MODULE FOUR

APPROACHES AND METHODS

LESSON 9
Contents.-
 Whole language
 Cross curricular approach
 Total Physical Response method-TPR

Aims.-
 Clarify about the Whole language and the Cross curricular approach
 Make use of the Total Physical Response method

Task 1: Read about the Whole language approach and get the main ideas

Whole language Approach

The Whole Language Approach emphasises learning to read and write naturally with a focus on
real communication and reading and writing for pleasure. In the 1990s it became popular, it was
developed to help young children learn to read.

This approach argues that language should be taught as a whole. In language teaching it shares
a philosophical and instructional perspective with communicative Language Teaching and the
Natural approach.

Whole language is in the humanistic school because it is authentic, personalised, self-directed,

collaborative and pluralistic. It focuses learner attention and motivates language mastery. Whole
language is in the constructivist school because it holds that knowledge is socially constructed
rather than received or discovered. Learners create meaning, learn by doing and work
collaboratively.

The major principles underlying the design of WL instruction are as follows:

 The use of authentic material.
 The use of authentic literature rather than artificial, specially prepared texts and exercises
designed to practice individual reading skills.
 A focus on real and natural events rather than on specially written stories that do not relate to
the students’ experience.
 The reading of real texts of high interest, particularly literature.
 Reading for the sake of comprehension and for a real purpose.
 Writing as a process through which learners explore and discover meaning and writing should
be for a real audience.
 The use of student-produced texts rather than teacher-generated or other generated texts.
 Integration of the language skills.
 Encouragement of risk taking and exploration and the acceptance of errors as signs of learning
rather than of failure.

Task 2: Read about the Cross Curricular approach and get the main ideas

Cross Curricular Approach

This approach is linked to the activity-based approach and task- based learning. Here the
development of the L2 is linked to other areas of the curriculum, such as art, Physical Education,
Mathematics or Nature study.

The list below gives examples of different subjects that can be used to develop topics or issues.

Mathematics: numbers, counting and quantity (counting games, rhymes and songs), measuring,
telling the time, shapes and patterns, money.

Science: how seeds grow, magnetism, cogs and wheels, floating and sinking, the qualities of
different types of paper, our teeth, bones and skeletons, healthy eating, sounds.

History: understanding chronology/the passing of time, prehistoric animals, customs and festivals
from earlier ages, money through the ages.

Geography and the Environment: shops and shopping, parks, sports and games, using maps nd
atlases, the weather and climates, volcanoes and earthquakes, the journey of a letter.

Cultural studies: Famous people from other countries, lifestyles and festivals around the world.

Art and craft: drawing and printing, making masks, puppets, models, collages and posters.
Task 3: Read the text about the Total Physical Response Method and propose your questions with
its respective answers.
Exemplify the Total Physical Response Method in a learning module.

TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE METHOD (By Tim Bowen)

Originally developed by James Asher, an American professor of psychology, in the 1960s,

Total Physical Response (TPR) is based on the theory that the memory is enhanced through
association with physical movement. It is also closely associated with theories of mother tongue
language acquisition in very young children, where they respond physically to parental commands,
such as "Pick it up" and "Put it down". TPR as an approach to teaching a second language is based,
first and foremost, on listening and this is linked to physical actions which are designed to
reinforce comprehension of particular basic items.

A typical TPR activity might contain instructions such as "Walk to the door", "Open the
door", "Sit down" and "Give Maria your dictionary". The students are required to carry out the
instructions by physically performing the activities. Given a supportive classroom environment,
there is little doubt that such activities can be both motivating and fun, and it is also likely that
with even a fairly limited amount of repetition basic instructions such as these could be
assimilated by the learners, even if they were unable to reproduce them accurately themselves.

The above examples, however, also illustrate some of the potential weaknesses inherent
in the approach. Firstly, from a purely practical point of view, it is highly unlikely that even the
most skilled and inventive teacher could sustain a lesson stage involving commands and physical
responses for more than a few minutes before the activity became repetitious for the learners,
although the use of situational role-play could provide a range of contexts for practising a wider
range of lexis. Secondly, it is fairly difficult to give instructions without using imperatives, so the
language input is basically restricted to this single form. Thirdly, it is quite difficult to see how this
approach could extend beyond beginner level. Fourthly, the relevance of some of the language
used in TPR activities to real-world learner needs is questionable. Finally, moving from the
listening and responding stage to oral production might be workable in a small group of learners
but it would appear to be problematic when applied to a class of 30 students, for example.

In defence of the approach, however, it should be emphasized that it was never intended
by its early proponents that it should extend beyond beginner level. (In theory it might be possible
to develop it by making the instructions lexically more complex (for example, "Pick up the
toothpaste and unscrew the cap"), but this does seem to be stretching the point somewhat). In
addition, a course designed around TPR principles would not be expected to follow a TPR syllabus
exclusively, and Asher himself suggested that TPR should be used in association with other
methods and techniques. In terms of the theoretical basis of the approach, the idea of listening
preceding production and learners only being required to speak when they are ready to do so
closely resembles elements of Stephen Krashen’s Natural Approach.

