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Direct method and more recent naturalistic approaches
•Direct method first gained popularity in the late 1800sand early 1900s: pronunciation is taught through intuition and imitation; students imitate a model—the teacher or a recording—and do their best to approximate the model through imitation and repetition.
•Then there comes many so-called naturalistic methods, including comprehension methods that devote a period of learning solely to listening before any speaking is allowed. Examples include Asher’s (1977) Total Physical Response and Krashen and Terrell’s (1983) Natural Approach. Proponents maintain that the initial focus on listening without pressure to speak gives the learners the opportunity to internalize the target sound system. When learners do speak later on, their pronunciation is supposedly quite good despite their never having received explicit pronunciation instruction.
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