WHAT IS TPR?

TPR stands for Total Physical Response. This is a method developed by Dr. James J. Asher, a teacher of psychology at San Jose State University, to aid learning second languages.

 

TPR is based on the way that the child learns their mother tongue. Parents use the imperative to their children, for example: “Give me the pencil” or “Put on your shoes” and the children answer by means of actions. These conversations continue for a long time before children start to speak.

These conversations continue for many months before the child actually starts to speak. When the children decode enough sounds and patterns, they reproduce the language spontaneously.

Total Physical Response pretends to reflect this effect in language class.