I. Key Point ( 学习要点 )
1.Definition
The natural Approach emphasizes natural communication rather than formal grammar study and is tolerance of learners’ error. The core of the Natural Approach is language acquisition, which is considered a subconscious process, dependent on two factors: the amount of comprehensible input the students get, and the amount of the students “allow in “.
2. Background (
产生背景
)
The Natural Approach was proposed in 1977 by Tracy Terrell, a teacher of Spanish at the
University of California. Later, Terrel joined force with Stephen Krashen, an applied linguist at
University of Souththen California, Drawing on Krashen’s influential theory of Second
Language Acquisition, they tried to provide a detailed rhetorical rationale for the natural
Approach .In 1983,their joint effort came out in a book The Natural Approach: Language
Acquisition in the Classroom, which states the principles and practice of the Natural Approach.
This new philosophy of language teaching was an attempt to develop a language teaching proposal that incorporated the “naturalistic “principals in the studies of second language acquisition. The Natural Approach emphasizes the central comprehension and believes that:
(1) Comprehension abilities precede productive skills in learning a language;
(2) The teaching of speaking should be delayed until comprehension skills are established;
(3) Skills acquisition through listening transfer to other skills;
(4) Teaching should emphasize meaning rather than form;
(5)
Teaching should minimize learners’ stress.
3.Theoretiacal Basis (
理论基础
)
1) Theory of language (
语言理论
(1)Communication as the primary function of language; And emphasis on meaning (
交际是
语言的首要功能，强调意义的作用
)
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Krashen and Terrell see communication as the primary function of language and since their approach focuses on teaching communicative ability, they identify the Natural Approach with the
Communicative Approach. What Krashen and Terrell emphasize in their approach is the primacy of meaning.
(2)Importance of vocabulary(
强调词汇的重要性
)
Krashen and Terrell stress the importance of vocabulary, suggesting that a language is essentially its lexicon.
(3) Not necessary to analyze grammatical structure; and rules automatically provided in the input. (
不必分析语法结构，语法规则会自动出现在语言输入之中
)
Krashen and Terrell hold that grammatical structure dose not require explicit analysis or attention by the teacher, by the learner, or in language teaching materials. They assume that if we provide input over a variety of topics while pursuiting communication goal, the necessary grammatical rules are automatically provided in the input.
2)Theory of learning (
学习理论
)
(1)Krashen ’Monitor Model of language development (
克拉申的第二语言自我监测模式
)
The Monitor Model is the center of Krashen ’ second language learning theory. Krashen argues that his account provides a general or “overall theory” of second language acquisition with important implications for language teaching.
(2)Two distinct process: acquisition and learning (
两个性质不同的过程：习得和学习
)
Krashen’s Monitor Model of second language development distinguishes two distinct processes in second and foreign language development and use. One is called “acquisition ”, which refers to the subconscious process and leading to the development of “competence “and is not dependent on the teaching of the grammatical rules. The second process, called “learning ”, refers to the conscious study and knowledge of the grammatical rules. In producing utterances, learners initially use their acquired system of rules. Learning and learned rules have only one function: to serve as a monitor or editor utterance initiated by the acquired system.
(3)The five hypotheses of Krashen Monitor Model(
克拉申自我监测的五个假设
)
1
）
The acquisition –learning hypothesis
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Krashen maintains that second language learner have at their disposal two distinct and independent ways of developing competence in a second language. One is acquisition .The other is learning. Acquisition comes through meaningful interaction in a natural communication setting.
This contrasts with the language learning situation in which students try not to make mistakes and their teacher corrects them once they are found. Learning, according to the theory, cannot lead to acquisition
2) The monitor hypothesis
The monitor hypothesis states that learning has only one function, and that is as a monitor. It uses conscious grammatical knowledge to determine the form of produced utterance. The monitor (knowledge of grammar rules )is thought to play a monitor role in the second language learning process.
