Total Physical Response and The Silent Way

1. Total Physical ResponseandThe Silent Way By RinaHusnainiFebriyanti

2. Topics Overview • Background • Approach: Theory of Language and Learning • Design: Objectives, Syllabus, Learning Activities, Roles of Learners, Teachers, and Materials • Procedure • Conclusion

3. Background • Total Physical Response (TPR) is a language teaching method built around the coordination of speech and action; it attempts to teach language through physical ( motor) activity. ( James Asher) • He claims that speech directed to young children consists primarily of commands, which children respond to physically before they begin to produce verbal responses.

4. Approach: Theory of Language and Learning • Asher states that “ most of the grammatical structure of the target language and hundreds of vocabulary items can be learned from the skillful use of the imperative by instructor” • He sees a stimulus- response view as providing the learning theory underlying language teaching pedagogy.

5. TPR can also be linked to “ trace theory” of memory in psychology ( e.g. Katona 1940), which holds that the more often or the more intensively a memory connection is traced, the stronger the memory association will be and the more likely it will be recalled. • Therefore, retracing can be done verbally ( e.g. by rote repetition)and/or in association with motor activity. • Combined tracing activities • verbal rehearsal motor activity successful recall

6. Three rather influential learning hypotheses according to Asher: • There exists a specific innate bio-program for language learning, which defines an optimal path for first and second language development • Brain lateralization defines different learning functions in the left- and right- brain hemispheres • Stress (an affective filter) intervenes between the act of learning and what is to be learned; the lower stress, the greater the learning.

7. The Bio Program Asher sees in “ Natural Method(TPR)” first and second language learning as parallel processes there are three central those are: • Children develop listening competence before they develop the ability to speak. • Children’s ability in listening comprehension is acquired because children are required to respond physically to spoken language in the form of parental commands • Once a foundation in listening comprehension has been established speech evolves naturally and effortlessly out of it.

8. Brain Lateralization Asher sees TPR as directed to right- brain learning, whereas most second language teaching methods are directed to left brain learning. produce language and to initiate other, more abstract language processes Left Hemisphere: watches and learns Right Hemisphere: motor activities

9. Reduction of Stress According to Asher the adult language learning environment often causes considerable stress and anxiety. He states the key to stress- free environment in learning language are:

10. Design: Objectives, Syllabus, Learning Activities, Roles of Learners, Teachers, and Materials Objectives • The general objectives of TPR are to teach oral proficiency at a beginning level and the ultimate aim is to teach basic speaking skills. • A TPR course aims to produce learners who are capable of an uninhibited communication that is intelligible to a native speaker. • Specific instructional objectives are not elaborated , for these will depend on the particular needs of the learners. • However, whatever the goals are set, must be attainable through the use of action- based drills in the imperative form.

11. Syllabus • The type of syllabus Asher uses can be inferred from an analysis of the exercise type employed in TPR classes. • Reveal the use of a sentence-based syllabus, with grammatical and lexical criteria being primary in selecting teaching items. • Require initial attention to meaning rather than to the form. • A fixed number of items is suggested to be introduced at a time ( e.g. assimilating 12 to 36 new lexical items but it depends on the group and the size in the training course)

12. Learning Activities • Imperative drills are used to elicit physical actions and activity on the part of the learners. • Conversational dialogues are delayed until after 120 hours of instructions. • Role plays: at the situations such as at the restaurant, at the supermarket, or gas station etc. • Slide presentations

13. Roles of Learners • As the listeners and performers. • Listen attentively and respond physically to commands given by the teacher. • Learners are expected to recognize and respond to novel combinations of previously taught items and they are required to produce their own. • Learners monitor and evaluate their own progress. • They are encouraged to speak when they feel ready to speak- that is, when a sufficient basis in the language has been internalized.

14. Roles of Teachers • As an active and direct role. • Decide what to teach, who models and presents the new materials, and who selects supporting materials for classroom use. • As Asher recommends it’s better to write out the exact utterances. • He stresses teacher’s role is not so much to teach as to provide opportunities for learning. • Responsible in providing the best kind of exposure to language so that the learners can internalize the basic rules of the target language. • Control the language input of the learners receive. • Provide the raw materials for the “ cognitive map”.

