Tpr Module

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Listening and SpeakingWhen tutoring beginning-level ESL learners , always start with the oral languageskills of listening and speaking. Those are the skills that will most quickly anddirectly aid beg inning learners in their daily lives.The activities in this section are intended for use with beginning-level learners,but you can easily adapt them for learners at all levels. More advanced learnersalso need to work on their oral skills to improve their ability to understand spokenEnglish and produce English conversation.

Guidelines for Teaching Oral SkillsThe following are some helpful guidelines to keep in mind when teaching oralskills:1. Don't worry about not being able to com-municate with the learners-even whenthey don't know a word of English. Youwill not have to be able to speak theirlanguage to teach them effectively. Total

Physical Response, described on pp. 40-46,is an ideal teaching technique to use withlearners who are at this basic level.2. Use gestures to indicate when the learnersshould listen, speak, or stop speaking.These gestures are especially important touse with beginning learners and will helpthe initial lessons go much m ore smoothly.In time, the learner will understand what to

do. Then you will only need to use gestureswhen introducing a new drill or exercise.

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Listen rn% , one ringer, to YOU lips in a

Pii!"shhh" gesture and the other handbehind your ear. This means the learnershould listen to you and not talk.

Stop

BeckonExtend your arm, alm up. Then pullup hand and forearm toward you.The beckon gesture means "Goahead and speak."

Raise your hand no higher than your shoulder,palm facing the learner. The stop gesturemeans "It's time for me to speak now." Forexample, you can use this gesture when thelearner finishes a line of the dialogue andyou are going to give the next line.

You can either "mouth" or whisper the learner's lines to help him or her rget started. Mouthing or whispering establishes that the line is the learner'sline, not yours. For example, when you are practicing a dialogue, thelearner may not be able to remember the next line. In this case, simplybegin to mouth or whisper it, and use the beckon gesture to encouragethe learner to repeat it aloud.Focus on teaching the words, phrases, and grammatical structures thatlearners must have to meet their everyday needs. Examples of such needsmight be applying for a job, renting an apartment, or buying groceries.Your goal is to enable learners to take what they have just learned in theclassroom and use it immediately in the outside world.Use objects or pictures to illustrate the meaning of words or help learnersunderstand the context for an activity. For example, when doing a roleplay about making a bank deposit, you could use checks, deposit slips,personal identification, and a picture of the inside of a bank.

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In choosing pictures, look for those that are large enough for everyonein the group to see, that show people engaged in activities likely to gen-erate conversation, and that represent a variety of ethnic, economic, andage groups. Pictures that reflect the learners' personal interests are alsoa big plus.Select your pictures to meet your teaching needs. For example, picturesof single objects can be used to teach vocabulary or grammar. Picturesshowing a sequence can be used to demonstrate steps in a process, suchas changing a tire or tying a necktie. Pictures that have a lot of elementsand action have a wide variety of applications. You can ask learners todescribe what is happening in such pictures, or to imagine what thepeople in the picture are thinking.One of the first things to do as a tutor is to start developing your ownpicture file. Magazines and newspapers are excellent sources. To makethe file most useful, divide the pictures into categories. Examples:

animalsclothingfoods (This category can be broken down into smaller categoriessuch as fruits, vegetables, desserts.)occupationsopposites (big/sm all, talWshort, h appy/sad)sportsunusual things (great as conversation starters)grammar or structures (Pictures can be used to teach things likeaction verbs, running, or modal auxiliaries,must be. Example of thelatter: a picture of a cityscape with the Statue of Liberty to teach"This must be New York." See Activity #12.)

6 . Do not assume that learners don't understand a word or phrase justbecause they are unable to say it or are reluctant to try. Since comprehen-sion precedes production, even beginning learners are able to understandmore than they can say themselves. But they need to start speaking asmuch as possible in order to improve.

7. Remember that learners will make lots of errors as they are learning tospeak English. This is a natural stage in the learning process. It doesn'tmean that learners are not making progress or that you are doing a poorjob of teaching.

8. Make corrections only at the appropriate times. For example, it would notbe appropriate to interrupt a role play to correct a learner's grammar orpronunciation. This is a time when the learner's goal is to express ideas,not to speak with perfection.