3) The natural order hypothesis
The natural order hypothesis states that we acquire the rule of language in a predicable order, some rules tending to come early and other late. The order doses not appear to be determined solely by formal simplicity and there is evidence that it is independent of the order in which rules are taught in language classes.
4) The input hypothesis
This hypothesis assumers that acquire language in only one way----by understanding messages, or by receiving “comprehensible input ”, which refers to utterance that the learner understands based on the context in which they are used as well as the language in which they are phrased. In language acquisition, we move from i, our current level to i+l, the next level along the natural order, by understanding input containing i+1.
This hypothesis involves four main issues: First, the input hypothesis relates to acquisition, not to meaning. Second, people acquire language best by understanding input i+1.
Comprehension is helped by the situation and the context, extra-linguistic information and knowledge of the world. Third, the ability to speak fluently can not be taught, it “emerges” independently in time, after the acquirer has built up language competence by understanding input. Forth, enough comprehension input provides i+1 automatically.
(5) The effective filter hypothesis
Krashen argues that attitude factors also play an important role in acquisition a second
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languange. Krashen sees the learners ‘s emotional state or attitude as an adjustable filter that freely possessor blocks input necessary to acquisition. Krashen identifies three kinds of affective variables related to second language acquisition: motivation, self –confidence and anxiety. For
Krashen, the affective filter is the principle source of individual differences in second language acquisition.
4.Basic Principles(
基本原则
)
1) Main features
（主要特征）
(1) Language is best taught when it is being used to transmit messages. (
语言只有被用来
传达信息时才最有利于教学
)
The Natural Approach considers input as the most important element of any language teaching programme. Language is best taught when it is being used to transmit messages, not when it is explicitly taught for conscious learning.
(2)Implications for classroom practice:
（课堂教学的启示）
①
Whatever helps comprehension is important.
②
Vocabulary is important. With more vocabulary there will be more comprehension and with more comprehension, there will be more acquisition.
③
Students must understand the message.
④
Classroom with interesting input may be a very god place for second language acquisition.
(3)Guidelines for classroom practice:
（课堂语言教学的准则）
①
The goal of the Natural Approach is communication skills.
②
Comprehension precedes production.
③
Production emerges.
④
Acquisition activities are essential.
⑤
Lower the affective filter.
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(4)Characteristics of classroom teaching:
（课堂教学的特征）
①
Class time is devoted primarily to providing input for acquisition.
②
The teacher speaks only the target language in the classroom. Students may use either the first or second language. If they choose to respond in the second language, their errors should not be corrected in the process of communication.
③
Homework may include grammar work and errors should be corrected.
④
The goals are to enable students to talk about ideas, perform tasks, and solve problems.
(5)The role of learners:
（学习者的作用）
The language learners are considered as processors of comprehensible input. They can decide when to speak, what to0 speak about, and what linguistic expressions to use in speaking.
Their roles change according to their stage of linguistic development.
(6)The role of a teacher:
（教师的作用）
The Natural Approach teacher has three central roles. She is first the primary source of comprehensible input in the target language. Her second role is to create a classroom atmosphere that is interesting, friendly, and in which there is a low affective filter for learning. Finally, the teacher must choose and use a rich mix of classroom activities, involving a variety of group sizes, content, and contexts.
(7)The role of testing:
（测试的作用）
The role of testing is to motivate students to prepare for tests by obtaining more comprehensible input and to motivate teachers to supply more comprehensible input.
2
）
Objectives
（教学目标）
The Natural Approach is primarily designed to develop basic communication skills------both oral and written------and is designed to help beginners become intermediates. The students are expected to be able to function adequately in the target situation. They should be able to make the meaning clear. The goals of a Natural Approach class are divided according to basic personal communication skills and academic learning skills, with focus on the former. Communication goals are specified in terms of situations functions and topics.
