Introduction Languageteachingcameintoitsownasaprofessioninthelastcentury. Centraltothisprocesswastheemergenceoftheconceptofmethodsoflanguage teaching.Themethodconceptinlanguageteaching,thenotionofasystematicset of teaching practices based on a particular theory of language and language learning,isapowerfulone,andthequestforbettermethodspreoccupiedteachers andappliedlinguiststhroughoutthe20thcentury.

0thcentury.Howatt(1984)documentsthe history of changes in language teaching throughout history. Total Physical Response(TPR)Methodofthem. ThemethodwasdevelopedbyJamesAsher,aprofessorofpsychologyat SanJoseStateUniversity,Californiainthe1960s.TheTotalPhysicalResponse Method (TPR) incorporates theories of developmental psychology, humanistic pedagogy,aswellthedramaticortheatricalnatureoflanguagelearning.Themain idea behind TPR is based upon the principle of establishing psycho motor associationstofacilitatelanguagelearning.Theteacherpresentsthelanguagein theformofcommandswhicharedemonstratedandmodeledbytheteacherand fulfilledbythestudents,individuallyand/oringroups.Themeaningismadeclear through demonstration. The emphasis is on developing comprehension skills before the learner is required to produce in the target language. Though the languageispresentedandtaughtintheformofimperatives,Asherclaimsthat most of the grammatical structures of the target language and hundreds of vocabularyitemscanbelearnedfromtheskillfuluseoftheimperativebythe instructor.TPRismosteffectiveintheearlystagesoflanguagelearningandAsher himselfhasstressedTPRshouldbeusedinassociationwithothermethodsand techniques.

1.HistoricalBackgroundTotalPhysicalResponse(TPR)Method TotalPhysicalResponse(TPR)isateachinglearningstrategydevelopedby Dr.JamesAsher,aprofessorofpsychologyatSanJoseStateUniversityCalifornia inthe1960s,wherethestudentsunderstandthenewlanguagefirstbeforethey havetospeakit,orwriteit,orreaditjustasachildlearnslanguagethefirsttime. TPRisateachingmethodforsecondandforeignlanguagelearning.Itis originatedfromthewaythatchildrenacquiretheirfirstlanguagebylisteningto andphysicallyrespondingtotheircaretakers.AccordingtoAsher(1981:325),TPR worksasanexcellentwayofprovidingstudentswithcomprehensibleinput;the teachersmovementprovidesthebackgroundknowledgethatmakesthecommand morecomprehensible.Harmer(2001),witnessesthatsecondlanguagedevelopment shouldhavesimilardevelopmentalpatternstothatofchildlanguageacquisition. Nunan(1991)andBrown(1994),alsoshareHarmer's:Asherdevelopsthismethod by focusing on two characteristics of first language acquisition. The first is comprehension is prior to production. Secondly, there are a lot of physical manipulation and action language accompanying early input. Brown (1994) confirmsthisideainwritingwhenchildrenacquiretheirfirstlanguage,before theyareabletospeak,theydoalotoflistening. Moreover,NunanexplainsthattheirlisteningisaccompaniedbyPhysical Response,suchasgrabbing,moving,looking,andetc.Ashercallsthisstageof children, silent period. He also puts two clues of their development: First we cannotteachaninfanttotalk.Thisimpliesthatchildrenwillspeakonlywhenthey areready.Secondly,childrenbecomereadytotalkonlyaftertheyhaveacquired
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cognitivemaphowlanguageworks. However,thelengthofthetimetakes,forcomprehensionisnotequaltothe infantswiththe childrenoradultsinlearningsecondorforeignlanguage.The latterisfaster;thisbecauseAsher(1981:326)thestudentscanfollowdirectionand easily generate network of physical response far differently infants do that consistsoflooking,touching,grasping,laughingandthelike. Therefore,TPRisbasedonthepremisethatthehumanbrainhasabiological programforacquiringanynaturallanguageonearthincludingthesignlanguage ofthedeaf.Theprocessisvisiblewhenweobservehowinfantsinternalizetheir firstlanguage.Asherreasonedthatthefastest,leaststressfulwaytoachieve understandingofanytargetlanguageistofollowdirectionsutteredbythe instructor(withoutnativelanguagetranslation)(Larsen2000:108). AccordingtoRichards&Rodgers(1986),TotalPhysicalResponse(TPR)isa languageteachingmethodbuiltaroundthecoordinationofspeechandaction;it attemptstoteachlanguagethroughphysical(motor)activity.TPRislinkedtothe tracetheoryofmemoryinpsychologywhichholdsthatthemoreoftenorthe more intensively a memory connection is traced, the stronger the memory associationwillbeandthemorelikelyitwillberecalled.Retracingcanbedone verbally (e.g. by rote repetition) and/ or in association with motor activity. Combined tracing activities, such as verbal rehearsal accompanied by motor activity,henceincreasetheprobabilityofsuccessfulrecall. Ashersemphasisondevelopingcomprehensionskillsbeforethelearneris taughttospeaklinkshimtomovementinforeignlanguageteachingwhichWinitz (1981),inRichards&Rodgers(1986)callsitcomprehensionapproach.Generally speaking,TPRhasownedthefollowingCharacteristics 1.Theteacherdirectsandthestudentsactinresponse. 2.Understandingofthespokenlanguagemustbedevelopedinadvanceof speaking. 3.Understandingandretentionisbestachievedthroughmovementofthe studentsbodiesinresponsetocommands. 4.Listeningandphysicalresponseskillsareemphasizedoveroral
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production. 5.Studentsshouldneverbeforcedospeakbeforetheyareready.Asthe targetlanguageisinternalized,speakingwillbeemergednaturally. 6.Grammarandvocabularyareemphasizedoverotherlongareas.Spoken languageisemphasizedoverwrittenlanguage. 7.Wheneverpossible,humorisinjectedintothelessonstomakethelearners morecomfortableinlearninglanguages. (http://www.Englishraven.com/methodsTPR.Html)

