The System

The Acquisition Engine

I use “acquisition engine” to describe a collection of smaller systems, each doing a specific job. Together they turn input into a functioning mental model of the language. CI Immersion centers that work on interactive storytelling and the mental processing of comprehensible input through listening and reading.

In a story, I establish a statement, then ask questions about it. Learners listen, interact with the message, and return to more listening as their contributions become part of the story. Questions and checks for understanding help me decide when to slow down, clarify, or stay with familiar language.

I call these Listen, Read, Interact Loops (LRILs). They need not follow a fixed order, and meaningful interaction need not mean speaking: drawing a summary, marking a survey, or silently acting out a passage can show engagement with meaning.

Writing down the class story gives us something familiar to read and discuss. Story-based comprehension questions, surveys, and other tasks give learners another way to process that material and move toward achievable responses. Listening, reading, speaking, or writing tasks then help me see what learners understand and can communicate. That feedback helps me decide what to revisit and plan next.

Here is an example adapted from my story-writing lessons, described in English here. Anita is a university student in Vienna. She has a difficult math test and wants an excuse to miss it. The class can help decide the details while I ask questions, check meaning, and return to what we already know.

1. Tell and record

   We co-create the story a little at a time. A statement about Anita can lead to questions about where she is, when her test happens, and why she is nervous. At the end of class, I set aside about five minutes to summarize together, typing into a document projected on the screen. Students hear and read the language again, and I leave with the first draft of a reading.

2. Make readings from the summary

   I develop a complete version, then a shorter, simpler version that helps learners approach it. “Anita has a math test” can become a passage about when the test happens, where Anita is, and why she is nervous. The information stays familiar while the wording changes. We read the shorter version before moving to the fuller one.

3. Process and interact

   Learners can mark true or false statements about Anita, put events in order, or answer questions from the reading. A survey about classes they find difficult connects the story to their lives. I choose responses they can manage, from marking an answer to discussing or writing about it.

4. Assess something specific

   A listening or reading check can ask learners to identify why Anita wants an excuse. An oral retell or a short written response can show what they can communicate, using a simple rubric. Those results help me decide what to revisit.

This is a planning example, not a required timetable. The pace depends on comprehension. Readings and tasks also let the language work continue without requiring me to perform a new live story every day. Preparing them still takes work.

The podcast follows the work from preparing a course to telling, reading, and assessing a story. These phases help organize instruction over time; classroom routines make that instruction manageable from day to day.

First Steps

Before the term begins, I define the scope and sequence, choose stories and useful phrases, and plan assessments around what learners should be able to understand and communicate. Lesson planning connects the story with later readings and assessment. Curriculum and assessment should support proficiency, rather than making textbook coverage the destination.

A Focused Entry Task brings the class’s attention to a common message while I take care of opening housekeeping. Grading routines and simple rubrics keep feedback manageable. Classroom management and relationships make shared attention and student contributions possible; attendance routines and a daily to-do list keep records and preparation organized.

Pre-Storytelling

I introduce a few useful words or chunks, model their meaning, and connect them with gestures through Total Physical Response (TPR). Learner contributions, such as drawings on name cards, give us something to talk about with that language. This gives learners a foothold in the story. Recognizing a phrase once does not mean it has been acquired; the language returns throughout the course.

Storytelling

A flexible story script gives me a starting point, while the class helps develop the details. Through Orbiting (Circular Questions), I vary yes/no, either/or, and open-ended questions around a statement. Comparisons and student details let us stay with understandable language instead of racing through the plot. The class summary preserves that work for later reading.

Reading and further interaction

I plan readings and supplemental processing activities from the story, as in the Anita example. Standalone CI Tasks do similar work without depending on a class story. Homework can extend level-appropriate processing beyond class. Guided responses are a step toward communication, not the same as spontaneous language use.

Free Voluntary Reading (FVR) gives learners a choice of accessible reading once they have a foundation of language. Class novels provide a shared text selected by the teacher. Both extend the input beyond live storytelling. My original workshop design also includes Guided Notes for Targeted Structures, combining explicit attention to a difficult structure with guided listening, reading, and structured responses. Their place, like class-novel routines, depends on the course and learners.

Assessment and planning what comes next

I use specific listening, reading, speaking, or writing tasks to see what learners understand and can communicate. Simple rubrics help make feedback and grading manageable. A successful retell of a familiar story gives useful evidence about that task; it does not by itself establish spontaneous proficiency in a new situation.

I do not need to perfect all of these systems before teaching. I can implement a workable routine, notice where it breaks down, and improve it over time.

The podcast takes up individual instructional decisions and classroom routines in more detail. Workshops and coaching provide time to work on implementation in your own classroom or department.

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