For those new to this group, this from TPRS in a Year! explains what circling is:
Skill #5: Circling
In the same almost magical way that pausing and pointing properly creates more engaged students, the students become strongly engaged when you circle properly. There is always a strong link between student engagement and good circling. In the early stages of learning this skill, you will probably refer frequently to your circling poster.
Circling is:
Statement Question Either/or Negative 3 for 1 What Who When Where Why Ask a detail
Here is an example of circling:
Statement: “Class, there is a boy.” (ohh!) Question: “Class, is there a boy?” (yes) [You add: That’s correct, class, there is a boy.”] Either/Or: “Class, is there a boy or a girl?” (boy) [You add: That’s correct, class, there is a boy.”] Negative: “Is there a girl?” (no) [You add: That’s correct, class, there is not a girl. There is a boy.] 3/1: “Is there a monkey? (no) [You add: That’s correct, class, there is not a monkey. There is a boy.”] What: “Class, what is there?” (boy) [You add: That’s correct, class, there is a boy.”] Who: Class, what is the boy’s name? (Howard Ino) [You add: That’s correct, class, the boy’s name is Howard Ino.”]
(When, Where, Why and other details are circled in only when relevant.)
All research indicates that output cannot occur without having first been preceded by massive amounts of comprehensible input (listening). Thus, listening (CI) should be the pre-eminent focus of all foreign language instruction. Circling is the pre-eminent feature of CI. The astounding results gained by TPRS students would be impossible without circling.
The focus of circling in each sentence is on the part of the sentence new to the students. If you are in touch with what your students have already learned, then, when you circle, you can stress with an increase in sound in your voice the part of the sentence that is new to them.
One thought must be in the forefront of the instructor’s mind when circling: the word or structure that you want the students to know must be repeated, repeated, and repeated again, and vocally accentuated at the same time.
Some instructors focus more on the circling than on the structure, thinking that there must be a “right” way to circle. Circling is not a formula to be blindly followed! Rather, repetitive questioning that accentuates and repeats the structure to be learned is proper circling.
By focusing less on the circling itself as a formula and more on the structure being circled, the structure quickly becomes comprehensible to the students. It becomes instantly recognizable to the students when it occurs later. Just remember that mixing up the questions and thus avoiding patterned responses is required for success.
It is possible to get ten questions from one sentence by circling all three parts of the sentence. If the structure is:
avait l’intention de (intended to)
I ask a student to stand next to me in front of the classroom. I ask, “Class, did Zach intend to drink some water yesterday?” And then I circle that as below. I circle the subject, then the verb, then the object. Note that although there are twelve sentences below, the first in each group is the same so there are really only ten questions.
First, you circle the subject:
1. Class, did Zach intend to drink some water yesterday? [Yes] That’s right, class, Zach intended to drink some water yesterday. 2. Did Zach or Derek intend to drink some water yesterday? [Zach] That’s right, class, Zach intended to drink some water yesterday. 3. Did Derek intend to drink some water yesterday? [No] That’s right, class, that’s absurd. Derek did not intend to drink some water yesterday. Zach intended to drink some water yesterday. 4. Class, who intended to drink some water yesterday? [Zach] That’s right, class, Zach intended to drink some water yesterday.
Next, you circle the verb:
1. Class, did Zach intend to drink some water yesterday? [Yes] That’s right, class, Zach intended to drink some water yesterday. 2. Did Zach intend to drink or eat some water yesterday? [Drink] That’s right, class, Zach intended to drink some water yesterday. 3. Did Zach intend to eat some water yesterday? [No] That’s right, class, that’s absurd. Zach did not intend to eat some water yesterday. He intended to drink some water yesterday. 4. Class, what did Zach intend to do yesterday? [Drink some water] That’s right, class, Zach intended to drink some water yesterday.
And then the object:
1. Class, did Zach intend to drink some water yesterday? [Yes] That’s right, class, Zach intended to drink some water yesterday. 2. Did Zach intend to drink some water or some milk yesterday? [Water] That’s right, class, Zach intended to drink some water yesterday. 3. Did Zach intend to drink some milk yesterday? [No] That’s right, class, that’s absurd. Zach did not intend to drink some milk yesterday. He intended to drink some water yesterday. 4. Class, what did Zach intend to drink yesterday? [Water] That’s right, class, Zach intended to drink some water yesterday.
It is not intended that you do all ten possibilities above. Instead, pick and choose depending on the situation. This technique gets good personalization of the structures, the students get needed repetitions, and the story will definitely roll along more easily with you having done this. Stop the circling when the class shows confidence in what you are saying.
Once the pattern is understood, you then have the option of mixing it up. This is a good way to make students process each question at a higher level, resulting in greater gains. You have mastered this aspect of the skill when you can circle at will in random order without glancing at the chart.
A word of caution, however. Too much random circling, though artful, can really confuse the students. It is the old trap that many teachers fall into with TPRS: they think that because they get it, that their students naturally do as well.
Circling need not be limited to normal classroom discussion (PQA and stories). TPR commands, including those in the Three Ring Circus described later in this text, can be circled as well. If you command Mark to “run,” once Mark has done so the instructor can then ask the class:
Class, did Mark run? (yes) Did Mark or Ryan run? (Mark) Did Ryan run? (no) Did Derek run? (no) Did Mark run or walk? (run) Did Mark walk? (not) Did Mark swim? (no) Class, who ran? (Mark)
If Mark then “ran to the left,” you can see how adding just this one simple detail greatly increases the number of questions you can ask. Every time you add a detail to a discussion you greatly increase what you can do with circling.