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Handouts in Natural Approach

The natural approach is a language teaching method that aims to mirror how a first language is acquired. It rejects translation and grammar explanations, exposes learners to meaningful language through actions and visual aids, and does not force speaking until students feel ready. The approach is characterized by comprehensible input through tasks and activities, with no explicit grammar instruction. A natural approach lesson typically involves listening and comprehension activities followed by information sharing tasks between partners to encourage production without focus on forms.

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Rubilyn Zamora
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87 views

Handouts in Natural Approach

The natural approach is a language teaching method that aims to mirror how a first language is acquired. It rejects translation and grammar explanations, exposes learners to meaningful language through actions and visual aids, and does not force speaking until students feel ready. The approach is characterized by comprehensible input through tasks and activities, with no explicit grammar instruction. A natural approach lesson typically involves listening and comprehension activities followed by information sharing tasks between partners to encourage production without focus on forms.

Uploaded by

Rubilyn Zamora
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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A HANDOUT FOR THE TOPIC ENTITLED

“NATURAL APPROACH”

WHAT IS NATURAL APPROACH?

The term natural approach (or natural method) was first used in the nineteenth century to
describe teaching methods, such as the direct method, that attempted to mirror the processes
of learning a first language. Translation and grammar explanations were rejected, learners were
exposed to sequences of actions, and the spoken form was taught before the written form. The
term was resurrected by Tracy Terrell in the 1970s to describe a similar kind of approach.
Learners were initially exposed to meaningful language, not forced to speak until they felt ready
to, and not corrected or given explicit grammar instruction.

The method was characterized by a lot of teacher talk, made intelligible through the use of
visual aids and actions. The method was endorsed by Stephen Krashen, whose input hypothesis
gave it theoretical validity. It also shared many principles in common with Total Physical
Response (TPR). These included the importance of comprehensible input, and of promoting
positive affect in the learning process. The natural approach seems to have become absorbed
into what are generally known as humanistic teaching practices and whole language learning.

As for practical ways of implementing these principles, this will depend on the level of the class.
At beginner level, lots of TPR activities are called for, where learners simply respond to
instructions by performing physical actions, such as pointing at things, handing each other
objects, standing, walking, sitting down, writing and drawing. At higher levels, the focus is still
on providing comprehensible input, in the form of listening or reading tasks, where learners
order pictures, fill in grids, follow maps, and so on.

How to incorporate Natural Approach in Language Learning


-> These can be combined with communicative speaking tasks, such as ‘describe-and-draw’ or
‘spot-the-difference’, where learners work in pairs to exchange information about pictures. The
important thing is that there is no grammar ‘agenda’ as such: the learners perform the tasks to
the best of their ability. New input – and hence the ‘push’ to improve – comes from watching
the teacher or a more proficient speaker perform the same tasks. In this sense, the natural
approach is not much different from task-based learning, but with perhaps more emphasis on
comprehension than production. A typical natural approach lesson at elementary to
intermediate level might go something like this:

1. The teacher shows a set of pictures of, say, food and drink, repeating the word that goes with
each with one; the students simply watch and listen.
2. The pictures are displayed around the room, and the students are asked to point at the
appropriate picture when the teacher names it.
3. The students listen to a tape of a person (or the teacher) describing what they habitually eat
at different meals; the students tick the items they hear on a worksheet.
4. The students are then given a gapped transcript of the previous listening activity, and they fill
in the gaps from memory, before listening again to check.
5. The students, in pairs, take turns to read aloud the transcript to one another.
6. The students, still in their pairs, tell each other what they typically eat, using the transcript as
a model.
7. They repeat the task with another partner, this time without referring to the model.

GROUP 6
JOHN KELLY MORALES
REGINA MAE SAPASAP
RUBILYN ZAMORA

Source: https://www.onestopenglish.com/ask-the-experts/methodology-the-
natural-approach/146401.article

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