The principles of TPR, or Total Physical Response, are based on the way that children learn their first language.
Actions before words
When you learn your native language as a child, you don’t just listen to the words. You watch your parents for clues to find out what their words mean. When you start to understand the language, you don’t respond with your own words right away. You usually respond with actions first, until you know the correct words.
An example
An example of this is when a mother asks her young child to get her favorite toy. The child won’t respond “OK Mom, I’ll get it!” and then take off. At first, the child will respond with an action. In this case, the child will go and get the toy. This carries on for many months until the child begins to speak. During this time, the child cannot speak yet, but she is taking all the language in. Eventually, when the child has figured out the language, she can start to reproduce it. TPR aims to mimic this effect in the classroom.
Pairing movement and thought
TPR is a dynamic approach in which students are encouraged by the teacher to use physical responses, such as miming the meaning of a word, in addition to spoken responses. By acting out language, it is thought that students interpret meaning through different parts of the brain, pairing physical and intellectual analysis.