انجمن علمی زبان دانشگاه آزاد یزد

Natural Approach

The natural approach was developed by Tracy Terrell in the 1970s. This approach advocates that comprehensible language input is essential for triggering language acquisition.

Terrell focuses on improving basic personal communication skills in her teaching and views communicative competence progressing through five stages: (1) the preproduction stage of aural comprehension, (2) early speech production, (3) speech emergence, (4) intermediate fluency, and (5) advanced fluency. In other words, comprehension typically precedes production, and students' progress occurs naturally.

An ESL classroom using the natural approach includes the following:

  Students are not forced to speak English until they feel ready to do so.

  The teacher is the source of English input and uses a variety of materials and classroom activities.

  The teacher creates a stress-free learning environment and does not correct student errors in front of the class.

  Facilitating the interaction of students in pair or small groups to practice newly acquired structures is a major focus in class. The grammar structure should be learned in a natural order.

  Activities incorporate a wide variety of visual aids (e.g., picture), hands-on manipulative, and realia.

  Classes are student centered.

  Formal grammar instruction should be kept to minimum.

The natural approach provides ample guidance and resources for ESL students at the beginner levels but has limitations in teaching advanced English learners. Moreover, since this approach allows the delay of oral production until speech emerges, it is hard to manage class activities to meet students' different speech-emerging timetables.

  Source: SAGE REFERENCE ONLINE