Educational Leadership 763 Understanding and Facilitating Learning in adulthood

1. Educational Leadership 763 Understanding and Facilitating Learning in adulthood Instructor: Dr. Marsh Rossiter, PhD. Department of Human Services and Professional Leadership UWOSH

2. Silvia Campazzo Learning Facilitation

3. Total Physical Response T P R &T P R Storytelling

4. Who… • James J. AsherAward winning Teacher, Researcher, Writer;Originator of the Total Physical Response. • Learning Another Language Through Actions

5. TPR: More than forty years ago • Way back in 1965, Dr. Asher demonstrated a powerful linguistic tool in a pioneer experiment using the Japanese language with his research associate, Dr. Shirou Kunihira. That tool is the Total Physical Response, now known worldwide as simply, TPR. Since that time, scores of language classes using TPR in countries around the world have enjoyed successful results for students acquiring European, Asian, Indian and Semitic languages.

6. Dr. James J. Asher says • "Babies don't learn by memorizing lists;why should children or adults?" • Contrary to the widely-held belief that children have a linguistic advantage over adults, studies with Spanish, Russian, and Japanese show that when adults play the game of learning another language on a "level playing field" with children, adults consistently outperform children, except for pronunciation.

7. This is what we see In a traditional class, adults endure the handicap of sitting in rows of chairs while an instructor performs. In a TPR class, the students perform while the instructor is the director of the play.

8. To think about it • Note that this is exactly how children acquire another language so quickly while living in a foreign country. Children are silent but respond to directions from caretakers and other children. Children act in response to hundreds of directions uttered in the alien language such as "Come here." "Put on your coat." "Throw me the ball.“

9. Why comprehension is important? • Comprehension always comes first with speaking following perhaps a year later. • There is no instance of infants acquiring speaking before comprehension. • Talking and comprehension are located in different parts of the brain.

10. If comprehension is important, what about using translation to help students comprehend? • Unfortunately, translation does not help most students because there is no long-term understanding. When students translate, there is short-term comprehension which is erased the moment the student leaves the classroom, if not sooner.

11. Anatomical and physiological reasons • Talking and comprehension are located in different parts of the brain. Talking comes from Broca's area located in the frontal lobe of the left brain. If there is damage in Broca's area, one may understand what people are saying but the person is unable to speak. • Understanding or comprehension takes place in Wernicke's area located in the temporal lobe . If there is damage to Wernicke's area, one can speak but has difficulty understanding what others are saying. This has significance for language instruction which I will explain next.

12. Broca and Wernicke

13. Left hemisphere functions • Analytical • Verbal • Logical • Numerical computation (exact calculation, numerical comparison, estimation)left hemisphere only: direct fact retrieval • Language: grammar/vocabulary, literal

14. Right hemisphere functions • Holistic • Intuitive • Numerical computation (approximate calculation, numerical comparison, estimation) • Language: intonation/accentuation, prosody, pragmatic, contextual

15. Who has what? Left Brain Right Brain Random    Intuitive HolisticSynthesizing Subjective Looks at wholes • LogicalSequential    • Rational • Analytical • Objective • Looks at parts

16. Some people believe that… • Left-brained person • Lab scientist • Banker • Judge • Lawyer • Mathematician • Bacteriologist • Librarian • Right-brained person • Wildlife manager • Beautician • Politician • Athlete • Artist • Craftsman • Actor/Actress

17. Foreign Language and Math • Math education is even more challenging than foreign language education because, in the USA, we spend more on remedial mathematics than all other forms of math education combined. Traditional programs in both math and foreign languages share a common flaw. Both specialties play to half the brain and usually it is the wrong half.

18. Beware of "brain overload" • When the instructor in traditional classes asks students to "Listen and repeat after me!," this may be brain overload because both the frontal lobe and the temporal lobe in the brain light up at the same time resulting in slow-motion learning with short-term retention.

19. Why TPR? • Studies with Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and Russian demonstrate that TPR is "brain compatible," meaning there is short and long-term retention that is striking and statistically significant across studies. Retention with TPR is analogous to riding a bicycle. Even if years have elapsed since acquiring the skill, after a few warm up trials, proficiency returns.

20. Once students actually understand, then what? • Once they understand, you can then use this skill to move over into Broca's area of the left brain with traditional exercises in speaking, reading, and writing. Then return to the right brain with more TPR to understand another sample. Then use that understanding to switch to speaking, reading, and writing.

21. BENEFITS OF TPR • Instant understanding of the target language, regardless of academic aptitude • High Speed Long-term retention • Stress-free

22. When does TPR not work? • Any novelty, if carried on too long, will trigger adaptation. No matter how exciting and productive the innovation, people will tire of it. They no longer respond. It is important to neutralize adaptation by switching continually from one activity to another. • That is when TPR Storytelling can take place.

23. What is TPR? (actions)

24. Primera clase • Siéntense • Párense • Caminen • Toquense la nariz

25. What else is TPR? (emotions)

26. When the students are ready • Storytelling time

27. Making connections • Whole Person Learning. • Learning to Listen (participation, energy, safety, relationships, sequence of content and reinforcement, learning with ideas, feelings, and actions, teamwork, engagement, accountability). • Learning –Centered Approach (the structure of the program is flexible – decisions about facilitating activities/ content- and enjoyable, therefore it adapts to the learner’s activities and their learning process).

28. Adults Can and Do Learn (experience!!!). • Self-directed ( students will be choosing words and situations and how to develop their own storytelling time). • Narrative and the practice of adult education (Storytelling is the most powerful tool that TPR students can use. When working with advance students they will “use” TPR to “send their message”-be careful). • Emotions: TPR utilize a lot of humor, stress is release during the class. Students laugh and have good time. But, each adult has his/her own worries and feelings. It is necessary to find a healthy balance during the class. • Cycles in learning (Spiral Learning): All the time we need to go back to what we learn in order to built on it. TPR student will be back.

29. Resources • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmS3b7P0-UY&feature=related • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DsfAw9NuPM&feature=related • http://www.tprsource.com/ • http://www.sil.org/lingualinks/LANGUAGELEARNING/WaysToApproachLanguageLearning/TotalPhysicalResponse.htm

36. Berty Segal Cook • Bachelor of Science: - U.C.L.A. -- Education and Spanish -- Graduated with high honorsMaster's: - Goddard College -- Bilingual, Multicultural Education • Berty Segal Cook is an experienced ESL and Foreign Language teacher... a dynamic enthusiastic speaker. She is rated one of the top teacher trainers in the field of Language Acquisition, ESL/Foreign Language. She has also served as a county ESL teacher trainer, and a district resource specialist. • She is the author of the highly practical teaching guide Teaching English Through Action, a comprehensive guide of 102 daily lesson plans implementing the Total Physical Response (TPR) approach. This book is available in English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and Russian. She has also authored the well-known Practical Guide for the Bilingual Classroom.

37. References Asher, James J. (2003). Learning Another Language through Actions (6th edition). Los Gatos, CA: Sky Oaks Productions, Inc. Asher, James.J. (2002). Brainswitching: Learning on the right side of the brain. Los Gatos, CA: Sky Oaks Productions, Inc. Asher, James J. (2000). The Super School: Teaching on the right side of the brain. Los Gatos, CA: Sky Oaks Productions, Inc. McKay, Todd. (2004). TPRS Storytelling. Los Gatos, CA: Sky Oaks Productions, Inc. Segal Cook , Berty Teaching English (Spanish, French, German, Japanese) Through Action. Berty Segal, Inc.