Teaching English as a Second Language THE NATURAL APPROACH

Oral Presentation Group #4 Brenda Mojica Miguel Santos Montalvo Jahaira Rivera Matos Emily Shumway Torres

Objectives Conclusion Present the Natural Approach’s background and overview Define the Natural Approach It’s Theory of Language It’s Theory of Second Language Acquisition Present the applicability of the NA to classroom setting Technique and activities Spelling Word parts: prefix, suffix, roots, etc. Conclusion

“Language acquisition occurs when language is used for what it was designed for, communication.” Stephen Krashen (Principles of Practice in Second Language Acquisition)

Background Developed while the Audio-lingual and Grammar Translation Methods had a strong influence on Second Language learning. Developed by Tracy Terrell and Stephen Krashen who combined their findings into a comprehensive Second Language Acquisition Theory. In contrast with the Audio-lingual and GT methods, the NA makes distinction between learning and acquisition. The Natural Approach’s emphasis being the target language should be learned the same way a native learns his/her language—through communication and not by learning the target language’s grammar rules.

Natural Approach vs. Direct Method Even though the Natural approach and Direct Method have some of the same features, we should also make clear that the Direct Method tends to place more emphasis on teacher monologues, direct repetition, and the use of Q&A time, while the Natural Approach concentrates more on meaningful communication. (Richards and Rodgers, 1986: 129) The primary goal in the Natural approach is first that the student can communicate. Before the student is able to “produce” he should be able to comprehend. For this reason, all activities are centered on acquisition. (Taken from…http://web.stanford.edu/~hakuta/www/LAU/ICLangLit/NaturalApproach.htm)

The Approach The Theory of language is Communicative The Theory of language learning is Creative Construction Theory (developed by Krashen) This approach uses the communicative approach to language teaching as opposed to audio-lingual or the GT which theory of language is structuralism.

Second Language Acquisition Theory Comprises of six core hypotheses: Acquisition-Learning hypothesis Monitor hypothesis Natural Order hypothesis Input hypothesis Affective Filter hypothesis The Reading Hypothesis

Krashen’s Hypotheses: The acquisition-learning hypothesis. There is a difference between learning, which is purposeful and conscious, and acquisition which is natural and subconscious. (Markee 1997, pp. 25–26)

Krashen’s hypotheses: The monitor hypothesis. This hypothesis states that conscious learning functions only as a monitor to edit and correct the output of the acquired language. (Markee 1997, pp. 25–26)

Krashen’s hypotheses: The input hypothesis. The Input Hypothesis states that students acquire language when they need to understand input that is slightly beyond their level of competence. “Krashen refers to this by the formula L +1 (where L+1 is the stage immediately following L along some natural order.)” (taken from: http://www.myenglishpages.com/blog/natural-approach/) (Markee 1997, pp. 25–26)

Krashen’s hypotheses: The natural order hypothesis. This hypothesis states that grammatical structures are acquired in a predictable order just the same way that the native speaker learned their native language. (Markee 1997, pp. 25–26)

Krashen’s hypotheses: The affective filter hypothesis. This hypothesis states that emotional factors can block or affect the process of acquisition. The main emotional attitude factors of motivation, self-confidence, and anxiety can impede language acquisition. A students with high affective filter are less likely to learn. The teacher should promote a low anxiety, low stress environment. (Markee 1997, pp. 25–26)

Krashen’s hypotheses: The Reading Hypothesis. This hypothesis states that the more we read in a SL the greater our vocabulary.

“Language is best taught when it is being used to transmit messages, not when it is explicitly taught for conscious learning.” (Krashen and Terrell, 1995)

Principles of the Natural Approach Class time is devoted primarily to providing input for acquisition. Teachers speak only the target language. Students can respond in their native or target language. Errors are not corrected unless communication is seriously impaired. (Taken from: http://www.fb06.uni-mainz.de/user/kiraly/English/gruppe2/Natural%20Approach.html )

Principles of the Natural Approach The production of speech, as a response of listening, is developing over several stages: A nonverbal answer A one word answer A two or three word answer A short sentence answer A compound structure answer (Taken from: http://www.fb06.uni-mainz.de/user/kiraly/English/gruppe2/Natural%20Approach.html)

Principles of the Natural Approach A lot of input must be provided: Input must be comprehensible Interesting/relevant Not grammatical sequences Affective filter level Tools for conversational management To help comprehension the teacher uses of visual aids. The focus is on listening, speaking emerges later. (Taken from: http://www2.vobs.at/ludescher/alternative%20methods/natural_approach.htm)

How to Aid Comprehension According to Hatch (1979) there are some aspects of simplified input which aid comprehension. Some are: “slower rate and clearer articulation, which helps acquirers to identify word boundaries more easily, and allows more processing time” “more use of high frequency vocabulary, less slang, fewer idioms” “syntactic simplification, shorter sentences”

Techniques of Natural Approach The comprehensible input is always in the target language. The Natural Approach use of Total Physical Response (TPR). The Natural Approach lets the learners speak the target language whenever they are ready. It is good to involve activities with meaningful communication.

Most use in Natural Approach Reading aloud Question and answer exercise Getting students to self-correct Conversation practice Filling-in-the-blank (no explicit grammar rule applied) Dictation Paragraph writing

Summary The Natural Approach has been designed primarily for beginners. The main tenant being that communication and not grammar is the means of acquisition of the target language. The Natural Approach concentrates in fitting all of the requirements for Learning and Acquisition. This said, the Second Language Acquisition Theory does have a weakness; that it rests on classroom activities, which means that some students might find that the topics covered during class are not of their interest. On the other hand, because the students are not pressured to “perform” or “produce” unless they feel ready, the approach foments a low anxiety, low stress environment giving way for the natural development of the target language acquisition.

Thanks for your attention! THE END

References Markee, Numa (1997). Managing Curricular Innovation. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press. Dhority, Lynn (1991). The ACT Approach: The Use of Suggestion for Integrative Learning. Philadelphia, PA: Gordon and Breach Science Publishers. Krashen S., Terrell T. (1995) The Natural Approach; Language Acquisition in the Classroom. Hertfordshire, Europe: Prentice Hall. Krashen S. (1982). Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. University of Southern California.