- Other titles of interest include The Natural Approach ELLIS, Rod Language Acquisition Classroom Second Language Development in the Classroom ELLIS, Rod Second Language Acquisition in Context KRASHEN, Stephen Language Acquisition and Language Education STEPHEN D. KRASHEN University of Southern California KRASHEN, Stephen Second Language AcqUisition and Second Language Learning TRACY D. TERRELL KRASHEN, Stephen University of California at Irvine Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition NEWMARK, Peter P. Approaches to Translation NEWMARK, Peter P. A Textbook of Translation NUNAN, David Language Teaching Methodology PECK, Antony Language Teachers at Work ROBINSON, Pauline ESP Today: A Practitioner's Guide ROBINSON, Gail Crosscultural Understanding WALLACE, Catherine Learning to Read in a Multicultural Society WEIR, Cyril Communicative Language Testing WEIR, Cyril Understanding and Developing Language Tests ~ WENDEN, Anita and Joan RUBIN PHOENIX Learner Strategies in Language Learning ELT YALDEN, Janice PRENTln" HALL MACMILLAN ; "r:. : 'The Communicative Syllabus New York london ro.onto Sydney Singapore INDIANA UNIVERSHV SOUTH BEND i$.. ~ .y SCHURZ LIBRARY TABLE ofCONTENTS Published 1995 Prent.ice Hall Europe Campus 400, Spring Way __ Maylands Avenue, Hemel Hempstead, • Hertfordshire HP2 7EZ _ A division of Preface 1 - Simon & Schuster International Group First. published 1983 by Alemany Press Chapter One Published 1988 bv Prentice Hall International Introduction 5 © Prentice Hall Europe Traditional and Non-Traditional Approaches to Language Teaching 7 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of An Overview: Theory and Natural Approach 18 this publication may be made save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting Chapter Two limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Second Language Acquisition Theory 23 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WIP9HE. The Theoretical Model: Five Hypotheses 26 Factors Which Influence Second Language Acquisition 39 Printed and bound in Great Britain _ TJ. International Ltd, Padslow, Cornwall. Chapter Three Implications ofSecond Language Acquisition Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Dal.a Theoryfor the Classroom 53 Implications of Second Language Acquisition Theory 55 Krashen, Stephen. 57 The natural approach. The Natural Approach: Guidelines Includes index The Natural Approach and Language Acquisition Theory 59 I. Language arts. I. Terrell. Tracy D. II. LBI575.8.K73 1982 428'.007 82-12193 ISBN a-13-{)()9934--3 Chapter Four Getting Started With The Natural Approach 63 Curriculum Organization 65 Classroom Activities in Early Stages 75 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Managing Classroom Activities 86 Krashen, Stephen. The natural approach. Chapter Five 1. Modem languages - Study and teaching Oral Communication Development Through I. Title. II. Terrell, Tracy Acquisition Activities 95 418'.07'1 PB35 Affective-Humanistic Activities 100 Problem-Solving Adivites 108 ISBN 0-13-609934--3 Games 121 Content Activities 123 9 8 7 6 Grouping Techniques for Acquisition Activities 124 1999 98 97 v PREFACE Chapter Six This is not the first attempt to present a new approach to the teaching of s,econd and foreign languages based on a new theory of language. Earlier attemJ1fS. most AdditionalSources 0/Input/or Acquisition and Learning 129 notably audiolingual approaches, have not met with great success. We think that The Place of Reading in The Natural Approach 131 this has happened for several reasons. A major problem was that the theories How Should Reading Be Taught? 131 were not actually theories of language acquisition, but theories of something else; A Non-Interventionist Reading Program 136 for example. the structure of language. Also, the application of the theory. the Intervention 138 methodology, was not always adequately field-tested. What looked reasonable Teaching for Monitor Use 142 to the university professor on paper did not always work out in the classroom. Writing 149 The Natural Approach, we hope, does not have these weaknesses. It is based Television and Radio as Input Sources 153 on an empirically grounded theory of second language acquisition, which has Homework 154 been supported by a large number of scientific studies in a wide variety of lan­ Vocabulary 155 guage acquisition and leaming contexts. In addition, it has been used by many classroom teachers in different circumstances teaching various languages and this experience has helped to shape the Approach over the last seven years. Chapter Seven The central hypothesis of the theory is that language acquisition occurs in only Testing and Classroom Management 163 one way: by understanding messages. We acquire language when we obtain