TPR stands for Total Physical Response. The essence of it is the use of commands and physical response to them to provide comprehensible input of a language to learners. The term was coined by San José State University Professor of Psychology James J. Asher, who has done a great deal of research on the effectiveness of this literally exciting approach to language teaching. A significant aspect of its effectiveness is “muscle learning,” wherein the brain of the learner relates body movements to the words she or he hears. After sufficient repetitive input, the learner is able to produce with relative ease the commands she or he has heard and reacted to physically.

Many other TPR materials are available from Sky Oaks Productions at:
www.tpr-world.com.