Compelling Comprehensible Input
Learning a new language is a challenge. There´s no question in that. Different teachers and learners have tried and used many different methods, but there´s one point that always comes back: That of Comprehensible Input.
The hypothesis made popular by Dr. Stephen Krashen in the 1970s has stood the test of time and now it´s even being called a theory.
We acquire language by understanding messages.
It is possible to learn a language, though. Through grammar study, vocabulary lists and all sorts of traditional ways of learning, we "feed" what is called the Monitor System, which serves as a way to correct errors before you produce an output. But that does not help in communication nor in acquiring a language. It is a very limited tool.
The use of stories to help in acquisition of a new language is a strategy being used in many modern schools and for all levels of learners, independent of the language in question. One of the strategies used is the TPRS, which stands for Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling.
When you are so interested in the story you forget it is in another language.
That is the basic idea. The teacher builds a story with the help of the student (or class), using whichever tools she has in hands to help them understand what is going on. The chalkboard, pictures in a screen, sound effects and all. That´s the way of focusing on Comprehension rather than in grammar rules.
The benefits are many. On grammar tests: students who undergo classes focused on comprehension are better, or in the worst cases, equal to those who study through grammar rules. Their vocabulary tends to be bigger, listening and noticing skills are better, not to mention writing and reading skills.
Another flag held by those who vow for the Comprehensible Input is the power of reading. The simple act of picking up a book or any kind of material that can occupy one for half an hour just on silent sustained reading has tremendous effect on vocabulary building and acquisition of a second language.
There lies another challenge. Teachers might try and curate material to present to their students so they can read more, but then we find the paradox:
So, how does one find Compelling Comprehensible Input? The answer might lie not in textbooks or in cases of success of people who managed to learn a second language, but in those of who managed to learn many other languages.
Polyglots often rely on material that they themselves created. You have heard about Giuseppe Caspar Mezzofanti, a hyperpolyglot from the 16th Century who had learnt more than thirty languages using the Lord´s Prayer.
Reading and listening to a familiar text in a foreign language is a valid method but the answer we might seek lies in the core idea to that. For the Cardinal it was a Compelling Comprehensible Input to use the Lord´s Prayer. For someone who´s not Catholic it might not be. And that is how it works for everything, as everyone is different and might like and dislike different things.
So the idea would be to find this type of comprehensible input for each individual. And that is the goal of this blog/website/project.
To provide Compelling Comprehensible Input for Language Learners.
What is Compelling to you? What do you like to read? What would motivate you to keep going on this journey of learning a new language?
We acquire language by understanding messages.
It is possible to learn a language, though. Through grammar study, vocabulary lists and all sorts of traditional ways of learning, we "feed" what is called the Monitor System, which serves as a way to correct errors before you produce an output. But that does not help in communication nor in acquiring a language. It is a very limited tool.
The use of stories to help in acquisition of a new language is a strategy being used in many modern schools and for all levels of learners, independent of the language in question. One of the strategies used is the TPRS, which stands for Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling.
When you are so interested in the story you forget it is in another language.
That is the basic idea. The teacher builds a story with the help of the student (or class), using whichever tools she has in hands to help them understand what is going on. The chalkboard, pictures in a screen, sound effects and all. That´s the way of focusing on Comprehension rather than in grammar rules.
The benefits are many. On grammar tests: students who undergo classes focused on comprehension are better, or in the worst cases, equal to those who study through grammar rules. Their vocabulary tends to be bigger, listening and noticing skills are better, not to mention writing and reading skills.
Another flag held by those who vow for the Comprehensible Input is the power of reading. The simple act of picking up a book or any kind of material that can occupy one for half an hour just on silent sustained reading has tremendous effect on vocabulary building and acquisition of a second language.
There lies another challenge. Teachers might try and curate material to present to their students so they can read more, but then we find the paradox:
- Material that focuses on Comprehensible Input made by teachers usually do not represent the real world and is not compelling.
- Material that do represent the real world is Compelling to a certain type of student but is usually not comprehensible.
So, how does one find Compelling Comprehensible Input? The answer might lie not in textbooks or in cases of success of people who managed to learn a second language, but in those of who managed to learn many other languages.
Polyglots often rely on material that they themselves created. You have heard about Giuseppe Caspar Mezzofanti, a hyperpolyglot from the 16th Century who had learnt more than thirty languages using the Lord´s Prayer.
Reading and listening to a familiar text in a foreign language is a valid method but the answer we might seek lies in the core idea to that. For the Cardinal it was a Compelling Comprehensible Input to use the Lord´s Prayer. For someone who´s not Catholic it might not be. And that is how it works for everything, as everyone is different and might like and dislike different things.
So the idea would be to find this type of comprehensible input for each individual. And that is the goal of this blog/website/project.
To provide Compelling Comprehensible Input for Language Learners.
What is Compelling to you? What do you like to read? What would motivate you to keep going on this journey of learning a new language?
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