Will you use TPRS in Chinese Class?
February 7th , 2018
See the TSUCI participate in the training with Chinese teachers on February 7, 2018 by the invitation of HISD, a collaborative school district. TSUCI will partake in the training in Chinese language at Pin Oak Middle School. Pedagogy, a method of teaching, along with professor Yi Xiao, the dean of TSUCI, and Zhou Zhen, Li Zhuo, Wang Yu, and Zhang Heng, the volunteer teachers of the Chinese will also be participating. At the beginning of training, Terry Waltz raised four questions for the Chinese teachers attending: your favorite word; the biggest challenged you’ve faced, (limited to two words), words you would like to learn, and lastly, a secret. These questions not only led to the self reflection of the Chinese teachers, but also caused them to ponder the future. Terry Waltz often advocated for the use of the TPRS teaching method. According to the characteristics of Chinese teachings, the she proposed that the TPRS method would be very helpful. However, The following points needed to be fulfilled: understandable input and high repetition rate. This allows students to improve their speaking and writing skills. Subsequently, she turned to classroom into the lecture. Take the Hawaiian language for example, the Chinese teacher turned into a student and experienced the TPRS teaching methods. Terry Waltz always uses the TPRS teaching method along with storytelling, this gives students a sense of autonomy and choice. This enhances the students participation. Within an hour under the TPRS method, the “student” reached their goal in being able to read the Hawaiian language.
Terry Waltz concludes that the basis for the TPRS is personalization, and repetition. Furthermore, teachers must present the following questions to themselves when teaching a language: “Do my students understand the information input?” and lastly, “are my students interested in the material?” Following this, the volunteer teachers discussed their views on the teaching method as well as the possible limitations it might place on students: as apposed to blindly promoting some ones teachings. The volunteer teachers Li Zhuo and Wang Yu decided to introduce the TPRS teaching method in the following teachings according to their respective situations. After listening to the lecture, the volunteer teachers will devote more time and passion into teaching their future work and will continue to contribute their own light and heat in the development of Chinese teaching in the United States