I got this question today:
Hello Ben,
After about five years, I am again seeking advice/help from TPRS & the CI community to help me teach language in the way I am convinced is the way to go if one’s concern is language acquisition.
You graciously gave me of your time and advice five years ago, but I have since given up on it because as you’ve said, “THIS WORK IS DIFFICULT.”
I’ve just finished a semester and will start again on Tuesdaywith 3 new groups of students. I’ve decided, KNOWING THE DIFFICULTY OF CI, that if I’m going to do this, then I must do what I know is best for the kids, notwithstanding the difficulty of the challenge.
I have been perusing TPRS/CI materialsrece for a few days and think I will just have to go in headfirst, doing a lot of daily praying, studying & practicing at home.
But there is one thing I wanted to run past you. My school is staunchly “traditional method’. I’ve attached a copy of the chapter 1 exam that I am required to administer to my Spanish I class.
So here is my question: Do you have any suggestions or can you direct me to any literature that addresses those situations where certain exams or material are mandatory and the material on the exam may not be a ‘good fit’ for what’s being done with TPRS/CI?
I responded:
I really don’t know of any such literature. Since we spoke last, my thinking has evolved over the past 17 years of doing this work to where in my mind there is absolutely no linkage between what they do in traditional programs and what we do in CI. People in TPRS try to wed them but they are polar opposites. TPRS has tried for so long to do that, but I don’t do TPRS anymore.
There is no way you can meet the demands put on you this spring in your school and still be true to comprehension based instruction. I know that is a strong statement, but it is my experience and is stronger than ever.
My view is that any language curriculum should reflect the instruction which in turn should reflect the assessment methods. Those three things should mirror each other. Traditional testing doesn’t fit into everything that has evolved in the CI world, so there is no link. I think of traditional instruction as a hitchhiker by the side of the road trying to catch a ride with all the new electric CI cars going by, but not getting picked up because of shabbiness.
An interesting development of which you may not be aware is that in 2016 Tina Hargaden and I left behind the TPRS world entirely. It never really worked for me even thought I had written books about it. In fact, it drove me nuts.
So I started teaching in the way Blaine did back in the old days, with no targets, before TPRS started in about 2001 having all the rules and requirements to attend summer conferences, etc. See this link for an explanation:
https://benslavic.com/blog/hit-list-of-8/
The new non-targeted stuff represents to me a far easier way to teach using CI. I apologize if you already know this and I am over-explaining it. But the fact is, for me, in my own CI journey my instruction is no longer being projected in black and white with all the shabbiness and nervousness and fear if the class will work. It is now in full technicolor.
All that is too long to explain briefly so I’ll leave it alone for now.