T OTAL P HYSICAL R ESPONSE CEYDA ERÇETİN & SEVİL ADATEPE Mersin University, ELT Department BACKGROUND Total Physical Response (TPR) is a language teaching method built around the coordination of speech and action; it attempts to teach language through physical (motor) activity. It was developed by James Asher, a professor of psychology at San Jose State University, California. According to Asher, a successful adult second language learning is a parallel process to child first language acquisition. He claims that speech directed to young children consists primarily of commands, which children respond to physically before they begin to produce verbal responses. The emphasis on comprehension and the use of physical actions to teach a foreign language at an introductory level has a long tradition in language teaching. APPROACH 1)Theory of language; TPR reflects a grammar-based or structualist view of language. 2) Theory of language learning; Asher's language learning theories are reminiscent of the views of other behavioral psychologists. Total Physical Response is linked to the "trace theory " of memory in psychology, which holds that the more often or the more intensively a memory connection is traced, the stronger the memory association will be and the more likely it will be recalled. Asher sees three processes as central; 1) The bio_program; (a) Children develop listening competence before they develop the ability to speak. (b) Children's ability in listening comprehension is acquired because children are re­quired to respond physically to spoken language in the form of parental commands, (c) Once a foundation in listening comprehension has been established, speech evolves naturally and effortlessly out of it. 2) Brain lateralization; Asher sees Total Physical Response as directed to right-brain learning as second language learning is learned through a motor movement. 3) Reduction of stress; An important condition for successful language learning is the absence of stress. DESIGN Objectives; Teaching oral proficiency at a beginning level Using comprehension as a means to speaking Using action_based drills in the imperative form Syllabus; Using sentence_based syllabus Selecting items according to grammatical &lexical criteria Attention on meaning rather than the form Teaching grammar inductively Learning activities; Imperative drills Conversational dialogs Role plays & slide presentations Games Roles of learners; Listener & performer Listen attentively & respond physically Recognize novel combinations Monitor and evaluate their own progress Speak when feel ready Roles of teachers; Organizer and director Plans lesson in detail Controls language input Instructional materials; No basic text Teacher ‘s voice, actions and gestures Common classroom objects Kits PROCEDURE; Review; This is a fast-moving warm-up in which individual students are moved with commands. New commands; some verbs are introduced with new vocabulary items. Role reversal; Students readily volunteered to utter commands that manipu­lated the behavior of the instructor and other students Reading and writing; The instructor writes on the board each new vocabulary item and a sentence to illustrate the item. References; Richards & Rodgers, Approaches and methods in language teaching, Cambridge university press, 2001 Diane Larsen & Freeman, Techniques and principles in language teaching, Oxford University Press, ysical_response.htm