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Total Physical Respose

Total Physical Response (TPR) is a language teaching method created by Dr. James J. Asher that mirrors how children acquire their first language. In TPR, the teacher gives an instruction like "jump" and demonstrates the action, then students perform the action. This can be extended to students repeating words and directing each other. TPR can be used to teach vocabulary, tenses, imperatives, and more through physical actions. Benefits of TPR include being fun, memorable, engaging kinaesthetic learners, suitable for different class sizes and ability levels, and requiring minimal preparation.

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Emmanuel Batista Ramirez
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38 views2 pages

Total Physical Respose

Total Physical Response (TPR) is a language teaching method created by Dr. James J. Asher that mirrors how children acquire their first language. In TPR, the teacher gives an instruction like "jump" and demonstrates the action, then students perform the action. This can be extended to students repeating words and directing each other. TPR can be used to teach vocabulary, tenses, imperatives, and more through physical actions. Benefits of TPR include being fun, memorable, engaging kinaesthetic learners, suitable for different class sizes and ability levels, and requiring minimal preparation.

Uploaded by

Emmanuel Batista Ramirez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Total Physical Response (TPR).

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.

In the classroom the teacher plays the role of parent. She 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.

It is more effective if the students are standing in a circle around the


teacher and you can even encourage them to walk around as they do the
action.

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

This method can be adapted for all kinds of teaching situations, you just
need to use your imagination. So, having said that this is a method that
you would want to have in the classroom when teaching for reason such
as:

 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.

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