Which of the following methods advocates oral drilling and ‘mastery of the…

Language-teaching methods are classified by what they treat as central to learning: some prioritise mastering grammatical form through repetition, while others prioritise conveying meaning through communication. A method built on structural linguistics and behaviourist psychology, which treats language learning as habit formation established through repeated oral pattern drills, is known as the Audio-lingual Method (Audiolingualism).

Audiolingualism, developed from the work of Charles Fries and later extended by Robert Lado in the mid-20th century, matches both criteria named in the question:

• Oral drilling: lessons centre on dialogue memorisation and structural pattern drills — repetition, substitution, and transformation drills — performed aloud rather than through silent study.

• Mastery of formal properties: correct grammatical structure is reinforced through a stimulus-response-reinforcement cycle (behaviourist habit formation), making formal accuracy the primary instructional goal.

Contrasting this with the other named methods, by their own defining features:

• Communicative language teaching centres lessons on meaningful interaction and task completion, such as information-gap tasks and role-plays, prioritising fluency and communicative competence over drilling of grammatical form.

• Grammar translation method also targets formal grammar mastery, but through written translation exercises and rule memorisation carried out in the learners’ first language, not through oral drilling.

• Total Physical Response links comprehension to physical movement performed in response to spoken commands, delaying active speech production rather than drilling oral patterns.

Only Audiolingualism combines oral drilling with an explicit focus on mastering the formal (grammatical) properties of language, so Audiolingualism is the correct answer.