2.ApproachandDesignofTheTPRMethod 2.1Approach 2.1.1.TheoryofLanguage The labeling and ordering of TPR classroom drills seem to be built on assumptionsthatowemuchtostructuralistorgrammarbasedviewsoflanguage. Asher (1977), as cited in Richards &Rodgers(1986) states that most of the grammaticalstructureofthetargetlanguageandhundredsofvocabularyitemscan belearnedfromtheskillfuluseoftheimperativeinstructor. AsIandmyfriendhavediscussedinourearlierpairassignmentaboutthe contribution of Fracios Gouin in developing foreign language teaching methodology,he(Gouin)triedtodividethewholehuman languageintothree called;objective,subjective,andfigurative.Likehim,Asheralsoseeslanguageas beingcomposedofabstractionswhichisnearlysimilartosubjectiveandfigurative languages,andnonabstraction,thatissimilartoobjective.Atthefirstlessonof GouinSeriesmethod,studentsareexpectedtolearntheobjectivelanguagethat canbeeasilydescribedbyconcertobjectsandactionverbs.Thesameistruefor
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TPR,too.Nonabstractionlanguageshouldbepresentedtostudentsbyconcrete nouns andimperatives verbs. He believesthat learnerscanacquire adetailed cognitive map as well as the grammatical structure of a language without recoursetoabstractions.Asherpointsoutthatuntilstudentsinternalizethetarget languagewiththeverbsandnounsinthecommandway,theyshouldnotbetaught theabstractionlanguage. Therefore,IamproudtosaythatAsherwasinfluencedbyGouin'sseriesmethod becauseasItriedtopointoutabovetheyhavealotofsimilarities,butalittlebit difference,thatis,Ashertriedtothechangethesentencesthatarepresentedtothe studentsseries statements to imperatives. Generally speaking TPR emphasizes more on sentences, verbs and nouns. Thus its language theory refers to the structuralview. 2.1.2.TheoryofLearning AccordingtoRichards&Rodgers(1986),Asherseesastimulusresponseview as providing the learning theory underlying language teaching pedagogy. Thus TPRtakesitsgroundinginbehavioralpsychology.ToreinforcememorizationTPR combinesmotoractivity(fulfillingthecommandsaftertheteacher)andverbal rehearsal(listeningtotheteacher'smodelandspeakingoutwhenoneisreadyto produce). Such combination can be labeled as an actionbased drill in the imperative form. To justify development of listening comprehension before expectinganyproductionfromthestudentAsherusesthefactsfromtheprocessof firstlanguageacquisitionwhenchildrenrespondphysicallytospokenlanguagein the form of parental commands. Only after a long silent period (from several monthstotwoorthreeyears)thechildsspeechproductionmechanismbeginsto function. Asheralsobelievesthatsecondlanguageteachingshouldbedirectedtothe rightbrainhemispherewhichisresponsibleformotoractivities,whiletheleft hemisphere(responsibleforverbalprocessing)watchesandlearns.Tosumupthis theoryinonesentence,TPRisbasedonrecreatingthefirstlanguagelearning processinthesecondandforeignlanguageclassroom,becausethehumanbrain
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and nervous system are biologically programmed to acquire language in a particular mode. The sequence is developing listening comprehension before productionskillsandthemodeissynchronizinglanguagewithbodymovements. Anotherimportantconditionforsuccessfullanguagelearningistheabsence of stress. First language acquisition takes place in a stress free environment, accordingtoAsher,whereastheadultlanguagelearningenvironmentoftencauses considerablestressandanxiety.Thekeytostressfreelearningistotapintothe naturalbioprogramforlanguagedevelopmentandthustorecapturetherelaxed andpleasurableexperiencesthataccompanyfirstlanguagelearning.Byfocusing onmeaninginterpretedthroughmovement,ratherthanonlanguageformsstudied intheabstract,thelearnerissaidtobeliberatedfromselfconsciousandstressful situationsandisabletodevotefullenergytolearning(Richards&Rodgers1986
2.2. Design To apply a method in language classroom, one should prepare its design.
Design is the level of method analysis (Richards and Rodgers , 1986). According to them it consists of the objective of the methods, the selection of contents and organization, types of learning tasks and teaching activities, the roles of learners, teachers and instructional materials. In addition, classroom procedures are included. Thus, I am going to discuss these points one by one in considering the foreign language teaching method called Total Physical response.