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3)Techniques
（教学技巧）
(7)Acquisition activities:
（语言习得活动）
①
Affective-humanistic activities attempt to involve students’ feelings, opinions, desires, reactions, ideas, and experiences. Open dialogues, interviews, reference ranking, personal charts, supplying personal information, description, etc. are often used to involve students in communicating information about themselves.
②
Problem-solving activities are those in which the students’ attention is focused on finding a correct answer to question, a problem or a situation.
③
Games are the third group of activities. The primary focus of any particular game is on words, discussion, action, contest, problem solving, and guess.
④
Content activities are the ones whose purpose is for the students to learn something new other than language. They include slide shows, panels, individual reports and presentations,
“show and tell” activities, music, films, film scripts, TV reports, news broadcasts, guest lectures, native speaker visitors, reading and discussion about any sort of the target language and culture.
(2)Typical techniques:
（教学技巧）
In the early stages of speech production, the Natural Approach uses random volunteered group responses, which place little demand on the individual student but allow early use of the target language. As for errors, if students’ response is wrong in meaning, the teacher will correct them immediately. But if the response is appropriate, but ill-formed or pronounced incorrectly, the teacher will first give a positive response, then use reformations and expansion, just as in real-life situations. The particularly good technique is the one that consists of giving commands to students and having them actually act out what the teacher says. The Natural Approach also provides appropriate texts and reasons for reading.
4)Procedures
（教学步骤）
(1)Pre-production:
（准备表达阶段）
At this stage, the teacher provides comprehensible input, maintains focus on the message and helps lower affective filters. This pre-production stage allows the students an opportunity. To
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begin the acquisition process.
(2)Production stag
（表达阶段）
The Natural Approach uses three stages as basis for beginners; and involves personalization and the use of family topics and situations. The first stage is aimed primarily at lowing the affective filter by putting the student into the situations in which they can get to know each other personally. The students learn how to describe themselves, their family, and their friends in the target language. The second language consists of giving the students comprehensible input about experiences and allowing for opportunities to engage in the conversation about their own experience. The third stage consists of input and discussions, concerning concerning opions.
Students discuss political issues, civil rights, family, and so forth, and, gain the competence to express their own views.
Exemplification
Since the Natural Approach teacher expects students to be able to be able to deal with a particular set of topics in a given situation, activities in the class are organized in a communicative way. The Natural Approach uses three stages as a basis for beginners; all involve personalization and the use of family topics and situations. The first stage is aimed primarily at lowering the affective filter by putting the students into situations in which they can get to know each other personally. This is the personal identification stage. The students learn how to describe themselves, their family, and their friends in the target language. The second stage consists of giving the students comprehensible input about experiences and allowing for opportunities to engage in conversations about their own experiences. The third stage consists of input and discussions, concerning opinions. Students discuss political issues, civil rights, family, and so forth, and gain the competence to express their own views. Through these stages, students are given ample opportunity to use the target language in a variety of communicative situations: a trip to a doctor, making purchases, preparing a meal, and so forth.
A sample lesson
The first hours of a Natural Approach class are usually devoted to activities in which the students receive comprehensible input. They must be able to participate in a language activity without having to respond in the target language. The following is an example of teacher talk based on pictures, which includes examples of all those techniques for encouraging early
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production.
Is there a woman in this picture? (Yes). Is there a man in this picture? (No). Is the woman old or young? (Young). Yes, she’s young, but very ugly. (Class responds no, pretty). That’s right, she is not ugly, she is pretty. What is she wearing? (Dress). Yes, she’s wearing a blue dress. And what do you see behind her? (Tree). Yes, there are trees. Are they tall? (Yes). And beside her is a
_____(dog). Yes, a large dog is standing to her right. (Krashen&Terrell, 1983:79)
The Natural Approach teacher may also use charts and advertisements in their class. They are regarded as good sources of stimuli for giving comprehensible input in the single word stage; timetables, charts of school subjects, weekly schedule are useful sources. The teacher could also use a form and have students interview each other to get the desired information and fill out the required information in the form.
