TPR or Total Physical Response is the BEST online ESL teaching strategy to be a more effective teacher with less words!
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Are you a new online ESL teacher or aspiring esl teacher wanting to know more about how to excel in the online classroom? Today I’m going to give you a quick breakdown of how to best use TPR in the online classroom!
I’ve been an online ESL teacher for 4 years, and I teach with both VIPKID and Gogokid. I wouldn’t be able to be an effective teacher without TPR, and it’s honestly quite easy to do if you follow these simple instructions!
What is TPR?
TPR stands for Total Physical Response. I like to think of TPR as everything you can use BESIDES words to get a student to understand a new word or concept.
Total Physical Response, or TPR, was a concept formed by American psychologist Dr. James Asher and is based on how babies learn their first language–through listening, observing, watching, hand gestures, etc. — TPR makes the link between verbal and nonverbal cues.
TPR in the online classroom is NOT ONLY USEFUL to get your point across, but it also helps your student remember new vocabulary words – because your students will begin to associate the actions and TPR you use with the words you’re teaching or directions you’re giving WITH that vocabulary, so it’s a really powerful way to teach a new language.
TPR Examples
Check out this video in order to get some great TPR examples and best understand how to implement TPR into your own online ESL classroom!
I hope this gives you a better idea of how to use TPR in the online ESL classroom! Please let me know if you have any questions or comments about how to use TPR in the online classroom or on other TPR examples!
