A person in England asked:
Hi Ben –
I teach kids from 6 months up to 12 years. Could CI methods be applied to children from 6 years up? Or should they be older?
Of course I forwarded this question to the expert, our Alisa, who responded:
“Comprehensible Input strategies are modeled on a child’s first language acquisition – we are like ‘language parents’ trying to provide input that is slow, interesting and narrow enough for them to understand at first. TPRS is a group of strategies that also exploits literacy – reading – to reinforce and expand the oral message work.
“So to answer your question, TPRS per se is too cognitively challenging (not developmentally appropriate) for kids before they are secure readers in their first language, but many of the strategies are absolutely applicable. We want to be using real language with the kids, but serving it up a way to ensure they understand, and we want them to attend, so we try to keep it interesting. By using students’ ideas, we insure that the content is about them- and they are more likely to attend.
“In short, all the TPRS materials must be modified/adapted for the lower levels who are also absolute beginners. I don’t use a lot of the TPRS set materials (Look, I can Talk; many of the leveled novels) but create and employ scenes, stories and images appropriate for their level.
“I am glad to help you however I can!”
Alisa