2.2.1. Objectives of the methods

A method or a technique in teaching and learning process must be developed in order to get a better purpose for a better life. TPR was developed in order to improve the better result of a second or a foreign language learning. It is obvious that people learn something new when they are enjoyed with it. Therefore, student also should have enjoyable experience in learning to communicate a foreign language. According to Larsen Freeman ( 2000) total physical response was developed 6

to reduce the stress people feel when studying a foreign language and thereby encourage student to persist in their study beyond a beginning level of proficiency. Richards and Rodgers(1986) write about the objectives of total physical response method as follows: The general objectives of total physical response are to teach oral proficiency at the beginning level, comprehension is a means to an end and the ultimate aim is to give basic speaking skills. TPR aims to produce earners who are capable of an uninhibited communication that is Intelligible to a native speaker . . . the goals . . . must be attainable through the use of action based drills in imperative form. From the above quote, therefore, we can derive some objectives of total physical response method. Teaching oral proficiency Using comprehension as a means to speaking Using action based drills in the imperative form.

2.2.2.Selection of contents and organization

Grammatical and lexical criteria are primary in selecting teaching items with the use of sentence based on syllabus. Total physical response requires initial attention to meaning rather than form of items. Therefore grammar is taught inductively . ( Richards and Rodgers, 1986). As we have discussed earlier, in TPR , at the beginning some lessons students are not forced to speak, until they are ready , as the infants do. Thus, the content of the lesson starts from a single word, for example walk, stop, point and so on. At this time students are expected to respond with action without utterance. Next the teacher can present the content with two or more words in imperative sentences. For example, commands such as , walk to the door, turn around, point to the door, touch the chair, walk to the chair and etc. After having in mind the imperative verbs , students are expand to nouns. The teacher presents nouns in using classroom objects and using charts, tables,

pictures and etc. For example door, chair, pen, pencil and etc. so contents are selected, at the beginning , from every day words. It is possible to summarize that, the contents of the TPR method should be selected and organized according to the devision of the language: non abstractions and abstractions ( Richards and Rodgers, 1986). No abstractions are represented by concrete nouns and imperative verbs. Therefore the methods of content , at the beginning includes different concrete nouns and imperative verbs. Because these contents can be achieved easily. Abstraction ( Asher 1981 328) includes phonology and morphology of the target language. Asher points out that when infants intake their first language, they are not forced to use abstract language process; the same is true for the second or the foreign language learners. They should not learn abstract language until they become good at the nonabstract languages. After internalizing these language process, they can learn abstracts. Therefore, when they reach there, the content of abstract language can be selected. These includes grammar, reading , writing and etc.

2.2.2.

