HowtoUsePrompters(NoviceLevel)BenikoMason11.6.2019

APrompterisalistofwordsthathelpstheteachertellthestory.ThePrompterhelpstheteacherrememberto1)keeptrackofthestoryandusethenewlanguage,2)preparewaysofmakingthenewlanguagemorecomprehensible(“Comprehension-aidingsupplementation”),and3)addinterestanddepthtothestory.PreparingaPrompter inadvance, freestheteacherto focusonthestory. Itallowstheteachertheopportunitytodetermineifthestudentsunderstandthestoryandgivestheteacherthechancetosupplytherightassistancewhenneeded.SimplewaysofdoingComprehension-AidingSupplementationinclude(1)visualsupplementation,whichincludesdrawings,facialexpressions(e.g.,surprise,sleepy,angry,happy,etc.),andphysicalmovements(walk,run,sit,crouch,hide,etc.).(2)linguisticsupplementation,suchaswritingthewordsontheboard,rephrasingusingsimplerwords(synonyms),andprovidingoccasionaltranslations,and(3)takingadvantageofthestudents’knowledgeofeverydaylife.NoteverywordinthestoryshouldbeincludedinthePrompter,andnoteveryunfamiliarwordinthePrompterneedstobemade100%comprehensible.Thegoalisonlythatthestorybecomesreasonablyclearandmakessense.Itisimportantthattheteachershouldnotbecometooambitious,andtrytoincludetoomanynewwords.UsingtoomanyunknownwordswithComprehension-AidingSupplementationwilloverwhelmthestudents,disturbtheflowofthestoryandpreventthestoryfromprovidingcontextthathelpsmakeunfamiliarwordsmorecomprehensible.ThegoaloftheuseofthePrompterisnotfullmasteryofpromptedwords;Studentsgraduallyacquirethefullmeaningsofnewwordsastheyhearandreadthemagainandagain.ThepurposeoftheuseofthePrompteristoremindtheteachertoincludecertainitemsinthepresentationofthestory,aswellasprovidesupplementationtohelpcomprehensionofthestory.Prompteditemsmayincludelanguagethestudentsalreadyknow,ortheymaybetheitemsthestudentsaremeetingforthefirsttime.Studentsaredifferent,andtheteachercannotknowpreciselywhatkindofbackgroundtheyhavehadintheirlanguagestudiesbeforetheircomingtoclass.ThefollowingisanexampleofhowaPrompterisusedatthenovicelevel,thesimplestapplication.Itisnotascripttobefollowedbutispresentedhereasanexampleofwhatateachermightdo.Inthiscase,weassumethatthestudenthadheardandhadunderstoodseveralstoriesbeforethisone,storiesthatalsobeganwith“Onceuponatime,”whichhadbeenexplainedalready.Hereisthestartofthestory:“Onceuponatimetherewasalittlegirl.Shewasanorphan:Bothherparentshaddied.Shewasverypoor.Shehadnohomeandlittletoeat,onlyapieceofbread.A

nicepersongaveherapieceofbread.Shehadonlytheclothesshewore.”Thefirstthreesentencescontain18wordsandthreeofthesewordsareassumedtobeunfamiliarandareprompted:orphan,parents,anddied.Asweshallsee,severalfamiliarwordsarealsoprompted,includingsomethatarenotinthestory.TheSLteacher,ofcourse,startswiththefirstsentence.“Onceuponatime,therewasalittlegirl.”Eventhoughtheword,“girl”isalreadyknown,itisagoodideatopromptitanddrawapicture.Thispicturewillbeusefullateronwhendealingwiththeunfamiliarword“parent.”Theteacherdrawsapictureofagirl–justaface,withoutthebodyandlegs.Thedrawingshouldbedonequickly;theteachershouldnottakethetimetodrawanelaboratepicture.Studentsatthislevelwillalsoknowtheword“little,”butthereisnoharminprovidingcontextintheformofgesturesorpictures,e.g.drawabiggirlandalittlegirl,crossingoutthebiggirlorusehandgesturestorepresent“little”ascontrastedwith“big.”Thenextwordontheprompterlistis“orphan.”Inordertointroducethisword,thegirlmusthaveparentswhodie.So,theteacherintroducesthewordsmotherandfather,anddrawstheirpicturesabovethepictureofthegirl.Again,eventhoughthewords,“mother”and“father”arealreadyknown,itwillbeusefultowritethem,aswewillseealittlelater.Theteacherthensays,“Thelittlegirlhadamotherandafather”andwrites“mother”

and“father”underthepictures,withlinesleadingfromthemotherandfathertothegirl,andsays:“Theywerethegirl’sparents.”Theteacherwrites“parents”underthewords,“mother”and“father.”Theteacherthenwrites,“died”andsays:“Hermotherandfatherdied.”Theteachercrossesouttheparents’facesandsays,“Theydied.”Theteachergesturessomeone’sdeathandlooksaroundtheclasstomakesurethatthestudentsunderstoodthattheparentsdied.Usually,studentsgasp.Theteacherthensays:“Motherandfatherdied,sosheisnowanorphan.”Theteacherthenwrites“orphan”ontheboard.