Short TPR activities, used judiciously and integrated with other activities can be both highly
motivating and linguistically purposeful. Careful choice of useful and communicative language at
beginner level can make TPR activities entirely valid. Many learners respond well to kinesthetic
activities and they can genuinely serve as a memory aid. A lot of classroom warmers and games
are based, consciously or unconsciously, on TPR principles. As with other "fringe" methods,
however, wholesale adoption of this approach, to the total exclusion of any other, would probably
not be sustainable for very long.

This method originated in the United States. James J. Asher defines the Total Physical
Response (TPR) method as one that combines information and skills through the use of the
kinesthetic sensory system. This combination of skills allows the student to assimilate information
and skills at a rapid rate. As a result, this success leads to a high degree of motivation. Students
respond with actions to the orders given by the teacher (or other students) learning is much more
efficient and active participation is more complete. Its basic characteristic is the physical response
to orders and this allows students to continuous motion, an aspect that makes it attractive to work
with children.

Asher's emphasis on developing comprehension skills before the learner is taught to speak
links him to a movement in foreign language teaching sometimes referred to as the
Comprehension Approach (Winitz 1981). This refers to several different comprehension-based
language teaching proposals, which share the belief that (a) comprehension abilities precede
productive skills in learning a language; (b) the teaching of speaking should be delayed until
comprehension skills are established; (c) skills acquired through listening transfer to other skills;
(d) teaching should emphasize meaning rather than form; and (e) teaching should minimize
learner stress

The basic tenets are: Understanding the spoken language before developing the skills of
speaking. Imperatives are the main structures to transfer or communicate information. The
student is not forced to speak, but is allowed an individual readiness period and allowed to
spontaneously begin to speak when the student feels comfortable and confident in understanding
and producing the utterances.

Objectives
The general objectives of Total Physical Response are to teach oral proficiency at a beginning level.
Comprehension is a means to an end, and the ultimate aim is to teach basic speaking skills.
Specific instructional objectives are not elaborated, for these will depend on the particular needs
of the learners. Whatever goals are set, however, must be attainable through the use of action-
based drills in the imperative form.
Characteristics
- The teacher uses commands most of the time and communication with their students in class is
done this way.
- The class activities favor the development of listening comprehension, vocabulary and speech.
Students constantly hear the teacher's orders and thus gain familiarity with the sounds of the
language studied, while significantly increasing their vocabulary, by observing the actions of
teachers.
- The method respects the students' initial silence (silent period). This silent period helps students
become confident in their knowledge and that by observing and listening can be associated
with sounds, actions and meanings. When students feel more confident start, usually
spontaneously, the use of spoken language and take the place of the teacher to give orders.

Use in the classroom

In the classroom, the teacher and the students take the roles similar to the parent and child
respectively. Students must respond physically to the words of the teacher. The activity can be as
simple as "Simon Says" or more complex games involving more complex grammar and more
detailed scenarios. It is also useful to tell stories.

Advantages:
• Students enjoy spending time out of their chairs.
• TPR activities are simple and require no special preparation by the teacher.
• TPR requires no skills and works well in classes in which students have mixed abilities.
• It’s good for kinesthetic students need to be constantly active in the class.

Limits:
 It’s difficult to teach the abstract content with TPR
 Students’ pronunciation is poor.
 Teachers have to do obvious actions carefully or students would be confused and be misled by
the unnecessary hints.
 TPR has been an experimental model with volunteer students; its, not useful for the inactive
students.
 TPR is especially effective in the beginning levels of language proficiency, but then loses its
distinctiveness as learners advance in their competence.

The syllabus
The criterion for including a vocabulary item or grammatical feature at a particular point in
training is ease of assimilation by students. If an item is not learned rapidly, this means that the
students are not ready for that item. Withdraw it and try again at a future time in the training
program.
Asher also suggests that a fixed number of items be introduced at a time, to facilitate ease
of differentiation and assimilation. "In an hour, it is possible for students to assimilate 12 to 36
new lexical items depending upon the size of the group and the stage of training". Asher sees a
need for attention to both the global meaning of language as well as to the finer details of its
organization.
The movement of the body seems to be a powerful mediator for the understanding,
organization and storage of macro-details of linguistic input. Language can be internalized in
chunks, but alternative strategies must be developed for fine-tuning to macro-details.
Learner roles
Learners in Total Physical Response have the primary roles of listener and performer. They listen
attentively and respond physically to commands given by the teacher. Learners are required to
respond both individually and collectively. Learners have little influence over the content of
learning, since content is determined by the teacher, who must follow the imperative-based
format for lessons.

Learners are also expected to recognize and respond to novel combinations of previously taught
items: Novel utterances are recombination of constituents you have used directly in training. For
instance, you directed students with 'Walk to the table!' and 'Sit on the chair!'. These are familiar
to students since they have practiced responding to them. Now, will a student understand if you
surprise the individual with an unfamiliar utterance that you created by recombining familiar
elements (e.g. 'Sit on the table!').

