The audiolingual method was developed during World War II to teach military personnel foreign languages for communication purposes. It is based on the structural view of language and behaviorist learning theory. The method focuses on teaching listening and speaking skills through repetition drills before reading and writing. Lessons center around teacher-led modeling and drilling of dialogs to build language habits through reinforcement of correct responses. While effective for language acquisition, the method was later criticized for not transferring skills to real communication.