On,the,Application,of,Total,Physical,Response,in,Kindergarten,English,Vocabulary,Teaching

　Contents

　Abstract ............................................................................................................... I 摘

　要 ............................................................................................................ II Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1 1 Theoretical Basis ............................................................................................. 3 1.1 Definition of TPR ..................................................................................... 3 1.2 The Features of TPR ................................................................................ 4 1.3 The Advantages of TPR ........................................................................... 5 1.4 Relevant Researches of TPR at Home and Abroad ................................. 6 2 Implementation of TPR in Kindergarten English Vocabulary Teaching ..... 12 2.1 Action Teaching Pattern......................................................................... 12 2.2 Game Teaching Pattern .......................................................................... 13 2.3 Training Aid Teaching Pattern ............................................................... 14 2.4 Situational Teaching Pattern .................................................................. 16 2.5 Painting Teaching Pattern ...................................................................... 16 3 Benefits of TPR in Kindergarten English Vocabulary Learning .................. 19 3.1 Deepening Students’ Understanding of Vocabulary ............................. 19 3.2 Improving Students’ Interest in Learning English Vocabulary ............. 20 3.3 Creating a Good Environment in Learning English Vocabulary .......... 22 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 24 Bibliography ..................................................................................................... 26 Acknowledgments ............................................................................................ 28

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　 Abstract

　As the globalization continues to strengthen, English, as a universal language, has become increasingly important in various fields. Our country also pays more and more attention to English, and kindergarten English education has also received more and more attention. It has also become a hot topic in today’s society. However, the starting of kindergarten English education in China has caused the development of theory, which is far from meeting the actual needs. At the same time, there is no relatively complete education system to the level of preschool English teaching. At present, the kindergarten English teaching methods of our country mainly include the natural teaching method, the situational teaching method, and the Total Response Physical teaching method. These teaching methods have high requirements for teaching facilities and teachers. Based

　on the teaching environment and characteristics of children’s English in China, in general, the teaching method with the possibility of promotion is the Total Response Physical, TPR in short. The TPR teaching method advocates the combination of speech and behavior, which is in line with the rule of children’s language development. TPR used in English vocabulary refers to the teacher expressing the English vocabulary through oral instruction and supplemental physical movement. After learners can understand the meaning, they respond with body language，which help students understand the classroom teaching vocabulary better and further deepen their cognition and understanding of English vocabulary. In this paper, the author will analyze the application of TPR in the kindergarten English vocabulary learning. Through the brief introduction and the implementation analysis of the TPR teaching method, readers can have a more comprehensive and clear understanding of the TPR method.

　Keywords: kindergarten English education; the TPR method; teaching model

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　 摘

　要

　 随着世界经济全球化进程的持续加强，英语作为一种通用语言，在各个领域变得越来越重要。我国对英语重视程度也越来越高，幼儿英语教育受到了越来越多的关注，幼儿英语教育也因此成为了当今社会热点话题。然而幼儿英语教育在我国刚刚起步引起了理论的发展，远远不能满足实际需求。同时，在幼儿英语的教学层面没有一套比较完整的教育体系。目前我们国家幼儿英语教学的方法主要有自然教学法、情景教学法，全身反应法等。这些教学方法对于教学设施和师资水平都有较高的要求。基于我国幼儿英语教学环境和幼儿特点，综合而言，具有推广可行性的教学方法是全身反应法，即 TPR 教学法。

　全身反应法提倡把言语和行为联系在一起，通过身体反应动作来教授外语，符合儿童语言发展规律。TPR 在英语词汇教学中的运用是指教师通过口头指令并辅以肢体动作将教学中的英语词汇表达出来，学习者理解其意义后用肢体语言给予回应，以此帮助学生更好地理解课堂词汇内容，进一步加深学生对英语词汇的认知和理解。

