Tracy Terrell

Who He Was:

Tracy D. Terrell (1943–1991) was a professor of Spanish linguistics at the University of California, San Diego, best known as the co-developer (with Stephen Krashen) of the Natural Approach — a communicative language teaching methodology grounded in Krashen’s Monitor Model theory. Terrell brought the practical classroom perspective that translated Krashen’s theoretical framework into teachable methodology.

In-Depth Explanation

Background and motivation:

Terrell had become dissatisfied with traditional grammar-translation and audio-lingual instruction in Spanish language classrooms, and was independently developing a more communicative, acquisition-oriented approach before he encountered Krashen’s input-hypothesis work. Their collaboration combined Terrell’s classroom practice with Krashen’s theoretical architecture.

The Natural Approach:

Co-published with Krashen in The Natural Approach (1983), the method is built around five key premises:

1. Acquisition, not learning: Classroom activities should promote acquisition (subconscious, implicit learning through meaningful input) rather than conscious grammatical learning
2. Comprehensible input: The primary task of the teacher is to supply large quantities of comprehensible input — language at or slightly above the learner’s current level (i+1)
3. Low anxiety: A low-stress, supportive environment lowers the affective filter and maximizes intake from the input provided
4. Silent period: Production should not be required before learners are ready; like Asher’s TPR, early activities require only comprehension
5. Speech emerges naturally: Once sufficient input has been processed, output emerges; it should not be forced or the subject of early error correction

Key stages in the Natural Approach classroom:

• Pre-production / Comprehension stage: Commands, TPR activities, picture/object labeling — no speaking required
• Early production stage: One- or two-word answers, yes/no responses
• Speech emergence: Short phrases, sentences; errors tolerated as developmental
• Intermediate fluency: Extended conversation and communication

Teaching innovations:

Terrell contributed specific classroom techniques:

• Affective activities: Learning linked to topics learners care about (family, hobbies, feelings)
• Games and information-gap activities that make comprehensible input engaging and communicative
• Error correction policy: Only errors that impede communication are addressed; routine grammar errors are ignored in favor of content-focused interaction

Legacy and criticism:

The Natural Approach became widely influential in modern communicative language teaching (CLT) programs, particularly in the US. Critics have noted:

• Without some explicit grammar instruction, certain forms may be acquired slowly or not at all (particularly low-frequency, complex structures)
• Pure acquisition-through-input is difficult to achieve in traditional classroom contexts
• Later research supports a role for Focus on Form and explicit instruction that the original Natural Approach did not include

Terrell died of AIDS in 1991 before seeing the full impact of the method he helped create.

History

• Late 1970s: Terrell independently develops acquisition-focused Spanish instruction at UCSD; meets Krashen through academic circles.
• 1977: Terrell publishes “A Natural Approach to Second Language Acquisition and Learning” in The Modern Language Journal — the first articulation of the approach.
• 1983: Krashen and Terrell publish The Natural Approach: Language Acquisition in the Classroom — the core methodology text.
• 1991: Tracy Terrell dies; the Natural Approach lives on through Krashen’s continued advocacy and its influence on modern CLT curricula.

Criticisms

The Natural Approach, as Terrell implemented it, has been criticized for underestimating the role of explicit grammar instruction in classroom language learning. Subsequent research on Focus on Form — particularly studies by Rod Ellis and Norris & Ortega’s (2000) meta-analysis — demonstrated that explicit instruction, when integrated with meaning-focused communication, produces significantly greater gains than purely implicit approaches. The Natural Approach’s reliance on comprehensible input as the primary mechanism left certain grammatical forms underacquired in classroom settings where input volume is insufficient to drive implicit learning alone.

Terrell’s classroom framework was also criticized for being difficult to implement faithfully: the affective filter hypothesis that motivated the low-anxiety classroom design has not been supported by controlled experimental evidence independent of Krashen’s broader theoretical claims. Teachers trained in the Natural Approach often found that the absence of systematic grammar instruction left students with persistent accuracy gaps, particularly in productive skills. Finally, the approach assumes that classroom environments can replicate the conditions of naturalistic acquisition — a premise that underestimates the structural constraints of limited instructional time, large class sizes, and the absence of meaningful communicative needs in academic settings.

Practical Application

For Japanese learners:

• The Natural Approach’s comprehension-first, low-anxiety principles are directly applicable: prioritize extensive listening and reading before forcing production
• Don’t judge early output quality — rough, error-filled Japanese is a stage, not a failure
• Create acquisition conditions outside the classroom: authentic input via Japanese media, podcasts, and games where meaning matters more than grammatical form

Related Terms

• Stephen Krashen
• Natural Approach
• Input Hypothesis
• Affective Filter Hypothesis
• James Asher

See Also

• Comprehensible Input
• Total Physical Response
• Sakubo

Research

• Krashen, S. D., & Terrell, T. D. (1983). The Natural Approach: Language Acquisition in the Classroom. Pergamon/Alemany Press. [Summary: The foundational text of the Natural Approach, combining Krashen’s Monitor Model theory with Terrell’s classroom methodology to articulate a full acquisition-based approach to language teaching.]
• Terrell, T. D. (1977). A natural approach to second language acquisition and learning. The Modern Language Journal, 61(7), 325–337. [Summary: The original paper articulating the Natural Approach before the term was formalized — Terrell describes the rationale for comprehension-first, acquisition-focused Spanish instruction based on his classroom experience at UCSD.]