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9. Be patient. Give learnersplenty of time to respond o your questions rrequests. earn to be comfortablewith silencewhile learnersare hinkingaboutwhat to say or how to say t.

Introducing ewVocabularyThe first step n teachingoral skills is to help the earneracquirea basicvocabularyof useful words andphrases.Keep n mind the following guide-lines when you are eachingvocabulary:

1. Teachonly a few new words (four to six maximum)at a time.2. With beginning earners, hooseone way of sayingsomethingand stickwith it. For example, f you teach he expression Turn off the ight,"don't give other versionsof the sameexpression "Switch off the ight,""Turn out the light," or "Put out the ight").3. Use repetition.To makenew words a permanent art of their vocabulary,learnersneed o hearand use hem over andover again.Your teachingroutine should nclude recycling of new words n later essons.4. If you want to teach earnersa new word by showingan object or picture,show multiple examplesof the object or picture.That way, here s nodanger hat the earnerswill misunderstand hat the word means.Forexample, o teach he word pencil, show earners hreedifferent ypesof pencils. f you useonly one, earnersmight think that you are eachingthe word yellow, straight, or write.

Total Physical ResponseTotal PhysicalResponseTPR) s a teaching echnique hat enablesearners oacquirenew English vocabularyby listening o andcarrying out spokencom-mands. n TPR activities, earnersare not required o speak.The tutor modelsthe commands nd continually repeats nd eviews hem until the earners ancarry out the commandswith no difficulty. Learnersare more ikely to be andfeel successfulwhen he tutor providesconstant upportand modelingandeliminates he pressure n learners o speak he new words.Although TPR can be usedwith learnersat all levels, t is most useful withthosewho understandittle or no English. At this level, gestures nd acialexpressions re especially mportant.With beginning earners, irst teachbasiccommandshat call for simplebodymovements nd no props: standup, sit down, walk, and urn around. SeeActivity #4.) This gives earnersa welcome eeling of accomplishment ndhelps hem becomecomfortablewith TPR right away.

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Learners can go on to more advanced TPR activities in which they interac t withprops and people in the learning environment. Examples of comm ands to use atthis stage are touch the, point to, pick up, put down, and give me. These areespecially useful for teaching the names of both objects in pictures and of objectsthat are in the imm ediate environmen t, some of which may be out of reach.You can also use TPR fo r the following purposes:

to review and reinforce vocabulary you have already taught usingnon-TPR methodsas a "catch-up" at the beginning of a lesson for the benefit of learnerswho have missed previous lessons in which new material was introducedto provide learners with an enjoyable, relaxing break during a lesson

All TPR activities have the four basic steps shown below. These are more fullydescribed in Activity #3.

Steps inUsing TPR1. Do the action as you give the new comm and.2. Do the action with the learner several times as you give the com mand .3. Give the comm and without doing the action yourself.4. Do the action again if the learner has difficulty carrying out the comm and.

PurposeTo give learners an opportunity to hear and understand Eng lish words andphrases without having to produce themHow-1. Select the com mands (and vocabulary) you are going to teach.2. Before the teaching session, make a list of the complete comm ands in theorder you plan to teach them.

(The list will serve as a record of what you have taught and will help youplan review activities for later lessons. Lists are also important whenListening and Speaking


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working with more advanced learners who will be learning longer andmore complex commands. The list will enable you to repeat your exactinstructions in case a learner asks you to do so.)Gather any equipment, props, or pictures you will need to set the contextor illustrate the meaning of the commands.(If you will be teaching commands that involve objects, bring to the lessontwo examples of each object. This will allow you to model the commandusing one object and to have the learner use the other object to carry outthe command at the same time.)

If you are working with a group, select two or three learners for thedemonstration.(Teaching more than one learner at the same time takes the pressure offany individual learner. The other learners in the class will also be learningas they watch. When you finish the demonstration, you can invite otherlearners to carry out the commands they saw you teach.)

