An analysis of five selected ESL programs

Includes bibliographical references (pages 74-78)This thesis examines and analyzes how the principles\ud of the Natural Approach to second language acquisition\ud are implemented in five selected English as a Second\ud Language (ESL) commercially-produced programs which\ud claim to be based on the Natural Approach. The programs\ud are: Experiences in English, Bowmar-Noble; The Rainbow\ud Collection, Santillana Publishing Company; Teaching\ud English Naturally (TEN) Kit, Addison-Wesley; Big Bird's\ud Yellow Book, Oxford University Press; and The Children's\ud Language Program, Addison-Wesley.\ud A review of the current literature on applied\ud linguistics and second language acquisition has\ud demonstrated the importance of a communicative-based\ud approach to ESL, which is articulated for the most part in \ud the works of Stephen Krashen, Tracy Terrell, James\ud Cummins and James Asher.\ud Each program's components were measured against\ud a set of criteria for a communicative-based approach and\ud a traditional grammar-based approach to determine if the\ud materials are based on the Natural Approach principles\ud or if they are repackaged grammar-based, audiolingual\ud materials.\ud Results showed that Experiences in English and\ud The Rainbow Collection applied the principles of the\ud Natural Approach more fully. The TEN Kit and Big Bird's\ud Yellow book are hybrid programs that marginally apply the\ud principles of the Natural Approach. These programs use\ud grammar-based instruction and audiolingual drills as\ud their major approaches. The Children's Language Program,\ud a holistic language program for native English speakers,\ud follows the principles of the Natural Approach and could\ud be an effective supplemental English language development\ud program for second language learners at Level III, Speech\ud Emergence, and Level IV, Intermediate Fluency