A synergy between storytelling and vocabulary teaching through TPRS

Abstract

Reading comprehension is a complex undertaking that involves many levels of processing. One of the most fundamental aspects of comprehension is the ability to deal with unfamiliar words encountered in text. Readers who struggle with word-level tasks use up valuable cognitive space that could be allotted to deeper levels of text analysis. It is not enough to rely on context cues to predict the meaning of new words, since this strategy often results in erroneous or superficial understandings of key terms, especially in content-area reading (Paynter, Bodrova, & Doty 2005).  This paper examines the interrelationships of vocabulary and TPRS as they impact reading comprehension, and focuses on instructional approaches that foster word-level knowledge. 44 secondary school students joined a pre-post test designed study. The results corroborate the success of TPRS on vocabulary teaching competence.

Keywords

• Storytelling, vocabulary teaching, TPRS

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