World languages

1 Where it came from

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) publishes the Proficiency Guidelines, most recently in 2024, and the World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages, first published in 1996 with a 4th edition in 2015. The idea of comprehensible input comes from the linguist Krashen's input hypothesis. In the 1990s Blaine Ray, a California Spanish teacher, built TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) from Asher's Total Physical Response and storytelling. Two-way immersion programs teach children in two languages for several years.

2 The big ideas

• Proficiency over rules. ACTFL judges what a learner can do using four criteria (FACT): functions and tasks, accuracy, context and content, and text type.
• Five goal areas. The World-Readiness Standards set 11 standards under Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons and Communities.
• Input you can understand. Krashen held that learners acquire a language by understanding messages slightly above their level, in a relaxed setting.
• Stories and movement. TPR has children act out what they hear; TPRS builds a class story the students help shape.
• Time in the language. Immersion puts children in the language for a large share of the school day, for years.

3 What a lesson looks like

In a kindergarten Spanish class run on Total Physical Response, the teacher says "¡Salta!" and jumps; the children jump. "¡Siéntate!" and everyone sits. Within ten minutes they are following a string of commands no one has translated. In a 7th grade TPRS class the teacher first establishes meaning: three new phrases go on the board with their English, such as "wants", "has" and "a purple cat". Then the class asks a story: "There is a girl. Is she in Paris or in Ohio?" Students vote and the story grows from their answers. The teacher circles each sentence with many quick questions ("Does the girl want a cat? Does she want a dog? What does she want?") so students hear the same phrases dozens of times in a way they understand. The next day they read a short written version of the story. In a 90/10 two-way immersion kindergarten, by contrast, 90% of the day is taught in the partner language, moving toward half and half by about 3rd or 4th grade.

4 The adult's job

In comprehensible-input classes the teacher's main job is to keep the language understandable and interesting: gesture, pictures, short phrases, and slowing down. A parent does not need to be fluent to help. Reading picture books aloud in the language, playing recordings, and playing "Simon says" in the language all add input. An immersion school asks parents to commit for several years, since the strong outcomes reported come after four to seven years.

5 How progress is checked

Proficiency-based classes check what a child can do: understand a short story, answer questions, describe a picture, write a few sentences. ACTFL's guidelines cover listening, speaking, reading and writing. Many teachers write the goals as "I can" statements a child can tick off, such as "I can greet someone and say my name." Tests of grammar rules alone are a smaller part of this approach.

6 Strengths and criticisms

7 What the research says

Be cautious here; this is the thinnest research on this shelf of the guide. For TPRS, a few small studies such as McKay (2000) and Garczynski (2003) favor it, but mostly against outdated comparison methods. Krashen's input hypothesis is influential and also widely criticized as hard to test. For two-way immersion, research summaries by Thomas and Collier, Howard and colleagues (2003) and Lindholm-Leary (2001) report strong long-term outcomes after four to seven years in a program. A randomized lottery study of Portland's dual language schools is often cited, but this guide could not read it directly, so we do not report its findings.

8 How to try it

1. Pick one language and give it a little time every day, even ten minutes, rather than an hour once a week.
2. Play "Simon says" in the new language: stand, sit, jump, touch your nose. Act each one out until no translation is needed.
3. Read the same picture book in the language several times. Point and ask simple either-or questions: "Is it a cat or a dog?"
4. Write three "I can" goals for the month, such as greeting someone, counting to ten and naming five foods, and tick them off together.
5. If a local school offers dual language immersion, visit a class and ask how long most children stay in the program.

9 Using Peabody with it

• English for kidsFor children learning English: picture word cards Peabody says aloud in 20 topics with Spanish. Peabody does not yet teach Spanish, French or other languages to English speakers.
• Beginner English readersSimple books a new English learner can sound out, with a picture on every page, in the spirit of comprehensible input.
• Flashcard makerPrint picture-and-word cards in any language for TPR games and either-or questions.

Peabody is free and has no ads. Pages on peabody.kids are for children; pages here are for the adults teaching them.

10 Programs that follow it

Programs and materials often named with this approach: Total Physical Response (TPR), TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling), Two-way (dual language) immersion, ACTFL World-Readiness Standards.