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If you teach kids to debate you give them a chance to have their voice heard, and you give them the power not to be ignored’.
TPR activities basic facts
What’s TPR and Why Is It Great for Teaching Kids?
TPR is a second language teaching approach developed by Professor James Asher of San Jose State University in California.
The principles behind this teaching approach are simple yet effective, especially when it comes to teaching languages to children.
It’s action-oriented
The method is based on the coupling of language and physical movement. That is, language is learned through action-oriented commands that aid in linguistic comprehension.
Kids love TPR because, instead of being told to sit still and be quiet, they’re being told to “jump, run and swim!” The kids, instead of passively listening to a lecture, become actively engaged in the lesson.
Imagine how fun the class will be for your kids when the teacher, instead of dryly telling them about the act of “dancing,” allows them the visceral experience of actually moving with the groove. It’ll be a vocabulary lesson for the ages.
It comes naturally to kids
Asher believes that the acquisition of a new language follows the same principles and processes involved in learning a first language.
When he closely observed parent-child interactions, he noticed that parents often talk to their kids with action-oriented phrases like “throw the ball,” “drop the stone,” “close your eyes.” Children then demonstrate their comprehension by performing the requested actions.
Asher modeled TPR on this simple, natural interaction.
It lets you lead the way
A TPR class is steep with drills. The teacher gives one command after the other.
Through direct observation, students initially learn the meaning of words. They reinforce this learning with action. Wondering how this actually plays out?
It’s focused on comprehension
With TPR, comprehension comes before production.
Focusing on correctly-enunciated words and perfect grammar can be intimidating to kids of any age or skill level.
Before doing any drills on pronunciation and grammar, you can first use TPR activities to ascertain that the class has indeed understood the message that’s being communicated. (And this is very easily done by observing what actions are being performed in response to your prompts.)