Beforecontinuing,hereisabriefreviewofsomeimportantpoints:

1. ThePromptermayincludewordsnotinthestoryinordertohelpdrawingunfamiliarwords.

2. ThePromptermayincludewordsstudentsalreadyknow.(Somemaybeonly

partiallyacquired:Inthesecases,theadditionalpromptingmayincreasethelevelofacquisition.)

Hereisthenextpartofthestory:“Shewasverypoor.Shehadnohomeandhadlittletoeat,onlyapieceofbread.Anicepersongaveherthepieceofbread.Shehadonlytheclothesshewore.”Prompterlistis:poor,home,eat,littletoeat,apieceof~,bread,nice,clothes,wore.Theteachercontinues;“Thegirlwaspoor.Shehadnomoney.Shedidnothaveanymoney.Shewasverypoor.”Moststudentswillknowwhat“money”is,butthereisnoharmindrawinga$signalongwithafewcoinsandpapermoney(e.g.dollars).Theteachercontinues:“Shedidnothaveahouse.Shedidnothaveahome.Shehadnohome.”Theteacherdrawsapictureofa“house.”Shewritesdown,“house”underthedrawing..Theteacherdrawsabigcrossonthehouse,andsays,“Shehadnohome.”Theteacherwrites,“Nohome”underthehousewithabigcrossonit.Thereisnoneedatthisstagetoexplainthedifferencebetween“house”and“home,”unlessastudentasks.(Theteacherhaspreparedananswer,suchas“Ahouseisarealbuilding.Ahomeisahousethatbelongstosomebody….”).Inthestory,akindpersongavethegirlapieceofbread;theteachercanintroducethekindpersonbeforeintroducing“Shehadnothingtoeat.”Shethencreatesaseparatescene:“Oneday,amancametoher.”Shedrawsapictureofamanapproachingthegirl.

Theteachersays,“Amangaveherbread.Hegaveherapieceofbread.”Theteacherdrawsapictureofamangivingherapieceofbread.Theteacherwritesdown,“give”and“gave.”Theteachersays;“Thelittlegirlsaid“thankyou”tothekindman.Hewasakindman.Hewasaniceman.Nowshehadalittletoeat.Beforeshehadnothingtoeat,butnowshehasalittletoeat.”Theteachergivessynonymsfor“kind”and“nice”(e.g.,good,e.g.friendly)and/oratranslation.Theteacherpointsatthehousewithabigcrossonit,andusestheword,“orphan”again,“Shewasanorphan.Shehadnoparents.Also,shedidn’thaveahouse.Shehadnohome.Shehadnoplacetolive.”Theteacherwritesdown,“noplacetolive”under“nohome.”Theteachercontinues:“Thegirlwaswearingoneskirt,oneshirt,onejacket,andonehat.”

“Theyweretheonlyclothesshehad.Sheworeaskirt,ashirt,ajacket,andahat.Shedidnothaveasweater.”Theteacherdrawstheseclothes,labelsthedrawing“clothes”andmaypointtothosewearingtheseclothesintheclass.Notethattheteacherpresentswordsthatstudentsmightalreadyknow,leadingtofullercomprehensionandacquisition.Thestudentsmayalreadyknowtheword“clothes”butbecauseitisveryimportanttothestory,theteacherprovidesmoresupplementationandmoreanddeeperinformationabouttheword.

How to Use Prompters (Upper-Levels)

