TheNaturalApproachProf.MiguelA.ArceRamos

PUCPRELED208

TheNaturalApproach• TheNaturalApproachisbasedonobservationandtheinterpretationofhowapersonacquirestheirnativelanguage.

• Itrejectstheformalorganizationoflanguagelearning.

• Itappearedin1983andfocusesonlanguageexposure.

• It’sbasedonhowchildrennaturallylearntheirnativelanguage.

TheNaturalApproach• Thenaturalapproachfocusesoncommunication.

• Itisbasedontheideathatcommunicationisthekeytoacquiringalanguage.

• Grammarandgrammaticalstructuresofalanguageshouldbelearnedonlytofinetunecommunicationskills.

• Inorderforthelearnertoacquirethelanguagethecommunicationmustbeeffective.

TheNaturalApproach

• TheNaturalApproachisalanguageteachingapproachwhichclaimsthatlanguagelearningisareproductionofthewayhumansnaturallyacquiretheirnativelanguage.

• Theapproachadheresto acommunicativeapproachtolanguageteaching.

TheNaturalApproach

• WhatreallydistinguishestheNaturalapproachfromothermethodsandapproachesareitspremisesconcerningtheuseoflanguageandtheimportanceofvocabulary.

• Languageisviewedasavehicleforcommunicatingmeaningandmessages.

• Vocabularyisofparamountimportanceaslanguageisessentiallyitslexicon!

TheNaturalApproach

• Thismeansthatlanguageacquisitioncannottakeplaceunlesstheacquirerunderstandsmessagesinthetargetlanguageandhasdevelopedsufficientvocabularyinventory.

The learnerhasaninitial"silentperiod”

Comprehensionisparamount

Speechemergesnaturally

TheNaturalApproach

• "Krashen andTerrellsuggestthatlanguagelearningisdifferentfromlanguageacquisition.

• Languagelearningisknowingrulesandhavingaconsciousknowledgeofgrammaraswellastheabilitytoapplytherulestocertainsituations.

• Languageacquisitionistheabilitytospeakandunderstandasecondlanguageeasilyandfluently".

TheNaturalApproach

• TheNaturalApproachsegmentsthecomplexprocessofSLAintofourbasiclevelsorstagesanddetailsstudentandteacherbehaviorsateachone.

• KnowingthecharacteristicsofeachlevelequipsteacherstocommunicateeffectivelywithELLsandtoselectappropriateteachingstrategies.

TheNaturalApproach– 4BasicLevels

Pre-production

EarlyProduction

SpeechEmergence

IntermediateFluency

Level1– Preproduction(500basicwords)

• Studentsatthisstagehaveanywherefrom10hoursto6monthsofexposuretoEnglishandarejustbeginningtolearnthelanguage.

• Atthislevel,theteachershouldbedoingabout90%ormoreofthetalking,andtheELLstudentsshouldlistenandrespondnon-verbally.

• Inorderfortheteacher’sspeechtobecomprehensible,itshouldinclude:pantomime,bodylanguage,facialexpressions,andgestures.

Level2– EarlyProduction(1,000words)

• Studentsatthisstagehaveanywherefrom3monthsto1year.

• Theycannowbegintoproducesomelanguage,intheformof1to2wordresponsesalongwiththesametypeofnon-verbalresponsesthattheydependedoninlevel1.

• Formulaicchunksoflanguageareemergingaswell,withmostoftheelementsofthechunksremainingunanalyzed.

• OncestudentshavedevelopedrudimentaryvocabularyandsyntaxinEnglish,theirprogressbeginstoexpandrapidly.

Level3– SpeechEmergence(7,000words)

• Studentsatthisstagehaveanywherefrom1 to3 yearsofexposure.

• Questionstheyarenowabletoanswerinclude“how”and“why,”whichrequirefairlycomplexresponses.

• Becausetheycanunderstandagreatdealandcanexpressthemselvesfairlyeffectively,albeitwithgrammaticalsimplicityanddevelopmentalerrors,ELLsattheSpeechEmergencestagecanparticipateinavarietyofteachingstrategies.

Level4– IntermediateFluency(12,000words)

• Studentsatthisstagehaveanywherefrom3to4yearsofexposure.

• Theyhavegonebeyondspeakinginphrasesandsimplesentencestobeingabletoengageinextendeddiscourse.