　本文将分析 TPR 在幼儿园英语词汇学习中的应用。通过对 TPR 教学方法的简要介绍和实施分析，读者可以对 TPR 教学方法有更全面、更清晰的认识。

　关键词：幼儿英语教育；TPR 教学法；教学模式

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　 Introduction

　With the development of economy and the progress of society, international communication is more and more frequent. Our country pays more and more attention to English, and primary and secondary schools at all levels have also set up English courses. At the same time, the education department has paid more and more attention to the language education, and the society has also stirred the concern of the early childhood education. The children start to learn English gradually from the early childhood stage. However, there are great regional differences in early childhood education in China, and the level of education varies from good to bad. Due to the influence of children’s age, children learn mainly by interest in the learning process. They are very interested in what they like, and often ignore what they don’t like. Therefore, English teaching for children is quite different from that for other age groups. If the teacher only uses the simple cramming teaching method in the kindergarten English teaching, it will make the children in the forced learning situation, and make the children gradually produce the disgusting mood, even not interested in English. Therefore, kindergarten English teachers should know and make use of children’s age characteristics, so that children can learn in a relaxed state. According to the analysis of the environment of kindergarten education and psychological characteristics of children, we find that the teaching method with better teaching effect should be the TPR teaching method. As a language teaching method, the TPR teaching method has been widely used all over the world. James Asher, the founder of this teaching method, proposes that children should learn English as easily as their mother tongue, and understand the meaning of words by observing the body language of people around them. In Asher’s book, he considered this teaching method as a right brain teaching strategy. With its unique advantages, TPR teaching method has gradually become an indispensable method in the world. The main purpose of this study is to refer to the previous studies on this subject, to reveal the importance of the TPR teaching method for children’s English education. By reading a series of articles on the TPR teaching method, the author can define the TPR teaching method, the theoretical basis and the

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　features. The teachers should have a comprehensive understanding of the influence and origin. Every English teacher should

　know that students need to lay a solid foundation in English learning before they can have a qualitative leap. Therefore, teachers’ English teaching skills and learning ability are particularly important. Teachers should make students be interested in English learning, and improve the teaching ability. This paper is based on the previous research results, and the author gets

　some of the author’s own views and opinions. Through the author’ s kindergarten teaching experience, the author found that many students were

　interested in English learning, but the ability of traditional classroom teaching stimulate

　the students’ classroom learning atmosphere is not very well. Children are too young and the classroom atmosphere is too active, and they will not have a good absorption for the traditional teaching. As a result, the author thinks the classroom teaching method is very important. Under the guidance of the relevant theory of the TPR teaching method, combined with the author’ experience in the practice of English training institutions, this paper aims to teach how to help children learn English vocabulary through the research of the TPR teaching method. This paper is divided into three aspects. The first part is theoretical basis, which describes the definition and the researches and practice of TPR teaching method at home and abroad. The second part is the practical application of the TPR teaching method in children’s English vocabulary teaching, including the game teaching method, the training aid teaching method, and so on. The third part analyses the benefits of TPR teaching method in kindergarten English vocabulary, including the improvement of students’ classroom participation, and improvement of understanding in vocabulary.

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　1Theoretical Basis As an important branch of foreign language teaching method, the TPR method has attracted more and more attention of domestic education researchers and English teachers in recent years, and has been widely used in children’s English teaching. This part briefly introduces the theoretical background, advantages, characteristics and related researches at home and abroad of the TPR teaching method. At the same time, it summarizes the evaluation and research of the TPR teaching method by Chinese education researchers and English teachers in recent period, then combines these studies to draw a conclusion that in teaching practice. As a result, the TPR teaching method must be organically combined with other teaching methods, which better reflect its advantages and improvement the English level of the kindergarten students. 1.1 Definition of TPR The TPR method was put forward by James Asher, a professor of psychology in 1960. He used this name in his work Learning Another Language Actions for the first time. Language teaching methods all tend to follow the laws of second language acquisition. Second language acquisition refers to a process that people grasp a second language through conscious learning with guidance or unconscious absorption in a natural way. The process includes two types, one being that students acquire second language through daily communication, which means learning a second language through direct interaction with native speakers of the target language; the other type is that students grasp a second language through classroom teaching, which means obtaining language through teachers’ instructions in a classroom. Asher’s theory mainly advocates that teachers link language and behaviour in the teaching process and teach language through physical actions [1] .Teachers use certain limbs during classroom teaching actions and give students some instructions. At the same time, they expect students to make corresponding actions through instructions. The process is aims to help students better understand the teaching content of the classroom, and to deepen students’ understanding and cognition of English knowledge. This is a rapid language teaching method that is based on the harmony of language and action. At the same time, it is also a new type of English teaching method. In a word, the TPR teaching method can help children understand abstract words by action.

