Today I tried the free write portion of TPRS. I was AMAZED at how well it went. Even my chatty chatty class that questions everything I do was quiet and engaged with the activity. I explained that we were going to be slowly working towards a goal of writing a 100 word story in 10 minutes. I used running as a metaphor to explain that I wasn't asking them to start off running a marathon, but rather they would start by just running around the block. I had students write anywhere from 12 words to 118 words. So there's a lot of different ability levels in my second year students. For my 1st year students, I had them write for 5 minutes. The highest word count was 38 in that class. I'm still impressed because we haven't spent a lot of time writing yet.
My question is this: My second year students, who learned through the "old method" had much MUCH better spelling and conjugation than my 1st year students who have only learned through TPRS. I know that it is very early and that they are still doing a great job, but I worry that their spelling will never get any better. Any tips for how to encourage correct spelling without requiring it??
Spelling, like speaking, is a function of time. At least your kids understand the language. Those who study only the mechanics of the language spend so much time on the mechanics that they lose the necessary aural benefits and, at the end of the day, after a few years of study, the big results are with the kids who listen first and get to the fundamentals of structure and grammar LATER. Same with speaking. I am certainly not saying that this skill is never addressed, as critics of TPRS like to suggest. Rather, the grammar emerges later. Don't fret. It will be there and more solid since the kids can understand properly spoken L2, which IS what grammar really is. Plus, you will have more students to teach cool grammar after two years because, if the results of the past fifteen years are true, and they are, TPRS kids sign up in MUCH GREATER NUMBERS for advanced classes (beyond level 2) than other kids. And French teachers need all the job security they can get these days. The reason is simple - TPRS kids are engaged and happy in listening to the language for the first two years, instead of being bored and shamed because they can't conjugate verbs, which is a lot harder - a LOT harder - for most non-4% kids than we have any idea, and very frustrating for the teacher, which causes them to think that a lot of their kids are stupid, a very very unfortunate conclusion to draw as a teacher. They are wrong on that one. Kids are not stupid. Anyone can learn a language.
ReplyDelete"Kids are not stupid. Anyone can learn a language." I love that! It seems so true to me (and others whom I teach with). I'm just fretting about because I'm not tenured and I'm worried that the high school teachers will scrutinize my kids next year and decide that they (and TPRS) are failing. That is the last thing that I want to happen, so I'm trying to figure out a way to teach the way I love and have students who are prepared for a transfer to another school, teacher, or the next level (without me).
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