Total physical response - A stress-free approach to learning a foreigne language - Nguyen Thuy Hoa

Nguyễn Thúy Hòa Tạp chí KHOA HỌC & CÔNG NGHỆ 133(03)/1: 115 - 119 115 TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE - A STRESS-FREE APPROACH TO LEARNING A FOREIGNE LANGUAGE Nguyen Thuy Hoa * College of Information and Communication Technology - TNU SUMMARY Among several approaches to teaching and learning a foreign language, Total Physical Response (TPR) is one that simulates the way children naturally acquire their mother tongue. Instructors give commands to students in the new language, and students respond through gestures. This article explores the principle and feature of TPR, and its advantages and disadvantages. This article also presents a study on the use of TPR in teaching English of the first -year non-English major students at Thainguyen University of Information and Communication Technology (ICTU) and provides some suggestions for applying TPR. Key words: Total Physical Response, stress-free approach, commands, ESL, James Asher THE INTRODUCTION * What is TPR? Total physical response (TPR) is a language teaching method that was developed in the 1970s by American psychologist James Asher, a professor at San Jose State University, California. The method is intended to simulate the way children acquire their mother tongue. Asher (1974) notes that children first learn their mother tongue through responding physically (e.g., pointing, nodding, waving, shaking their heads, and other meaningful actions) to the commands their parents give before they are capable of uttering words. TPR works in the same way: the teacher commands "stand up," "point to the blackboard", "raise your hand," etc., and the whole class responds physically. This method is linked with the "trace theory" in psychology, which implies that the more the target language is associated with physical actions, the stronger its recollection is in the memory. Asher (1984) further notes that children initially observe and comprehend the language their parents use for a short period, which Asher calls the "Silent Period," and then begin to produce the language. Accordingly, he points out that students should not be forced to produce the language immediately and oral practice should be * Tel: 0942 342189, Email: brightvn26@gmail.com delayed in language classrooms until the students are ready. Dr. Asher considers TPR as a method of teaching language using physical movement to react to verbal input in order to reduce student inhibitions and lower their affective filter (stress). Principle and feature of TPR One of the major principles of TPR is lowering the affective filter to facilitate the learning process. Students' anxiety should be lowered to that of a more natural setting so that they do not feel threatened in a language classroom (Asher, 1984). TPR creates a motivating environment by encouraging students to participate and involve themselves in actions, which builds their enthusiasm as they feel free to move around. Therefore, TPR students experience the language in a relaxing and comfortable atmosphere. Such an approach definitely injects fun and amusement into the learning, and students feel relaxed enough to imitate their teacher and express themselves kinesthetically. Comprehension is an integral aspect of TPR. Teachers should initially pay attention to students' comprehension of language and delay a focus on speaking until a later stage (Asher, 1969). Thiele and Scheibner-Herzig (1983) also confirm that students' comprehension should come before oral practice. Thus, students should not be forced to respond to the language until they are Nguyễn Thúy Hòa Tạp chí KHOA HỌC & CÔNG NGHỆ 133(03)/1: 115 - 119 116 ready; they must be exposed to plenty of language input until they feel confident to produce their own output (Asher, 1984). Richards and Rodgers (2001) assume that students need time to develop before they begin uttering speech, which will emerge naturally. TPR builds students' self-esteem. When responding physically to commands, students feel secure because actions are easy to understand and follow, and they therefore have the ability to communicate without any barriers. This certainly builds their confidence and gives them more encouragement to participate freely without feeling disappointed or useless in language classrooms, even if they are low-level students (Celestino, 1993). It is surely the case that TPR makes everybody feel positive and able to trust their own ability. Teacher roles The teacher plays an active and direct role in Total Physical Response. It is the teacher who decides what to teach, who models and presents the new materials, and who selects supporting materials for classroom use. The teacher is encouraged to be well prepared and well organized so that the lesson flows smoothly and predictably. Asher recommends detailed lesson plans: “It is wise to write out the exact utterances you will be using and especially the novel commands because the action is so fast-moving there