Ebook: The Natural Approach: Krashen's Model of Second Language Acquisition

Over the last thirty years, second language acquisition theories and language educators have
generated various theories in an attempt to better understand and explain human behavior.
Academics conducting research in disciplines such as sociology, psychology, linguistics and
education have made significant contributions in the field of second language acquisition (SLA)
research. Like those in other social sciences, SLA theoretical perspectives are dynamic in that
hypotheses are constantly evolving as new information about language is produced. First, this
paper begins by briefly contrasting two main SLA theoretical perspectives, nativist and inatist
theories of second language acquisition. It then shifts focus to Stephen Krashen’s natural
approach hypothesis, also known as the monitor model. The purpose of this paper is to outline
Krashen’s main hypotheses which constitute the natural approach to SLA. Moreover, this paper
will analyze Krashen’s theory in terms of its weaknesses, strengths as well as address some of
the obvious pedagogical implications that the model has had in teaching English as a foreign
language (EFL) and English as a second language (ESL).