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【Abstract】There are some misunderstandings of the role of Structural Linguistics in recent linguistics. In order to make it clear whether Structural Linguistics is still a living theory， this paper reviews the theory of Structural Grammar， and analyses Audiolingual Method and its realization-pattern teaching. The conclusion is that Structural Linguistics is still， at least in the field of language teaching， influential nowadays.
【Key words】Structural Grammar； Audiolingual Method； The importance and application of Pattern Teaching
【作者簡介】赵莉莉（1981.6- ），女，壮族，广西人，广西师范大学漓江学院，硕士，研究生，讲师，研究方向：英语教学，跨文化传播学。
The Structural approach to the analysis of language was started by the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure in the beginning of the twentieth century. In a sense， all the linguistic theories after him are structural in that all regard linguistic units as interrelated with each other in a structural （or system）， not as isolated bits.（Hu Zhuanglin， 2002：119） However， since 1970s， Structural Linguistics have given rise to Transformational Grammar， which is proposed firstly by Chomsky and accepted world-widely in the field of linguistic study. Even those， who work in fields like phonology or with units like the morpheme， do not describe themselves as structuralists. Is Structural Grammar really out-dated？Dose it die away totally from the nowadays’ linguistic study？But “if linguistics is no longer officially structural， why so many linguists and theories are still influenced by structuralist ideas”， （Matthews， 2001：142） namely， pattern teaching. This paper begins with the revision of Structural Grammar， and then describes the Audiolingual Method influenced by ideas of Structural Linguistics， and ends up with discussion of significance and application of Pattern teaching-one realization of Audiolingual Method-in order to depict that Structural Linguistics is still valuable in recent linguistic study.
1. Structural Grammar
Structural Grammarians think that every language has tight structural which makes that language a specific system. It is because of mastering the systematic structure that people can understand and produce sentences which they haven’t heard before. Grammar should be constructed to describe language structure and display language system objectively. （He Linmei， 2004：59） The structural description of English begins with an analysis of the sound of the language in general， and then goes on to isolate mutually exclusive groups of grammar description proceeds to the next highest level， the word structure （morphology） of English， which involves the isolation of the smallest meaning-bearing units， the morphemes， which make up the words of the language. Finally， structural grammar analyzes the phrase structure， or syntax， of English. At this level， the grammarian looks for the various ways in which can be combined to produce grammatical English sentences. （Lapalombara， 1976） Therefore， there will be a system： some patterns of organization which contribute to grammatical meaning. As Fries argued， a sentence is a structural pattern which is made up of “parts of speech” which can be identified both by their formal markers and by their position or positions in the pattern， then we must test for all sentence positions in which that part of speech can occur. Because a language has a system for putting its words together in meaningful relationships， English sentence can range in length from one or two to a theoretically limitless number of words. Indeed， most of the sentences which most of us speak and understand are a great deal more complex than we realize. Yet we speak our native language without conscious thought about the grammar rules we use when we put our sentences together. Structural linguists believe that such language ability is a learned process， made possible by two factors： （1） humans’ powers of observation and their highly evolved brain capacity， which make it possible for them to reason inductively； and （2） the structured， highly organized nature of language.
To what extent these factors explain language acquisition is open to question， but is undeniable that language is systematically structured.
2. Audiolingual Method
The reason why Structural Linguistics has been popular for a long period from 1930s to 1950s is that it was widely applied into language teaching and learning and had got good effects. （Liu Runqing， 2003：148） The theory of language underlying Audiolingualism was derived from a view proposed by American linguists in the 1950s – a view that came to be known as Structural Linguistics. According to Structural Linguistics， language is viewed as a system of structurally related elements for the encoding of meaning， the elements being phonemes， morphemes， words， structures， and sentence types. The term “structural” referred to these characteristics： （1） Elements in a language are thought of as being linearly produced in a rule-governed （structural） way. （2） Language samples could be exhaustively described at any structural level of description. （3） Linguistic levels are thought of as systems within systems – that is， as being pyramidally structured； phonemic systems led to morphemic systems， and these in turn led to the higher-level systems of phrases， clauses， and sentences. In this sense， learning a language， it is assumed， entails mastering the elements or building blocks of the language and learning the rules by which these elements are combined， from phoneme to morpheme to word to phrase to sentence.
Hence， Audiolingual Method contains five principles which reflect Bloomfield’s idea. The principles are： （1） Language is speech； （2） Language is a set of habits； （3） To teaching language is to teach how to learn a kind of language rather than to recognize it； （4） Language should be what native speakers say； （5） A language is different from the others. Since linguists normally describe languages beginning with the phonological level and finishing with the sentence level， it is assumed that is also the appropriate sequence for learning and teaching. First of all， the important tenet is that the primary medium of language is oral： Speech is language. Therefore， it is assumed that speech had a priority in language teaching. Second， a large number of practice and drills are stressed in teaching process. That is because according to Behaviorism， reinforcement is a vital element in the learning process， and it increases the likelihood that the behavior will occur again and eventually become a habit. Third， since the structure is what is important and unique about a language， early practice should focus on mastery of phonological and grammatical structures rather than on mastery of vocabulary. Fourth， patterns， in which some words can be replaced， are mainly the content of practice.
