2. Pedagogical implications teaching English to primary school children using tpr

In this chapter we will get familiar with the main principles of Total Physical Response and peculiarities of teacher’s and learner’s role in learning and teaching process.

2.1 The Principles of Total Physical Response

Before applying the TPR method for teaching a foreign language, in this case, it is English, a teacher should understand its principles well so he will be able to use it properly in the teaching learning process. Asher (1984), as the developer of TPR, elaborates the principles of this method, they are: second language learning is parallel to first language learning and should reflect the same naturalistic process; listening should develop before speaking; children respond physically to spoken language, and adult learners learn better if they do that too; once listening comprehension has been developed, speech develops naturally and effortlessly out of it; delaying speech reduces stress (Asher,1984).

Moreover, Larsen and Freeman (2000: 114) propose several principles in teaching learning process by using TPR upon which the teacher’s behaviours is based. The principles of TPR are as follows: meaning in the target language can often be conveyed through action; memory is activated through learners’ response; the target language should be presented in chunks, not just word by word; the students’ understanding of the target language should be developed before speaking; students can initially learn one part of the language rapidly by moving their bodies; the imperative is powerful linguistic device through which the teacher can direct student behaviour; students can learn through observing actions as well as by performing the action themselves; feeling of success and low anxiety facilitate learning; students should not be made to memorize fixed routines; correction should be carried out in an unobtrusive manner; students must not develop flexibility in understanding a novel combination of target language chunks; they need to understand more than the exact sentences used in training; language learning is more effective when it is fun; spoken language should be emphasized over written language; students will begin to speak when they are ready; students are expected to make errors when they first begin speaking; work on the fine details of the language should be postponed until students have become somewhat proficient.

More or less, Dordjowidjojo (2006) after his research defines three principles which are very analogous to Asher’s ideas. He thinks that: skills can be improved by the use of kinaesthetic sensory system; humans, especially children, acquire their language through activities; comprehension precedes production". These three principles are manifested in the classroom practice. Students are allowed to spend as much time as they want to comprehend before they are to produce any sentence. To achieve this goal, physical movements are mandatory.

Frost (2007) also believes in language-body conversation and TPR method. His ideas do not really differ from other researches. Frost sais that parents have language-body conversations with their children, the parent instructs and the child physically responds to this. These conversations continue for many months before the child actually starts to speak itself. Even though it can‘t speak during this time, the child is taking in all of the language; the sounds and the patterns. Eventually when it has decoded enough, the child reproduces the language quite spontaneously. TPR attempts to mirror this effect in the language classroom.

Explanations and examples provide us a general idea of the principle of TPR—to imitate the process of infants‘ first language acquisition i.e. understanding of the target language should be developed before speaking and students will start to speak when they are ready. There is a process which incorporated TPR in the second language learning classroom. Moreover, spoken language should be emphasized over written and presented in chunks, either students should be allowed to make mistakes at the beginning and should not be made to memorize fixed routines. Physical movements are necessary in teaching process in order to achieve teaching goals.