Simple advertisements can be used as a basis for providing input which contains numbers used in prices. The following are sample clothing ads accompanied by possible teacher talk input:
Designer Sportswear…up to 60% OFF
Jackets……were $88_234 Now $35_94
Blouses……… $44_70 $18_28
Pants ……… $76_84 $30_34
Skirts ……… $54_128 $22_51
How much are the jeans? How much so you save? Which costs more, the jeans or the corduroy jeans? How much were the Western shirts originally? If you buy one shirt and two pairs of jeans, what is the least it will cost you? Look at the ad for the sale on designer sportswear. What was the most expensive item mentioned in this ad? The least expensive? If you buy a skirt and a blouse, what is the most it could cost you? And the least?
To encourage the development of early production, the Natural Approach teacher can use open-ended sentences or open dialogues and the students are asked to fill the slots. Look at the two examples:
1.
Open-ended sentences:
In this room there is a ______. I am wearing a ________. In my purse there is a
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______.
In my bedroom I have a _____. After class I went to ____.
2.
Open dialogue:
___Where are you going? __Hi, my name is _____.
___To the _______. __Pleased to meet you. I’m _______.
___What for? ___Are you from__________?
___To__________. ____Yes, (No, I’m from____.)
Another activity in early stages is association. The meaning of a new item is associated not only with its target language form but with a particular student. Let’s examine one example: The teacher writes the following pattern on the board:
I like to________.
You like to _____.
He likes to _____.
She likes to_____.
And tells the students that they are going to talk about things they lid to do. Then each student will indicate a single activity he enjoys: I like to fish; to swim, to play basketball, etc.
Each student chooses only one activity and no student may choose an activity if it has been selected. Suppose the activity first chosen is “to it.” The teacher writes on the board “eat” while saying” Jim likes to eat.” Next the teacher makes several comments or asks the students simple questions about the activity, like “we all like to eat, most of us eat too much.” Or anything else which the students can understand, Then the teacher asks the next student for an activity and repeats the process. After several verbs have been introduced, the teacher systematically reviews by asking questions which require only a single word answer. “Who likes to eat? Does Martin like to ski or to play volleyball?...” This conversational review during the activity has two goals: to provide more comprehensible input and to allow time for the association of new vocabulary with individual students.
Let’s look at the sequence of a lesson using the Natural Approach:
1.
The teacher gives a command in the target language and performs it with the students.
2.
The students say nothing.
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3.
The teacher gives the commands quite quickly.
4.
The teacher sits down and issues commands to the volunteers.
5.
The teacher directs students other than the volunteers.
6.
The teacher introduces new commands after she is satisfied that the first few commands have been mastered.
7.
The teacher changes the order of the commands.
8.
When the students make an error, the teacher repeats the commands while acting it out.
9.
The teacher gives the students commands they haven’t heard before.
10.
The teacher writes the commands on the blackboard.
11.
A few weeks later, students who haven’t spoken before give commands as teacher does.
The major technique used in this lesson is the use of commands to direct behaviour.
Meanwhile the teacher varies the sequence of the commands so that students do not simply memorize the action sequence without ever connecting the actions with the language. The second technique is role reversal. Students command their teacher and classmates to perform some actions. Students will want to speak after ten to twenty hours of instructions, although some students may take longer. The third technique is action sequence or an operation. As the students learn more and more of the target language, a longer series of connected commands can be given, which together comprise a whole procedure.
5.Summary and Comments (
总结和评价
)
1)Advantages
：（优点）
(1)The classroom consists of acquisition activities can be an excellent environment for beginners(
充满语言习得的课堂是初学者理想的学习环境
)
The Natural Approach is an attempt to simulate in the class an environment that will be similar to the context in which children acquire their first language, as they creates utterance to express their own thoughts.