At the beginning level, visual supplementation plays a major role. At more advanced levels, however, input is more linguistically complex, and topics are less concrete, and more linguistic supplementation is used. Stories at this level are longer and require more imagination and often make a deeper emotional connection. An upper-level story sometimes lasts as long as 40 to 50 minutes, or even 80 minutes. Preparations for upper-level stories is therefore different from preparation for beginning level lessons. Specifically, 1) The teacher will look for longer and more complex stories, which means the Prompter list will become longer; 2) It will take more time to prepare the story; 3) It will take more time to tell the story; 4) The words on the list will be more difficult to explain; 5) It will become more difficult to remember the flow of the story; 6) The story will be more complicated: it will be divided into chapters or acts, possibly with a number of characters, and more complicated events. The teacher will have to remember who the characters are and what the important events are, and all this will require more rehearsal than for beginning level stories. “Easy to tell Stories” is not determined by the length of the texts Many stories are written from around 1,500 to 2,500 words, although some stories are over 4000 words. “Short,” however, does not always mean “easy.” Some “short stories” contain a high percentage of challenging words. I use the story “Strong Hans” with more advanced college students of English in Japan. It contains 2616 words. My prompter list for this story contains 197 items (Appendix 1)! I don’t provide Comprehension Assisting Supplementation for each word when I tell the story, but there is a great deal of new language in this relatively short story. As noted earlier, it is not a good idea for the teacher to become too ambitious in introducing new words. The Key Words in the Prompter We now review the use of the Prompter in stories well beyond the novice level. Students at

this level have not only heard many stories, but have also been engaged in Guided Self-Selected Reading (Mason,2019) for at least two years, which means they have acquired a considerable amount of vocabulary and grammar, as well as information. As was the case with stories at the novice level, thePrompterhelpstheteachertorememberto1)keeptrackofthestoryandusethenewlanguage,2)Preparewaysofmakingthenewlanguagemorecomprehensible(“Comprehension-aidingsupplementation”)whichwillhelpmakethestorymorecomprehensibleandaidinthegradualacquisitionofthenewitems,and3)Addinterestanddepthtothestory.

Hereisanexamplefrom.“Mosquito,”astoryfromAsia.This story is about concepts such as hard labor, true love, deception, falsehood, betrayal, secret, trust, fidelity, frivolousness, obedience, false expectations, respect, wisdom, and cruelty. Students understand what these words mean from hearing the explanations of the words andfromthecontextprovidedbythestory,andfromtheirpersonalexperiences.

“Therewasayoungcouplewhowerepoorfarmers.Thehusbandlovedhiswife,andheworkedhardtoimprovetheirstationinlife.Hewaskindtoherandnotdemanding.Hisloveforherwasgenuine.Hiswifewasyoungandpretty,butshewasacoquette.”

The prompter words in this case are “station in life,” “demanding,” “genuine,” and“coquette.”Thesewordscanbeexplainedusingsynonyms,explanations,anddescriptions.Hereiswhattheteachermightsayforeachofthepromptedwordslistedabove.Asusual,theexplanationisinthetargetlanguage,buttranslationcanbeusedwhenhelpful.

Stationinlife:thehusbandworkedhard.Heworkedhardtomakemoney,fromearlymorningtilllateatnight,becausetheywerepoor.Theyweredressedpoorly.Theycouldnotgotoniceplacesbecausetheydidnothavemoney,buttheywerealso ina lowerclass.Hewantedtoclimbuptheclassladder.Hewantedtojointhegroupofpeoplethatwereabovehisclass.InJapan,therewerefourdifferentsocialclasses:thehighestclasswasthewarriors,thesecondwasthefarmers,thenthecraftsmen,andthelowestclasswasthetradesmen.(Theteachercanillustratethiswitha diagramon theboard.)Hewanted to go to a higher social class.Hewantedtoimprovetheirstationinlife.“Station”heredoesnotmeanatrainstation.Itmeansthepositioninthesociety:therank,thesocialclass.Demanding:Hedidnottellhiswifetodomanythings.Hedidnotexpecthertodomanythingsforhim.Hedidnotsay,“Makebreakfast!”“Bringmetea!”“Cleanthehouse!”“Workhard!”Hedidnotaskhertodomanythingsforhim.Hedidnotdemandmuch.Hewasnotdemanding.Genuine:Helovedherverymuch.Hedidnotlookatothergirls.Hedidnotflirtwithotherwomen.Hedidnotwantothergirls.Helovedhertruly.Hislovewastrue.Hisloveforherwasgenuine.

Coquette: His wife was a dishonest woman who tried to get men’sattentionandlovedusingherphysicalbeautytoattractmen.Herloveforherhusbandwasnotgenuine.Shewinkedatmenwhenherhusbandwasnotwatching.Shelikedmen.Shewasacoquette.