• Thismeansthattheycanparticipateinessaywriting,complexproblemsolving,researchingandsupportingtheirpositions,andcritiquingandanalyzingliterature.

TheNaturalApproach

• Thisacquisition-focusedapproachseescommunicativecompetenceprogressingthroughthreestages:

TheNaturalApproach– Howdoesitwork?

• First,theteacherspeaksonlythetargetlanguageandclasstimeiscommittedtoprovidinginputforacquisition.

• Studentsmayuseeitherthelanguagebeingtaughtortheirfirstlanguage.

• Errorsinspeecharenotcorrected;howeverhomeworkmayincludegrammarexercisesthatwillbecorrected.

TheNaturalApproach– Howdoesitwork?

• Goalsfortheclassaretoemphasize:• Studentsbeingableuselanguageforfunctionaluse.

• totalkaboutideas,• performtasks,• andsolveproblems

TheNaturalApproach– Howdoesitwork?

• Itfocusesonfourcategoriesofclassroominstructionthatcanfacilitatelanguageacquisition:

Content AffectiveHumanistic Games Problem

Solving

StephenKrashen’s TheoryofSecondLanguageAcquisition

Krashen’s TheoryofSecondLanguageAcquisition• TheMonitorModelpositsfivehypothesesaboutsecondlanguageacquisitionandlearning:

TheoryofLearning- TheAcquisition-LearningHypothesis

• Languageacquisition(anunconsciousprocessdevelopedthroughusinglanguagemeaningfully)

• It’sdifferentfromlanguagelearning(consciouslylearningordiscoveringrulesaboutalanguage)

TheoryofLearning- TheAcquisition-LearningHypothesis

A learning theory should respond to these two

questions:

What are the psycholinguistic and cognitive processes involved in language teaching?

What are the conditions that need to be met in order for these learning processes to be activated?”

TheAcquisition-Learning

Hypothesis

Acquisition Learning

implicit,subconscious explicit,conscious

informalsituations formalsituations

usesgrammatical'feel' usesgrammaticalrules

dependsonattitude dependsonaptitude

stableorderofacquisition

simpletocomplexorderoflearning

TheoryofLearning- TheNaturalOrder

• Grammatical structures are acquired in a predictable order and it does little good to try to learn them in another order.

• The natural order hypothesis is the idea that children learning their first language acquire grammatical structures in a pre-determined, 'natural' order, and that some are acquired earlier than others.

TheoryofLearning- TheInputHypothesis

• Peopleacquirelanguagebestfrommessagesthatarejustslightlybeyondtheircurrentcompetence:

• i+1

TheoryofLearning- TheMonitorHypothesis• Consciouslearningoperatesonlyasamonitororeditorthatchecksorrepairstheoutputofwhathasbeenacquired.

TheoryofLearning- TheAffectiveFilter

• Affectreferstonon-linguisticvariablessuchasmotivation,self-confidence,andanxiety.

• Accordingtotheaffectivefilterhypothesis,affecteffectsacquisition,butnotlearning,byfacilitatingorpreventingcomprehensibleinputfromreachingthelanguageacquisitiondevice.

TheoryofLearning- TheAffectiveFilter

• Affectivevariablessuchas:• fear,• nervousness,• boredom,• andresistancetochangecaneffecttheacquisitionofasecondlanguage

• Theypreventinformationaboutthesecondlanguagefromreachingthelanguageareasofthemind.

Krashen's Five Hypotheses

The NaturalOrderHypothesis

'weacquiretherulesoflanguageinapredictableorder'

TheAcquisition/Learning Hypothesis

'adultshavetwodistinctivewaysofdevelopingcompetencesinsecondlanguages..acquisition,thatisbyusinglanguageforrealcommunication...learning.."knowingabout"language'(Krashen &Terrell1983)

The MonitorHypothesis'consciouslearning...canonlybeusedasaMonitororaneditor'(Krashen &Terrell1983)

The InputHypothesis'humansacquirelanguageinonlyoneway- byunderstandingmessagesorbyreceiving"comprehensibleinput"'

TheAffective FilterHypothesis

'amentalblock,causedbyaffectivefactors...thatpreventsinputfromreachingthelanguageacquisitiondevice'(Krashen,1985,p.100)

Krashen'sCom

prehensionHypothesisM

odelof

L2learning