(2) Comprehensible and meaningful practice activities are emphasized.(
重视可理解和有
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意义的实践活动
)
In the Natural Approach, a focus on comprehension and meaningful communication as well as the provision of right kind of comprehensible input provide the necessary and sufficient condition for successful classroom second and foreign acquisition .It emphasizes comprehensible and meaningful practice activities, rather than production of grammatically perfect utterance and sentences. Listening comprehension is also emphasized.
(3) The teacher creates speeches which enable students to interact using the target language .(
教师创造的语言材料能使学生用目标进行交流
)
(4) Students are not force to respond in the target language immediately(
不要求学生很快
用目标用语做出反应
)
(5) Students interact in meaningful situation at their own level.
（学生可以和自己水平差不
多的学生进行有意义的交流）
The Natural Approach classroom contains a teacher whose main purpose is to create a net of speech, which will enable students to interact using the target language, and to begin the language acquisition process. The teacher can provide a large mount of language input without force the students to responds in the target language immediately .In the classroom, students also have the advantage of being able to interact in meaningful situations with other students at or their own level of competence.
(6)The teacher know students ‘needs and concentrates on appropriate and useful areas( 教师
了解学生的需要。他们会集中精力放在那些适当和有用的地方
)
Another important feature of the classroom is that the teacher is aware of the specific vocabulary need of the students and can concentrate on appropriate and using domains. Thus the conclusion is that while the Real world can provide excellent input for inter mediate or advanced acquires, the classroom consisting of acquires actives can be an excellent for beginners.
2)Disadvantages :
（缺点）
(1) The natural approach ignores many factor s essential in second language course design.
(
自然法对第二语言教学课程设计中的根本因素不予以考虑
)
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(2) It simply borrows techniques from other methods. (
自然法仅仅吸收了其他教学法中
的技巧
) (3) There is nothing novel about its procedures and techniques.(
在教学技巧和步
骤上并没有什
么新奇之处
)
(4) There are still many problems in the research method. (
在研究方法上仍然存在很多问
题
)
Krashen in his early work appeared not to ignore but to view as irrelevant many factors that had previously been considered essential in second language course design. The techniques recommended by Krashen and Terrell are often borrowed from other methods and adapted to meet the requirements of the Natural Approach theory
II. Points for discussion ( 思考题及部分答案 )
1.What are the basic assumptions of Krashen’s monitor Model?
Krashen’s monitor model is the center of his second language learning theory. The Monitor
Model consists of five basic hypotheses:
(1) The acquisition –learning hypothesis
——
Krashen maintains the second language learners have at their disposal two distinct and independent ways of developing competence in a second language .One is acquisition; the other is learning.
(2) The monitor hypothesis
——
It states that learning has only one function, and is as a monitor. The focus of language teaching should not be rule learning but communication,
(3) The natural order hypothesis
——
The learners would always the rule in a certain order, no matter which rules are taught first , and which are taught later.
(4) The input hypothesis
——
It assumes that humans acquire language in only one way _by understanding messages ,or by receiving “comprehensible input “
(5) The affective filter hypothesis
— —
It states that acquires with a low affective filter.i.e.with high motivation ,self confidence, how anxiety level, seek and more language input.
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2.Do you think that it is necessary to draw a distinction between acquisition and learning?
Why or Why not?
Yes. The basic principle of the natural Approach is the distinction between language acquisition and language learning.” Language acquisition “ refer to the sub conscious process leading to the development of “competence “and is not dependent on the teaching of grammatical rules. Acquisition takes place during real communication in the language and is considered to be the source of the students’ ability to use the language. Learning many contribute to the self-monitoring, or self editing, of language output that sometimes occurs when speakers have time to reflect and focus on the form of their utterance. Krashen believes that acquiring a language is more successful and longer lasting than learning. This distinction between acquisition with important provides a basic principles of second language acquisition with important implication for language teaching.