is usually not time for you to create spontaneously". Classroom interaction and turn taking is teacher rather than learner directed. Even when learners interact with other learners it is usually the teacher who initiates the interaction. Asher stresses, however, that the teacher's role is not so much to teach as to provide opportunities for learning. The teacher has the responsibility of providing the best kind of exposure to language so that the learner can internalize the basic rules of the target language. Thus the teacher controls the language input the learners receive, providing the raw material for the "cognitive map" that the learners will construct in their own minds. The teacher should also allow speaking abilities to develop in learners at the learners' own natural pace. Teachers should refrain from too much correction in the early stages and should not interrupt to correct errors, since this will inhibit learners. As time goes on, however, more teacher intervention is expected, as the learners' speech becomes "fine-tuned." Learner roles Learners in Total Physical Response have the primary roles of listener and performer. They listen attentively and respond physically to commands given by the teacher. Learners are required to respond both individually and collectively. Learners have little influence over the content of learning, since content is determined by the teacher, who must follow the imperative-based format for lessons. Learners are also expected to recognize and respond to novel combinations of previously taught items Learners are also required to produce novel combinations of their own. Learners monitor and evaluate their own progress. They are encouraged to speak when they feel ready to speak - that is, when a sufficient basis in the language has been internalized. Advantages of TPR TPR is a lot of fun, students enjoy it and it can be a real stirrer in the class. It lifts the pace and the mood. It is also very memorable. It really helps students to remember phrases or words. It is good for kin aesthetic learners who need to be active in the class. It can be used in large or small classes. It doesn't really matter how many students you have as long as you are prepared to take the lead, the students will follow. It works well with mixed-ability classes. The physical actions get across the meaning effectively so that all the students are able to understand and use the target language. It doesn't require a lot of preparation or materials. As long as you are clear what you Nguyễn Thúy Hòa Tạp chí KHOA HỌC & CÔNG NGHỆ 133(03)/1: 115 - 119 117 want to practice (a rehearsal beforehand can help), it won't take a lot of time to get ready. It is very effective with teenagers and young learners. It involves both left- and right- brained learning. Disadvantages of TPR It is not a very creative method. Students are not given the opportunity to express their own views and thoughts in a creative way. It is easy to overuse TPR. It is limited, since everything cannot be explained with this method. It must be combined with other approaches. A STUDY The subjects The subjects under the study were 70 1st year - non - English - major students at ICTU. Instruments The survey questionnaire concerns the students' attitude towards the use of TPR, its significance and problems that students face when using TPR, and some implications that students suggested. Procedure The survey questionnaire was administered with 70 students. The 1 st oral test was conducted at the first class and the second one was done after two months applying TPR. RESULTS Data-analysis and Discussion Table: Descriptive statistics for students’ survey questionnaire: Choices Questions A B C D 1 71% 21% 7% 0% 2 1% 64% 17% 17% 3 3% 57% 14% 26% 4 1% 36% 34% 29% 5 86% 1% 11% 1% 6 11% 86% 7% 3% 7 97% 1% 1% 0% 8 100% 0% 0% 0% Pie chart 1: Oral Result 1 Pie chart 2: Oral Result 2 As shown in Table 1, 71% of students said that TPR is very interesting. 86% of students said they TPR in class, with classmates and under the control of the teacher. But students still do not have many opportunities to use it outside the classroom, except some who participate the English club (64%). In fact, there are many challenges to students using TPR. According to answer questions 6, a large number of students focus their English learning on learning new vocabulary and grammatical structures in order to do the tests (86%). Many students believe that English language communication skills are not as important as grammar. However, when applying TPR, 97% of students feel very confident and not stressful. Thus, 100% of students said that PP TPR should be applied to the school regularly. The first stage in college is a difficult period for the students, especially in English. As shown in the oral test, 11% of students with poor grades (1-2 points), while 14% achieved 3 or 4 points. Most students scored 5 or 6 (49%), only 21% of students had good results Nguyễn Thúy Hòa Tạp chí KHOA HỌC & CÔNG NGHỆ 133(03)/1: 115 - 119 118 (7-8 points). There are very few students who score 9-10 points (4%). The above results reflect the fact that students are not familiar with the oral test. After a period of being encouraged to listen and act, students have more confidence. The results in the second test showed that the students' ability to use English improve. Student scores 1, 2 reduced to 3%. The percentage of students scoring average dropped more than 10% (36%). Number of students scoring (7-8) has increased up to 34%. 