TL;DR - My experience as a teacher is clear: input is the most important factor. Still, I encourage everyone to find what works for them.
I've been a "believer" in Krashen's comprehensible input theory since I first read about it, mostly because it matched my own experience as a language learner as well as my initial experience as an English as a foreign language teacher. After college I moved overseas and was working at a public language school for adults. Oddly enough, I immediately realized that most of the students had a very poor level, even up through B2. The best students, however, tended to be younger and they all told me one thing: "I watch series in English". I also met great students who play video games, browse Reddit, etc. After 8 years of teaching, I can say without fail that the best students I've had are those who consume large amounts of media in English. The worst students are those who only learn in a classroom setting / study / homework.
I will say that students who have spent significant time abroad do tend to have more of a natural feel to them. Multimedia learners can hold fluent and often very accurate and well-pronounced conversations, but those who have spent significant time abroad tend to be more natural, which would make sense - multimedia is not the same as hearing and using the language in day-to-day life. I would say this is particularly true when talking about functional language like "great to see you" or "let me help you with that", etc., whereas multimedia learners may actually do better at more advanced topics (climate change, economics, etc.) or even have better accents.
Finally, I noticed that some of my co-teachers at the language school, when grading oral exams, put a lot of emphasis on advanced grammar structures like present perfect, specific vocabulary, etc. Obviously this is a plus, but to my ear as a native speaker I much preferred a natural and clear use of the language even if the actual content was more basic. Again, this usually comes from the younger crowd who have more exposure to natural sources of English (online, etc.) It sounds like "real" English to me, classroom English does not.
Let me note, also, that I have had students on iTalki who only talk and don't do much listening outside of the sessions. "Interview" classes where I ask students a series of questions, as opposed to a mutual conversation, are the worst. Of course, this gives the student the opportunity to practice their English, which can be exciting for them, so I allow it. But students who only do this and don't listen in their free time or at least converse with me tend not to improve.
All of that said, I am of the belief that language learning is an art, not a science. There's nothing 100% about any of this. In my own experience having some grammar knowledge provides a sort of anchor even if repeated drills are not enough to become fluent. I also think speaking can help you "get into the groove" of a language, so there may be a role for that, but I definitely believe it should be subservient to input. Finally, I always tell my students to find what works for them. I strongly recommend input but one of my favorite phrases is "there's more than one way to get to Miami".
As a learner I've been living in Spain for 8 years and my wife is Spanish. Our relationship functions in Spanish, so while I may not have the best accent or the highest vocabulary (though I believe I am decent on both fronts), I do feel I am natural and, of course, functional. I believe the greatest help to me has been the input of living here, though I do have knowledge of grammar.
I'm also learning Portuguese as a hobby, I'd say I'm at about a B1. My study is basically 10-30 minutes a day of podcasts or reading with some conversation occasionally. This is enough for me to be proficient and at the moment I'm not willing to make the time to advance given that I rarely have much of a need to use Portuguese. I have told one of my students, a Brazilian guy that chats with me in Portuguese sometimes, that if I wanted to become very fluent in Portuguese, I would spend multiple hours a day reading / listening to Portuguese, visit Portugal more frequently, set up chats with native speakers once or twice a week, and also take a better look at the grammar. I am convinced that in 6-12 months I would be speaking Portuguese on a level similar to my Spanish. Of course, this is exactly the method I would recommend to my students, too.
Anyway, I was just thinking about all this because one of my EFL students is doing an exchange with an Australian girl. The Australian girl just arrived and I'm actually teaching her Spanish. She is stressed because her level is very low and she doesn't understand much, and I definitely want to make sure I'm doing my best to help her. Given the fact that she's on the ground right here, right now, she doesn't have the luxury of time that my EFL students tend to have. So I do want to make sure that what I'm doing makes sense, thus why all of this is on my mind tonight. I will be reviewing grammar and vocabulary with her, but above all I have assured her that it's just going to be a matter of time and slowly but surely she will start to get the hang of it.
As a disclaimer, like I said before, there's more than one way to get to Miami. I don't think Krashen / comprehensive input is the definitive answer but I do think it's a pretty big part of the equation based on my experience as a teacher as well as a learner. I encourage everyone to find what works for them. That said, I do find it a shame when people trash these ideas. Oddly enough there still seems to be a lot of resistance to this method, even when it comes to formal instruction.
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