Total Physical Response (TPR)

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Total physical response (TPR) is a language strategy, or better a teacher´s tool originated and developed by Dr. James J. Asher who is a professor emeritus of psychology at San José State University, and the author of ''Learning another Language through Actions'', 6th edition. As the name suggests, physical movement is a fundamental aspect of TPR. On principle, the method relies on the assumption that people learn better when they are involved physically coupled with mentally. Importantly, In TPR, students respond to commands that require physical movement. In this respect, as the teacher gives an order and the students respond physically or nonverbally, the teacher ascertains the students' comprehension of the command. Above all, it seems…show more content…
Besides, TPR does not depend on left-brain which includes academic skills, in other words, there is no unfavorable situation or circumstance for academically weaker students. To be more precise, students don't need to be gifted language learners or have an academic mind; as a consequence, students get an opportunity to shine in a new environment. Secondly, you will invariably find that TPR requires an instant reaction since there is no time to think during TPR practice, students can break the bad habit of over-analyzing language and feel more comfortable with going with the flow or guessing from context. Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that TPR does not need a spoken response from students. To put it another way, TPR is an excellent method to acknowledge a “silent period” during which the learners are absorbing the new language and cannot yet produce new words with confidence. Another significant point to remember is that TPR leads to long-term retention of language…show more content…
In research, students evaluated TPR classes as more interesting and found the teacher more inspiring than classical lessons. With this in mind, Asher’s theory postulates that languages can be more efficiently learned if we examine how infants acquire their first language. Before being able to speak, a baby reacts physically to language and then moves to verbal expression. During the pre-speech period, the baby internalizes the language. In this sense, the use of TPR in the classroom in many ways takes advantage of this ready-made learning capacity that everyone has. In a way, the teacher plays the role of the parent by giving prompts, setting patterns, playing games, and the student then tries to respond physically to the prompt. Afterwards, the teacher gives the correct response in a positive way like of which a parent would. From that point on, this practice reinforces the learning and paves the way for further steps. A particular advantage of TPR is that it embraces numerous learning styles, notably the kinesthetic learners who learn best through physically doing something or connecting to memory through
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