Teacher roles
The teacher plays an active and direct role in Total Physical Response. "The instructor is the
director of a stage play in which the students are the actors". It is the teacher who decides what to
teach, who models and presents the new materials, and who selects supporting materials for
classroom use. The teacher is encouraged to be well prepared and well organized so that the
lesson flows smoothly and predictably. Asher recommends detailed lesson plans: “It is wise to
write out the exact utterances you will be using and especially the novel commands because the
action is so fast moving there is usually not time for you to create spontaneously". Classroom
interaction and turn taking is teacher rather than learner directed. Even when learners interact
with other learners it is usually the teacher who initiates the interaction:

Teacher: Maria, pick up the box of rice and hand it to Miguel and ask Miguel to read the price.
The teacher should follow the example of parents giving feedback to their children. At first,
parents correct very little, but as the child grows older, parents are said to tolerate fewer mistakes
in speech. Similarly teachers should 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 tuned."

The role of instructional materials

There is generally no basic text in a Total Physical Response course. Materials and realia play an
increasing role, however, in later learning stages. For absolute beginners, lessons may not require
the use of materials, since the teacher's voice, actions, and gestures may be a sufficient basis for
classroom activities. Later the teacher may use common classroom objects, such as books, pens,
cups, furniture. As the course develops, the teacher will need to make or collect supporting
materials to support teaching points. These may include pictures, realia, slides, and word charts.
Asher has developed TPR student kits that focus on specific situations, such as the home, the
supermarket, the beach. Students may use the kits to construct scenes (e.g., "Put the stove in the
kitchen").

Procedure
Asher 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. The course was for
adult immigrants and consisted of 159 hours of classroom instruction. The sixth class in the course
proceeded in the following way:
 wash your hands/ your face/ your hair / the cup.
look for a towel,/ the soap,
hold a comb./ the book,/ the cup,/ the soap.
comb your hair./ Maria's hair./ Shirou's hair.
brush your teeth,/ your pants,/ the table.

Other items Were Introduced:

Rectangle Draw a rectangle on the chalkboard.
Pick up a rectangle from the table and Give it to
me.
Put the rectangle next to the square.
Triangle Catch the triangle and put it next to the rectangle.
Pick up the triangle from the table and Give it to
me.
Quickly Quickly walk to the door and hit it.
Quickly, run to the table and touch the square.
Quickly Sit down and laugh.
Slowly Walk slowly to the window and jump.
Slowly, stand up.
Slowly walk to me and hit me on the arm.
Toothpaste Look for the toothpaste.
Throw the toothpaste to Wing.
Wing, unscrew the top of the toothpaste.

Next, the instructor asked simple questions which the student could answer with a gesture such as
pointing. Examples would be:
 Where is the towel? [Eduardo, point to the towel!]
 Where is the toothbrush? [Miako, point to the toothbrush!]

Sample Classroom Activities

A few examples of commands students respond to in relatively early training will serve to
illustrate this methodology. The activities described are presented in Asher (1974). The reader may
want to read this or other source material for a more complete understanding of the way the
method works.

Listening Training. Students sit in a semicircle around the instructor. The instructor asks them to
be silent, listen to commands in Spanish, and do exactly what she does. The students are
encouraged “to respond rapidly without hesitation and to make a distinct, robust response with
their bodies”. For example, when the teacher commands students to run by saying ¡Corran!,
students are to run with gusto. Commands such as “Stand up! Walk! Stop! Turn! Walk! Stop! Turn!
Sit down!” are then executed in succession in Spanish. The instructor simultaneously executes the
commands as they are given, accompanied by the two students seated beside her. This routine is
repeated several times until individual students indicate that they are willing to try it alone
without the instructor acting as a model. Each variation of the routine is different to avoid the
memorization of a fixed sequence of behaviors.
 Next, commands are expanded to full sentences, such as “Walk to the door! Walk to the
Window! Walk to the table! Touch the table!” As students learn more vocabulary in this way,
“surprises and novelty” are introduced, and the instructor begins to use playful, bizarre, and
“zany” directives to keep students’ interest high.
Three samples that Asher (1974) gives are the following:
When Henry runs to the blackboard and draws a funny picture of Molly, Molly will throw her purse
at Henry.
Henry, would you prefer to serve a cold drink to Molly, or would you rather have Eugene kick you in
the leg?
Rosemary, dance with Samuel, and stick your tongue out at Hilda. Hilda, run to Rosemary, hit her
on the arm, pull her to her chair and you dance with Samuel.

Production. Asher states that after about ten hours of training in listening, students are “invited
but not pressured” to reverse roles with the instructor and give their own commands in Spanish.
The instructor then performs in response to the students’ commands. After this is successfully
done, about 20 percent of all class time will be role-reversal of this type. Later, skits are prepared
and performed by students, and still later, problem-solving situations are used. In this latter
activity, students are presented with an unexpected difficulty in a typical survival situation or other
setting in a Latin Country and are expected to talk their way through the situation to a solution.

Reading and Writing. Although there is no formal training in reading and writing in the approach
as described by Asher, he does state that the instructor spent a few minutes at the end of each
class session writing structures or vocabulary on the blackboard for students requesting
explanation. Students generally copied the expressions into their notebooks. No English
equivalents were given. Most expressions were those already heard during the class session.