TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE

DESCRIPTION
Total Physical Response (TPR) is a method of teaching language using physical movement to react to verbal input in order to reduce student inhibitions and lower their affective filter. It allows students to react to language without thinking too much, facilitates long term retention, and reduces student anxiety and stress. In order to implement TPR effectively, it is necessary to plan regular sessions that progress in a logical order, and to keep several principles in mind. This method was developed by Dr. James J. Asher, a professor emeritus of psychology at San José State University, to aid learning second languages. The method relies on the assumption that when learning a second or additional language, language is internalized through a process of codebreaking similar to first language development and that the process allows for a long period of listening and developing comprehension prior to production. Students respond to commands that require physical movement. TPR is primarily intended for ESL/EAL teachers, although the method is used in teaching other languages as well. The method became popular in the 1970s and attracted the attention or allegiance of some teachers, but it has not received generalized support from mainstream educators.
In the classroom the teacher and students take on roles similar to that of the parent and child respectively. Students must respond physically to the words of the teacher. The activity may be a simple game such as Simon Says or may involve more complex grammar and more detailed scenarios.
TPR can be used to practice and teach various things. It is well suited to teaching classroom language and other vocabulary connected with actions. It can be used to teach imperatives and various tenses and aspects. It is also useful for story-telling.
Because of its participatory approach, TPR may also be a useful alternative teaching strategy for students with dyslexia or related learning disabilities, who typically experience difficulty learning foreign languages with traditional classroom instruction.[7]
HOW TO TEACH USING TPR:
TPR’s LIMITATION: The TPR method described here is for use with adults who are complete ESL beginners only. If the student is able to spontaneously volunteer any English, he is going to find this script very limiting and is probably better in a class where he can continue to work on his oral production skills.
1. TPR and the syllabus. TPR is recommended as just one component in the syllabus for beginning adult students. Other syllabus components may include, for instance, numeracy, date and time recognition, writing, listening discrimination,picture stories etc. Every TPR lesson needs to include three steps: 1) teaching/learning; 2) practice or rehearsal and 3) testing or evaluation.
2. Class size: TPR works best with about 8 students. More than 10 students, and there will be too much unfocused time as each student waits for his turn during the individual demonstrations. Fewer than six and it becomes difficult to limit the number of new vocabulary items to a “learnable” number making the lesson topheavy
with vocabulary. If you do have more than 10 students, maybe you can use a volunteer. If so, be sure to provide training and a lesson plan record sheet to monitor progress.
3. How many new vocabulary items in one lesson? Nine new vocabulary items in one
lesson is an average achievable goal. Some students can learn more, some less. The fourth step in the teaching/ review/ testing /evaluation procedures will soon tell you how many new vocabulary items your students can really master in one lesson. You may find that you can increase the number of vocabulary items for an ambitious class by moving into a different topic area. You may need fewer vocabulary items for a slower class.
4. Ask for/expect no oral participation: If you do have a student with some very limited oral production skills in your class, he is probably going to want to recite along with you. You will need to persuade him to do it with his mouth only and not voice his sounds so that other class members listen only to native speaker modeling. Don’t encourage verbal responses from the students – only actions. After about 10 hours of instruction, some students may spontaneously start parroting the teacher. These students are telling you they are ready to move into a regular communication skills class. It is not considered appropriate to have students learn to speak the TPR script because imperatives are of limited use in most general communication environments.
5. Using consistent imperatives: The teacher uses the imperative form of the verb throughout (Point to … Walk to …Touch the etc.). Some teachers find this bare language uncouth and feel they must preface it with “please” or offer elaborate instructions or explanations, such as, “You see?” or “No, watch me again” or “Please do x not y”. We recommend the alternative of an international signal of friendliness to offset feelings of uncouthness, such as a smile. So, practice purging your language of commentary, names, injunctions and any language Total Physical Response: A Curriculum for Adults 4 August 8, 2003 English Language and Literacy Center, St. Louis, MO 63105-3323 Margaret B. Silver/Barbara Adelman/Elisabeth Price other than that in the script. That’s easier than having to remember to say “Please” in front of every single imperative.
6. lesson steps/1, 2 and 3:
• Step 1: Teaching/learning: The teacher needs to act out the action that demonstrates her imperatives clearly and consistently, that is, when the teacher says, “Point to the door” she needs to accompany her words by pointing to the door herself. She needs to point to the same door each time. The correct response from the student or students is the act of immediately pointing to the door. (This is the “Physical” response of “Total Physical Response”).
