How comprehensible must comprehensible input be?

Written by on July 29, 2011 - 4 Comments
EFL, pedagogy, tprs

According to Krashen, for language-learning to occur, language input must be comprehensible.

I’m teaching a class of university freshmen, in an English Dept. Some of them learned absolutely no English in high school. Some seem to have learned nothing in JHS. Some do not recognize the word “young”. One boy said he doesn’t understand “does” (as in the written question “Does it take a long time?” and this is after 20 x 90-minute sessions of me circling and using TPRS! I think that student was pulling my leg, don’t you? Or is he mentally retarded?).

At the beginning of the semester, I started off circling with questions, but many did not understand the questions. I checked comprehension with my barometer students, but became bogged down: I had to translate and explain EVERYTHING! And write it down on the board.

There are also some wise guys in the class who ask questions just for fun.
There is also one boy who asks picky questions that require complex answers (he’s the one who said he didn’t understand the word “does”). That’s why he asks them. I think he asks questions out of nervousness. I don’t think he understands my answers. I’m not sure he’s paying attention to my answers.

So I stopped checking/explaining/translating “every little thing” (http://www.avexnet.or.jp/elt/ also [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5aUXAodv4Y])

This meant going back on my promise to make everything 100% comprehensible.

Tuff? Or have I taken a wrong turn here down the TPRS road?
Waddaya think?

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4 Responses to “How comprehensible must comprehensible input be?”

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  1. autonoblogger
    September 25, 2011 at 11:08

    Jeremy, thanks. You can contact me directly, but also check out http://www.tprs.jp and sign up (free). This was created for the 2010 TPRS workshop in Shimabara, Kyushu (the 2011 one is happening as we speak), and so has a bunch of TPRS teachers-in-Japan on it. A few teach at university. We are in the minority, tho, so it’s always good to hear from someone in the same situation.

    With regard to the “Does?” student, for much of the class, he wasn’t paying attention at all, then at the end he comes up and fires this PhD-level question at me! Like “what does ‘the’ mean?”
    My guess was he was asking questions out of a kind of nervousness.

  2. autonoblogger
    September 25, 2011 at 11:02

    Thanks for dropping by and taking the time to comment. Sorry I took so long to approve your comment! I got side-tracked…
    2nd semester (in Japan) begins tomorrow.

  3. Jeremy
    August 17, 2011 at 11:34

    Hey, interesting blog. I’ve been trying to find some info on using TPRS with university students, but it’s not easy.

    I’ve got a similar problem with a low-level student. She never had English and it’s clear she doesn’t understand most of what I say, but she’s in with higher level students (this class is an elective, so it covers the bottom half of the levels) who get impatient and disengage if the feel class isn’t moving at their pace.

    Perhaps it helps to figure out where the student is getting stuck. On ‘does’, maybe they’re thinking it’s the main verb and they get confused. I know for myself I make assumptions about language and base everything off that. If that assumption is wrong, everything built off it is less than useless — it’s harmful.

    I’m new to TPRS and would be interested in conversing with you about how to use it in university/college-level English.

  4. Laurie Clarcq
    August 10, 2011 at 10:38

    Hmmm great questions. Some thoughts…

    Do these students know the “game” of TPRS? If they are new to this type of instruction, then you are right….they are confused. My guess is that they would like to do the right thing, but are not sure what it is. They are nervous and unsure and their behavior reflects that. They are not used to being held responsible every second for 100% comprehension and they are not really sure why you want it. It will take patience, explanation and practice. I wonder if there are any youtube clips you could show them….

    I am sure that your “does” boy doesn’t understand the meaning of “does” in an English question because it doesn’t have a meaning. It has a function. Maybe you could ask him (in Japanese) What does the word “does” tell us in this sentence? (ewww it even sounds horrible in English) Answer?: It tells us this is a question. Why is the word “does” in this sentence? Answer?: The sentence is a question. What word must can be added in English when we form a question? Answer?: Does Is there a translation for it? Answer?: No, it simply a word used to form questions.

    These are your students, and only you can decide if the class is comprehensible enough for them. I can only offer this: I’ve never heard a stellar TPRS teacher worry that their class was too comprehensible. Slow. Narrow. Deep. Connected to the students. It sure ain’t easy….and I’m sure I’m not as good at it as I could be….but when I’ve seen it done, I’ve never seen it fail.

    with love,
    Laurie

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