Friday, October 18, 2013

TPRS


TPRS is a method for teaching foreign languages that was developed by Blaine Ray.   It is based on James Asher’s Total Physical Response and Dr. Stephen Krashen’s Language Acquisition Strategies.  The story-based approach was not only fun and engaging, it is an excellent long-term memory technique.  This inductive approach replaces the traditional method of teaching grammar.  Students are provided input rather than being taught form and rules.  The words and phrases used are more likely to be retained in long term memory because the grammar is used in context and students have the opportunity to construct meaning rather than completing one sentence drills.  Another reason this method is successful is because it caters to the interests of the students. As a graduate student at Mankato State University I attended a class in which Marti Sievik demonstrated the use of TPRS based on his experience using it while teaching Spanish in Colorado.  


To create a unit or lesson based on storytelling, start with 3-5 words or phrases that revolve around the grammar concept that you would like students to be able to construct.  Begin with the introduction of vocabulary and complex structures.  I was amazed by how easy it was to use facial expressions and gestures to teach vocabulary.  Although the objective of the lesson that Marti Sievik presented only required students to learn about four phrases, it was possible to add a lot more throughout the story.  The technique that was used to tell the story is called circling.  To do this teachers ask a series of questions that include choosing between two or more words.  Students can produce answers with only one word or even a gesture.  This method also allows teachers to double back and provide repetition of certain words or grammatical structures.  During this phase all attention is on the teacher, but it is important for the teacher to maintain eye contact.  Marti was a master at this.  I noticed that not only was he constantly moving around the room and making eye contact, he also got down to the student’s level when asking questions.  In this way the story builds based on student comprehension and response.  The oral presentation is followed by reading.  According to Blaine Ray, the emphasis is actually on the reading, although I feel that the story-telling is going to be more effective for most students.    Blaine Ray recommends that storytelling and reading should be followed up with an unannounced vocabulary quiz.  Not announcing the quiz will allow you to test the acquisition of the vocabulary and not how well they cram before class.  Words that are troubling can be recycled.


The only drawback that I could see to TPRS was that it was very physically demanding.  Most teachers have 4-5 classes a day, many times these classes are different sections of the same course.  Marti’s story took about forty-five minutes, a traditional class period after all of the housekeeping issues are attended to.  This would be hard to incorporate into curriculum more than once every week or two.


If teachers wanted to use this method, there are resources available.  The most important resource is the teacher.  An enthusiastic and energetic teacher is a requirement.  It is also important that the teacher is skilled at establishing relationships with their students.  To sustain a student’s interest in a story, you must understand what interests them.  To get them to respond, you must build trust with them.  Eye contact during story-telling not only allows the teacher to check for comprehension, it also establishes trust and an interest in the student.  Everyone loves the teacher that they feel took an interest in them.  Textbooks can be used by taking the words from each lesson and building a story around them.  School districts usually encourage teachers to attend workshops that pertain to their subject and will hone their teaching skills.  I plan on attending one of the workshops.  - http://tprstorytelling.com/

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