Teach the commands.a. Model the action as you give the first command. As you do this, use

gestures and facial expressions to help the learners understand what youwant them to do.

b. Do the action with the learners several times, and give the commandeach time you do the action.(If you are teaching the English words for objects, you will need towork with only one learner at a time as the others watch-unless youhave enough objects for more than one learner.)

c. Give the command without doing the action yourself.d. If the learners have difficulty carrying out the command, model the action

again as you say the command. Always be ready to help out if necessary.e. Repeat steps a-d for each command you plan to teach. Before introduc-

ing each new command, review the commands you have already taught.Review them in the same order that you taught them.

f. Finally, review all the commands in random order.Optional for more advanced learners:Teach the learners to read the commands they have just learned. Use thefollowing steps:a. Write each command on a separate card.b. Show and read the first command aloud as you model the action.c. Show and read the same command aloud as you do the action with the

learners.d. Show the card without reading or modeling it. Gesture for the learners

to carry out the action. (They should not read the card aloud.)

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e. Repeat these steps with each card. Before introducing each new card,review the written com mands you have already taught. Review them inthe sam e order that you taught them.f. Finally, mix up the cards and review the com mands in random order.

SuggestionsG o slowly. If you go too fast, learners are likely to become confused andtense and make mistakes. They will learn best if they are relaxed and feelcom fortable with the activity.Do not try to teach too many com mands at one time. Since you w ill alsobe reviewing previously taught vocabulary, introduce no more than four tosix new commands.Call learners by name as you give the commands. This helps learners feelcomfortable.Tell learners that it is OK to watch each othe r if they a re unsure how torespond to a particular command. (There is no such thing as "cheating" ina TPR activity.)Provide whatever support the learners need to be successful. TPR activitiesshould not be used to test learners. They are supposed to ensure that learnersdon't fail. If learners are not successful in carrying out a command, youhave either gone too fast, included too much material, or asked them to dosomething you did not adequately teach and m odel.You can also do a TPR lesson using the steps in a fam iliar task such asbaking a cake or addressing an envelope.

PurposeTo teach basic action words to very beginning-level learnersHow

1. Place three chairs next to each other at the front of the room. Leaveenough space in front of the chairs for you and the learners to carry ou tthe following activities.



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Ask two learners to sit in the two outer chairs. You will sit in the middle chair.Teach: Stand up.Sit down.

a. Stand up as you say "Stand up."b. Gesture to the learners to stand up.c. Sit down as you say "Sit down."d. Gesture to the learners to sit down.e. Stand up again as you say "Stand up."f. G esture to the learners to stand up again.g. Sit down again as you say "Sit down."h. Gesture to the learners to sit down again.i. Look a t each learner in turn and then say "Stand up." You shouldremain seated as you d o this. Use a gesture if necessary. (You arechecking the learners' ability to respond to the comm and without your

modeling it for them. If they still do not seem to understand, model thecommand again by standing up as you gesture to them to stand up.)Then teach:

Stop.Turn around.a. B egin walking forward as you say "Walk."b. Gesture to the learners to walk with you.

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c. As you a ll walk forward, repeat the word "Walk."d. Stop walking suddenly and say "Stop."e. Gesture to the learners to stop.f. W alk forward again as you say "Walk."(If necessary, gesture to the learners to walk also.)g. After a few steps, stop walking again as you say "Stop."(Ifnecessary, gesture to the learners to stop also.)h. As you turn around to face the three chairs, say "Turn around."i. Gesture to the learners to turn around.j. Say "Walk" as you gesture to the learners to walk toward their chairs.Rem ain standing where you are as they walk forward. (If they do notseem to understand, model walking for them as you repeat the wordWalk.)k. After a few steps , say "Stop."1. Walk forw ard to catch up w ith the learners. Stand between them.

m. Say "Walk" without using any gesture. Remain standing where you areas the learners again walk toward the chairs.n. W hen the learners reach their chairs, say "Stop."o. Walk forward and stand between them, facing the chairs.p. Say "Turn a round" as you turn around.(The learners should turn around, too. Use gestures if needed.)q. Say "Sit down."

(Be ready to model this since the command s it down came in the earlypart of the instruction , and the learners may not remember it very well.)r. When the learners sit dow n, make a point of clapping enthusias ticallyfor them as you gesture to the rest of the learners to do the sam e.

5. You can in troduce the vocabulary words slowly and fast by adding themto the above commands. (Example: Walk slowly.) Then teach each newcomm and according to the steps shown above.SuggestionIf you are teaching a class or small group, do the above activity with two learners.When you finish, you can invite other learners to com e to the front of the roomand carry out the same commands.


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Tpr Module