15. Allow speaking abilities to develop in learners at the learners’ own natural pace. • In giving feed back, similarly like parents to the children. At first, parents correct very little , but as the child grows older, parents are said to tolerate fewer mistakes in speech. • Refrain from too much correction in the early stages and should not interrupt to correct errors, since this will inhibit learners. • As time goes on, however, more teacher intervention is expected, as the learners’ speech becomes “ fine turned”.

16. Roles of Materials • Teachers’ voice, actions, and gestures • Later, common classroom objects such as books, pens, cups, or furniture etc. • As the support teaching points such as pictures, realia, slides, or word charts etc. • Asher has developed TPR student kits that focus on specific situations such as at home, the supermarket, or the beach etc.( e.g. “ Put the stove in the kitchen).

17. Procedure Asher ( 1977) provides a lesson-by-lesson account of a course taught according to TPR principles, which serves as a source of information on the procedures used in the TPR classroom.

18. For instance, adult immigrants course which is consisted 159 hours of classroom instruction in the sixth class as followed:

19. New commands. These verbs were introduced.

20. Other items introduced were:

21. Simple question which students can answer with a gesture such as pointing for example:

22. Role reversal. Students readily volunteered to utter commands that manipulated the behavior of the instructor and other students…….. • Reading and writing. The instructor wrote on the chalkboard then spoke of the each items of new vocabularies and in sentences. The students listened as the instructor read the material and some of them copied the information in their notebooks.

23. Conclusion • Asher states: • Performing physical actions in the target language as a means of making input comprehensible and minimizing stress. • TPR should be used in association with other methods and techniques. • TPR practices therefore may be effective for reasons other than those proposed by Asher and do not necessarily demand commitment to the learning theories used to justify them.

24. Thank You

25. The Silent Way • Background • Approach: Theory of Language and Learning • Design: Objectives, Syllabus, Learning activities, Roles of Learners, Teachers, and Materials • Procedure • Conclusion

26. Background • This method devised by Caleb Gattegno • It is based on the premise the teacher should be silent as much as possible in the classroom but the learner should be encouraged to produce as much language as possible.

27. Gattegno states as followed: • Learning is facilitated if the learner discovers or creates rather than remembers and repeats what is to be learned. • Learning is facilitated by accompanying (mediating) physical objects. • Learning is facilitated by problem solving involving the material to be learned.

28. Approach: Theory of Language and Learning • The structural approach to be taught. • The sentence is the basic unit of the teaching and the propositional meaning is the focus of the teacher. • The students learn by inductively process. • Vocabulary is the central dimension that is crucial to be learned. • The artificial approach of Gattegno is based on the principle that the successful learning involves commitment of the self to language acquisition through the use of silent awareness and then active trial.

29. Design: Objectives, Syllabus, Learning activities, Roles of Learners, Teachers, and Materials Objectives • To give oral and facility in basic elements of the target language. • Near native fluency and correct pronounciation

30. Syllabus Structural syllabus lessons are planned around grammatical items and related vocabulary. Learning Activities Encouraging and shaping the student oral response without direct oral instruction from or unnecessary modeling by the teacher.

31. Roles of Learners Learners are expected to develop independence, autonomy, and responsibility. Roles of Teachers Stevick defines the silent way teacher’s tasks as a. to teach b. to test c. to get out of the way

32. Materials a set of colored rods, color coded pronunciation and vocabulary wall charts, a pointer, and writing exercises. e.g. pronunciation charts, called “ Fidels” Those are colored which the targets are vowel and consonant in the case of pronunciation and their colors are presented based on the pronunciation.

33. Procedure • Standard Format

34. Conclusion • The innovations in Gattegno’s method derive primarily from the manner in which classroom activities are organized, • the indirect role the teacher is required to assume in directing and monitoring learner performance, • the responsibility placed on learners to figure out and test their hypotheses about how the language works, • and the materials used to elicit and practice language

35. Thank You