3.Do you think that, in second language acquisition process, acquisition will continue to happen for adults? Why or Why not?
Yes. Acquisition takes place during real communication in the language and is considered to be the source of the learners’ ability to use the language in instructed interaction. Teachers can entirely simulate in the classroom an environment that will be similar to the context in which adults acquire their first language, as they create utterances to express their own thoughts.
Teachers can also create a variety of major activities in the classroom, which leads to produce active interactions in the second language. Though these major activities and techniques, the innate capacities to acquire a language that all adults possess will be tapped. Classroom with interesting and meaningful language input may be a very good place for adults to acquire the second language. We consider that acquisition will continue to happen for adults in second language acquisition process.
4.Review the tenets of Krashen’s Input Hypothesis. Which one is the most plausible?
Which one is the least plausible? Justify your answer.
Karshen’s Input Hypothesis assumes that humans acquire language in only one way---by understanding messages, or by receiving “comprehensible input”, which refers to utterance that the learner understands based on the context in which they are used as well as the language in which they are phrased. in language acquisition, we move from i, our current level, to i+1,the
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next level along the natural order, by understanding input containing i+1.The input hypothesis relates to acquisition, not to meaning. Comprehension is helped by the situation and the context, extra-linguistic information and knowledge of the world. After the acquirer has built up linguistic competence by understanding input, the ability to speak fluently will emerge independently in time. It cannot be taught directly. Enough comprehension input provides i+1 automatically.
The most plausible point is that people acquire language best by understanding input that is slightly beyond their current level of competence. This point accords with the learning cognitive development of learners. Comprehension is helped by the situation and the context, extra-linguistic information and knowledge of the world, According to the point of Karshen’s
Input Hypothesis We can learn the target language faster and better.
The least plausible point is that humans acquire language in only one way------by receiving comprehensible input. Such a position ignores the advanced cognitive development of adults and the advantages of formal teaching and learning, Krashen argues that the best way to learn a second language is to approach the language as children do when they are acquiring their first language. In fact, adults learners have cognitive skills that enable them to take advantages of formal interaction, There are many successful foreign language learners who learn their target language in a purely language environment.
5.How could you take the “best “of Karshen’s theories and apply them in the classroom and yet still be mindful of the various problems inherent in his idea about second language acquisition?
Karshen’s Monitor Model has important implications for foreign language teaching and foreign language teachers.
(1) Krashen’s distinction between acquisition and learning makes people realize that it is very important to create in a foreign language classroom the kind of natural environment so that learners can resort to their subconscious learning. Using these two processes together, learning would be more successful.
(2) The monitor hypothesis states that the limited role grammar plays in second language learning. The focus on language learning teaching should not be rule-learning but communication, so we should put the focus of classroom teaching on the communication of meaning, not on rule-learning.
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(3) The natural order hypothesis states it is not always a good idea to start with a rule by considering only whether it is simple in terms of structure. Some rules are simple in structure, but difficult in use, or less often used in real communication. To make learners’ communication in the target language easier, it might be better to teach those more often used rules before the less often used rules.
(4) The input hypothesis is that people acquire knowledge best by understanding input i
+1.The input should be interesting and challenging enough to keep learners motivated and they feel a sense of achievement .If it is too easy, learners will not anything at all, and if it is too difficult, learners will be demotivated and comprehension will be a problem. With no comprehension, there will be no learning .The focus of language input should be on meaning, and meaning should be presented in the context.
(5) The affective hypothesis filter remains language teacher of the fact that learning is not purely an intellectual and cognitive process, it is also an affective process .If learners have an positive attitude, enough confidence, interest and motivation in learning a foreign language, learning would be more effective. As foreign language teacher, they should always try to lower the students anxiety level, build up their confidence, keep their interest, and create a relaxing environment and provide the most meaningful and comprehensible input so that both acquisition and learning happen, and “the best successful learners ” will be produced.
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