Natural Order Hypothesis

The Natural Approach

by Steven Krashen

WHAT IS THE NATURAL ORDER HYPOTHESIS?

It is the order in which learners acquire the grammar skills of a language. Krashen says there is a 'natural' sequence in which we learn specific grammar skills before others.

For Instance:

• The Present Tense is acquired before the Past Tense.

• Learners acquire the grammatical morpheme '-ing' before the morpheme third person '-s'.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR TEACHING?

According to Krashen's theory, the learning may not be acquired if the student is not ready. It is important for teachers to know where their students are in the learning process. Teachers must be patient with their students because, according to the Natural Orden Hypothesis the process of learning can not be changed or sped-up.

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