German I Syllabus
Instructor: Taylor Nickerson
E-mail:
Telephone #: 281-5001, ext. 2031
The key to TPRS:
Language Acquisition vs. Language Learning
TPRS, Teaching Language through Reading and Storytelling, relies on providing the students enough “comprehensible input” to acquire language more naturally and efficiently.
Comprehensible input is an unconscious process; it happens when the learner is focused on the meaning of the message rather than the language.
An important difference between classroom acquisition and “baby acquisition” is: Students have greater cognitive ability than babies. However, they have significantly less time with the language than babies do. Therefore, teachers must make the best use of classroom time.
Classroom language must be repetitive, interesting, and varied. Without these elements, we are not using class time in the best way possible. Our challenge is making the language comprehensible while at the same time making it repetitive and interesting.
Language “learning” refers to understanding how language works. This has been the traditional approach in foreign language classrooms, e.g. memorizing rules and filling in charts. This is inefficient and NO FUN!
Learning enables a student to edit language for accuracy. Acquisition means relying on what sounds right. We focus on the students receiving enough comprehensible input to know what sounds right!
We use the Sabine und Michael series (www.sabineundmichael.com). German 1 can expect to cover 3-4 units in the first year. Each section will run on a 5-day cycle and consist of introducing the vocabulary through a repetition of questions and physical gestures; practicing the vocabulary through the telling and acting out of an original story (this step includes many questions about the story content); following the continuing story of Sabine and Michael; and review & assessment. Assessment will include the following:
1. A vocabulary list of 8-10 words or phrases to be learned and drawn in the Wörterbuch pages of the workbook in color (5 pts.);
2. A worksheet located in the workbook after the vocabulary pages (5 pts.);
3. A quiz covering the vocabulary and structures from the section (10 pts.);
4. A participation grade covering the three active days of learning (9 pts. total or 3 points per day);
5. A unit test at the end of the 8 sections, which includes an oral project (100 pts.).