The Natural Approach As Seen in Historical Context

1. The Natural Approach As Seen in Historical Context Foreign Language Pedagogy Akemi Morioka

2. Introduction • The paper will examine the significance of the “Natural Approach” in the history of foreign language education, both from the aspects of political context and theoretical background. • It will review why the Natural Approach was received enthusiastically at the time it was introduced, address issues debated over time, and finally seek an alternative approach.

3. Significance of FL Education in the US and California • "To continue to compete successfully in the global economy and to maintain our role as a world leader, the United States needs to ensure that its citizens develop a broad understanding of the world, proficiency in other languages, and knowledge of other cultures. America's leadership also depends on building ties with those who will guide the political, cultural, and economic development of their countries in the future. A coherent and coordinated international education strategy will help us meet the twin challenges of preparing our citizens for a global environment while continuing to attract and educate future leaders from abroad." (President William J. Clinton, Memorandum of April 19, 2000)

4. Significance of FL Education in the US & California(continued) • Vision Statement of ACTFL (American Council on Teaching of Foreign Language): “All Americans should be proficient in at least one language and culture in addition to English. …” • The 2002 Master Plan for Education in the State of California “…establish a foundation for future mastery of a second language by the end of elementary school, and attainment of oral proficiency and full literacy in both English and at least one other language by the end of secondary school.” • A core academic subject under NCLB Act.

5. Historical Incidents and Foreign Policies • 1942: Army Special Training Program to train linguists for service in World War II • 1957: Sputnik launch-off • 1958: Title VI of the National Defense and Education Act • 1983: Nation at Risk • 1991: The National Security Education Act • 2001: Promoting Foreign Language Education, Title III of the Homeland Security Education Act

6. History of Language Learning Theories and Approaches • The grammar-translation method ( 18th, 19th and early 20th century) • The Audiolingual Method (ALM): very popular from the 1940s through the 1960s, is based on structural linguistics (structuralism) and behavioristic psychology (Skinner's behaviorism). • Beginning in the 1950s, Noam Chomsky: “language is creative (not memorized), and rule- governed (not based on habit),” and “universal phenomena of the human mind underlie all language.” Lead a paradigm shift from behaviorist/ empiricist view to rationalist view.

7. Natural Approach and Krashen’s 5 Hypotheses • In 1977, Tracy Terrell, an Associate Professor of Spanish and Linguistics at UC Irvine at that time, published an article in the Modern Language Journal entitled "A Natural Approach to Second Language Acquisition and Learning." Stephen Krashen, currently at the University of Southern California, later collaborated with Terrell on the book The Natural Approach (1983). The Natural Approach developed by Terrell and Krashen came to exert a heavy influence on language teaching in the United States and around the world.

8. Key Words of the Natural Approachbesides Krashen’s Hypotheses • Communicative competence • Meaningful message • Learner-centered • Speech emerges

9. Natural Approach and Krashen’s 5 Hypotheses (Continued) • 1) Language acquisition (an unconscious process developed through using language meaningfully) is different from language learning (consciously learning or discovering rules about a language) and language acquisition is the only way competence in a second language can develop. (TheAcquisition/Learning Hypothesis) • 2) Conscious learning operates only as a monitor or editor that checks or repairs the output of what has been acquired. (The Monitor Hypothesis)

10. Natural Approach and Krashen’s 5 Hypotheses (Continues) • 3) 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). • 4) People acquire language best from messages that are just slightly beyond their current competence.: i+1 (The Input Hypothesis) • 5) The learner's emotional state can act as a filter that impedes or blocks input necessary for language acquisition. (The Affective Filter Hypothesis)

11. Theoretical Support for Natural Approach and Krashen’s Monitor Hypothesis • Chomsky: • Generativism • A paradigm shift from the behaviorist/empiricist view to the rationalist view. • Vygotsky: • Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) • Cognitive approach • Social interaction

12. “Natural Approach” Movement • The Natural Approach, followed by development of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), resulted in less-structured and more natural, communicative and experimental approaches and pointed to the importance of early real-world human interaction in foreign language learning.

13. The Debate over CLT & the Natural Approach • Kramsch(2002): “Language should be looked at not just as a communication tool but as social semiotic praxis, i.e., language as social practice, or simplistically, the manner in which humans “make meaning” about themselves through language.” (this is in distinct contrast to the previously-held Chomsky-ian view of language as a closed linguistic system.) • Liddicoat(1999): “Although CLT endeavored to teach about communication in a foreign language, it failed to lead learners to intercultural understanding, tolerance and harmony between different cultures.”

14. Need for Alternatives: Content-based Instruction (CBI) • Integrate language and content • Lends itself to various theories, such as that of Vygotsky, Krashen and Kramsch, and achieves beyond CLT • Fosters Intercultural Competence • Facilitates critical thinking

15. Social Divide/Social Fault Line • FL Ed in the US has been impacted by governmental policies originated by historical incidents, and educational theories in general. It reveals a profound and troubling change in our conception of national community. The notion of nationality has gradually shifted from political institutions to cultural communities and commonalities as it is observed in the trend of FL Ed theories. • FL Ed that fosters the students’ language and cultural competence is not only a key for broadening the students’ perspectives of the world community, but also a key for bridging the distance among linguistically- and culturally-diverse students, families and schools. • It is crucial to promote FL Ed in American public schools in order to facilitate “intercultural competence” among students who especially live in multi-cultural communities.

16. Conclusion • I feel that the most revolutionary shift in the history of foreign language education in the US was brought about by the genesis of the Natural Approach. Reflecting the cognitive psychology and humanistic approach prominent in the field of education at that time, the Natural Approach shifted the culture of the language classroom 180 degrees and brought a sense of community to the students by their sharing of the experience of learning the same language together.

17. Conclusion (continued) • Foreign language learning constitutes a life experience for children and students alike, that is no less important than the study of any other school subject. Furthermore, when compared to some school subjects, such as math or physics, language learning can be considered as psychologically more closely related to one’s social identity. For example, whether in a public or private situation, both the content and style of one’s utterances reflects one’s feelings at the moment, personality, gender, socioeconomic status, etc. We can say that the humanistic aspect of the Natural Approach has contributed to making the language classroom a place where students are able to express themselves comfortably.