INSTITUTO DE EDUCACIÓN SUPERIOR “SAN FERNANDO REY”

AÑO 2022
DIDÁCTICA ESPECIAL DEL INGLÉS I
Profesora: Silvia Boillat
Alumnas: Melina Aguirre y Juliana Galarza
_______________________________________________________________________________

Blue Hat
Hello! I’m the blue hat and I’ll tell you in which order the different thinking hats are going to give
their perspective about the Total Physical Response (TPR) method. First, the white hat will
explain to you about this method, followed by the yellow hat who is going to tell you about the
positive aspects of TPR, then the black hat will present the negative side of this method and its
disadvantages. After that, the green hat will talk about creativity and it will give you some ideas
that you can use with TPR. The next one will be the red hat which is going to describe the
feelings and classroom atmosphere we may encounter when using the TPR method and finally,
I’m going to summarise how the method is delivered in a lesson.
White Hat

TPR stands for Total Physical Response and was created by American psychologist Dr. James
J Asher. It is based upon the way that children learn their mother tongue. Parents have
'language-body conversations' with their children, the parent instructs, and the child physically
responds to this. The parent says, "Look at mummy" or "Give me the ball" and the child does so.
These conversations continue for many months before the child actually starts to speak itself.
James Asher developed the total physical response (TPR) method as a result of his observation
of the language development of young children. Asher saw that most of the interactions that
young children experience with parents or other adults combine both verbal and physical
aspects. The child responds physically to the speech of the parent, and the parent reinforces the
child's responses through further speech. This creates a positive feedback loop between the
parent's speech and the child's actions. TPR attempts to mirror this effect in the language
classroom.

Total physical response is an example of the comprehension approach to language teaching.

Methods in the comprehension approach emphasize the importance of listening to language
development, and do not require spoken output in the early stages of learning. In total physical
response, students are not forced to speak. Instead, teachers wait until students acquire enough
language through listening that they start to speak spontaneously. At the beginning stages of
instruction students can respond to the instructor in their native language.

TPR can be used to teach and practice many things.

Vocabulary connected with actions (smile, chop, headache, wriggle)

1
 INSTITUTO DE EDUCACIÓN SUPERIOR “SAN FERNANDO REY”
AÑO 2022
DIDÁCTICA ESPECIAL DEL INGLÉS I
Profesora: Silvia Boillat
Alumnas: Melina Aguirre y Juliana Galarza
_______________________________________________________________________________

Tenses past/present/future and continuous aspects (Every morning I clean my teeth, I make my
bed, I eat breakfast)

Classroom language (Open your books)

Imperatives/Instructions (Stand up, close your eyes)
Storytelling

Yellow Hat
● It is a lot of fun; students enjoy it, and it can be a real stirrer in the class. It lifts the pace
and the modo.
● It is very memorable. It really helps students to remember phrases or words.

● It is good for kinesthetic learners who need to be active in the class.

● It can be used in large or small classes. It doesn't really matter how many students you
have as long as you are prepared to take the lead, the students will follow.

● It works well with mixed-ability classes. The physical actions get across the meaning
effectively so that all the students are able to understand and use the target language.
● It doesn't require a lot of preparation or materials. As long as you are clear what you want
to practice (a rehearsal beforehand can help), it won't take a lot of time to get ready.
● It is very effective with teenagers and young learners.
● It involves both left- and right-brained learning.

Black Hat
● This method is often criticized as being only suitable for beginning students.
● Older students may not feel very comfortable with the method because they’re generally
used to a more traditional way of learning.
● It doesn’t give students the opportunity to express their own thoughts in a creative way.
● It can be challenging for shy students.

2
 INSTITUTO DE EDUCACIÓN SUPERIOR “SAN FERNANDO REY”
AÑO 2022
DIDÁCTICA ESPECIAL DEL INGLÉS I
Profesora: Silvia Boillat
Alumnas: Melina Aguirre y Juliana Galarza
_______________________________________________________________________________

● Writing and reading are not developed in depth.

