The German Section of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
VIRGINIA CHAPTER
NEUE IDEEN UND METHODEN FÜR DEN DEUTSCHUNTERRICHT
October 11-13, 2002
From:
New Era Progress
Amherst, Virginia
Thursday,November 7,2002Storytelling as a teaching tool
By SHARON TABOR WARREN
For the past eight years, Sweet Briar professor Ron Horwege, has hosted a gathering of German language teachers. The teachers, 32 this year, gather here each fall for an "immersion" weekend. The Conferences, co-sponsored by Sweet Briar, the Virginia Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of German (AATG), and the Goethe Institut in Washington, DC, take many forms that enable attendees to better understand and appreciate the culture behindthe language and thus enhance their abilities as teachers. Past gatherings have addressed German history; the history of Berlin, Germany in the 21st Century, Germany and the Internet. This year's Conference spotlighted a language teaching method: Total Physical Response and Storytelling.
During my visit with Ron, who is also the president of AATGÕs Virginia chapter; Eleonore Sylla,Director of Language Programs at the Institut; and Julie Baird, the keynote Speaker at this year's conference, I gained a greater understanding of the barriers encountered by teachers of foreign languages.
Foremost, teaching a language that is not on
the Hit Parade is a lonely profession. Julie explained
that German is not offered in many schools (Amherst
County has no classes in German) and even larger high
schools and many Colleges often haveonly a single
German language teacher. As a result, there's no one
with whom to share ideas or concems.Secondly, most high School Students see no need for
the ability to speak and understand a second language.
Even at the College level, foreign languages are viewed
as a necessary and evil degree requirement. In truth, as
our world shrinks, the ability to understand another
languagebecomes increasingly more important.In spite
of the factthose of us who travel can manage fairly well
with English, good sign language and a Multilanguage
phrasebook, our young people will enter a businessworld
that is more international every day. The number of
foreign- owned businesses inthe U.S, increases daily.
Of these, Germansown the most. Hermle Black Forest
Clocks here in the county is an example.Languages are traditionally taught through a textbook
approach. TPRS allows students to learn vocabulary
in a similar mannerto how we learn words in our native
language. Taking a limited number of "foreign" words,
stories emerge and comprehension comesbefore a
student is ever asked to speak. It's a detailed method
that yields incredible results.Julie uses TPRS and was
here to share her positive experiences with the others,Julie further reported that prior to using TPRS,she
never had students who continued with German in College
for more than the required classes. Since adopting the
new method, several of her students have chosen German
as a College major or minor.I readily admit to being language deficient and wish
this had been available during my years of high school
Spanish. Studying the outline and notes Julie shared, it's
clear why my "drug store Spanish" (language learned
as a store clerk from Mexican farm labor shoppers) far
surpassed what I retained from my traditional Spanish
classes. Hopefully,TPR Storytelling will eventually come
to Central Virginia.
Eleonore Sylla evaluates the workshop activities with the participantsReturn to: AATG Virginia Chapter
Return to: Sweet Briar College German Department
http://www.german.sbc.edu/TPRSarticle.html
This page is maintained by Dr. Ronald Horwege,
Professor of German, Sweet Briar College
Please direct comments and questions to:
horwege@sbc.edu. (434) 381-6188.
Last updated on November 12, 2002
