Among several approaches to teaching and learning a foreign language, Total Physical Response (TPR) is one that simulates the way children naturally acquire their mother tongue. Instructors give commands to students in the new language, and students respond through gestures. This article explores the principle and feature of TPR, and its advantages and disadvantages. This article also presents a study on the use of TPR in teaching English of the first -year non-English major students at Thainguyen University of Information and Communication Technology (ICTU) and provides some suggestions for applying TPR. | Nguyễn Thúy Hòa Tạp chí KHOA HỌC & CÔNG NGHỆ 133(03)/1: 115 - 119 TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE - A STRESS-FREE APPROACH TO LEARNING A FOREIGNE LANGUAGE Nguyen Thuy Hoa* College of Information and Communication Technology - TNU SUMMARY Among several approaches to teaching and learning a foreign language, Total Physical Response (TPR) is one that simulates the way children naturally acquire their mother tongue. Instructors give commands to students in the new language, and students respond through gestures. This article explores the principle and feature of TPR, and its advantages and disadvantages. This article also presents a study on the use of TPR in teaching English of the first -year non-English major students at Thainguyen University of Information and Communication Technology (ICTU) and provides some suggestions for applying TPR. Key words: Total Physical Response, stress-free approach, commands, ESL, James Asher THE INTRODUCTION* What is TPR? Total physical response (TPR) is a language teaching method that was developed in the 1970s by American psychologist James Asher, a professor at San Jose State University, California. The method is intended to simulate the way children acquire their mother tongue. Asher (1974) notes that children first learn their mother tongue through responding physically (., pointing, nodding, waving, shaking their heads, and other meaningful actions) to the commands their parents give before they are capable of uttering words. TPR works in the same way: the teacher commands "stand up," "point to the blackboard", "raise your hand," etc., and the whole class responds physically. This method is linked with the "trace theory" in psychology, which implies that the more the target language is associated with physical actions, the stronger its recollection is in the memory. Asher (1984) further notes that children initially observe and comprehend the language their parents use for a short period, which Asher calls the "Silent Period," .
