TPRS: Mastering the Basics and Incorporating Social Media

This paper explores Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling (TPRS), a unique language teaching method developed in the 1990s centered on co-constructing compelling stories rich in comprehensible yet challenging input. Key principles of TPRS are summarized, including establishing meaning of new vocabulary, use of repetitive questions to build class narratives, circling questions for depth of story comprehension, use of very short pop-up grammar explanations, and shifting control of the story to students. Practical guidance on TPRS lesson delivery components such as personalized questions, timed retells, and continual assessments are overviewed. A sample lesson plan illustrates TPRS in action, from target vocabulary introduction to asking personalized questions to asking the story. Finally, ideas for blending social media tools like Padlet, Snapchat, YouTube, and TikTok to increase student engagement with stories are detailed. Whether supplementing or central to curriculum, TPRS offers an interactive narrative approach allowing acquisition of language within low-anxiety, high-interest contexts.