The book is introduced at the very beginning of the course, since all four language skills are introduced at approximately the same time. There is no prereading period, and the students can be expected to prepare written homework as early as the first day of class. Nor is it axiomatic that the four skills be introduced in the so-called natural sequence. Admittedly, children learn their native language orally before they are introduced to reading and writing. However, it does not necessarily follow that a similar sequence is most effective in learning a second language. A sequence in which the written skills are learned prior to the oral might be just as effective. Decoding activities, such as those the students perform in listening and reading, must precede encoding activities, i.e., speaking and writing. Listening and reading—the receptive skills—are in effect the means of developing and expanding "competence." This statement in no way implies that receptive skills are passive. They are not. Active mental processes are involved.
The students proceed through the book in its arranged order, studying the structural presentations, the exercises, and then the application activities. Since most texts contain several new structures in each chapter or unit, the teacher needs to decide upon the amount of new material that he feels the students can assimilate, and then follow the sequence for each structure. For example, if a chapter includes a new verb form plus agreement of adjectives, on the first day the teacher introduces one of the grammatical topics, beginning a sequential progression for that point. The next day a sequence involving the other structure is started. The implication of progressing through the book in this manner is that each day the students have some new material, some exercises, and some application activities.