An Application Study Of The Total Physical Response Towards Elementary School Students In ELT Classroom

The Total Physical Response (TPR) is put forward by James Asher who is a psychology professor in the San Jose State University, California, USA in the 1920s. This approach combines language with action to teach foreign language. Based on different functions of brain hemispheres (the right hemisphere is mainly responsible for the image thinking, while the left hemisphere the logical thinking), the TPR emphasizes the development of the abstract thinking on the basis of image thinking(Hamilton, C.R.,1998). Currently, the study on feasible English teaching mode for students in Grade Four in Bafang Elementary School has a bright prospect. With the physiological theory, psychological theory and the theory of humanism psychology as the theoretical foundation, the present study attempts to do teaching experiment and an interview, trying to explore a teaching model which is more suitable for pupils’age and physiological characteristics to make teachers relaxed to teach and students happy to learn.The study aims to discuss and answer the following two questions:1. Are the students’ English scores in TPR teaching classroom higher than that of those in traditional teaching classroom?2. Is the atmosphere of the classroom, compared with the traditional teaching method, more active in the TPR teaching classroom?The study uses quantitative and qualitative research methods. The results of the experiment are as follows:In the quantitative research analysis, there is a significant difference between the average scores of the EC and the CC. The scores of the EG is much higher than those of the CG. In the qualitative research analysis, the interview results show that the atmosphere of the EC is more active than that of the CC. The students, are the subjects of the class, are taking active part in the classroom teaching and learning.The conclusions of the study are as follows:Firstly, this teaching method is very unique, which combines body language with sound language. It uses the body action to strengthen the understanding of the target language and help the students use the target language more correctly. During the learning process, the students’ confidence is increased in learning a second language by understanding the body language. Thus the students understand the content of the language, and they can gain the language communicative ability to use the language reasonably. At the same time, the TPR conforms to the linguistic rules in learning language---listen before speak. It helps the students release the tension when they are learning a foreign language. It makes learning easier and students more confident.Secondly, the TPR makes students use their own body to respond to the instructions. In this way, it helps them deepen the understanding of the target language and learn to use the language better. The scores of the EC with the help of the TPR teaching method are improved a lot.Thirdly, according to the interview of the teacher, compared with traditional teaching method, the TPR teaching method can activate the atmosphere of the class and inspire the students’ interest of learning English. And the students prefer to answer the teacher’s questions.After the survey and data analysis, here are some suggestions:(1) teachers should study the TPR theory in details and systematically; (2) the size of the sample should be increased as much as possible, in order to obtain more reliable experimental data; (3) the time of the experiment should be extended in order to obtain more objective results.