Applying Total Physical Response(TPR)Theory to Teaching Chinese Children English

【Abstrac】Now it has become a fashion in our society that young learners aged from 6 or even younger participate in foreign language learning.With the Second Language Acquisition theories， it is believed that learning a foreign language from the childhood can facilitate the learning.Children need a teaching method which conforms to their psychological and physical characteristics.American psychologist James Asher develops Total Physical Response， which advocates leaning through physical actions.He believes that children should learn a foreign language happily and confidently， just like the process of acquiring their mother tongue.However， Total Physical Response can not be applied effectively in the teaching process due to children's instincts and characteristics.If there is a way or strategy which takes advantage of children's characteristics and control their behavior in class， the teaching results would be more satisfying.

【Key Words】Total Physical Response； Children English teaching

1.Introduction

Now it has become a fashion in our society that little children participate in the early foreign language learning.Therefore， English courses in primary schools were set up and the basic requirements of the primary English teaching were also presented.Children's English education has been attached great importance by the nation and the whole society.Therefore， there emerge a large number of researchers and teachers engaging in children's English education.And then the emergence of a variety of children English training schools has created favorable conditions for those children to learn English after school and at weekends.

Although China's primary English education has been carried out on a large scale and has achieved remarkable achievements， there still exist many problems.We should clearly recognize that the elementary English teaching actually lays a solid foundation for children to further their English study and ultimately make them achieve sustainable development.Therefore， children English teaching is particularly important.

2.The characteristics of TPR

The main characteristics of TPR are as follows：

Firstly， helping children aware that they are learning a foreign language.Chinese children may have great difficulties in studying English because it is a foreign language.Making children aware of this， therefore， is the first basic principle of TPR.A person's right brain is always silent and nonlinguistic but it can receive outside directions and express what is the meaning of directions through their actions.（James， 1977） The TPR theory aims at letting children listen to a foreign language first and express their understanding by actions.The most important thing is to help them know it is a foreign language and let the language go deep into the brain.Once children are aware that they are learning a foreign language， they can easily understand the new language's structures and meanings.

Secondly， using the 'listen-act' method.The teacher cultivates children's ability of listening first， and then asks them to speak English out.This is the way of 'listen-act'.（James， 1988） To use the 'listen-act method' in teaching is the most obvious characteristic of TPR theory.The teacher gives directions first and children try their best to understand the meaning of the directions with the help of gestures.The teacher always repeats the directions and movements until the children understand.When the children know the meaning， the teacher lets them do the movement while saying the directions.The method of 'listen-act' is very important and good for Chinese children to study English because children understand the meaning of directions after knowing the relationship between the language and the movement.

3.The specific teaching methods of TPR theory

3.1 Method of psychology

TPR combined "memory trace" theory of psychology， which holds that the more often or the more intensively a memory connection is traced， association will be and the more likely it will be recalled.（Song， 2000）

Starting from developmental of psychology， the process of child language acquisition is usually undertaken under the guidance of adults.Thegives students some verbal and physical commands， and expects a child to imitate his or her actions.When students understand the commands， thegradually transforms these commands into a language code to learn the language.Theory of TPR claims to link language and behavior together and teach second language through body language.（Song， 2000） According to this theory， two teaching methods can be used.

3.2 Activities

First， to change words into communication.At the beginning of English teaching， language input is provided in the form of dialogue.This dialogue is a reproduced living record of communication， which carries the English pronunciation， grammar， word meaning， language use and other information.These language contents should become impressive words with the help of the teacher or audios or videos so that students are fully aware of the new language.（Yao， 2005）

Take the following dialogue as an example：

Girl： Mum， this is my teacher， Miss Guo.

Mum： How do you do？

Teacher： How do you do？

When the teacher is presenting such a dialogue， he or she should vividly perform the scene of two people's first meet instead of explaining the situation.Therefore， when the girl introduces Miss Guo， she must first look at her mother and then turn to the teacher with gestures.

In a formal setting， two people are introduced to each other.They should shake hands that not only demonstrates that the sentence of “this is my teacher， Miss Guo”stands for the teacher and Miss Guo have acquainted but also shows that “how do you do”is a greeting when they first meet.Through demonstration of the teacher， the students can imitate.This action is not only for the mental body， but also for consciousness.Students are considered“adults”in the class， playing important role in the learning process.

3.3 Drawing

Children are more interested in drawing than writing on the blackboard.Therefore， when the teacher presents new knowledge or new content， he or she can draw on a board to help students create a visual impression of the new knowledge.Appropriate drawing can mobilize the students to participate in and to help them better remember the content.When teaching colors， for example， the teacher should encourage children to bring color pens into the classroom.That is， when the teacher teaches“red”， he or she should ask students to use red pen to paint.To use this method， the teacher can strengthen children's memory of knowledge.

3.4 Games

Playing games in class can help students master the difficult words.Take the game of “passing down”as an example.When we teaching some words about“fruits”or“vegetables”， the teacher can use this game to help students to remember.Student 1： I like apples while he likes bananas.

Student 2： I like bananas while he likes pears.

Student 3： I like pears while he likes oranges.

Student 4： I like oranges while he likes grapes.

As to words about“sports”， the teacher can use another form of game.

Student 1： My favorite sport is high jump.Whose favorite sport is 100-meter relay？

Student 2： My favorite sport is 100-meter relay.Whose favorite sport is 3000-meter race？

Student 3： My favorite sport is 3000-meter race.Whose favorite sport is horse riding？

In this way， students can easily learn some difficult words and can review some sentences that they have learnt.

Imagination

The teacher gives students some words or a topic and asks them to imagine and speak out.The teacher gives students some words or phrases and asks students to complete a story according to the cue that the teacher gave before.（James，1993 ）

For example：

The teacher gives the students these words： apple， little dog， steal， heavy， decision.The student can have a story like this： The mommy dog gives little dog some apples.So the little dog is very happy.But one day， a cat steals the apple.When the little dog realizes that the apple disappeared， it cries heavily.So the little dog make a decision to find out who steal its apple.

References：

[1]解晶晶.2010.全身反应法理论特点及其在现代英语教学中的应用.学理论，3：258-259.

[2]余珍有.1999.Asher的第二语言习得观和TPR教学法.国外外语教学，2：21-25.

作者简介：

张院院（1992.10.18），女，汉族，云南保山人，本科，研究方向：英语教育学。