From a language teachers’ list: TPRS is used for teaching fluency. We use it whenever students don’t have “ease of expression”. Ease of expression means they speak with confidence, accuracy and without hesitation. It is been my exprience that “ease of expression” does not happen in just four years of Spanish. I agree that TPRS works […]
Posts Tagged ‘Fluency’
TPRS™ and the Issue of Initial vs. Target Fluency
Posted by Terry Waltz on November 22nd, 2014
Posted in Chinese-specific, General 
Tags: Fluency, Micro-Fluency, Proficiency 
Comments Off on TPRS™ and the Issue of Initial vs. Target FluencyFluency in Reading
Posted by Terry Waltz on January 22nd, 2012
The fluent reader is “one whose decoding processes are automatic, requiring no conscious attention.” (LaBerge and Samuels 1974) How fluent are the readers in your FL class? What do they need BEFORE they can be fluent readers? They need language. And they need to have acquired it, not just feel like maybe they’ve heard that […]
Posted in Reading Tags: Cold Character Reading, Fluency, Frontloading, Vocabulary Comments Off on Fluency in ReadingWhat is Fluency? What is Proficiency?
Posted by Terry Waltz on December 27th, 2011
Fluency is being able to use all the language you’ve acquired unconsciously and correctly. Proficiency is being able to do that and also having enough vocabulary to make things happen in the world.
Immersion Looks Better, Though
Posted by Terry Waltz on July 13th, 2011
Let’s not forget: immersion means being underwater. And novice language learners don’t have gills. An observer of a TPRS-based Chinese class recently commented (using words to this effect): This is a great program. But you should use less English. You use too much English. If you want to give instructions that are complicated, you should […]
Posted in Methods, Outside Forces Tags: Culture, Fluency, STARTALK, Using English Comments Off on Immersion Looks Better, ThoughDoes fluency occur in stages?
Posted by Terry Waltz on March 21st, 2011
Here’s the problem with an all-TPRS Chinese program: there’s no reason why students would not be able to acquire virtually all the structure in modern standard Chinese by the end of the second year. Unlike the FIGS, where there are six forms to be taught for every tense (not to mention different endings within a […]
Posted in Chinese-specific, Methods Tags: Advanced, Fluency, Novices, Proficiency, TPRS Comments Off on Does fluency occur in stages?What about “memory aids” for ser and estar?
Posted by Terry Waltz on February 20th, 2011
On a language teachers’ List, the comment recently appeared, in the context of a discussion on how to teach ser vs. estar in Spanish using TPRS: I hope there’s nothing “wrong” in providing a guideline for those students who are analytical – or who become analytical in a testing situation, when some students start to […]
Posted in General, Methods Tags: Criticisms of TPRS, Fluency, Mnemonics Comments Off on What about “memory aids” for ser and estar?