Asian Film Archive

What is it?

TPRS® is a specific instructional strategy involves the co-creation of a narrative through story asking, using high frequency vocabulary, and providing lots of input in the target language with small amounts of translation for clarity. Story asking is the process where the teacher asks the the students questions to determine the details of a story. Skills involved in this process are circling, pausing & pointing, using gestures, comprehension checks, pop-up grammar, and so forth. Literacy is a huge component as the created narrative becomes a text for extension activities, follow up stories, and so forth.

Asian Film Archive

Tell me more!

TPRS® was invented in 1990 by a Spanish teacher named Blaine Ray. Blaine was inspired by the works of Stephen Krashen as well as James Asher, who stressed the importance of gestures and movement to help in the language acquisition process. TPRS® has grown and evolved quite a bit over the past three decades. Formerly known as Total Physical Response Storytelling, TPRS has evolved thanks to the thousands of teachers who have contributed, expanded, and refined the strategy. There is also a huge body of research on the topic. For some of those resources and to see it in action, see the resources below.

TPRS in Action

Featured video: Watch Aya Shehata as she gives a TPRS demo in Japanese, including background about the strategy and how she incorporates it into her class.

Asian Film Archive

Through my journey with the AFA, I gained a deeper appreciation for the diversity and richness of Asian cinema. I discovered new directors, new styles, and new themes that challenged my assumptions and broadened my horizons. And I realized that film archives like the AFA are essential institutions, preserving the cultural heritage of our times and making it accessible to future generations.

Next, I watched "Cyclo" (1995), a critically acclaimed film from Vietnamese director Tran Hong Trai. This gritty drama told the story of a young cyclo driver who becomes embroiled in a world of crime and violence in Ho Chi Minh City. The film's gritty realism and stunning cinematography left me in awe.

As I continued to explore the AFA's collection, I discovered more hidden gems. There was "The Wedding Banquet" (1993), a hilarious Taiwanese comedy about a gay man's fake marriage to appease his traditional parents. And "The House is Black" (1963), a poignant Iranian drama about a leper colony struggling to find hope and dignity.