Sunday, June 16, 2013

Total Physical Response (TPR)

TPR is a language teaching method built around the coordination of speech and action; it attempts to teach language through physical (motor) activity.  TPR as an approach to teaching a second language is based, first and foremost, on listening and this linked to physical actions which are designed to reinforce comprehension of particular basic items. A typical TPR activity might contain instruction such as “walk to the door”, “open the door”, “sit down”, ‘Give Ade you dictionary”.


Advantages:
a.    Activities with TPR  are great for kinesthetic learners who need more action or hands on activities
b.    Excellent ways to get young learners up and about

Disadvantages:
a.    It is fairly difficult to give instructions without using imperatives, so the language input is basically restricted to this single form
b.    It is quiet difficult to see  how this approach could extend beyond beginner level
c.    The relevance of some of the language used in TPR activities to real-world learners needs is questionable

No comments:

Post a Comment