● It places and unnaturally heavy emphasis on the use of imperative mood, that is to say
commands such as sit down and stand up. These features are of limited utility to the
learners, and can lead to a learner appearing rude when attempting to use their new
language.
● Teachers can’t teach everything with this method and if used a lot it would become
repetitive and boring.
Green Hat

Activities to do for TPR teaching method and creativity

TPR Circles

Organize the students into a circle around the teacher. The teacher says the word and the last
person to do the action is out. This person then stands behind the teacher and watches for the
student who does the action last. Eventually there is only one student, he or she is the winner.

TPR Simon Says

Play Simon Says. The teacher gives a command and students should only do it if the teacher
"Simon says..." at the start. The teacher might say, "Simon says, 'slice some bread'" or "Simon
says, 'chop an onion'" and the students must do the action. However, if the teacher says, "Whisk
an egg" the students shouldn't do this. If anyone does the action that Simon doesn't say, then
they are out and have to watch for the mistakes of the other students.

TPR Sounds

The teacher will first get the students to do the actions connected with each vocabulary word.
Then, the teacher adds a sound related to the word and the students practice hearing the word
and doing the action along with making the sound. The students are then ready to give
commands to each other.
Scavenger Hunt Challenge: Divide the class in teams and give instructions one by one.

3
INSTITUTO DE EDUCACIÓN SUPERIOR “SAN FERNANDO REY”
AÑO 2022
DIDÁCTICA ESPECIAL DEL INGLÉS I
Profesora: Silvia Boillat
Alumnas: Melina Aguirre y Juliana Galarza
_______________________________________________________________________________

Red Hat

● Since TPR is based on the way babies learn their mother tongue, it is sympathetic,
respectful (of everyone’s pace and learning process) and fun.
● It creates a positive and encouraging classroom atmosphere.
● This method was developed to reduce the stress people feel when learning and studying
a foreign language.
● Since learners only speak when they feel ready, they tend to feel more relaxed during the
lessons.
● Perfection should not be expected, that’s why students feel encouraged to speak even if
they make mistakes.
● When commands are entertaining and humorous, students have fun while they learn.

Blue Hat
● Prepare: Decide on the vocabulary you will be teaching and think about the most effective
movements to use. You can also take some time to gather any props or extra materials
you will need.

● Teacher Modelling: Show the students the movement and say the vocabulary word. Be
sure to do this a few times so everyone understands what you’re doing.

● Student Modelling: Now it’s time to get your students involved. Choose a few and have
them mimic the action and say the vocabulary word. This will help the rest of the class
understand what you need them to do in the next step.

● Student Participation: To ensure everyone understands, have the entire class model the
movement and say the word together. This will get everyone on the same page. It will
also help relieve some of the self-consciousness your students may feel saying a new
word or doing a funny action.

● Write it Down: Write the word down on the board, or whatever you are using to show your
students new vocabulary. Not doing this earlier helps students focus on the sounds in the

4
 INSTITUTO DE EDUCACIÓN SUPERIOR “SAN FERNANDO REY”
AÑO 2022
DIDÁCTICA ESPECIAL DEL INGLÉS I
Profesora: Silvia Boillat
Alumnas: Melina Aguirre y Juliana Galarza
_______________________________________________________________________________

word and your actions, rather than the spelling of it. Writing it down for them at this point
in the process helps students connect the sound with a written word.

● Repetition and Practice: Continue teaching the rest of your vocabulary in a similar
manner. At the end, be sure to review all the new words and movements with the class.

ACTIVITY
Topic: sports

1) Divide the class into two teams. In turn, each student has to pick up a card with a sport
written on it. Once the student chooses the card, he/she has to pantomime the
movements that represent the sport so that his/her classmates can guess what it is. The
team that has more guesses in 60 seconds, wins!

Link to download the flashcards: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gOZ49kpSAfXnLChZy6-

Ep-DO6Eu0Te57/view?usp=sharing