Total Physical Response Storytelling:
A Communicative Approach to Language Learning
by Valeri Marsh
edited by Carol Gaab and Contee Seely
Language teachers for years have relied on Total Physical Response (TPR) as the most effective method for long-term retention of vocabulary. Popularized in the 60′s and 70′s by Dr. James Asher, TPR allows students to acquire vocabulary in a manner similar to how a child learns his or her first language. All language input is immediately comprehensible, often hands-on, and allows students to pass through a silent period whereby they build a comprehension base before ever being asked to speak. Once language is internalized, production emerges, thus setting TPR apart from traditional “listen-and-repeat” methods.
In a TPR lesson, teachers model actions which students then mimic as they simultaneously hear vocabulary words and commands in the target language. As a particular action is associated with each vocabulary word or phrase, students rapidly and naturally acquire language while establishing long-lasting associations between the brain and the muscles. Students who learn language via TPR will not soon forget it. Nevertheless, TPR by itself has three serious limitations:
1. It is mainly in the imperative mode, generally excluding the rest of the target language’s sentence forms.
2. It is often focused on short phrases or single-item vocabulary words.
3. It fosters only passive language skills.
As a result, language learned via TPR alone never develops into the narrative and descriptive modes needed for meaningful communication. In addition, TPR teachers and students eventually get tired of executing commands and thus tend to run into the proverbial “TPR Wall”– until now!
TPR Storytelling (TPR-S), developed in the 1980′s and 90′s by Blaine Ray of Bakersfield, California, provides the critical vehicle–storytelling–to utilize and expand acquired vocabulary by contextualizing it in high-interest stories which students can hear, see, act out, retell, revise and rewrite. We often implore our students to “think IN the target language,” overlooking the fact that they have not mastered enough language to do so. Easy-to-follow stories and illustrations, on the other hand, give students something to think IN. In addition, the nature of stories allows for endless variety in the classroom. Students add humor, creativity and originality to their own versions of stories. Once having taken ownership, they are then highly motivated to communicate these stories to other students.
TPR-S provides other benefits over traditional approaches to language teaching. Through consistent and comprehensible exposure to grammatically-correct language, students develop an “ear” for language. By allowing students to proceed with natural language acquisition, fluency is promoted. Students no longer edit their speech and interrupt their message to think about grammar rules–the main reason language production in traditional classes is typically low and slow. The low level of stress also enhances fluency, invites participation and increases motivation.
TPR-S eliminates the need for memorization of lengthy vocabulary lists and complex grammar rules, formidable stumbling blocks for most students. In contrast, remembering a story line, especially one you hear, see and act out, is natural and virtually effortless. (If you don’t believe this, think about which task you could perform best: telling someone about the plot of your favorite childhood story, or reciting a list of mathematical axioms you were tested on in high school.)
Although formal grammar instruction in TPR-S is delayed, test results show that grammar is nevertheless successfully acquired early in the program. In spring 1993, middle school students in a pilot Pre-Spanish One introductory TPR-S program at Phoenix Country Day School actually scored ABOVE the national average on the Level One National Spanish Exam–a discrete-point grammar test given to high school students who have completed one year of Spanish One. Equally impressive are the results being achieved at the high school level, both in Advanced Placement Test scores and voluntary re-enrollment for language study. TPR-S teachers all over the country are reporting higher enrollment, re-enrollment and test scores.*
So how can a TPR-S teacher replicate these results? Following is a brief outline of the sequence of steps:
Step One: Use TPR, TPR Practice and Scenarios to Teach Vocabulary
The teacher uses TPR to teach a small group of words. After introducing a word and its associated action, she “plays with” the vocabulary in TPR practice to provide more comprehensible input. Using gestures, manipulatives, pictures and familiar vocabulary, she then further reinforces new vocabulary by giving students a series of commands to execute and short scenarios to act out.
For example, in a beginning-level story from the textbook ¡Cuentame mas! (Marsh & Anderson, CW Publishing, 1993), the following vocabulary items are taught via TPR: the coyote, sees, the bird, wants to eat, grabs, offers. Sample commands might include the following:
Eat.
Eat a big plate of spinach (Yuck!).
Eat four ice cream cones (Yum!).
Eat a small bird and a big coyote.
Grab the coyote.
Offer it to the student on your right.
Offer that student a big bird.
Grab a coyote and put it on that student’s head.
Etc.
After practice with short commands, a sample scenario, which students act out while the teacher narrates, might look like this:
There is a tiny bird. (“Student bird” takes a bow and says “tweet tweet”.) There is a big coyote. (“Student coyote” takes a bow and “howls”.) The big coyote has four sandwiches. The tiny bird wants to eat the sandwiches, so the coyote offers the bird two sandwiches.Yum!
Step Two: Students Produce and Practice Vocabulary Words
Once students have internalized vocabulary words through TPR practice and scenarios, the class divides into student pairs to practice producing the words. One student in the pair reads the word and the other gives the corresponding gesture, then vice versa. Next, one student does the gesture and the other says the corresponding word.
Step Three: Teacher Presents a Mini-Story Which Students Then Retell and Revise
Using student actors, puppets, or pictures from the text, the teacher then narrates a mini-story containing the targeted vocabulary words. The mini-story and illustrations corresponding to the above vocabulary words are as follows:
There is a big coyote. There is also a tiny bird. The coyote sees the bird. The coyote wants to eat the bird. The coyote grabs the bird. Oh no! But the bird offers the coyote a peanut butter sandwich. What a relief!
The teacher uses a variety of techniques to increase exposure to the story and to help the students start telling it:
1. She pauses in the story to allow students to fill in words or act out gestures.
2. She makes mistakes and lets the students correct her.
3. She asks short-answer and open-ended questions.
(Is the coyote big or little? Who does the coyote grab? What is the coyote’s name? Where does he live? Etc.)
Once the story is internalized, students then retell it to a partner. Students may tell the story from memory or may use illustrations or guide words written up on the board as cues. The class then reconvenes and student volunteers retell the story for the other students to act out. The teacher may also help the class revise the story, changing a few details about the plot or characters to create a new revision to the original story line.
Step Four: Teacher Presents a Main Story Which Students Then Retell and Revise
Small groups of mini-stories are designed to prepare students to narrate, read and write a longer main story which uses the vocabulary from the mini-stories. When an entire group of mini-stories has been mastered by the class, the teacher then repeats Step Three to introduce the main story. Once the main story has been presented and acted out, it is reinforced with readings and exercises from the textbook. As with mini-stories, students build upon the main story, using their existing language skills to embellish the plot, personalize the characters and create revisions.
Step Five: Students Use New and Old Vocabulary to Create Original Stories
Capitalizing on their creativity, students are given opportunities to write, illustrate, act out and share original stories. Activities may include drama, essays, videotaping, creating student booklets, contests, group/pair work, illustration exercises, back-to-back communication activities, etc.
These are the simple steps at the heart of a complete and comprehensive methodology which allows students to rapidly acquire, internalize and produce sophisticated language in a fully communicative approach. TPR-S is being used with growing numbers of students at all levels in foreign language, ESL and bilingual classes with unparalleled success.
As more and more language teachers from elementary grades to adult education are refusing to accept the inefficacy of grammar-based approaches, they are turning increasingly to communicative instruction. In the ongoing search for more effective and natural forms of language instruction, it appears that TPR Storytelling just might be their long-awaited answer.
