APPLIED LINGUISTIC

TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE (TPR)

Names of group 7
1. Andri Saputra
2. Bahya Alfitri
3. Desti Herawati
4. Jaka Dewantara
5. Nelsen Putra Jaya
6. Wulan Sari

Lecturer : Episiasi, M.Pd.

SEKOLAH TINGGI KEGURUAN DAN ILMU PENDIDIKAN

PERSATUAN GURU REPUBLIK INDONESIA
(STKIP PGRI) LUBUKLINGGAU
TAHUN AKADEMIK 2015

1. BACKGROUND
Total Physical Response (TPR) is a language teaching method built around the
coordination of speech and action; it attempts to teach language through physical (motor)
activity. Developed by James Asher, a professor of psychology at San Jose State University,
California, it draws on several traditions, including developmental psychology, learning theory, and humanistic pedagogy, as well as on language teaching procedures proposed by
Harold and Dorothy Palmer in 1925. Let us briefly consider these precedents to Total
Physical Response.
Total Physical Response is linked to the "trace theory " of memory in psychology,
which holds that the more often or the more intensively a memory connection is traced, the
stronger the memory association will be and the more likely it will be recalled. Retracing can
be done verbally (e.g., by rote repetition) and/or in association with motor activity. Combined
tracing activities, such as verbal rehearsal accompanied by motor activity, hence increase the
probability of successful recall.
In a developmental sense, Asher sees successful adult second language learning as a
parallel process to child first language acquisition. He claims that speech directed to young
children consists primarily of commands, which children respond to physically before they
begin to produce verbal responses. Asher feels adults should recapitulate the processes by
which children acquire their mother tongue.
Asher shares with the school of humanistic psychology a concern for the role of
affective (emotional) factors in language learning. A method that is undemanding in terms of
linguistic production and that involves game like movements reduces learner stress, he
believes, and creates a positive mood in the learner, which facilitates learning.
Asher's emphasis on developing comprehension skills before the learner is taught to
speak links him to a movement in foreign language teaching sometimes referred to as the
Comprehension Approach (Winitz 1981). This refers to several different comprehensionbased language teaching proposals, which share the belief that (a) comprehension abilities
precede productive skills in learning a language; (b) the teaching of speaking should be
delayed until comprehension skills are established; (c) skills acquired through listening
transfer to other skills; (d) teaching should emphasize meaning rather than form; and (e)
teaching should minimize learner stress.
The emphasis on comprehension and the use of physical actions to teach a foreign
language at an introductory level has a long tradition in language teaching.
2. DEFINITION OF TPR
Total Physical Response (TPR) is a method of teaching language that use body
motion to help students understand and then remember new vocabulary. Total Physical

Response (TPR) is a language teaching method built around the coordination of speech and
action; it attempts to teach language through physical activity. Total Physical Response
(TPR) is a teaching method based on the idea that a new language can be learned through
actions and that movement can help students learn and understand.
3. PRINCIPLES OF TPR
Total physical response is an example of the comprehension approach to language
teaching. Methods in the comprehension approach emphasize the importance of listening on
language development, and do not require spoken output in the early stages of learning . In
total physical response, students are not forced to speak. Instead, teachers wait until students
acquire enough language through listening that they start to speak spontaneously. At the
beginning stages of instruction students can respond to the instructor in their native language.
While the majority of class time in total physical response is spent on listening
comprehension, the ultimate goal of the method is to develop oral fluency. Asher sees
developing listening comprehension skills as the most efficient way of developing spoken
language skills.
Lessons in TPR are organized around grammar, and in particular around the verb.
Instructors issue commands based on the verbs and vocabulary to be learned in that
lesson. However, the primary focus in lessons is on meaning, which distinguishes TPR from
other grammar-based methods such as grammar-translation.
Grammar is not explicitly taught, but is learned by induction. Students are expected to
subconsciously acquire the grammatical structure of the language through exposure to spoken
language input, in addition to decoding the messages in the input to find their meaning. This
approach to listening is called codebreaking.
Total physical response is both a teaching technique and a philosophy of language
teaching. Teachers do not have to limit themselves to TPR techniques to teach according to
the principles of the total physical response method.
Because the students are only expected to listen and not to speak, the teacher has the
sole responsibility for deciding what input students hear.
4. TECHNIQUE OF TPR
Basic TPR Technique
The teacher introduces the language through the use of commands (imperative
sentences) and has students demonstrate their understanding through action responses. A
typical sequence of events might go like this:

1. The teacher says the command (sit down; turn the page; get your pen out; etc.) as they
perform the action.
2. The teacher says the command as both the teacher and the students then perform the
action.
3. The teacher says the command but only students perform the action.
4. The teacher tells one student at a time to perform the action.
5. The roles of teacher and student are reversed. Students give commands to teacher and
to other students.
6. The teacher and student allow for command expansion or produces new sentences.
After that, the technique of TPR are :
1. Students watch demonstration of key words and then a command using them.
2. Students listen again and watch as the teacher performs the action.
3. The teacher gives the command and models the action again, this time having students
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

perform the actions simultaneously.

The teacher gives the command to the group without modeling the action.
The teacher gives the command to an individual without modeling the action.
The teacher models variations & combinations for the groups.
Students perform variations & combinations.
If some students are ready, they give commands to classmates.

5. THE ADVANTAGES OF TPR

1. It is fun, easy, and memorable.
2. It is a good tool for building vocabulary.
3. It can facilitate students with the meaning in real context.
4. It does not require a great deal of preparation.
5. Help the students immediately understand the target language.
6. TPR is inclusive and works well a class with mixed ability levels.
7. Helps learners achieve fluency faster in learning language.

8. It benefits the Struggling students.

9. Creates positive thinking.

6. THE DISADVANTAGES OF TPR

1.
2.
3.
4.

Students who are not used to such things might find it embarrassing.
It is only really suitable for beginner levels.
You can't teach everything with it and if used a lot it would become repetitive.
Students are not generally given the opportunity to express their own thoughts in a

creative way.
5. It can be a challenge for shy students.
6. It is not a very creative method.
7. Overusing TPR causes someone easily bored.

CONCLUSION

Total Physical Response (TPR) is one of the teaching methods that emphasize active
learning through actions. It means that learners speaking skill through listening to
their teacher and before requiring them to speak, and asking them to practice using

verbal communication accompany by physical actions.

Three basic steps that used in this method are to listen, watch, and imitate repeatedly.
TPR practices therefore may be effective for reasons other than those proposed by
Asher and do not necessarily demand commitment to the learning theories used to
justify them.

The technique of TPR are :Students watch demonstration of key words and then a
command using them, Students listen again and watch as the teacher performs the
action, the teacher gives the command and models the action again, this time having
students perform the actions simultaneously, the teacher gives the command to the
group without modeling the action, the teacher gives the command to an individual
without modeling the action, the teacher models variations & combinations for the
groups, Students perform variations & combinations. If some students are ready, they

give commands to classmates.

There are many advantages and disadvantages of TPR based on each leavel

REFERENCES

Gordon.J.(1994) TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE article and example.

Retrieved from http://www.thecenterweb.org.

Garcia.R. TPR world, How to Apply TPR for Best Results. Retrieved from

http://www.tpr-world.com/TPR Storytelling
BBC (2005) TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE. Retrieved from
http://www.TPR _ TeachingEnglish _ British Council _ BBC.htm