The Total Physical Response (TPR) :: Where Is It From?

The total physical response (TPR):
Where is it from?
TPR stands for Total Physical Response and was created by Dr. James J Asher.
It is based upon the way that children learn their mother tongue. Parents have
'language-body conversations' with their children, the parent instructs and the
child physically responds to this. The parent says, "Look at mummy" or "Give
me the ball" and the child does so. These conversations continue for many
months before the child actually starts to speak itself. Even though it can't speak
during this time, the child is taking in all of the language; the sounds and the
patterns. Eventually when it has decoded enough, the child reproduces the
language quite spontaneously. TPR attempts to mirror this effect in the language
classroom. (Frost, 2004, par.1)
Teacher roles and learner roles

The teacher plays an active and direct role in Total Physical Response. It is the
teacher who decides what to teach, who models and presents the new materials,
and who selects supporting materials for classroom use.
Learners in Total Physical Response have the primary roles of listener and
performer. They listen attentively and respond physically to commands given by
the teacher. Learners are required to respond both individually and collectively.
Learners have little influence over the content of learning. (Luoaman, 2011,
par.1)
It is also important to clarify that teachers should refrain from too much correction in
the early stages and should not interrupt to correct errors, since this will inhibit learners.
As time goes on, however, more teacher intervention is expected, as the learners' speech
becomes "fine tuned."
How can I use it in class? Possible representative activities of the method
These are just some of the activities that Buitriago & Herrera (2013, pp.74-76) give us
to show the type of activities that can be used with the PRT method. You can see that
they are very varied and also that the teacher has the opportunity to plan them more
easily when I know their students better.
#1 The teacher starts by saying a word ('jump') or a phrase ('look at the board') and
demonstrating an action. The teacher then says the command and the students all do the
action. After repeating a few times it is possible to extend this by asking the students to
repeat the word as they do the action. When they feel confident with the word or phrase
you can then ask the students to direct each other or the whole class.
#2 BROKEN TELEPHONE Students will play "Broken telephone". In this game each
team should organize in a line in all space of basketball court. The teacher will say to
each leader a sentence about whatever topic they should remember and run to the other
participant and she will say in a secret the same sentence and she will return to the place
therefore the activity will continue until all students participate; the last student should
say all the sentence and pick up the correct image that it will be found on the wall.
#3 EXPLOIT THE BALLOON In this activity each student has a balloon; these have a
piece of paper with some images; for example: animals, parts of house, profession and
colors; Student should exploit the balloon and find the images, and then they should
organize different groups according to their features. Now in minute students should say
words about their set. The winner will be the person who say the highest amount of
words.
#4 STEEPLECHASE In this activity students should do different exercises such as:
1. Jumping in a sack.
2. Playing using little balls and dishes.
3. Jumping in correct hoops.
4. Playing with balls.
At the beginning of each activity, students should say a number and the teacher will be using
the "eat cookie" That is about choosing a color and showing the surprise, when students see
the surprise they should say: this is a chicken, this is a doctor... and run to the first exercise and
make it so they will return and say other number, until students finish all exercises.
When should I use it?
According with (Frost, 2004, par.3) TPR can be used to teach and practice many things.
 Vocabulary connected with actions (smile, chop, headache, wriggle)
 Tenses past/present/future and continuous aspects (Every morning I clean my
teeth, I make my bed, I eat breakfast)
 Classroom language (Open your books)
 Imperatives/Instructions (Stand up, close your eyes)
 Storytelling
Why should I use it in the classroom?
 It is a lot of fun, students enjoy it and it can be a real stirrer in the class. It lifts
the pace and the mood.
 It is very memorable. It really helps students to remember phrases or words.
 It is good for kinaesthetic learners who need to be active in the class.
 It can be used in large or small classes. It doesn't really matter how many
students you have as long as you are prepared to take the lead, the students will
follow.
 It works well with mixed-ability classes. The physical actions get across the
meaning effectively so that all the students are able to understand and use the
target language.
 It doesn't require a lot of preparation or materials. As long as you are clear what
you want to practise (a rehearsal beforehand can help), it won't take a lot of time
to get ready.
 It is very effective with teenagers and young learners.
 It involves both left- and right-brained learning.
(Frost, 2004, par.4)
Advantages:
 It is fun and easy
 It does not require a great deal of preparation on the part of the teacher.
 It is a good tool for learning vocabulary.
 Class size does not need to be a problem.
 There is no age barrier.
Disadvantages:
 It is not a very creative method. Students are not given the opportunity to
express their own views and thoughts in a creative way.
 It is easy to overuse TPR.
 It is limited, since everything cannot be explained with this method. It must be
combined with other approaches.
(Sanchez, 2014, pp.21-22)
References
Buitriago, J &Herrera, E. (2013). LA METODOLOGÍA “RESPUESTA FÍSICA TOTAL” COMO

HERRAMIENTA PARA EL APRENDIZAJE DEL INGLÉS EN GRADO PRIMERO DEL
LICEO ARQUIDEOCESANO DE NUESTRA SEÑORA. Downloaded
http://ridum.umanizales.edu.co:8080/jspui/bitstream/6789/923/1/Tesis%20de%20grado
%20Respuesta%20Fisica%20Total.pdf
Frost, R. (January 2004). Total physical response – TPR [message on a blog]. Downloaded from
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/total-physical-response-tpr
Luoman, P (February 26th, 2011). TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE (TPR) [message on a blog].
Downloaded http://teachers-pfs.blogspot.com/
Sanchez, S. (2014). Propuesta didactica para el uso de AICLE y TPR en la enseñanza del Ingles
en primaria. Downloaded
https://reunir.unir.net/bitstream/handle/123456789/2278/Sanchez-
Martinez.pdf?sequence=1

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The total physical response (TPR):

Teacher roles and learner roles

Buitriago, J &Herrera, E. (2013). LA METODOLOGÍA “RESPUESTA FÍSICA TOTAL” COMO

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