Richard-Amato, Part II, Chapter 8: Physical Involvement in the Language Learning Process, p. 209-225

Richard-Amato, Part II, Chapter 8: Physical Involvement in the Language Learning Process, p. 209-225

     Total physical response is a strategy in which the students act out the language with their bodies. It mirrors natural language acquisition because babies follow caretakers commands before they are able to respond using words. One of the new activities that I read about in this chapter was called "Information Gaps." In this activity, Student A is given a set of directions that he or she has to relay to Student B. I can see how this would be effective and fun for students. However, Total Physical Response has its limitations. For example, it is difficult to teach abstract words such as "honor" and "justice" using this system (220). Total Physical Response Storytelling is another form of TPR in which the teacher tells a story and acts it out and later the students take on the storytelling and acting roles.
   I am concerned that TPR activities are too limited to physical things that can be done in the classroom. One example of an activity that the text gives is making a recipe. However, I do not agree that is it feasible for a teacher to have all of her classes actually make burritos in order to learn those verbs.