Cultural and historical information in the Prompter Most of the stories used in the SL lessons are stories from other countries where the background cultures are different from the culture of the students. Some explanations are often necessary as some of the words demand clarification of the customs in that country. Forexample,inashortstory,“CatWoman,”theGreekGoddess,thecharacter“Aphrodite,”needstobedescribed.CatWomancanbefoundintheappendixandat:http://www.storyarts.org/library/nutshell/stories/catwoman.htmlManywesternstoriesmentionChristianity,andusethewordslike“Baptism”and“WaterneededforChristening.”“WilliamTell”isaboutamanwhofreedSwitzerlandfromAustria”(Intheyear1307).“DanielintheLion’Den”isastoryfrom2300yearsago(323-30BC)aboutjealousyandreligiousbelief.ThepurposeofstoriesinStoryListeningsessionsisnottoteachculture,morals,oranybeliefsystem,butwithupper-levelSLlessons,someexplanationsandcommentsonthesetopicsarehelpfulforcomprehension.It often takes more than 40-minutes to tell a story at the upper-level SL lesson; it also takes more time to prepare and more effort to deliver the story. It requires more knowledge of the rules of the language when the students start asking questions. For an advanced class, linguistic supplementation is the most often used, and drawings are seldom used. The rate of speech is almost at a normal speech rate, and the teacher often inserts her comments on the events and characters in the story. Stories for advanced students are often very interesting for the teacher, but at the same time they require more effort. ReferencesGrimmBrothers’HouseholdTales: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2591/2591-0.txtKrashen,S.,Mason,B.,&Smith,K.(2018).Somenewterminology:comprehension-

Aidingsupplementationandform-focusingsupplementation.LanguageLearningandTeaching,60(6),12-13.

Mason, B. (2019). Guided SSR before self-selected reading. Shitennoji University Journal, 6, 445-456.

Appendix1:APromoterpreparedforJapanesecollegestudentsfor“StrongHans” 1. quitealone かなりひとりぼっち2. solitary 孤独な3. valley 盆地、⾕間4. Itcametopassthat~〜が起こった

5. branchesoffir もみの⽊の枝6. takepleasurein~ 〜するのが楽しい

7. gofurther もっと遠くに⾏く8. onwards 前⽅へ9. robber(s) 強盗10. springoutof 〜から⾶び出る

11. thicket 雑⽊林12. seize 掴む13. carry~faraway 遠くに連れて⾏く14. blackforest ⿊い森15. fromoneyear'sendtoanother ⼀年中16. urgently 執拗に17. beg 頼む、懇願する18. set~free 〜を⾃由にする

19. madeofstone ⽯で出来ている20. entreaty 懇願、嘆願21. byforce ⼒ずくで22. bushesandbriars 低⽊やいばらの茂み23. passage 通路24. sword(s) ⼑25. sabre(saber) 軍⼑、サーベル26. deadlyweapon(s) 命取りの武器27. gleam 薄明かり28. gamble 賭け29. captain ⾸領30. attheheadof~ 〜の頭に

31. beatease 安⼼する32. fear 恐れる33. lookafter ⾯倒を⾒る34. housekeeping 家事35. fareillwith~ 〜にとって巧くいかない

36. thereupon そのあとすぐに37. knight(s) 騎⼠38. cave 洞窟39. club こん棒40. outofabranchoffir もみの⽊の枝から41. hide(hid) 隠れる42. silent 静かにしている43. moreover そのうえ、さらに44. godless 罪深い45. robbingexpedition 強盗するための遠征46. box 拳で打つ事47. holdhistongue 黙る48. stoutstrongclub どっしりした強いこん棒49. vigorousbox 強⼒なげんこつ50. fullofadmirationfor~感⼼で満ちて51. bravery 勇敢さ52. strength ⼒

53. inearnest 真剣に54. entrance-door ⼊り⼝55. fetch とってくる56. darkness 暗さ57. daylight 昼の光58. acoupleofhours ２時間59. doorway 出⼊り⼝60. regard~asdead 死んだものとみなす61. aheadtallerthan 頭⼀つ〜より背が⾼い

62. crack 鋭い⾳をたてて裂ける63. cellar ⽳倉64. Godsaveus! 神よ助けたまえ！65. Don'tletthatturnyourhairgrey⼼配するな66. bullock(s) 去勢した雄⽜67. draw 引っ張る68. crunchandcrack バリバリがんがん69. fir-tree もみの⽊70. woundround 周りを絡み付かれた71. likearope 綱のように72. fromthebottomtothetop 底から頂上まで73. upwards 上に向かって74. faggots 鉄棒の束75. Fir-Twister もみの⽊をよる76. knockandhammerぶち当てたり打ったり77. shakeateverystroke⼀撃ごとに揺れる78. giant 巨⼈79. fist 拳80. vermin 有害⼩動物81. sniff ⿐を鳴らして匂いをかぐ82. snuffle ⿐をクンクン⾔わせる83. Rock-Splitter 岩を分割する⼈84. consented 承諾する85. roam 放浪する86. wildbeast(s) 野⽣の獣87. terrified 怯える88. desertedcastle さびれた城89. thorn(s) とげ90. bramble(s) とげのある低⽊91. boar 去勢しない雄ぶた（猪）92. spit 焼きぐし93. roast 焼く、あぶる94. ninepoundsofmeat９ポンドの⾁95. bebusycooking 料理で忙しくする96. shriveled-up 縮んで⼩さくなった97. mannikin ⼩⼈98. Beoff あっちへ⾏け99. sneak 下劣な100. imp ⼩⻤101. insignificant 取るに⾜らない102. dwarf こびと103. belabor くどくどと述べる104. defend 防御する105. gaspforbreath 息を求めて喘ぐ106. thoroughly 徹底的に