Testing 165 comprehensible input, when we understand what we hear or read in another Order of Grammar Rules 174 language. This means that acquisition is based primarily on what we hear and Error Correction 177 understand, not what we say. The goal, then, of elementary language classes, Modification for Age Differences 178 according to this view. is to supply comprehensible input, the crucial ingredient in Modification for Second Language Instruction 179 and to bring the student to the point where he or she can understand language outside the classroom. When this happens, the acquirer ("im utilize the real world, as well as the classroom, for progress. Bibliography 185 The Natural Approach, then, is a way to do this. It is for beginners and is designed to help them become intennediates. We do not pretend that the Natural Approach is the only approach to language instruction which is capable of accomplishing this goal; there are other fine approaches which provide com­ prehensible input in a variety of innovative ways and which have been demon­ strated to be effective. The Natural Approach, however, is relatively simple to use and it is easily adapted to a variety of situations (e.g. foreign language, second language, public school, adult education, bilingual programs, etc.) and can be easily modified to deal with different types of students (e.g. adults, children) with different cognitive styles. The Natural Approach, unlike some newer ap­ proaches, need not be adopted in whole; we are encouraged by instructors who have initiated Natural Approach in part within their regular programs and who report dramatic improvement in their students' abilities to use their new language for communication and in their attitudes toward language study in general. At the time this book was written, our confidence in the Natural Approach was based primarily on underlying theory (itself supported by considerable empirical evidence) and the enthusiastic reactions of students and instructors. Since the completion of the manuscript, a direct test of the Natural Approach has been camed out. Professor Wilfried Voge, in a study reported at the Intemational Con- vi I -w- Chapter Three Implications ofSecond Language Acquisition Theory for the Classroom IMPLICATIONS OF SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION THEORY Comprehension Speaking The Role of Grammar THE NATURAL APPROACH: GUIDELINES THE NATURAL APPROACH AND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION THEORY 53 T Implications 0/Second Language Acquisition Theory 55 In the previous chapter, we outlined a theory of second language acquisi­ tion. This theory consists of a set of interrelated hypotheses that are supported by empirical data. The aim of this chapter is to present very briefly some of the general implications of these hypotheses for the second language classroom. We will then discuss how these general conclusions can be ap­ plied to form a coherent approach to second language teaching: the Natural Approach. In the following chapters, these conclusions will be discussed in some detail with specific suggestions for application in the classroom. IMPLICATIONS OF SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION THEORY Comprehension The most important implications derive directly from the thesis. If it is true that we acquire languages via comprehensible input, and if language acquisition is central, not language learning, then it follows that the most important element of any language teaching program is input. Accord­ ing to the input hypothesis, language acquisition can only take place when a message which is being transmitted is understood, Le., when the focus is on what is being said rather than on the form of the message. This could be referred to as the "Great Paradox of Language Teaching": Language Is best taught when it is being used to transmit messages, not when it is explicitly taught for conscious learning. The requirement that input be comprehensible has several interesting implications for classroom practice. First. it implies that whatever prehension is important. This is why visual aids are so useful. Pictures and other visuals supply for the adult what the "here and now" does for the child. They supply the extra-linguistic context that helps the acquirer to understand and thereby to acquire. Second. it implies that vocabulary is important. Grammar-based approaches to language teaching deliberately limit vocabulary in order to concentrate on syntax. We are suggesting that vocabulary should not be avoided: with more vocabulary. there will be more comprehension and with more comprehension, there will be more acqui­ sition! This is not to say that vocabulary is sufficient; it is to say that its importance is not to be denied. A third implication