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　1.2 The Features of TPR The main characteristics of the TPR teaching method include these aspects: The first is the ability to train listening comprehension. The TPR teaching method cultivates the students’ listening comprehension ability firstly, and then uses this as a basis to enable students to use oral expression when expressing. For example, before the child can speak, children’s ability to understand language should be developed first. After acquiring sufficient listening comprehension, they can naturally transfer to being able to express. If you train both listening and speaking skills at the same time, it may bring stress to students. The result is that you cannot express your thoughts in accurate language. Secondly, when students receive language instructions, the body will make corresponding actions to reach the level of language understanding. The instructor designs the body movements according to the specific situation of the classroom, and then sends the correct instructions to make the students respond [2] . In this way, the student’s understanding of the language will deepen and the memory will be more profound. Third, to allow students to speak in advance, teachers should allow and encourage them to speak actively, but this statement is not mandatory. Fourth, TPR teaching method advocates that the focus is to emphasize the significance of teaching, rather than the form of teaching, so that students can be more relaxed and actively take part in the learning activities to achieve better learning outcomes. Fifth, in the traditional teaching method, the mother tongue is the teaching tool while TPR only uses the target language. The traditional teaching method is unitary, while TPR method tends to be diversified and has strong situational nature. Sixth, the traditional teaching method emphasizes the standardization and accuracy of language based on authoritative principle, and mistakes are absolutely intolerable. So the teaching goal of traditional teaching method requires students to learn many words, while the teaching goal of TPR is to ask students to form a good sense of language and a good understanding of the language as a whole. TPR measures students’ learning achievement mainly by examining students’ comprehensive language ability, while traditional teaching measures students’ learning achievement by quantifying examination papers and correct answers.

　At the beginning of teaching, TPR only emphasizes that students can understand the language and make correct response, and try to express their

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　thoughts in language. Therefore, in the process of teaching, it always encourages students to actively participate in teaching activities, boldly practice. At the same, it doesn’t pay much attention to correct students’ grammatical errors, and prevent students’ hands and feet from hurting their enthusiasm of learning languages [3] . The TPR teaching method is based on language and body behavior. In the teaching process, there is a lot of interaction. Through the construction of strong teaching situation, it can attract students’ attention, arouse students’ interest in learning, and make students involuntarily participate in the teaching process. This kind of teaching method is humorous, relaxed, immediate and long-term. It is composed of rich and interesting body movements and Chinese learning knowledge points. Compared with boring knowledge points, students are more easily attracted by rich and interesting body movements. At the same time, in the process of using the TPR teaching method, the enthusiasm and passion burst out will also promote the enthusiasm of students. When it comes to TPR and English vocabulary teaching, the TPR can show that its’ advantages. The TPR teaching method advocates students to learn vocabulary in the context, and advocates taking sentences as the teaching unit. Sentence learning and sentence use can effectively help students understand and use vocabulary, and

　 exercise and improve students’ initiative in English thinking, thereby improving Students’ ability to use language for communication.