14% of students got excellent score. SOME SUGGESTIONS It is assumed that this method helps to reduce the gap between the low- and high-level learners because it is comprehensible to everyone. Unfortunately, being under pressure to finish a huge number of activities within a certain time frame means that teachers are always in a rush; therefore, they may tend to ignore the weak students and focus more on the good ones who help them finish the curriculum in the expected time. Teachers should be able to focus more on the efficiency of the learning process rather than on the ultimate outcome. Some suggestions for modifying and adapting the TPR textbooks to meet the TPR principles are: Split the new words between different lessons, instead of having them in one class, so that students can absorb them effectively. The number of activities must be lessened so that teachers focus on the quality and not the quantity of learning outcomes. Also, the activities should be less demanding, because children usually have trouble concentrating on different things at one time, such as "listen and read." TPR could be complemented with other methods after a period of time, as it is impractical to run the curriculum with physical actions for a long time. Students may gradually be invited to share their comments and express their own opinions in a simple way. Teachers must be aware of the importance of the silent period to allow more time for their students to explore a language before trying it. Teachers should be taught how to respond to students' errors appropriately in a manner similar to parental feedback. They must be provided with some efficient techniques for correcting errors made by young learners. Teachers must know how to choose appropriate strategies for controlling noisy learners. In order to ensure students are relaxed, teachers should cultivate a friendly and positive attitude. TPR can be a successful approach for teaching young learners, as it may produce several beneficial results that assist in language learning. It is a teaching method that incorporates fun and amusement, and therefore creates a stress-free environment that helps students feel comfortable with a new language. On the other hand, this approach may not be utilized to its optimum potential, due to the length and demands of the curriculum and the lack of qualified teachers. Furthermore, some TPR textbooks include a lot of activities that cannot be covered in the allotted time, and some activities are beyond young learners' cognitive ability. REFERENCES 1. Asher, J. (1969). The Total Physical Response to second language learning. Modern Language Journal, 53(1), 3-17. Available at www.jstor.org/ stable/322091 2. Asher, J. (1984). Learning another language through actions. Los Gatos, CA: Sky Oaks Productions. 3. Brown, D. (2007). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy. White Plains, NY: Pearson. 4. Celestino, J. (1993). Total Physical Response: Commands not control. Hispania, 76(4), 902-903. Available at www.jstor.org/stable/343928 5. Larsen-Freeman, D. (2000). Techniques and principles in language teaching. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. 6. Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. S. (2001). Approaches and methods in language teaching. Cambridge, Eng land: Cambridge University Press. Nguyễn Thúy Hòa Tạp chí KHOA HỌC & CÔNG NGHỆ 133(03)/1: 115 - 119 119 TÓM TẮT TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE – MỘT ĐƯỜNG HƯỚNG HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ KHÔNG CĂNG THẲNG Nguyễn Thúy Hòa* Trường Đại học Công nghệ thông tin và Truyền thông – ĐH Thái Nguyên Trong số các đường hướng dạy và học ngoại ngữ, Total Physical Response (TPR) là một đường hướng mô phỏng cách trẻ em học tiếng mẹ đẻ một cách tự nhiên. Giáo viên hướng dẫn đưa ra các yêu cầu, mệnh lệnh và học sinh đưa ra cử chỉ để đáp lại những các yêu cầu, mệnh lệnh đó. Bài viết sau đây giới thiệu nguyên tắc, đặc tính của TPR, những ưu điểm và nhược điểm của nó. Bài viết cũng trình bày nghiên cứu việc sử dụng TPR trong giảng dạy tiếng Anh cho sinh viên năm thứ nhất, không chuyên tại Đại học Công nghệ Thông tin và Truyền thông (ICTU) và cung cấp một số gợi ý cho việc áp dụng TPR một cách hiệu quả trong việc giảng dạy học viên bắt đầu học tiếng Anh. Từ khóa: Total Physical Response, stress-free approach, commands, ESL, James Asher Ngày nhận bài:10/11/2014; Ngày phản biện:24/11/2014; Ngày duyệt đăng: 03/4/2015 Phản biện khoa học: ThS. Dương Công Đạt – Trường Đại học Sư phạm - ĐHTN * Tel: 0942 342189, Email: brightvn26@gmail.com