Following are qouted portions of an article by
Dr James J. Asher which are published in
Berty Segal Cook's Web site
http://www.tprsource.com/asher.htm
The Total Physical Response, known world-wide as TPR
by James J. Asher, Ph.D.
"Dr. James J. Asher is the originator of the
Total Physical Response (TPR). Dr. Asher has
demonstrated how to apply TPR for best results at
more than 500 elementary, secondary schools and
universities around the world, including a 1983
lecture tour in Japan sponsored by JALT. He is the
recipient of many awards for excellence in teaching
and research. He is an emeritus professor of psychology
and former associate dean at San Jose State University
in San Jose, California."
"From experimental research and trials in hundreds of language
classrooms around the world in scores of languages, we know
more about how TPR works than any other idea in second
language learning.
For a detailed review of this research, see my book:
Learning Another Language Through Actions.
WHAT IS TPR?
IT'S ALL IN THE WAY WE LEARN...
TPR is based on the premise that the human brain has a biological
program for acquiring any natural language on earth - including
the sign language of the deaf. The process is visible when we
observe how infants internalize their first language.
The secret is a unique "conversation" between the parent and infant.
For example, the first conversation is a parent saying,
"Look at daddy. Look at daddy." The infant's face turns in the
direction of the voice and daddy exclaims, "She's looking at me!
She's looking at me!" Dr. Asher calls this "a language-body
conversation" because the parent speaks and the infant answers
with a physical response such as looking, smiling, laughing, turning,
walking, reaching, grasping, holding, sitting, running, and so forth.
Notice that these "conversations" continue for many, many months
before the child utters anything more intelligible than "mommy"
or "daddy." Although the infant is not yet speaking, the child is
imprinting a linguistic map of how the language works. Silently,
the child is internalizing the patterns and sounds of the target language.
When the child has decoded enough of the target language, speaking
appears spontaneously. The infant's speech will not be perfect, but
gradually, the child's utterances will approximate more and more
that of a native speaker.
Children and adults experience the thrill of immediate
understanding when you apply this powerful concept in
your classroom.
Here is what we now know:
The dropout rate of second language students in a traditional
program can be as high as 95%. Studies at the University of
Texas and elsewhere show that this stunning attrition can be
reversed when TPR is a central feature of the language program.
The reason that TPR dramatically reduces attrition is this:
TPR is a confidence-builder. Students of all ages including
adults experience instant success in understanding an alien language.
They remark: "Hey, this isn't so bad! I understand what she is saying.
I didn't know I could do this. I feel great!"
TPR is aptitude-free. Academic aptitude is a negligible factor when
TPR is applied by a skilled and talented teacher. In a traditional
language program, principals screen "low" academic students from
foreign language classes under the assumption that,
"They simply can't do it!" Everyone is surprised when
disadvantaged children who experience difficulty in class after
class in a traditional school, enjoy success in a TPR class.
These students experience the exhilaration of being competitive
with the all "A" students.
Contrary to the widely-held belief that children have a linguistic
advantage over adults, studies with Spanish, Russian, and Japanese
show that when adults play the game of learning another language
on a "level playing field" with children, adults consistently
outperform children, except for pronunciation. TPR provides
that "level playing field." In a traditional class, adults endure
the handicap of sitting in rows of chairs while an instructor
performs and performs and performs. In a TPR class, the
students perform and perform and perform while the instructor
is the director of the play. Note that this is exactly how
children acquire another language so quickly while living in
a foreign country. Children are silent but respond to directions
from caretakers and other children. Children act in response to
hundreds of directions uttered in the alien language such as
"Come here." "Put on your coat." "Throw me the ball." "Walk faster."
etc. This is a linguistic luxury that their parents living in the same
country do not experience.
Studies with Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and Russian
demonstrate that TPR is "brain compatible," meaning there is
short and long-term retention that is striking and statistically
significant across studies. Retention with TPR is analogous to
riding a bicycle. Even if years have elapsed since acquiring the
skill, after a few warm up trials, proficiency returns.
TPR seems to work effectively for children and adults. There is no
age barrier. The only caveat is that if the language training starts
after puberty, the probability is almost certain that one will have
at least some accent in speaking the second language, no matter
how many years one lives in the foreign country.
