Total Physical Response

Total Physical Response

Background

  Total Physical Response (TPR) is a language teaching method built around the coordination of speech and action; it attempts to teach language through physical (motor) activity. Developed by James Asher, a professor of psychology at San Jose State University, California, it draws on several traditions, including developmental psychology, learning the­ory, and humanistic pedagogy, as well as on language teaching proce­dures proposed by Harold and Dorothy Palmer in 1925. Let us briefly consider these precedents to Total Physical Response.

Total Physical Response is linked to the "trace theory " of memory in psychology, which holds that the more often or the more intensively a memory connection is traced, the stronger the memory association will be and the more likely it will be recalled. Retracing can be done verbally (e.g., by rote repetition) and/or in association with motor activity. Combined tracing activities, such as verbal rehearsal accompanied by motor activity, hence increase the probability of suc­cessful recall.

In a developmental sense, Asher sees successful adult second language learning as a parallel process to child first language acquisition. He claims that speech directed to young children consists primarily of commands, which children respond to physically before they begin to produce verbal responses. Asher feels adults should recapitulate the processes by which children acquire their mother tongue.

Asher shares with the school of humanistic psychology a concern for the role of affective (emotional) factors in language learning. A method that is undemanding in terms of linguistic production and that involves gamelike movements reduces learner stress, he believes, and creates a positive mood in the learner, which facilitates learning.

Asher's emphasis on developing comprehension skills before the learner is taught to speak links him to a movement in foreign language teaching sometimes referred to as the Comprehension Approach (Winitz 1981). This refers to several different comprehension-based language teaching proposals, which share the belief that (a) comprehension abilities precede productive skills in learning a language; (b) the teaching of speaking should be delayed until comprehension skills are established; (c) skills acquired through listening transfer to other skills; (d) teaching should emphasize meaning rather than form; and (e) teaching should minimize learner stress.

The emphasis on comprehension and the use of physical actions to teach a foreign language at an introductory level has a long tradition in language teaching
 

Competency-Based language learning Approach

Competency-Based Approach

The Competency-Based training method was developed primarily for Industry. The training was based on what people were expected to do in the workplace. It emphasized what people could actually do as a result of their training rather than simply looking at the amount of training that the employees attended.

This method allowed trainers to match the training with required job competencies thereby making the training totally relevant to the needs of the employee.

This in turn increased the motivation of the trainees because they could see the direct relevance of what they were studying. It also kept the trainees task oriented and active. Last but not least, it made the assessment process easier because the outcomes required were clearly stated in the competency standards.

The application of this training method to adult ESL education started in the mid 1970s. The Competency Based Approach or Competency Based Education (CBE) was first used in the language and orientation programs in refugee programs and adult literacy programs.

A CBE approach can be used for learners with academic, employment, and self-enrichment goals as well as for those with basic survival goals.


CBE Nuts & Bolts

Competency: an instructional objective described in task-based terms that include a verb describing a demonstrable skill such as answer, interpret, or request. Examples "Students will be able to ..."

Competencies include basic survival skills such as answering personal information questions, using public transportation, or obtaining food and shelter; or more academic or work-related skills such as taking notes during an academic lecture, following directions for a work-related task, explaining one's position on an issue, or distinguishing between fact and opinion in a newspaper article.

A CBE approach consists of four elements:

    assessment of learner needs
    selection of competencies based on those needs
    instruction targeted to those competencies
    evaluation of learners performance in those competencies.

Through the initial needs assessment and ongoing evaluation of learner goals and progress, competency-based programs are continually adapted and refined.


How It Works

The teacher first carries out a needs analysis to see how and where the students will need to use their English.

The teacher then defines some competencies (tasks) that the students will need to accomplish. For example, giving personal information, filling a form, making a doctor’s appointment, applying for work, and so on.

The teacher creates activities that will teach the students how to accomplish those competencies (tasks).

Finally the teacher evaluates the students on their ability to perform those tasks

source: teflworldwiki.com