142.(LV3-16)TPR & Listen First MS

Publish Date: February 13, 2007

Foreign language study has not been as successful as it should be. In fact,
students are dropping like flies from foreign language programs. J.H.
Lawson reports that the dropout rate in foreign language programs for
American high school students is as high as 85% by the third year and 95%
by the fourth year.
Another study by John B. Carroll found that students who had studied for
two years had a less than satisfactory proficiency as measured by stan-
dardized tests, which means that the first two years did not allow the student
to become proficient enough to hold a conversation in the language. L.A.
Jakobovits also found that most students who study foreign languages will
probably never become fluent. Not only will most students have low profi-
ciency in reading, writing, speaking, and listening-- they will actually expe-
rience negative learning. That is, they will learn to avoid the foreign lan-
guage and culture at all costs. This is because of the many frustrations and
failures they experience during their foreign language study.
Perhaps the major reason for the lack of success of foreign language pro-
grams is the method used. The audio-lingual and grammar-analysis meth-
ods are popular approaches that came into wide use after World War II.
These methods consist of memorizing grammar rules and dialogues and
engaging in pattern practice drills. These methods do not produce com-
municative skill because language is "creative" and therefore theoretically
infinite. Consequently, it is logical to conclude that since language has infi-
nite possibilities, the methods of language instruction should teach the stu-
dent to communicate creatively. A number of powerful methods have been
effective doing just that. These include TPR, TPRS, Focal Skills, ALG,
The Natural Approach, and The Effortless Way.
The first of these, TPR, was created by Dr. James Asher. TPR stands for
"Total Physical Response". Learning a language through TPR approxi-
mates the acquisition of your native language. This acquisition follows the
order of listening first, and then speaking. Finally, the learner learns to read
and write. In the receptive listening stage, the child hears different "sounds"
such as "Pick up your truck", or "Drink your water". As the child hears these
"sounds", they physically respond. After a period of perhaps 12 to 18
months, the child begins to speak. At this point, understanding is far in
advance of speaking and it will remain that way for many, many years. In
the acquisition of the first language, therefore, listening is the first skill to be
developed followed by speaking. It seems reasonable, obviously, that for-
eign language learning should approximate first language learning.
In TPR speech and writing are delayed until comprehension has been exten-
sively internalized. Research by Valerian Potovosky supports the theory
that delaying speech is beneficial. The results of his research show that
overall proficiency in Russian was significantly better when oral practice
was delayed at the beginning of language instruction until comprehension of
spoken Russian was extensively internalized. This learning method is often
called a "listen first" approach. It has also been used successfully by the
Thai language program at the American Alumni University school in
Bangkok, Thailand.
In sum, research and educational experience show that traditional grammar-
analysis methods fail up to 95% of the students who are taught using them.
Natural methods, especially those that use a "listen first" approach, are much
more powerful and effective.
Therefore, when learning English or any other foreign language, focus most
of your energy on listening until you can quite easily understand native
speakers using the language. Only after that should you change your focus
to speaking or writing. As for reading, it is an ideal supplement to listen-
ing activity as long as listening remains the major focus.
If you are an intermediate or advance learner, but feel that your listening
skills are weak-- its best to go back to square one and focus on listening for
6 months or more-- until you can understand native speakers well. Then you
can return to extensive reading, writing, and speaking.