A KNOWLEDGE OF LINGUISTIC PRINCIPLES HELPS THE TEACHER USING THE AUDIOLINGUAL METHOD TO TEACH THE BASIC SKILLS IN THE NECESSARY ORDER OF SEQUENCE--COMPREHENSION, SPEAKING, READING, AND WRITING--WITHOUT NEGLECTING ANY OF THEM. LINGUISTIC KNOWLEDGE MAKES REALIZABLE (1) AUTOMATION OF DIFFICULT LANGUAGE ITEMS, (2) MAJOR VOCABULARY EXPANSION IN REALISTIC READING CONTEXT, (3) MASTERY OF A LIMITED AMOUNT OF MATERIAL, (4) IMPROVEMENT OF SPEECH HABITS THROUGH MIMICRY OF NATIVE SPEAKERS, AND (5) THE EXTENSION OF LEARNING WITHIN THE MASTERY FRAMEWORK. DESPITE EXISTING OPPOSITION TO LINGUISTICALLY INSPIRED AUDIOLINGUAL METHODS, IT APPEARS THAT LINGUISTICS WILL CONTINUE TO DOMINATE FOREIGN LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION. THIS ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE "ILLINOIS JOURNAL OF EDUCATION," VOLUME 57, NUMBER 6, OCTOBER 1966, PAGES 23-26. (AB)