One popular method that brings an almost huge change in the field of language acquisition is Total Physical Response. In this method, there are some principles, some techniques and some special strategies to help the student to acquire a language that can also be said as the second language.
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| Advantages and Disadvantages of Total Physical Response |
The Total Physical Response (TPR), developed by James Asher in the 1970s. When it was introduced in the classroom, it had huge popularity and some teachers took it very positively and used this technique to teach their students. We find a number of advantages in this method. And besides these advantages, there are some disadvantages too. This article has the aim to discuss all the advantages and disadvantages of Total Physical Response or TPR. So without wasting time anymore, let's jump to the main part of this article.
Advantages
We went through a number of reviews and opinions of teachers of different institutes and universities. We collect information from the internet and try to get teachers' opinions about the Total Physical Response method. From the researches, we find some advantages of this popular method of language acquisition. Here are those advantages:
Enjoyable Method
Some people think that teaching should be enjoyable. If there is no enjoyment in teaching or anything you talk about, we have no interest in that. And without interest, we cannot learn anything. For this reason, we all want a method of language acquisition where there is a lot of fun and enjoyment. The Total Physical Response is one such method where fun is everywhere. In this method, students enjoy it and It can be a real stirrer in the class. It lifts the pace and the mood. For this reason, the learning process becomes very fast and some students don't take any pressure in learning.
Mnemonic Value
Another advantage of the Total Physical Response method is its mnemonic value. The main problem of students is that they cannot remember everything they learn. Some students can't even take part in a study where there are some things to remember. As you have to remember vocabulary in language learning. The students who have less memory power become very upset to learn. For this type of student, Total Physical Response becomes a perfect method. It really helps students to remember vocabulary. That is, TPR has the mnemonic value that helps them a lot to remember things with the help of symbols.
Kinaesthetic Learning
Another advantage of TPR or Total Physical Response is its kinaesthetic learning method. In this method, students find some specific body movements while they are learning about some new things. They also take these movements as attention drawers. For these reasons, students can easily fix their attention in their learning. It is good for kinaesthetic learners.
Class Size Does Not Matter
There are a number of methods of language acquisition. Most of them have some limitations. Among them, one common limitation is true for almost every method and that is the size of the classroom. Some methods need small classrooms. But in the case of Total Physical Response, there is no limitation. The classroom can be small or big, students will get the same benefit for all the class sizes. It can be used in large classes or in small classes. It doesn’t really matter how many students one has as long as one is prepared to take the lead, the students will follow.
Good For All Students
Some methods are good for attentive students and some are for all. The methods that are good for all kinds and levels of students, can be called the best method for language acquisition. The method we are talking about is the TPR or Total Physical Response. This is one such method that has this advantage. In this classroom, all levels of students are comfortable in learning.
Doesn’t Require Huge Materials
Another advantage of TPR or Total Physical Response is its costless classroom. The authority or teacher will be able to start class without extra material and also extra preparation. But the teacher should be clear about what he wants to teach and why he will teach that. For this reason, some parts of the world think TPR or Total Physical Response is the best method around the world.
Others
Some other advantages of this language learning method are also widely appropriate and accepted. One of them is the age level of students. Like most language learning methods, we find that the Total Physical Response is best for teenagers. This is also good for both left and right-brained learning.
Disadvantages
Now come to the disadvantages of TPR or Total Physical Response. If there are some good sides to a method, there are some bad sides too. The advantages and disadvantages of Total Physical Response are all-natural. This method also has some advantages and some disadvantages. We will talk about them now. Let’s see them.
Total Physical Response Might Be Embarrassing
As this method has some physical movements and some symbols to mean some new things, this might seem embarrassing for new students who are from GTM, or DM. This is the main disadvantage of Total Physical Response. Though this is a totally personal problem it may be true for some students.
Method of Beginners
The most logical point of this method is that Total Physical Response is for beginners only. And they will only feel comfortable with this method. But aged students and mid-level students will feel such physical movements unusual. So, we can say that the Total Physical Response is best for beginners and teenagers only.
Conclusion
That was all about the advantages and disadvantages of Total Physical Response. If you have any encounter with one such class, you will find all these things about this language acquisition method. We have some more articles on Language Teaching and learning. You may read them too.
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