　1.3 The Advantages of TPR The advantages of the TPR teaching method mainly include six aspects. Firstly, due to the TPR method focuses on the cultivation of students’ listening level, it first trains students’ listening comprehension ability. It makes great progress in students’ listening level, and also improves students’ oral level. Secondly, this kind of practical operation is more conducive to students’ understanding of what they have learned, and students’ understanding ability has been comprehensively improved. Thirdly, after using this method, students’ attention will become more focused, and their limbs will become more coordinated. At the same time, their learning efficiency will be improved significantly, and their learning effect will be improved significantly. Fourth, the TPR teaching method advocates learning in happiness, and makes students more relaxed in learning, actively participating in learning activities and experiencing the sense of pleasure in teaching activities. Fifthly, when the students are not

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　ready, the teacher will not force them to speak, but encourage them through various hints. After a lot of training and practice, the students will be invited to speak after they have a certain understanding of what they have learned. This kind of approach enables students to learn more confidently without worrying about being laughed at by their classmates, which is conducive to eliminating the students’ tension and enabling them to have a better learning environment [4] . Sixth, the learning environment created by this method is closely related to our daily life. Students can carry out repeated practice in a variety of different types of teaching environment, which deepens students’ cognition and understanding of the knowledge they have learned. 1.4 Relevant Researches of TPR at Home and Abroad 1.4.1 Relevant Researches at Home Since James Asher founded the TPR method, China has introduced this teaching method. At the beginning, scholars were still cautious about the TPR teaching method. By the end of the 20th century, most scholars have generally accepted TPR. They believed that this teaching method can be applied to foreign language learning, but only in the initial stage.

　The TPR, a new foreign language teaching method worthy of promotion, was published in the Chinese Journal of Science and Technology Translation in 2000 by Hu Tieqiu. He believes that TPR is an English teaching method based on the harmony of speech and action, and also sees some problems in the practice of TPR, such as insufficient emphasis on the usage of words and grammar, and learning [5] .

　It is also difficult to quantify the learning effect from the examination, and it is difficult for students to achieve ideal results. He advocates that the traditional teaching method and TPR teaching method can be used together, which can further deepen the reform of foreign language teaching in China and achieve the ideal learning effect.

　Wang Yiming also believes that the TPR method can make the language move, but it should be used with other teaching methods to achieve a higher learning effect. In 2001, Zhong Jing analyzed the views of TPR in the minds of beginners and conducted a two-year investigation. It was found that all students in the same class had different attitudes towards English classes, and some students had a psychological rejection of English learning. He thought that TPR method could change this psychological rejection.

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　In 2004, Liu Ning studied how to use TPR to reduce students’ resistance to learning in the process of foreign language teaching in primary schools in China. The conclusion is that the positive factors such as attention, sensibility and acquired ability will make TPR more suitable for children’s growth and learning. Through the experiment, it is found that the TPR teaching method has the best effect in the process of learning a foreign language [6] .

　For example, in 2005, Wei Hong published TPR Teaching Method-A New Effective Means of English Teaching in Primary and Secondary Schools, Wei Hong held that TPR method can make students easier to get started in learning English, and develop their self-confidence and interest more quickly. Meanwhile, it can train students’ ability to analyze and use all kinds of words, actions and sentences, deepening their understanding level and combining scientific and reasonable thinking means to make learning effect better [7] . Through this method, students can change the wrong way of English and Chinese language, and learn more actively. At the same time, the TPR teaching method can cultivate the students’ communication and language ability. Zhong Jing thinks that the TPR teaching method is good for cultivating the interest of English beginners. Through two years of experiment and analysis, she found that the students in the class who use this teaching method are much more interested in English than those in the traditional teaching method or other teaching methods. Many students begin to like English class, and the students who have inaccurate pronunciation or speaking restore their self-confidence. From the above discussion, it can be seen that the general view of English teaching professionals in China at this stage is that TPR method has a unique theoretical basis and sound system, which has been proved to be highly applicable in the initial English learners after a large number of practices. With its unique advantages, TPR can be extensively used in English teaching in China. 1.4.2 Relevant Researches Abroad The main research on the TPR method in foreign countries is from Asher, the author of the TPR method. He put forward the core idea of the TPR method, that is, understanding before speaking. When students don’t understood and digested knowledge, they should not be forced to express in language, so as to reduce the pressure and psychological burden of learning. In a relaxed state of

