An old teaching adage says that no matter what the activity, a student can only pay attention for as many minutes as they are years old. For example, seven-year-olds can pay attention to a single classroom task or exercise for approximately seven minutes. When those seven minutes are up, boredom sets in, their attention drifts, and they start planning a trip to the water fountain as a brief escape from class. Likewise, even the most studious and attentive eighteen-year-old is said to top out at about eighteen minutes. This is not intended to be a hard and fast scientific fact, but it does bring up an interesting big-picture problem.
Students are usually somewhere between four and twenty-two years old. Classes are usually forty-five minutes to an hour long. That means there’s a huge structural discrepancy between average attention spans and standard class time. If a teacher is only planning one or two different activities per class (which is unfortunately most high school and college courses), then students and teachers are already set up to fail.
Now letโs consider a foreign language course, meaning one in which students of all ages must actively make an effort to follow what is going on. And let’s add in the fact that even if the teacher has planned more than one activity, they are all likely to involve students sitting quietly at their desks. Older students will probably struggle to stay awake. Younger students will just tune out a teacher’s droning and happily drift away to la-la land. Regardless of age, this style of language class is bound to fall somewhere between bearable and mind-numbingly boring.
What’s one of the best cures for uninteresting lessons? Moving. On the average school day, students usually trudge from class to class, plop down at a desk, then don’t get up again until the bell rings. Approximately 75% of the average class time for students is spent sitting quietly at their desks. Somehow, some way, teachers need to get students moving.
Enter the Total Physical Response (TPR) teaching method. As its name suggests, this system engages students not just mentally, but physically, via role-playing, activities with classroom props, and body movement. Originally developed by Dr. James Asher in the 1960s, TPR invites students of all ages to get up out of their seats and enjoy their learning experience. This methodology can be used for all ages and topics, but it can really shine in foreign language classes, where students rely more on physical cues and body language to comprehend and internalize new vocabulary and language structures.
Typical Lesson
2nd grade English class for native Vietnamese speakers
- Warm-Up Activity โ Game of “Simon Says”
With the students lined up at the front of the class, the teacher says things like โ
“Simon says hop on one foot.”
“Simon says put both hands on your knees.”
“Close one eye.”
- Vocabulary Lesson โ Food
The teacher introduces pictures of different foods and the English word for each. In groups, the students act out different activities like โ
- cooking pancakes;
- peeling a banana;
- making a pizza.
- Reading โ Group read Goldilocks and the Three Bears
As the teacher guides the reading, he or she can pause at different parts and ask students to act out what is happening in the story, such as โ
- opening the door;
- looking around the house;
- eating different porridges.
- Wrap-Up โ Stretching
The teacher leads students in light stretching while recapping the food activity and the story they read.
Role of the Teacher
This multi-sensory style of learning is fun for both student and teacher, but requires appropriate pre-class preparation and then close monitoring of student behavior. This is not the kind of lesson a teacher should try to create on the fly, as students need clear instruction on what they are supposed to do and why. Lively physical activities can easily turn into chaos without proper teacher intervention.
The teacher must also model the movements, and always make sure to encourage shy students who might not enjoy the physical activities as much as others.
Positives
- This methodology tends to lead to memorable and engaging lessons. TPR activities are generally much more enjoyable than sitting and listening to a lecture or doing worksheets in silence;
- Physical activities in the classroom can help prevent disruptive behavior. Bored students tend to fidget, chew on their pencils and squirm in their seats. TPR gives them an outlet for that energy.
Negatives
- Some parents and school administrators feel that too much TPR ultimately negatively impacts student performance on standardized testing and other formal evaluation. Students are said to get too accustomed to “playing” and do poorly on the more rigorous forms of assessment.
- Some students absolutely detest these types of classes and prefer to be left alone to read or sit quietly. Students that are differently abled may not be as inclined to participate in some activities or may feel uncomfortable.
- TPR activities can get out of control and students can get hurt. Classrooms are generally not laid out well for any kind of physical activity, and students can easily trip over a backpack, fall onto a desk, accidentally hit one another, etc.
Final Thoughts
TPR is generally one of the most enjoyable and engaging forms of teaching and learning, and can work for students of all ages and classroom subjects. With a little creativity, it can be applied to a wealth of topics, ranging from learning shapes to graduate-level astrophysics. For learning a foreign language, Total Physical Response style teaching can help learners connect their new language with physical actions and context. Teachers should always keep in mind, however, that the students who do not enjoy TPR activities really and truly do not enjoy them, so it is best to balance this strategy out with other traditional methodologies.
