What are the benefits of Total Physical Response Language Teaching Method and why should it be used in the classroom?
- This method works well with children and adults who are learning any language because;
- It is fun and easy to perform in the classroom.
- It does n`t require a great deal of preparation on the side of teacher just with body movement, you can perform it effectively.
- It is the best method for learning of vocabulary.
- Class size does n`t create a problem to perform this activity in classroom.
- There is no age barrier you can teach adult with this method.
- This method, which is called (TPR), was developed by James Asher. This method places more emphasis on physical activity. The feature that distinguishes this method from other methods is that listening is supported before speaking. The students listen and respond to the commands given by the teacher. Eventually the roles change and the students begin to give commands. It is a method mostly used when teaching imperatives and with little students. The teacher says “clean the board please” and the student physically responds to this.
- Teacher’s note: especially in primary 4-5-6. It works very well in the classroom. Children enjoy more physically (with games, movements that accompany the song) when they participate in the lesson. They are already very energetic and distracted by their age. You can use this energy positively by physically adding them to the learning process.
- 1) Imitate the way a baby learns his mother tongue. (Hours of listening, decoding of body movements, speech delay, and no formal grammar)
- 2) Language enters the brain from the right hemisphere where language understanding is stored. (Speech is stored in the left hemisphere)
- 3) Contains little stress.
- All language input is immediately comprehensible, practical, and allows students through a quiet time to build a foundation of comprehension before being asked to speak. Once the language is internalized, production takes place, thus separating the TPR from the traditional “listen and repeat” method.
- In TPR lessons, teachers model actions imitated by students while listening to words and commands simultaneously in the target language. Because each word or phrase is associated with a specific action, students learn language quickly and naturally while establishing long -term connections between the brain and muscles.
- There are 2 stages in the TPR learning process;
- 1) Modeling by teachers
- 2) Student demonstration
- Typical TPR activities can include commands such as “Walk to the Door”, “Open the Door”, “Sit down” and “Give Selene your dictionary”. Students should follow instructions by doing physical activities. With a supportive classroom environment, there is no doubt that such activities can provide motivation and fun, and at the same time, such basic cues can be absorbed by students even with relatively limited repetition.
- The TPR method is quite fun, students enjoy it and provide a real learning environment in the classroom. This motivates the students. It is not easy to forget. This really helps students remember phrases or words. Creating a kinesthetic learning environment to be active in classroom language teaching;
- It can be used in large or small classes. As long as you are willing to lead, no matter how many students you have, students will follow. Works well with mixed skill classes. Physical actions are understood in a meaningful way so that all students can understand and use the target language.
- It does not require a lot of preparation or materials. As long as you know exactly what you want to do (a pre-rehearsal can help), it doesn’t take much to prepare. It is very effective for young students. It includes both left and right brain learning.