107. vent~on~ 〜に〜を発散する

108. anger 怒り109. ill-treatedby~ 〜によって虐待される

110. willing 喜んでする111. clearly 疑いも泣く112. suffer 苦しむ113. skim シチューの鍋から油をすくい取る114. pan 鍋115. withoutmoreado余計な事は⾔わずに116. demand 要求する117. apieceofmeat ひとかけらの⾁118. wretch 哀れな奴119. share 分かち合う120. hand ⼿渡す121. abit 少し122. devour がつがつ⾷べる123. askedfor 欲しいという124. good-natured やさしい125. contentwith 〜に満⾜する

126. forthethirdtime 三回⽬に127. shameless 厚かましい128. malicious 悪意のある129. treat 扱う130. wrongman ⼈違い131. exertmuch 尽⼒する132. blow(s) 強打133. castlestep(s) 城の階段134. beaboutto 〜しようとする

135. runafter~ 〜の後を追う

136. fallrightover ころぶ137. flatonhisface 顔を打つ138. slipinto 滑るように⼊る139. mark 印をつける140. spot 場所141. nolonger もはや〜ない

142. conceal 隠す143. served~right ざまあみろ144. mean さもしい145. disgrace 恥146. basket かご147. rope 綱148. grinat にやっと笑う149. boundwith~ 〜で縛られる

150. chains 鎖151. mournfully もの悲しそうに152. feltgreatpityfor 〜を気の毒に感じる

153. thinktooneself 考える154. deliver~outof~ 〜を〜から救う

155. wicked 邪悪な156. falldowndead 転げ落ちて死ぬ157. immediately 即座に158. enrapturedwith~ 〜にうっとりする

159. herbeauty 彼⼥の美しさ160. savage 残忍な161. count 伯爵

162. steal~away さらう163. imprison 牢屋に閉じ込める164. watchman 警備員165. suffermisery 惨めさで苦しめる166. vexationenough ⼗分イライラさせる167. trust 信頼168. false 偽りの169. designagainst~ 〜に対しての悪巧み

170. outofthedepths 奈落から171. counsel 相談172. backwardsandforwards ⾏ったり来たり173. ring 指輪174. sparkle 光る175. turnround 回す176. rustle さらさらという⾳が⽴つ177. spiritsoftheair 空気の霊178. hoverabove~ 〜の上を空中を舞う

179. struckdumb驚いて何も⾔えない、唖然とする180. obey 従う181. onthesea 海上182. perceive 気がつく183. faithless 不誠実な184. comrade 仲間185. infierceanger すざましい怒りで186. leap(leapt) 跳ねる、跳ぶ187. weigh 重さを量る188. drag 引きずる189. drown 溺れる190. intheverynickoftime間⼀髪で191. bear 運ぶ192. asswiftas~ 〜ほど速く

193. lightning 稲妻194. merit (⾮難などに)値する195. inthegreatestalarm ⾮常に危機を感じて196. rejoice ⼤喜びする197. exceedingly 抜群に

Appendix2

CatWomanhttp://www.storyarts.org/library/nutshell/stories/catwoman.html

ATalefromGreece

Therewasonceamanwhohadabeautifulcat.Shewassolovingthatonedayhewishedoutloud,"DearCat,ifyouwereonlyawoman,I'dmarryyou!"

Aphrodite,thegoddessoflove,heardhiswishandchangedthecatintoabeautifulwoman.Themanandthecatwomanweremarriedandlivedquitehappilytogetheruntilonenight...

Thebeautifulwomanwassittingonherbedandintotheroomcameamouse.Shecrouchedonherhandsandknees,pouncedonthemouse,andbegantoeatit,muchtoherhusband'salarm!

Aphroditelookeddownfromthecloudsand,seeingthis,turnedthewomanbackintoacat.Aphroditechuckled,"Icanchangetheouterappearanceofacreature,buttotrulymakeadifference,IguessImustchangeitsinnercharacterfirst!"