provides a better foundation for language learning than analysis. Drills can
enable learners to form correct analogies.
(4)
The
meanings that the words of language have for the native speaker can be learned
only in a linguistic and cultural context and not in isolation.
(5)
Teaching
a language, thus, involves teaching aspects of the cultural system of the
people who speak the language.
(Rivers,
1964:19-22)
The marriage of structural linguistic
analysis and behaviorist habit formation provides us with five keys
characteristics which need to be taken into consideration in designing language
programs, namely:
(1)
Language
is speech, not writing,
(2)
A
language is a set of habits,
(3)
Teach
the language, not about the language,
(4)
A
language is what native speakers say, not someone thinks they ought to say, and
(5)
Language
are different.
(Moultan
in Nunan, 1991_231)
The learning objectives of an
audiolingualprogram are distinguished
between short range ang long range objectives. Short range objectives,
according to Brooks (1964: 111), include “training listening comprehensin,
accurate pronunciation, recognition of speech symbols and the ability to
produce these symbols in writing. Whereas long-range objectives of learning
must be language aas the native speaker uses it. There must be must be some
knowledge of a second language as it is
processed by a true bilingual” (Brook 1964:104).
Audiolingualism reaches its period of
most widely use in the 1960s. but then comes criticism on two fronts, namely:
the behaviorism as its learning theory and structural linguistics as its
language theory. Noam Chomsky (1957). This critique is based on his own model
of linguistic, namely: transformational generative grammar. “Language is not a
habit structure; ordinary linguistic behavior characteristically involves
innovation formation of new sentences and patterns in accordance with rules of
great abstractness and intricacy” (Chomsky 1966:153). Chomsky’s theory of
transformational grammar proposes that fundamental properties of language are
derived from innate aspects of mind and form how humans procces experience
through language. Much of language use is not imitated behavior but is created
a new from underlying ‘Competence’ (Chomsky, 1966. Most of audiolingual
paradigm is questioned and created a critic in language teaching circles.
Cognitive Code Learning is offered as an answer. The theory is derived in pasrt
from Chomsky’s view.
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