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　mind, students will express themselves in body language, and enhance self-confidence. They will be interested in it and release learning pressure, improving their oral English expression ability. The main expression of the TPR teaching method is listening and doing actions, which covers a large number of body language [8] . By using this method, the students’ memory can be strengthened. Based on the good results of the TPR method, Asher conducted experiments on more than 30 people in 1969, using the TPR method to teach French, English and other foreign languages. The results show that: first, no matter how many kinds of languages and how difficult reading and writing are, the TPR teaching method can help people quickly grasp its meaning even if they are learning intermittently [9] . Second, in the process of learning with the method of TPR, students can judge the meaning of the proposition through the language of behavior, no matter whether there is a relationship between students and teachers" physical behaviors. However, Asher still interprets it as: due to the critical nature of human brain for objective things, it is necessary to let students with low enthusiasm for behavior performance activities participate in it, so that they can understand that behavior language is a great language art [10] . Third, the accuracy of the results shows the ability of fast understanding and efficient memory of the method. Asher proposes that geographical location, smoothness, sequence and summary are the four major constraints of the TPR method, which need to be deleted. The so-called geographical location, that is, the specific location of the object that can be seen during the practice; smoothness is the behavior that reflects that students can use the body expression in advance according to their understanding of the command; priority is that the former command can express the specific content of the latter command; conclusion is that the body behavior is very important for language learning. In the meantime, he indicates that there are other factors that are not considered can also prove the importance of the TPR method in kindergarten English vocabulary teaching. Other scholars are also deeply exploring the role of other methods in teaching, but so far, body behavior language is still the most effective teaching method. Asher and his team members not only studied the influence of TPR teaching method on children’s foreign language learning, but also made relevant experiments on adult foreign language learning based on the results of this study. They take Korean learning as an example. This experiment is aimed at Korean

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　students and the other student in colleges and universities to train them in listening, speaking, reading and writing. In the process of teaching, the Korean major is the control group, and the other major is the variable group. The former expresses the command in body language, while the latter records the English of body expression in written language. The results show that no matter what kind of language the command is conveyed in, no matter what kind of environment, the control group expresses the command in body more than the variable group [11] .

　In 1995, Asher repeated the experiment many times, but only used other languages to replace Korean, but the conclusion was basically consistent. Then the TPR teaching method is introduced into adult night school, and 32 hours of French learning is put forward, and its learning method is explained in an all-round way. The experimental results are as follows: first, most of the sentence patterns in French can be imitated by declarative sentences; second, students can"t judge the meaning of French regular sentences subjectively, and use the TPR teaching method to strengthen the French learners for 32 hours, compared with those who don’t use TPR but use other methods, the former has a stronger understanding of French. Thirdly, the training of listening and speaking ability can improve the students’ ability of written expression and language understanding, which can spare a lot of time for other aspects of learning, and then improve the efficiency of the classroom [12] . It is worth mentioning that Asher found in the course of the experiment that students should use clear sentences to express fuzzy phrases or commands, and then understand that, because fuzzy phrases do not need to go deep into their sentence forms. If students grasp the rules of such phrases, they can skillfully apply them, so that students can use the language more thoroughly. In 2000, Richards and Rogers found that Asher’s claim about language was very interesting, but it is not detailed enough to test. They paid much more attention to the later speech in which the young learners have learned much more complex grammar about English. When the children make progress, the teaching approach should be changed or adjusted to adapt to their later speech. In 2005, Arnold held that language learning is largely influenced by stress. It not only has effects on the learners’ motivation, but also causes negative attitudes and produces language barriers to the learners. In 2009, Asher has paid more and more attention to the researches on using

