What is TPRS & How do I use it in the classroom?

What is TPRS?

& how do I use it in the classroom?

"circling"

-So, wolves eat Spanish teachers? YES!, wolves eat French teachers.

-Do wolves eat French teachers? No! Wolves eat Spanish teachers.

-Do wolves eat Spanish teachers or do wolves eat FRENCH teachers? Wolves don’t eat French teachers. Wolves eat Spanish teachers!

-What do wolves eat? Wolves eat Spanish teachers!

-Who / What eat Spanish teachers? Wolves eat Spanish teachers!

So what do I do?

Show, Tell, Read

-read a story

-write a story

-start with 3 vocabulary phrases

-give English meaning

-provide gestures (signs)

-ask questions

-"circle"

-act out pieces of story

-paired student talking

The research

The two main researchers that advocated aproaches closest to my own were...

...Stephen Krashen & Bill Van Patten.

Why?

I had to go to Spain to learn how to speak in Spanish.

there had to be a better way...

...so I created my own textbook

based on my ESL experience.

what happened?

it worked "okay" but not great.

i needed something better,

so I researched.

Van Patten's views:

Krashen's views

1. Communicative Competence, for example, is defined in sociocultural terms, meaning that interacting in L2 is more than just a mental exercise, but a participatory, social one. Robots cannot converse.

2. The Affective Filter Hypothesis states there is a “filter” or “mental block” that keeps L2 from “getting in” – the lower the filter, the easier it is to learn L2. Thus, human contact of a relaxed nature, i.e. reaching kids in a way that is meaningful to them, increases acquisition of L2.

3. The Affective Hypothesis states that factors of motivation, interpersonal acceptance, and self-esteem deeply affect learning L2. Thus, we reach students by focusing on them and valuing them as human beings in our classes.

For input to be successful in teaching languages it must be of a communicative nature, which means that the focus must be on meaning. In this sense, he supports Krashen’s concept of comprehensible input.

Another major aspect of Van Patten’s message is that language acquisition is different from any other kind of learning. Van Patten suggests that the brain treats language differently from normal human cognition and therefore should not be studied cognitively, which is how it is typically taught.

4. The Comprehensible Input Hypothesis states that the learner can only acquire language by connecting it to prior knowledge. Language that is not understood is just L2 noise. Thus, we cannot just teach students, we must reach them by making sure that we speak to them in a way that they can understand us.

5. The Monitor Hypothesis states that the learner unconsciously corrects his or her speech to conform to the correct spoken and written speech of fluent speakers. Thus, we reach students by speaking to them in the target language, not by speaking to them in English. By speaking to them in L2 in ways that carry meaning and interest to them, we reach them.

6. The Natural Order of Acquisition Hypothesis states that structures of L2 emerge in much the same order as they do in L1, an order that cannot be re-arranged. This implies that the mind is selective and learns what features of a language it wants to learn when it wants to learn it, as it hears L2 on a daily basis. This calls into question the “grammar syllabus.” Thus, we reach students by offering them the target language in forms that it can grasp, and not in ways that confuse them.