A Probe Into The Theory Of The Natural Approach And The Application For English Language Teaching In China

For centuries it has been a dream for foreign language teachers around the world to make use of the way one's native language is acquired in the process of foreign language learning. The Natural Approach, the collaboration of Krashen and Terrell published in 1983, broke the ice and was generally regarded as a yardstick for the contemporary and prospective language teaching approaches.The Natural Approach demonstrates a combination of theories and practice. In this theoretical work, Krashen put forward five hypotheses, i.e., the acquisition/learning hypothesis, the monitor hypothesis, the natural order hypothesis; the input hypothesis, and the filter hypothesis, which constitute a comprehensive set of theories for second language acquisition.The key hypothesis of the Natural Approach is that the acquisition of a language can only be achieved through a full understanding of the received information. Only when the input in the other language is understood can one acquire that language meaningfully. That is to say that language acquisition is basically based on listening and understanding. Therefore it is suggested that the learner be exposed to language input which is a little higher than their current language level in order to improve their language ability with the whole process described as i + 1. The key factor in this process is to make learners understand the language input outside the classroom and to gain the communicative skills regarding this language.The Natural Approach has been proved effective through years' of teaching practice. Although the theoretical circle has not reached a full agreement about it, we can hardly deny its originality.However, it is worth noting that the situation changes when the Natural Approach is applied to the Chinese context, a non-English language environment, so a practical, creative application of the Natural Approach with the Chinese characteristics in mind is strongly indicated.What this paper discusses can be basically divided into three parts.The first one deals with the Natural Approach: its theoretical background, the related five hypotheses, and factors affecting the second language acquisition.The second part reveals questions and doubts from some linguists about the five hypotheses, and goes on to objectively analyze the theoretical shortcomings of Krashen's theory. Working on the three significant topics, namely, "acquisition and learning", "the mother tongue and the foreign language", "grammar", I analyzed the practical problems that foreign language teachers have encountered in China, and present my interviews with both them and some students who gave me a realistic view of what is going on in an English teaching classroom in China. After all, students still learn some English under the instruction of the Grammar Translation Method. What we really need is a more balanced English education in which students' listening, speaking, reading, writing and communicative abilities can be equally developed. The third chapter aims to improve the theory by absorbing elements from the Natural Approach while bearing the Chinese context in mind.This paper aims to make a tentative analysis of the natural approach with the tools of materialist epistemology and methodology in order to seek for a unique foreign language teaching method which is suitable for China.