• Step 2: Practice or rehearse. The teacher needs to use the words and the actions of the imperative consistently to establish understanding and student confidence in their mastery of this word-action communication system. As student competence becomes clear, however, the teacher needs to transition to using words WITHOUT actions. Be ready to put the action back in (thus returning to Stage 1 instruction) if any student shows uncertainty or confusion.
• Step 3: Evaluate. Evaluation is the end-stage of the teaching/learning and practice-to-competence sequence. Here, the student functions in English without any support from the teacher’s gestures or the predictability of repetitive, known sequencing. The teacher will be able to see if the students can unhesitatingly demonstrate what has been taught and practiced.
7. Getting ready: Teachers need to prepare for a TPR lesson by doing the following:
A. Set learning goals for teacher and students. What will your students know at the end of the lesson that they do not know at the beginning? To ensure student progress, write out (use the blank Lesson Plan form at the back of this handbook) or write down in a notebook your exact lesson language [so that you have a record of the vocabulary items your students have covered and/or need to review]. Are you going to use “point to” or “touch the” or “pick up” or …? Are you going to work on parts of the body, room items, tools or …? Will you use realia or pictures? If using pictures, how are you going to display the pictures so that ALL students can see the same pictures? All of these details need to be thought through and realia gathered, the script written and the support material (thumb tacks, scotch tape etc.) included.
B. Memorize your script. Pacing is all-important in TPR and to maintain that pacing, you will not have time to look at your notes. You need to have the entire nine to twelve word script in memory so you can speak at your normal speaking speed and sustain your students’ attention and concentration. So, memorize your script.
C. Use your normal intonation, rhythm and stress pattern. Using your normal speech pattern will help to establish the
D. prosody or “music” of our language in the students’ heads. It is this unique “music” that creates much of our communication. Consider how important intonation is when we change meaning with a change in our intonation pattern while saying: “The POLICE are here?” The police are HERE?” “The police are here.” Stress and intonation are key factors in our communication. Help the students learn this by using your normal
speaking speed and tone of voice. You can slow your delivery the first time through so that the students can clearly hear individual syllables, but after that you need to return to your normal speaking speed. The emphasis on normal speaking speed is critical in ensuring that students develop native speaker reflex response to your oral directions. What happens when you slow your speech down? When you slow down your delivery, you lose your natural intonation pattern, strain your voice, promote word-by-word translation and defeat the whole purpose of TPR, that is, near native speaker understanding. So, speak normally.
8. Practice your first lesson in front of a mirror! Remember that, during the lesson, you will not be able to explain what you want your students to do. After all, the reason they’re in a TPR class is because they have zero English. So, practice pantomiming the following. Make your actions explain what you want the students to do: “Watch. Listen. Do not speak.” Deliver your first three imperatives three times pointing as you do it each time. Maintain a consistent tone and speed.
A. You say (For example):
“Point to the table. Point to the chair. Point to the floor.”
“Point to the table. Point to the chair. Point to the floor.”
“Point to the table. Point to the chair. Point to the floor.”
B. You pantomime: Next, pantomime that you want the students to copy you by pointing as you speak. You may have to run around the first time to show students how to point, but after that they are usually very happy to find that they just have to listen, copy your actions and not to speak.
9 Lesson procedures for each new language unit (One verb or verb phrase constitutes a complete new unit of information, whereas nouns may be introduced in groups of up to three at a time).
A. Model: Say the three imperatives while modeling the action three times
B. Say the three imperatives and have the group practice the actions as many times as are necessary for success reinforcing the actions by pointing when any student displays uncertainty.
C. Randomize the imperatives. Still working with the whole group, instead of saying:
• “Touch your head.” “Touch your nose.” “Touch your chin.” say:
• “Touch your nose.” “Touch your nose.” (yes, this is a deliberate repeat.) “Touch your head.” “Touch your nose.” “Touch your chin.” When you break the pattern of predictability, you are asking the students to differentiate among the sounds they are hearing in order to respond. This is a test and the student responses give the teacher information about any student uncertainties. As the group focuses on this new challenge, some will be quick to respond and some will start looking around for help and support. This is a valuable “teachable” moment. Still working with the whole group, review and re-teach where uncertainty is apparent. Pay particular attention to any student who is clearly depending on other students for his responses. Everyone needs to be sure before to individualized demonstrations.
