Krashen's Monitor Theory has been accepted without reservation in refresher
courses, and has been advocated as the final solution to all our language teaching
problems. But it too, has come in for severe criticism (e.g. Gregg, 1984;
Widdowson, 1990). For example, the absolute distinction between acquisition
and learning is not supported empirically. Krashen's proposals are also not based
on sound conclusions about second language acquisition research (they are based
on morpheme studies which established an accuracy order for morpheme
acquisition). As far as Krashen's linguistics is concerned, Gregg (1984, p.95) says
that Krashen has no theory at all. Krashen's suggestions seem to be more
pragmatic than anything else - the 'Natural Approach' seems to work. Lennon
(1989, p.50) points out that any theoretical underpinnings of this method appear
to be something of a post-hoc affair.