Total Physical Response a.ka. TPR Teaching Is Nailing the Global ESL Market
Teaching English online is a trend in the global ESL teaching market where effective online English teachers are teaching various types of students across the globe. You might be an excellent ESL teacher who has a handsome number of experiences but when it comes to teaching young learners or first-time English language learners, the scene is a bit different.
A 220 hours TEFL diploma teaches numerous ESL teaching techniques and the nitty-gritty of what is essential for successful English language teaching. One of those techniques is known as TPR teaching. TPR teaching is a vital trait of the ESL teaching method where physical movements are also involved.
What is TPR in education?
TPR stands for Total Physical Response which is a blend of verbal communication and physical body movement. Dr. James Asher, a professor from San Jose University in the 1970s observed that young learners learn faster and better when body movement is involved more than speech. That is when TPR Education came into the picture and since then online English teachers are mimicking the natural way and children are picking up languages in their online classrooms by emphasizing similar responses.
When young learners are learning English for the first time, the scenario is similar to when they learned to speak their native language for the 1st time. TPR teaching practice makes sense when ESL teachers couple gestures and words to teach them and students feel more comfortable in that format. It includes body language, facial expressions, physical props, etc.
Types of TPR education:
There are two types of TPR education and this teaching strategy is helping students learn English faster. Let’s talk about the types of TPR education and their utility in an online ESL classroom especially when students are young learners or first-time English language learners.
Educational TRP: This type involves the use of body actions and sometimes props that help ESL students to grab a new concept or idea. Suppose a teacher is teaching a new word like ‘catch’, she/he can use a ball to throw up in the air, and while it is free falling, the moment the teacher catches it, she calls it CATCH! This type of teaching is quite effective as students can feel what catching an item seems like.
Instructional TRP: Visual learning is extremely vital for ESL students when they’re at the beginner stage. This method plays a great role to provide support to students so that they can understand the instruction by seeing how a student is doing gestures. While meeting someone we often greet them by saying ‘Hello”. While teaching them online teachers can wave to them and pronounce the word HELLO or HI.
When should an ESL teacher use TPR education for online teaching?
Classroom command: TPR education hits sixers when there classroom command is needed. It encourages students to participate in the learning procedure and makes the lesson planning more interesting.
Fresh vocabulary: Young learners have the tendency to learn a language faster when they can visualize it. While teaching shapes, the ESL teacher can use hand gestures by creating a circular shape in the air or a square shape to make them understand the concept of shapes and structures clearly.
Phonics and pronunciation: It is a challenging game for teachers to get students convenient with unknown words. The teacher can slowly syllable the words part by part and pronounce it so that students can understand the rhythm. It helps student to grasp the mouth movement and the ESL teacher should repeat the procedure till students pronounce the word correctly.
Things to remember while going for TPR teaching:
Since the teaching platform is online, ESL teachers are generally working from home. While teaching online, they must be aware of the background, dress code, etc. Apart from that, these certain points must be kept in mind while optiing for TPR education because the target audience is a very delicate batch of students.
Be consistent: When the ESL learners are quite new to this field, the English teacher has to be very cautious while using gestures and body actions to make students understand the language. Changing gestures constantly will only confusing the learners and they won’t be able to get the language properly.
Keeping up the vibe: ESL teachers should be energetic all the time they’re on screen teaching ESL students. Having a smile and an enthusiastic aura will ignite students to learn more and they’ll be motivated. It will always help the online classroom session to become more engaging.
TPR teaching has always been an effective method for teaching any learners who’re learning English for the first time. It can be the case of both young and adult learners. A 220 hours TEFL Diploma course or a TEFL/TESOL course can guide any TEFL teacher to execute strategies for implementing Total Physical Response (TRP) education.
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