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Total Physical Response (TPR)



 Total Physical Response (TPR)

What is TPR?

TPR means Total Physical Response

James Asher(1960s) put the principles of comprehension approach into practice, so he raised the hypothesis that language learning starts with understanding and ends with production.

 

What is the purpose of using TPR in Teaching English language?

The purposes of using TPR in teaching and learning English language are:

  1. enjoy their experience of learning to communicate in another language,
  2. reduce the stress people feel when they are studying other languages and thereby,
  3. encourage students to persist in their study beyond a beginning level of proficiency

 

What are the principles of TPR?

  • Meaning in the target language can often be conveyed through action.
  • The students understanding of the target language should be developed before speaking.
  •  Students can initially learn one part of the language rapidly by moving their bodies.
  • The imperative is a powerful linguistic device through which the teacher can direct student behavior.
  •  Students can learn through observing actions as well as by performing the actions themselves.
  •  It is very important that students feel successful. Feelings of success and low anxiety facilitate learning.
  • Students should not be made to memorize fixed routines.
  • When the students make an error, the teacher repeats the command while acting it out.
  • The teacher gives the students commands they have not heard before.
  • Language learning is more effective when it is fun.
  • Spoken language should be emphasized over written language.
  • Students will begin to speak when they are ready.
  • Students are expected to make errors when they first begin speaking.


What is The role of the teacher in TPR?

The teacher is the director of all student behavior.


What is The role of the student in TPR?

The students are imitators of the teachers’ nonverbal model.


What is the role of the students’ native language in TPR?

Meaning is made clear through body movements.


What is the nature of interaction between teacher and students in TPR?

Teacher interacts with the students and the students interact between themselves.

 

How is the language viewed in TPR?

Just as with the acquisition of the native language, the oral modality is primary.


How is the culture viewed in TPR?

Culture is the lifestyle of people who speak the language natively.

 

What areas of Language are emphasized in TPR?

Vocabulary and grammatical structures are emphasized over other language areas.

 

What skills of Language are emphasized in TPR?

Understanding the spoken word should precede its production. The spoken language is emphasized over written language.

 

How is evaluation accomplished in TPR?

Formal evaluations can be conducted simply by commanding individual

students to perform a series of actions.

 

How does the teacher respond to students’ error in TPR?

Teacher should tolerate the small errors and only correct the major errors. Even these should be corrected unobtrusively.

 

What are the characteristics of teaching and learning process in TPR?

commands

demonstration

performing

Reading & writing

 

What are the techniques used in TPR?

Using Commands to Direct Behavior

The teacher commands the students to perform an action, by performing they made the meaning clear.

 Role Reversal

The students command the teacher and other students to perform some action.

 Action Sequence

As the students learn more and more of the commands in target language, a long series of commands can be given, which form a whole procedure.

 

 

References:

Diane Larsen-Freeman. (2000). Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching. Oxford University Press, USA.

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