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　TPR approach in adults’ second language acquisition. He held the view that language learning ability showed by adults can be as well as that showed by children by using the study model of “language-body”. This point of view is different from the popular opinion that children are always better than adults in language acquisition. Asher believed that children just have a better second language learning atmosphere rather than having talents for language learning. When adults study a second language, they often study in a non-game environment, and there are no physical actions in the process of learning. Besides, Asher demonstrated the fact by doing empirical research that when adults have the opportunity to study language through physical actions. The result is that they can accomplish as well as, even better than children. Nevertheless, we found a result that adolescence is the crucial period for learners to study pronunciation in the later experiments carried out by Asher and his student Garcia. For instance, if someone went abroad before adolescence, it would be more possible for him to acquire the pronunciation and bear a strong resemblance to the native speakers. However, if someone began to study a second language after adolescence, he would have difficulty in accomplishing that aim which was presented before. Therefore, he declared that if given the same opportunity, adults may perform better than children in second language acquisition, but one should begin to study a second language before thirteen years old in order to acquire authentic pronunciation. Different linguists have different views on the understanding of TPR. Stephen D. Krashen, a famous American linguist, applied TPR to natural teaching method, and he believes that scholars can join in more valuable and practical discourse communication [12] . In addition, in the 1950s, Harold E. Palmer, a British applied linguist and foreign language educator, the research holds that the two strategies in command training are of great significance to language learning. In the first stage of learning a foreign language, teachers need to run instruction information through the whole teaching process, and students and teachers need to have interaction in behavioral language, so as to truly provide learning

　help for students. In this part,

　the author introduces the characteristics, advantages and related domestic and foreign research of TPR teaching method. The author finds that TPR teaching method has great advantages in English vocabulary teaching. For example, one of its biggest features is the ability to mobilize children’

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　enthusiasm and attract their attention. We all know that the characteristics of children in class are lively and active, and the TPR teaching method will solve this problem very well.

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　2 Implementation of TPR in Kindergarten English Vocabulary Teaching Since TPR teaching method is transmitted from abroad, it needs to be reformed if we want to apply it in our country. The following part of this paper will introduce its concrete application in English vocabulary teaching. 2.1 Action Teaching Pattern

　In kindergarten English teaching, kindergarten English teachers often adopt the action teaching method to further improve the English teaching effect, which greatly exposes the children’s enthusiasm and interest in learning [13] . The action teaching method is that the teacher makes full use of physical movements through vivid action performance language. It also shows children the teaching process of English vocabulary, which can also greatly enhance the learning effect of children’s English classroom, and fully mobilize children’s enthusiasm and initiative in learning English. For example, teachers can make rich expressions and corresponding actions while sending out the teaching content. For example, the teacher asks the children to look at themselves

　when teaching the word expression. Firstly, they say laugh in their mouth, then they make exaggerated laughter on their faces and open their mouths to make a laugh.

　At the same time, when teaching the word “cry”, the teacher can make a sad expression on your face, and wipe your eyes back and forth with the back of your hands, etc. Exaggerated actions and rich expressions are easy to catch the students’ attention. With such repeated demonstrations, children can basically combine the teacher’s words with the teacher’s behaviors and understand their meaning. This method can also be used in the teaching of imperative sentences [14] . For example, the teacher sends out instructions such as “walk to the door”, “open the door” or “close the door”. The selected children receive the instructions from the teacher and make action feedback. Finally, they not only achieve the purpose of mastering the application, but also deepen the children’s understanding of non-verbal communication behavior. In the process of learning, the teacher uses some advantages of the TPR teaching method to better explain the meaning of the words to the students through body movements, which not only makes the students better understand the learning content, but also creates a good classroom atmosphere, making the teaching work twice as well.

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　2.2 Game Teaching Pattern Children’s nature is active and like games. In order to arouse the enthusiasm of children’s participation and enhance ...