Audiolingualism reached its period of most widespread use in the 1960s and was applied both to the teaching of foreign languages in the United States and to the teaching of English as a second or foreign language. （Richards
【Key words】Structural Grammar； Audiolingual Method； The importance and application of Pattern Teaching
【作者簡介】赵莉莉（1981.6- ），女，壮族，广西人，广西师范大学漓江学院，硕士，研究生，讲师，研究方向：英语教学，跨文化传播学。
The Structural approach to the analysis of language was started by the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure in the beginning of the twentieth century. In a sense， all the linguistic theories after him are structural in that all regard linguistic units as interrelated with each other in a structural （or system）， not as isolated bits.（Hu Zhuanglin， 2002：119） However， since 1970s， Structural Linguistics have given rise to Transformational Grammar， which is proposed firstly by Chomsky and accepted world-widely in the field of linguistic study. Even those， who work in fields like phonology or with units like the morpheme， do not describe themselves as structuralists. Is Structural Grammar really out-dated？Dose it die away totally from the nowadays’ linguistic study？But “if linguistics is no longer officially structural， why so many linguists and theories are still influenced by structuralist ideas”， （Matthews， 2001：142） namely， pattern teaching. This paper begins with the revision of Structural Grammar， and then describes the Audiolingual Method influenced by ideas of Structural Linguistics， and ends up with discussion of significance and application of Pattern teaching-one realization of Audiolingual Method-in order to depict that Structural Linguistics is still valuable in recent linguistic study.
1. Structural Grammar
Structural Grammarians think that every language has tight structural which makes that language a specific system. It is because of mastering the systematic structure that people can understand and produce sentences which they haven’t heard before. Grammar should be constructed to describe language structure and display language system objectively. （He Linmei， 2004：59） The structural description of English begins with an analysis of the sound of the language in general， and then goes on to isolate mutually exclusive groups of grammar description proceeds to the next highest level， the word structure （morphology） of English， which involves the isolation of the smallest meaning-bearing units， the morphemes， which make up the words of the language. Finally， structural grammar analyzes the phrase structure， or syntax， of English. At this level， the grammarian looks for the various ways in which can be combined to produce grammatical English sentences. （Lapalombara， 1976） Therefore， there will be a system： some patterns of organization which contribute to grammatical meaning. As Fries argued， a sentence is a structural pattern which is made up of “parts of speech” which can be identified both by their formal markers and by their position or positions in the pattern， then we must test for all sentence positions in which that part of speech can occur. Because a language has a system for putting its words together in meaningful relationships， English sentence can range in length from one or two to a theoretically limitless number of words. Indeed， most of the sentences which most of us speak and understand are a great deal more complex than we realize. Yet we speak our native language without conscious thought about the grammar rules we use when we put our sentences together. Structural linguists believe that such language ability is a learned process， made possible by two factors： （1） humans’ powers of observation and their highly evolved brain capacity， which make it possible for them to reason inductively； and （2） the structured， highly organized nature of language.
To what extent these factors explain language acquisition is open to question， but is undeniable that language is systematically structured.
2. Audiolingual Method
The reason why Structural Linguistics has been popular for a long period from 1930s to 1950s is that it was widely applied into language teaching and learning and had got good effects. （Liu Runqing， 2003：148） The theory of language underlying Audiolingualism was derived from a view proposed by American linguists in the 1950s – a view that came to be known as Structural Linguistics. According to Structural Linguistics， language is viewed as a system of structurally related elements for the encoding of meaning， the elements being phonemes， morphemes， words， structures， and sentence types. The term “structural” referred to these characteristics： （1） Elements in a language are thought of as being linearly produced in a rule-governed （structural） way. （2） Language samples could be exhaustively described at any structural level of description. （3） Linguistic levels are thought of as systems within systems – that is， as being pyramidally structured； phonemic systems led to morphemic systems， and these in turn led to the higher-level systems of phrases， clauses， and sentences. In this sense， learning a language， it is assumed， entails mastering the elements or building blocks of the language and learning the rules by which these elements are combined， from phoneme to morpheme to word to phrase to sentence.
Hence， Audiolingual Method contains five principles which reflect Bloomfield’s idea. The principles are： （1） Language is speech； （2） Language is a set of habits； （3） To teaching language is to teach how to learn a kind of language rather than to recognize it； （4） Language should be what native speakers say； （5） A language is different from the others. Since linguists normally describe languages beginning with the phonological level and finishing with the sentence level， it is assumed that is also the appropriate sequence for learning and teaching. First of all， the important tenet is that the primary medium of language is oral： Speech is language. Therefore， it is assumed that speech had a priority in language teaching. Second， a large number of practice and drills are stressed in teaching process. That is because according to Behaviorism， reinforcement is a vital element in the learning process， and it increases the likelihood that the behavior will occur again and eventually become a habit. Third， since the structure is what is important and unique about a language， early practice should focus on mastery of phonological and grammatical structures rather than on mastery of vocabulary. Fourth， patterns， in which some words can be replaced， are mainly the content of practice.
Audiolingualism reached its period of most widespread use in the 1960s and was applied both to the teaching of foreign languages in the United States and to the teaching of English as a second or foreign language. （Richards