TPR_THE NATURAL APPROACH_CLIL

Question 2

TPR-Total Physical Response

Question 3

TPR-Total Physical Response

Answer 3

 TPR - a method of teaching language using physical movement to react to verbal input in order to reduce student inhibitions and lower their affective filter
 language associated with a series of simple actions will be easily retained by LLs

Question 4

Theories behind TPR

Answer 4

 Childhood language acquisition theories: children in learning – listening before speaking, listening is accompanied by physical responses (grabbing, reaching, moving, looking …)
 The right brain(moving, acting, using metaphors, drawing, pointing) /left brain divide (logical, analyzing, talking, discussing): motor activity is a right-brain function that should precede left-brain language processing
 Lowering stress and the affective filter: Ss learn more when they are relaxed, when feeling nervous, affective filter is high – LLs find it harder to understand, process and remember info

Question 5

TPR characteristics

Answer 5

 the instructor is the director of a stage play in which the Ss are the actors“ (1977)
 commands: Open the window, Close the door, Stand up, Sit down, Pick up the book, Give it to John.
 NO verbal response necessary
 more complex syntax: Draw a rectangle on the chalkboard.
 interrogatives: Where is the book? (Ss point)
 then Ss one by one – responses, asking questions

Question 6

TPR Advantages

Answer 6

 effective in the beginning levels of the language proficiency
 easy to implement/no translation (TPR instruction requires no translation or L1 support)
 no disadvantage for academically weaker Ss
 working well with a mixed ability class, and with students having various disabilities
 good for kinesthetic learners
 trains Ss to react to language and not think about it too much
 reduces pressure and stress for Ss
 different style of teaching/learning - keeps students alert
 long-term retention

Question 7

TPR-limits

Answer 7

 it is limited since everything cannot be explained with this method, it must be combined with other approaches
 it is not a very creative method, Ss are not given the opportunity to express their own views and thoughts in a creative way
 far more useful at lower levels
 it is easy to overuse TPR
 the nature of TPR places an unnaturally heavy emphasis on the use of the imperative mood, that is to say commands such as “Sit down” and “Stand up”

Question 8

THE NATURAL APPROACH - GENERAL PREMISES

Answer 8

 The goal is the ability to communicate with native speakers of the target language
 Comprehension precedes production – the Silent Period
 Production “emerges“
 Acquisition activities are central (dialogues, interviews, personal charts, preference ranking, activating imagination)
 Lower the Affective Filter (they won’t learn if their affective barrier is too high)
 Speech emerges in stages
 Group work encourages speech
 Speech emergence is characterized by grammatical errors.

 It is NOT based on grammar, it is based on communication
 It rejects formal organization of language
 It emphasizes comprehensible & meaningful practice activities rather than production of grammatically perfect sentences
 It works based on the use of language in communicative situations
 aimed at the goal of basic personal communication skills (everyday language situations – conversations, shopping, listening to the radio)
 WITHOUT recourse to the native language and WITHOUT reference to grammatical analysis
 T – source of the LLs’ input and the creator of an interesting and stimulating variety of classroom activities (games, skits)
 advocacy of “silent period“ (delay of oral production) and the emphasis on comprehensible input

Question 9

THE NATURAL APPROACH

LEARNERS MOVE THROUGH THREE STAGES:

Answer 9

The preproduction stage (the development of listening comprehension skills)

2. The early production stage (marked with errors as Ss struggle with the language. T focuses on meaning, not form. Only gross errors that block meaning are corrected)
3. Stage of extending production into longer stretches of discourse. Objective is to promote FLUENCY (more complex games, role plays, open-ended dialogues, discussions, small group work)

Question 10

What is CLIL?

Answer 10

 Content and Language Integrated Learning
 CLIL (Obsahovo a jazykovo integrované vyučovanie)
 this kind of approach has been identified as very important by the European Commission
 the concept of CLIL covers all forms of teaching academic, artistic, technical and vocational subjects through the teaching of a language which is not mother tongue for

Question 11

CLIL versus ESP

Answer 11

 ESP: English for Specific Purposes (Business English, Medical English, …)
 ESP teaches mainly subject specific VOCABULARY
 Focus on language NOT content
 Content and language not integrated