in English Aim of the thesis: The aim of this diploma thesis is to define the term drill and depict its current use within the English lesson and also assess its role within the language school, where drill is used as a primary teaching technique. Drill is a technique which went through its greatest development when the Audiolingual method became widespread but gradually, throughout the time of the Communicative approach, it began to lose popularity. Despite this, the drill has not been completely forgotten. Not only can we see drill exercises in modern textbooks, but we also encounter drill in the classroom. Drill has been defined in the theoretical section, where its forms have also been described. In addition, the use of drill in various different methods has been further elaborated on and the reasons that led to its downfall. Theoretical part: The aim here is to answer a number of questions: Why do teachers use drill? What are the drawbacks? What do learners prefer as an alternative? Why do some learners deliberately sign up for classes in language schools where drill is mainly used and what results and experience the language school has with drill? Practical part: The author describes her own research, which is based on a questionnaire survey done in a language school where drill is used as...

An ethnographic study was conducted through film recordings and observations in an attempt to investigate the methods Vägar in i Arbete used when conducting exercises in second language acquisition. Vägar in i Arbete is a labor market policy program with the goal that the participants will improve their ability to speak Swedish, as well as attain a concise plan for their future financial prospects. The intent of the project was to facilitate learning by having the participants engage with the language in an informal, non-educational context. The study investigated the methods used at the project during exercises related to the participants’ second language acquisition, as well as how the participants’ progression was evaluated. The purpose of the study was to investigate to what extent the programs context could be perceived as informal. Furthermore, the validity of the assessment was investigated in an attempt to establish if the evaluation of the participants’ progression were accurate. In order to investigate the context, two methods for language acquisition were used as comparisons. Krashen’s Natural Approach was included to represent a more informal approach, and this was contrasted with the more formally structured Audiolingual method. These methods were then compared to the exercises at Vägar in i Arbete to determine to what extent the environment could be considered informal. The results indicate that the exercises closely resemble the construct of the exercises favored by the Audiolingual method. Certain aspects of the Natural Approach are greatly present in the daily activities. However, these aspects do not become explicitly apparent in the linguistic exercises. Furthermore, a significant discrepancy which puts the validity of the summative assessment in question was observed.

This thesis concerns audio courses as the means of teaching of foreign languages. In the theoretical part, it deals with historical context of language audio courses. By way of describing the development of teaching methods (grammar-translation method, direct method and audio-lingual method in particular), it presents main principles of audio courses. Due to the main target group of language audio courses in general and also the audio course of Czech for foreigners that was created as a project to this thesis, it also deals with A1 language level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. In the practical part, it concerns with analysis of three audio courses - the Berlitz's Češkij jazyk: bazovyj kurs, the Pimsleur's Speak and Read Essential Czech and the new project audio course. The last mentioned audio course was pretested and the results are provided in form of case studies. Key words audio course, audiolingual method, Berlitz, Czech for foreigners, Pimsleur, direct method