At present, marked by the wide development of international communication, thanks to numerous international conferences held in person and online, there is a need to develop a method characterized by such a support as auditory perception – the audiolingual method. The audiolingual method arose in the United States during World War II, and its appearance was associated with the need to quickly learn foreign languages ​​​​for military purposes. This method is based on the behaviorist approach to language acquisition as the development of the necessary automatic speech reactions to appropriate stimuli. In particular, speech skills, the formation of which is the main goal of this method, are also understood as a set of automatisms that can only be achieved through multiple repetitions [1].

The audiolingual teaching method is an accompanying method of communicative teaching, which emphasizes the acquisition by students of practically applicable knowledge and skills in everyday life in the area of ​​the most typical communication situations. This method assumes the following organization of classes:

• priority of oral pronunciation of the situation over written embodiment of its results; listening should precede speaking, from which follows the didactic sequence of formation of communicative skills: listening → speaking → reading → writing;
• practice-oriented situationality of the class, when grammatical phenomena are presented by the teacher in the form of everyday situations (dialogues);
• use of authentic language samples, including imitation of the linguistic realities of a native speaker when practicing phonetic skills, work on language samples through imitation and frequent repetition;
• a fundamentally important condition is monolingualism in the classroom [2].

Let us present the stages of mastering language structures using this method:

• memorization of carefully selected structures by imitation;
• conscious choice of a new model by comparing it with those already mastered;
• practice in using the model;
• free use of mastered models in various communication situations.

The audiolingual method is classified depending on the nature of the interaction as follows:

• “student – student” interaction is used in chain training or when students perform different roles in dialogues, but this interaction is carried out under the guidance of the teacher;
• “teacher – student” interaction – most of the interaction is initiated by the teacher.

Advantages of using the audiolingual method are as follows:

• mastering the language in a way close to the process of mastering the native language;
• carefully developed teaching methods;
• no time to translate from the native language to a foreign one [3].

The audiolingual method involves teaching oral speech, which is based on repeated listening and pronouncing of specially prepared speech models.

The main principles of this method are as follows:

• oral speech is primary, and writing is secondary;
• oral speech skills are formed as learning speech reactions to presented stimuli;
• skills must be automated to such an extent that speech actions are performed without the participation of consciousness in this process;
• automation of skills occurs through training, which consists of repeated training of speech samples [4].

In the process of developing foreign language communicative competence, the audiolingual method involves teaching a language by immersing it in a language environment artificially created in the classroom using various technical means, such as audio materials. The students’ native language is not used; they are presented with a small educational fragment of a text or dialogue in English several times. Along the way, the teacher comments on sentences or phrases, writes out key words, and then new words and structures are trained in various types of substitution and transformation exercises. Students act out the text or dialogue they have heard, memorize it, and construct similar ones. Since the main goal is to develop speech automatisms in a short time, the teacher immediately corrects students’ mistakes in order to avoid developing incorrect reactions to stimuli. Correct linguistic and, especially, situational oral reactions of students to various types of stimuli (a question about time, a request to bring something, etc.) should serve as confirmation that the goal has been achieved at this stage. Listening is a complex receptive, mental-imaginative activity associated with the perception, understanding and processing of information contained in an oral speech message. A distinction is made between contact and distant listening. Contact listening occurs during oral interactive communication, distant listening occurs during mediated listening (radio broadcasts, audio recordings). In classes on the development and improvement of listening skills in higher education, distant listening is used, in which students learn to listen to and perceive speech in English. Scientists note that paralinguistic elements of speech convey up to 60% of the information contained in an audio message. Audio materials allow you to hear the acoustic elements of speech (interjections, raising and lowering the voice, pauses, etc.), which greatly simplifies the perception of information, promotes better understanding and memorization. In addition, there is an indirect immersion in the language environment, which contributes to a more successful development of speech communication skills, helps to remove the language barrier. Priority is given to oral types of speech activity, and therefore the majority of educational materials are provided not in written form (traditional educational texts), but in oral form: in audio recordings, sound accompaniment to slides, etc. [5].

A class based on the audiolingual teaching method is divided into several stages.

The first stage of the class is preparatory. The teacher makes a list of new words that are proposed to be read together and translated with a dictionary. The teacher also suggests matching the terms and proposed definitions. In addition, students listen to a number of speech formulas, after which they name several situations in a foreign language in which they are applicable. This list of exercises is approximate. Each teacher independently chooses actions that will help prepare the student for familiarization with the audio material. At the preparatory stage, groups work with terminology, learn to predict events, train short-term memory, etc.

The next stage is direct listening to the prepared audio material. Exercises are not required here. They can interfere with the assimilation of information and reduce the attentiveness of the audience. Students learn the features of pronunciation, learn to perceive the fluent speech of native speakers. After familiarizing themselves with the prepared fragment, the group is asked to write out unfamiliar words, which can later be discussed with others. If the students are sufficiently prepared, an additional task is acceptable: write out expressions that correspond to the given topic.

The final stage of the class is to check the level of assimilation of information. Here, students can choose the correct statements from the proposed list, and also act out situations from the fragment in the form of improvisation. After this, students are asked to evaluate the fragment they listened to, and voice their attitude to the situations in it. At the end, students highlight the semantic parts and come up with titles for them [6].

Proponents of the audiolingual method of teaching insist on teaching based on oral speech, with the main goal of obtaining a high level of foreign language communicative competence, and reject the study of grammar or literature as the goal of learning a foreign language. At the initial stages, teaching focuses on the formation of speech skills, with a gradual transition to other skills. Oral literacy implies the accuracy of pronunciation, grammar and the ability to quickly and accurately respond to speech situations. Reading and writing skills can also be taught, but they depend on existing oral skills. Language, according to the theory of the audiolingual method, is speech, but the speaking skills themselves depend on the ability to accurately perceive and reproduce the main phonological features of the target language, on the fluency of using key grammatical structures in speech and on the knowledge of a sufficient volume of vocabulary to use these structures. Since the audiolingual method is essentially an oral approach to language teaching, it is not surprising that the teaching process includes comprehensive oral instruction. The emphasis is on spontaneity and precision of speech [7].

Thus, the audiolingual method is based on the correctness of oral speech, and the explanation of grammar does not play a special role. The language lab provides an opportunity to conduct additional classes for listening to dialogues and performing exercises to consolidate the structures that are selected as a basis for practicing the material according to the template. From a practical point of view, it is worth noting that this method has a number of disadvantages: students are passive, there is no initiative on the part of the teacher, the language form is trained separately from the meaning and without relying on it, written speech is minimized. All this somehow depersonalizes and mechanizes the teaching process, which can lead to a decrease in motivation [8]. On the other hand, the process of teaching English using the audiolingual method is as close as possible in its essence to the natural process of mastering a person’s native language, which in turn leads to the stable formation of foreign language communicative competence of students.