A definition of the original meaning of "audiolingual," as coined by the author in the 1950s, with a plea for the reinstatement of that meaning. Classroom procedures based on the original concept are offered. (TL)

This paper constitutes an analysis of the audiolingual concept in terms of what it was originally intended to mean and what it has come to mean in second language teaching. Basic to the concept is the notion that language was originally a matter of oral communication, and that although writing and writing systems are central, they have secondary…