1. Teaching Proficiency Through Reading and Storytelling
tprs
Teaching Proficiency Through Reading and Storytelling

2. Steps of TPRS: Establish meaning.
“Ask” the story while students act it out.
Have students read the story.
Review the story by re-telling it, doing various activities, etc.

3. Some principles of TPRS…

4. 1. Language is acquired by receiving comprehensible input
People acquire language by listening, not speaking
“Speaking is the result of acquisition, not the cause.”
“A flood of input must precede a trickle of output.” –Grant Boulanger
Avoidance of forced output

5. 2. A focus on high-frequency words
The “Sweet Sixteen” verbs: be
have do
say go
can
get
make
9. know
10. think
11. take
12. see
13. come
14. want
15. use
16. find

6. 3. Language should occur in a meaningful context
Hearing words and grammatical structures used in context helps students to know how those words and structures are actually used
Language is extremely complex
People remember things better when in context
In grammar “pop-up” lessons, the teacher points out a grammatical structure to help students understand the meaning

7. 4. Input should be compelling
“What we learn with pleasure, we never forget.” –Alfred Mercier
TPRS focuses on the students. Students contribute to stories and the stories are about them.
Compelling input helps students remember more and increases their motivation to learn

8. Is it effective? A lot of research studies support it
My students’ communication skills
CASAS scores

9. Recommended Resources
Explanation: content/uploads/2011/09/THE_BASICS_OF_TPRS2.pdf
TPRS videos:
Using TPRS to teach EFL in Honduras: ndex=4&list=PL8JqpkCp61R5fhrNLCi5OZfZVLFGm5r DR
Using TPRS and CI to teach Mandarin: se-teachers-on-video-how-does.html

10. Recommended Resources
TeaWithBVP.com
Book: From Input to Output by Bill VanPatten

11. A very simple story:
John has tea. Sue looks at John. Sue wants tea. John gives his tea to Sue.

12. Demonstration
Words students already know: go/goes, see/sees, say/says, have/has, like/likes, big, small