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The Natural Approach

The Natural Approach is a language teaching method developed in the 1970s focused on developing communicative abilities through meaningful interaction and comprehension. It views language acquisition as a subconscious process aided by comprehensible input, in contrast to conscious learning of rules. The teacher provides ample input through activities while respecting students' readiness to produce language. The goal is for students to progress from understanding to spoken production through low-anxiety, meaningful exchange.

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Patricia E Martin
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3K views18 pages

The Natural Approach

The Natural Approach is a language teaching method developed in the 1970s focused on developing communicative abilities through meaningful interaction and comprehension. It views language acquisition as a subconscious process aided by comprehensible input, in contrast to conscious learning of rules. The teacher provides ample input through activities while respecting students' readiness to produce language. The goal is for students to progress from understanding to spoken production through low-anxiety, meaningful exchange.

Uploaded by

Patricia E Martin
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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THE NATURAL

APPROACH

1977 Tracy Terrell (teacher of Spanish) new philosophy


of language teaching
The Natural Approach
This method focuses on teaching communicative
abilities
Krashen and Terrell identified The Natural Approach
with the Traditional Approach
They related Natural Approach with Natural Method

Traditional approach: based on the use of language in


communicative situations without recourse to the native
language.
Natural method: consisted of a series of monologues
by the teacher interspersed with exchanges of question
and answer between the instructor and the pupil (in the
foreign language).
Natural approach: is believed to conform to the
naturalistic principles found in successful second
language acquisition.

Theory of language
Krashen and Terrell see communication as the primary
function of language
They refer to the Natural Approach as an example of a
communicative approach
They reject earlier methods of language
teachingKrashen and Terrell describe the emphasis on
the primacy of meaning
Language is viewed as a vehicle for communicating
meanings and messages.
Acquisition can take place only when people understand
messages in the target language

Theory of learning
Krashen and Terrell view language as mastery of
structures by stages.
The approach is based on an empirically grounded
theory of second language acquisition
The acquisition/learning hypothesis the monitor
hypothesis the natural order hypothesis the input
hypothesis the affective hypothesis

THE ACQUISITION/LEARNING HYPOTHESIS


ACQUISITION refers to an unconscious process
that involves the naturalistic development of language
profeciency through understanding language and
through using language for meaningful communication.
LEARNING refers to a process in which conscious
rules about a language are developed. LEARNING
CAN NOT LEAD TO ACQUISITION.

THE MONITOR HYPOTHSIS


Conscious learning can function as a monitor that
checks and repairs the output of the acquired system.
Three conditions limit the successful use of the
monitor:
1) TIME: There must be sufficient time for a learner
to choose and apply a learned rule.
2) FOCUS ON FORM: The language user must be
focused on correctness of the output.
3) KNOWLEGDE OF RULES: The performer must
know the rules.

THE NATURAL ORDER HYPOTHESIS


The acquisition of grammatical structures proceeds
in a predictable order. Errors are signs of naturalistic
developmental processes, and during acquisition
similar developmental errors occur in learners not
matter what their mother tongue is.
THE INPUT HYPOTHESIS
It relates to acquisition and not to learning. People
acquire language best by understanding input. The
ability to speak fluently emerges independently in
time.

THE AFFECTIVE HYPOTHESIS


The learner's emotional state or attitudes is an
adjustable filter that freely passes, impedes, or
blocks input necessary to acquisition.
There are three kinds of affective variables:
Motivation-Self-Confidence-Anxiety

DESIGN
Objectives
The Syllabus
Types of learning and teaching activities
Learner roles
Teacher roles
The role of instructional materials
Procedure

Objectives

The natural approach is for beginners and is


designed to help them become intermediates.
Students should be able to make the meaning clear
but not necessarily be accurate in details of grammar.
Specific objectives depend on learner needs and the
skill (reading, writing, listening, or speaking)

The syllabus
Krashen and Terrell list some typical goals for language
courses under four areas:
1.

Basic personal communication skills: oral

2.

Basic personal communication skills: written

3.

Academic learning skills: oral

4.

Academic learning skills: written


The Natural Approach is primarily designed to develop
basic communication skills both oal and written.

The purpose of a language course will vary according to the needs of the
students and their particular interests
Types of learning and teaching activities
A class emphasis is on presenting comprehensible input in the target
language.
Learners are not required to say anything until they feel ready, but they
are expected to respond to teacher commands and questions in other ways.
Acquisition activities: those that focus on meaningful communication
Command-based activities from TPR

Learner roles
The language acquirer is seen as a processor of
comprehensible input.
Learners roles are seen to change according to their stage
of linguistic development.
Pre-production stage: students participate in the language
activity without having to respond in the target language.
Early-production stage: students respond to either-or
questions, use single words and short phrases, fill in charts,
and use fixed conversational patterns.
Speech-emergent phase: students involve themselves in
role play and games, contribute personal information and
opinions, and participate in group problem solving.

Learners have four kinds of responsibilities in the


Natural Approach classroom:
1. Provide information about their specific goals.
2. Take an active role in ensuring comprehensible input.
3. Decide when to start producing speech and when to
upgrade it.
4. Where learning exercises are to be a part of the
program, decide with the teacher the amount of time
to be devoted to them.

Teacher roles

The Natural Approach teacher has three central


roles:
1) The teacher is the primary source of
comprehensible input in the target language.
2) The Natural Approach teacher creates a classroom
atmosphere that is interesting, friendly, and in which
there is a low filter for learning.
3) The teacher must choose and orchestrate a rich
mix of classroom activities.

The role of instructional materials


The main goal of materials in the Natural Approach
is to make classroom activities as meaningful as
possible.
Procedure
In Natural Approach activities the instructor
maintains a constant flow of comprehensible input,
using key vocabulary items, appropriate gestures,
context, repetition and paraphrase to ensure the
comprehensibility of the input.

Conclusion
The Natural Approach belongs to a tradition of
language teaching methods based on observation and
interpretation of how learners acquire both first and
seconds language in nonformal settings.

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