In a developmental sense, Asher sees that succesful adult 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 felt adults recapulate the process by which children
acquire thier mother tongue. TPR has become a command and effective means of introducing children and
adults to a foreign language, and in particular to listening, especially in early stage of instruction. Using physical response is usually a lot of fun for students and provides
excellent practice in both listening comprehension and memory.
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In TPR, teachers interact with students by delivering commands, and students demonstrate comprehension through physical response.
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From the statements above, the writer concluded that TPR Total Physical Response is a language teaching method built around speech and action, which the
teachers give a command and the students can respond physically.
2. The Characteristics of Total Physical Response
The characteristic of TPR will be summed up as follows: a.
The material is presented in imperative form. b.
The commands are given to the class as a whole. c.
Students will begin to speak when they are ready. d.
Production will naturally be delayed until the students listening comprehension has been developed.
e. Meaning in target language can often be conveyed through action.
f. Listening should be accompanied by physical movement.
g. The students‟ mistakes are corrected in a timely manner.
h. The learning process as started from the simple sentence and it can be
visualization in the class.
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22
Rebecca L. Oxford, Language Learning Strategy. What Every Teacher Should Know, Boston:Heinle and Heinle Publishers,1990, p.108
23
Helena Anderson Curtain and Carol Ann Pesola, Language and Children-Making the match: Foreign Language Instruction in the Elementary School, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc, 1988,
p.127
24
Patricia A. Richards- Amato, Making it Happen, New York: Longman, 1988, p.71-73
3. Design of Total Physical Response
a. Method
Total Physical Response method is in harmony with the human biological program, because it uses body movement before and after speech appears and it does
not require the learner to speak. Total Physical Response TPR asks students to respond physically to the language they hear. Language processing is thus matched
with physical action. When the students can all respond to commands correctly, one of them can start giving instructions to other classmates.
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This harmony minimized stress. Low anxiety relates positively to success in second language acquisition. Asher
felt that this method enlivens a class by creating stimulating experiences, so that the students are in a more lively state and the learning has strong emotional base as well
as a physical base.
b. The Objectives
The general objectives of Total Physical Response are to teach oral profiency at beginning level.
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Comprehension is a means to an end, and the ultimate aim is to teach basic speaking skills. TPR aims to produce learners who are capable of an
uninhibited communication that is intelligible to native speaker. TPR was developed in order to improve the better result of teaching learning
process of a new language. Teachers who use TPR believe in the importance of having the students enjoy their experience in learning to communicate a foreign
language. According to Freeman, TPR was develop in order to reduce the stress people
feel when studying foreign language and there by encourage students to persist in their study beyond a beginning level of proficiency.
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From the statement above, there are some objectives of Total Physical Response:
Teaching oral proficiency at a beginning level
25
Jeremy Harmer, The Practice of English Language Teaching, Third Edition, Harlow: Longman, 2001, p.90
26
Jack C. Richards and Theodore S. Rodgers, Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. New York: Cambridge University Press. 1986, p.91
27
Diane Larsen – Freeman, Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching, China: Oxford
University Press, p. 113
Using comprehension as a means to speaking Using action-based drills in the imperative form
c. The activities
This method has simplicity as the most attractive features. Its strength lies in the internalization of the material covered. The teacher gives commands and the
students carry them out. The 4 basic types of TPR exercises are:
1 Single commands and descriptions.
2 Action series action sequences, dialogue, etc
3 Natural action dialogue role playing dialogue and skits.
4 Action role playing without prepare script.
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4. The Principles of Total Physical Response
