The Natural Order Hypothesis

The Second Language Acquisition Theory, developed in the eighties by Stephen Krashen, has five main hypotheses. This article will discuss Natural Order Hypothesis responding, as clear as possible, questions such as “What is the idea of this hypothesis?” and “How is it applied in the classroom?”. First of all, it is a method based on observation and interpretation of how language is acquired by individuals. In this sense, what the natural order brings us about this process is that the acquisition of grammatical structures occurs in a predictable order. However, it does not happen in the same way as well in the first as in the second language acquisition. In order to understand more about how it works, some researches showed that structures such a “Yes – No” questions tend to be learned before “Wh-”questions. There are other examples in the quote below:

English is perhaps the most studied language as far as the natural order hypothesis is concerned, and of all structures of English, morphology is the most studied. Brown (1973) reported that children acquiring English as a first language tended to acquire certain grammatical morphemes, or functions words, earlier than others. For example, the progressive marker -ing (as in “He is playing baseball”.) and the plural marker /s/ (“two dogs”) were among the first morphemes acquired, while the third person singular marker /s/ (as in “He lives in New York”) and the possessive /s/ (“John’s hat”) were typically acquired much later, coming anywhere from six months to one year later. (KRASHEN, 1982, p. 12). 

In the context of the classroom, teachers should be aware that the chosen sequence to teach grammar, for instance, may not be incorporated in the same way by all learners because they have a natural order to acquire and it happens only when they are ready. However, it does not mean that the syllabus teaching should follow a pre-selected grammar sequence. In terms of language acquisition, the best way to teach is through comprehensible input, meaningful exposure to the second language. Thus, the learners will be able to pick up grammar structures using and assimilating them according to the context.

By E. A. S. Moreira 

REFERENCES

KRASHEN, Stephen. Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. Available on: http://www.sdkrashen.com/content/books/principles_and_practice.pdf Access on December1^st, 2018.

What is the Natural Order Hypothesis? August 2016. Available on: frenchteachernet.blogspot.com/2016/08/what-is-natural-order-hypothesis.html. Access on: December, 1^st, 2018.