An Empirical Study On The Application Of The TPR Approach To English Vocabulary Teaching In Primary Schools

This paper aims to study the effectiveness of Total Physical Response(TPR) approach in applications of English vocabulary teaching at primary level. Empirical research was conducted on this approach, focusing on the investigation of its impact on the learning of primary English vocabulary.Vocabulary teaching is an important part of English education in primary schools, and it is also a difficult one. According to the Compulsory Education Curriculum standards(2011Edition), multiple teaching resources are recommended in the teaching activities of lower level learners in primary school. The requirement is based on the cognitive characteristics of children and to make the teaching content, form and process more intuitive, animated and lively. Based on the coordination of language and physical movement, TPR is an amusing approach which employs a variety of media in language teaching such as the reactions of body movement, drawings, and objects. This method is widely favored in language development in China.TPR teaching method was applied to primary English vocabulary teaching based on its principles, modalities and characteristics to answer the following three questions:1) Will the TPR method affect the interest of primary students in English vocabulary learning? 2) What is the learning effect on the vocabulary of students through the TPR method? 3) Which types of vocabulary will be significantly affected through TPR method in the learning process?Questionnaire and related experimental methods were applied to experimental subjects of fifth-grade students from a Center Primary School in Hunan province. Students from two different classes(40 and 42 students for experimental group and control group respectively) were graded into different levels of groups based on their performance in the preliminary test. Key words in the book of the fourth grade(Part 2) were referred in the test.Vocabulary lessons of various content were given for a period of 16 weeks and periodic tests associated with final exam were applied to the experimental subjects. The questionnaire outcome, coupled with the results from preliminary test, periodic tests and final test on experimental group and control group were used to study the effect of TPR teaching method on students in different levels.The study found: 1. TPR teaching method significantly increased the interest of primary students in learning English vocabulary. 2. TPR teaching method can effectively improve the academic performance of students in vocabulary learning. Students in low-level graded group improved faster and in a greater magnitude. 3. TPR teaching method has various effects on different types of vocabulary learning, of which its impact on the verb is more significant.