I am an
American who has been teaching English as a foreign language to French speakers
since 1967. I have taught in Quebec, in
Cameroon, in France and in Switzerland. Since 1995 I have been teaching in a French
lycée in Agen and I passed the French Agrégation in 1997.
Throughout my
career I have tried to keep up with innovations and use the most effective
methods to help my students master English.
In 2005 I first heard talk about the method called TPRS, Teaching
Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling.
At first I was merely curious, convinced that while it might work in
American high schools, it wasn’t adapted to the French educational system.
Yet, as I
began dabbling with a few techniques I saw better results in my students. I was able to attend a workshop in St. Louis
in 2006, then a National TPRS conference in Minneapolis in 2009 and another in
Chicago in 2011. The more I learned
about the method, the better I was able to apply it in my classes. I began seeing students who produced correct
language without thinking about it, who improved vastly in comprehension and
writing ability.
In 2009 a
friend who teaches English in Switzerland asked me to do a workshop for her and
her colleagues. I spent three days in
her lycée. The first day I demonstrated
the method in four different classes at four different levels. The second day I explained the method and
helped volunteer teachers to prepare a class using TPRS. The third day I observed four teachers in
class and then we had a debriefing. The
teachers were very enthusiastic about the experience.
I would like
to continue to share what I have learned with other teachers. If you are interested, I will come to your
school and demonstrate the method with your students and help your teachers to
adapt the method to their needs.
Judith Logsdon-Dubois