TPR seems to work for most languages including the sign
language of the deaf and the language of mathematics. Math
education is even more challenging than foreign language
education because, in the USA, we spend more on remedial
mathematics than all other forms of math education combined.
Traditional programs in both math and foreign languages share
a common flaw, in my judgment. Both specialties play to half
the brain and usually it is the wrong half.
TPR can be the major focus of a language program or an
extremely effective supplement.
BENEFITS OF TPR
Instant understanding of the target language, regardless
of academic aptitude
High Speed Long-term retention
Stress-free
Is TPR a method, an approach or a tool?
A student asked this question on my e-mail. I don't think that
it matters how you classify TPR. My answer, however, is that
TPR is a powerful right-brain tool at all levels of second language
instruction. The tool works best in the hands of a skilled and
talented instructor. I think that colleges and universities have
been frankly negligent in not training future language teachers
to be highly proficient in the handling of this powerful tool.
A cursory mention of TPR in a laundry list of methods and
approaches is not enough to build skill in the application of TPR.
It needs a special course along with hands-on experience
monitored by a senior instructor who is also skilled in the intricate
applications of TPR.
Why have college and university teacher trainers underestimated
the value of TPR?
I am speculating but I believe it works like this: Professors,
especially in public colleges and universities, are not concerned
with enrollments. The smaller the class size, the less one's workload.
Compensation is not tied to class size. The motivation is for
fewer students, not more. Therefore, there is little interest in
a powerful tool that will attract and retain hundreds of students
in the language program.
When does TPR not work?
This is a fair question. Here is the answer: Any novelty,
if carried on too long, will trigger adaptation. No matter
how exciting and productive the innovation, people will
tire of it. They no longer respond. It is important to neutralize
adaptation by switching continually from one activity to another.
TPR is magical to jump start people of all ages into the target
language. Instructors are perceived by their students as
"miracle workers." This is a heady experience for any
instructor. The tendency then is to imagine that TPR is
a panacea to solve all problems. The instructor continues
day after day, until the students are exhausted and mutiny with,
"Please, not another direction. Can't we do something else."
At this point the instructor concludes,
"Hey, this TPR is only good at the beginning." Of course,
this is an illusion. The tool can be used at all levels to help
students internalize new vocabulary and grammatical features.
But, this requires a conservative application of this powerful
tool. Sure, use it in the beginning to catapult students into the target
language, then withdraw the technique and save it for future
use downstream in training. This is the skillful use of TPR.
How to do this successfully is not obvious to most instructors.
For ideas on switching activities, see Ramiro Garcia's
Instructor's Notebook: How to Apply TPR for Best Results.
How does TPR compare to other methods in terms of results?
I find little, if any, hard data to support other "methods."
For comparison, TPR has many, many published studies with
hard data to support the concept.
(For specific citations, see my book,
Learning another Language Through Actions.) This does not
mean that other approaches, methods, or tools are without value.
Quite the contrary. The techniques in ALM, for example,
such as dialog memorization, listen and repeat after me, and
patterned drills are valuable, in my judgment, but NOT in the
beginning stages of language acquisition. Once beginning
students have internalized the phonology, morphology and
syntax of the alien language throughTPR, then they are ready
to switch to left-brain ALM activities that you find in traditional
textbooks. They are prepared to zoom into the material with
gusto because all the elements are familiar. They are comfortable
with the new language. They feel confident. They are ready.
I recommend that the instructor yo-yo back and forth from
the right brain of TPR to the left brain of ALM. Anything
new is first internalized through the body with TPR, then switch
to the other side of the brain for verbal exercises of speaking,
reading, and writing.
How can I use TPR as a beginner working with a tutor?
I recommend that the beginner become a TPR expert and then
guide the tutor lesson by lesson.
Start with, Learning Another Language Through Actions and
Instructor's Notebook by Garcia.
Can I use TPR as a non-beginner? If so, how?
Sure. Use TPR to internalize any new vocabulary item or
grammatical feature in the target language."
The above materials are qouted portions of an article by
Dr James J. Asher which are published in
Berty Segal Cook's Web site
http://www.tprsource.com/asher.htm