D. Individual response at random/evaluation: Now’s the time to check for individual competence (and confidence). Start with your strongest student and work your way round the class (but DO NOT say student names). Give each student 4 or 5 imperatives in random order as in C above. Leave each student on a “success”. Do not allow an individual student to fail at any stage. Help immediately if necessary when you see a student hesitate by guiding him through the required action. Start the next student with the last “success” the class heard. Student hesitation tells you that you have not fully established the sound-object connection in the student’s memory. Repeat and model the imperative several times to embed the one item that the student hesitated over. Encourage the student to act out the demonstration too, and as soon as he seems competent, go to an item in that sequence that he knows and then back to the “problem” imperative. The goal is to leave the student on a success so that he can see he is making progress. You need to do this correction speedily enough that you do not lose the attention of the other students. Some teachers with beginning level students feel that they are being kind to their students when they break the grouping and teach one item at a time. Our observation of students and our own personal learning experience suggest it is easier to memorize three groups of three related items especially when supported by actions and realia (or visuals) than 9 individual items.
In addition, teaching groups of items helps students to memorize by categories, an important aid to recall. At the same time, the predictability of grouping reduces the anxiety that accompanies learning.
10. Predictability as a teaching tool. Teach each new action or response in the same sequence each lesson. A predictable pattern of instruction is itself a form of communication and helps to allay student anxiety so that they learn more easily.
11. Consistent modeling each day is important. That is, if you used “Stand up” on one day, you should not use, “Get up” on the next day. If the teacher mixes the oral cues, the student becomes uncertain of the wanted responses.
12. One-step additions to the syllabus: Introduce new language one unit at a time. One verb or verb phrase constitutes a complete new unit of information, whereas nouns may be introduced in groups of up to three at a time. Introduce new verbs with familiar nouns, and new nouns with familiar verbs. Avoid introducing a new verb and a unit of new nouns at the same time. This can send the students into overload and confusion.
13. Maintain all steps in the teaching sequence: Whatever adjustments you make, the
success of the method is tied to maintaining every step of the teaching sequence
outlined here. If your students are really “hungry” for new material, they may be
telling you that they are ready to move into an oral production script.
14. Vocabulary choice: The vocabulary was chosen for its usefulness to most newly arrived work-bound immigrants, and for the easy availability of the objects. A few items that seemed useful but not essential are included in parentheses in some units and may be used for groups that are particularly hungry for material. Teachers can add vocabulary items particular to areas of the country. However, list them in the glossary and be sure to support their meaning with realia or pictures.
15. Evaluate! Evaluate! Evaluate! Many new teachers assume that reviewing (or recycling) material covered earlier insults adult students. However, reviewing at a challenging pace can avoid “insult” to most students. For other students, review is like a memory “booster” and can make learning more certain. Thus, review – and the evaluation opportunity it provides - will show the teacher whether the teaching has created ‘lasting learning’ or was superficial and left learning gaps for the teacher to fill. Review and evaluation can thus work handin- hand to ensure student progress telling the teacher when the students are ready to move on to language production.
THE STRENGTH OF TPR
According to its proponents, it has a number of advantages: Students will enjoy getting up out of their chairs and moving around. Simple TPR activities do not require a great deal of preparation on the part of the teacher. TPR is aptitude-free, working well with a mixed ability class, and with students having various disabilities. It is good for kinesthetic learners who need to be active in the class. Class size need not be a problem, and it works effectively for children and adults.
THE WEAKNESS OF TPR
However, it is recognized that TPR is most useful for beginners, though it can be used at higher levels where preparation becomes an issue for the teacher. It does not give students the opportunity to express their own thoughts in a creative way. Further, it is easy to overuse TPR-- "Any novelty, if carried on too long, will trigger adaptation." It can be a challenge for shy students. Additionally, the nature of TPR places an unnaturally heavy emphasis on the use of the imperative mood, that is to say commands such as "sit down" and "stand up". These features are of limited utility to the learner, and can lead to a learner appearing rude when attempting to use his new language. Of course, as a TPR class progresses, group activities and descriptions can be used which continue the basic concepts of TPR into full communication situations.