A lesson plan to teach Tamil using the Natural Approach

The Natural Approach recommends the following lesson plan to teach Tamil. This considers diglossic nature of the language. Each stage is expected to be about 30-50 hours of class.

Stage	Input	Output
1	Comprehend simple and single words. Spoken Tamil. Teach listening skill and vocabulary using TPR.	Respond with action; fun actions
2	Comprehend 2-3 words sentences Spoken Tamil. Build language skill using TPRS.	Respond with action; fun stories.
3	Build more vocabulary Spoken Tamil. Read small story books to them; show the written words and say the words to them. Students should get an idea of how the word they know looks like in written form.	Respond with simple and single words; fun activities.
4	Build more sentences with new words. Spoken Tamil	Respond with 2-3 words sentences.
5	Letter recognition More sentences. Teach letters in parallel.	Letters reading and writing; easy learning. Continue to respond in simple sentences using spoken Tamil.
6	Read simple, easy, and known words	Respond understanding
7	Read 2-3 words sentences Introduce written Tamil Fun songs. Engage them in activities like games, role play, skit, etc, using TPRS.	Respond understanding; fun activities. By now they should be reading comfortably.
8	More written Tamil Continue in spoken Tamil. Ask them to write short words.	Write simple, single, and known words; easy learning of writting.
9	Read and understand paragraphs; Help them develop reading comprehension using FVR.	Write simple sentences. Enjoy fun stories of their choice.
10	Read and understand stories	Write more sentences
11	Introduce literature; aathichhudi, and kural	Say aathichudi and kural
12	Read 3-4 pages story	Answer questions Write summary
13	Teach basic grammar rules; Help them develop grammar using whole language approach using TBLT or CBI (gain knowledge and skill in some subject matter)	Recognize the grammar rules
14	Introduce Tamil literature from Sangam to modern literature.	They enjoy literature. Memorization is not expected.

After this they should be talking in Tamil comfortably, read small story and non-fiction books and also write short essays. They should also recognize few literature such as Thirukkural and Aaththichudi. From step 10 onwards, they should have developed good knowledge on Tamil culture.

The benefits:

• The learners gain the speaking competency before moving to the literacy competency.
• The effort to learn letters is minimized.
• The learners enjoy reading since the students know most of the words already.
• The writing is emphasized only after acquiring good amount of language.
• The language acquisition is done thru getting input that is fun.
• Emphasizes lots of input before starting the output. The input to output ratio is maintained at 3 to 1 at any stage. That is for every 3 units of input only 1 unit of output is expected. This reduces the stress of the learners and lowers the affective filter considerably.
• Grammar teaching is pushed to as late as possible. Grammar is introduced only after the learners mastered the grammar internally.
• Literature is taught only near the end of the course and the objective is help them enjoy.
• The language is acquired slowly, gradually, naturally and effortlessly. The retention rate is expected to be much higher compared to any traditional language teaching approach.

This approach also recommends we avoid the following activities.

• Teaching words based on letters.
• Teaching detailed grammar rules. Use pop grammar approach instead.
• Language drills such as worksheets.
• Dictation, spelling activity, spelling bee etc.
• Competitions and formal testing.

Thanks

Logu