Types of teaching and learning activities

While we are teaching foreign or second language by using physical response methods, major classroom activities are imperative drills. We use them to elicit physical action on the parts of students ( Richards and Rodgers, 1986). Asher affirms that children receive their initial input in the form of instructions couched in the imperative ( 1977, as cited in Nunan, 1991). With the imperatives or direct commands we can teach students different types of vocabularies; such as, our body parts. Teaching such vocabulary can be presented in the song form with a dance. Let us read the following teaching learning activities as example, which I have watch from internet: Topic: our body parts no. of students = 3 Teacher : head, shoulder, knees and toes ( touch, and dance) Students: head, shoulder , knees and toes ( touch , and dance )

Teacher: Head, shoulder , knees, toes, eyes, nose and ears ( touch and dance) Students: Head , shoulder, knees, toes , eyes, nose and ears ( touch and dance). Here in the example the teacher and the students say the vocabulary in singing form, touch and dance at the same time like gymnastic in ETV programmer. I think that the students are not the beginners, they may be ready to speak why because they are singing the parts of the body. The other teaching and learning activities rely on conversational dialogues , but they should be delayed until students are ready to speak. Therefore, to use them in the classroom, students should learn with imperatives for about 120 hours. This is because, according to Asher ( 1977), in Richards and Rodgers (1986), every day conversations are highly abstract and disconnected; therefore, to understand these conversations students require a lot of target language input. In another words, they should understand and internalize the target language in advance so that to converse each other properly. Role plays and slide presentations are also included in teaching learning activities using TPR. Role plays depend on every day situations such as at the restaurant, supermarket, gas station, shop, and the like. For example in the restaurant students may play as a customer and a waiter. Also role plays When students are ready to speak, they command their teacher and classmates to perforations The slide presentation are used to provide a visual center for teacher narration which is followed by commands and for questions to students. For example which person in the picture is the sales person? Reading and writing activities may also employed to further consolidate structures and vocabularies, and as follow up to oral imperative drills ( Richards and Rodgers, 1986)

2.2.2. Learners roles

Learners in TPR have the primary roles of listeners and performers. They listen attentively and respond both individually and collectively. They have little influence over the content of learning since the content is determined by the

teacher, who must follow the imperative form for lesson ( Richards and Rodgers, 1986). Larsen Freeman ( 2000) writes that learners are imitator of the teachers non- verbal model. There will be a role reversal (with individual students directing the teacher and the other student. Richards and Rodgers (1986) states that learners, in TPR method of foreign language teaching, monitor and evaluate their own progress. They are encouraged to speak when they feel ready to speak when a sufficient bases in the language has been internalized. n short, learners are Order takers and Performers.

2.2.3.Teachers roles
In the teaching learning process using TPR method, teacher plays an active and directive role. According to Larsen Freeman (2000) teacher is the director of all students behaviors. Moreover, Asher(1977), in Richards and Rodgers (1986), and in Brown(1994), states that the instructor is the director of a stage play in which the students are actors. Brown explains that the teacher is very directive in orchestrating a performance. This means he leads the students in every activities ,and also decides what the student are going to learn, and select supporting materials for classroom use. The teacher controls the language input the learners receive and provides raw materials that the learners will construct in their own minds. Teacher should follow the example of parents giving feedback to their children. At first parents correct the children very little, but as the child grows older, parents are less tolerant for mistake. At the beginning teacher should not interrupt in order to correct errors. Generally speaking the teacher commander and action monitor.

2.2.3.The role of instructional materials

There is generally no basic texts in a TPR course. At the beginning the teachers voice, mimes and gestures may be sufficient basis for classroom activities. Later the teacher use common classroom objects. Such as pen, pencil, black board, 10

chair, table and etc. As the lesson develops, the teacher makes or collecting supporting materials such as pictures, slides and word charts. Also Asher prepared students kits that focus on specific situation, such as the home, the supermarket and etc students may use the kits to construct scenes (for example, Put the stove in the kitchen, make your bed, read your book in the reading room, etc ( Richards and Rodgers, 1986).

2.2.4.Procedures
Let us watch any sample classroom during teaching and learning process from Larsen Freeman(2000),that is extracted in the dialogue form. I used the parenthesis for the actions performed by the teacher and the students. The beginning of th first lesson (using only mother tongue). Teacher gives explanation within the learners mother tongue. Four volunteer students are selected and sat with the teacher facing other students. The teacher told other students to listen and watch. I. The lesson begins ( only using English) Students: ( stand up) 1. Teacher: stand up. ( by standing and signing the four students to stand up) Teacher: Sit down. ( the teacher and the four students sat down) Teacher: stand up. sit down. stand up. sit down ( The teacher ad students perform the action several times)

2. Teacher: Turn around. ( she turned around) Students: ( The turn around by following her. Teacher : Teacher: Teacher: Students: Turn around ( by performing the action ) Sit down . Stand up. Sit down .Stand up. Walk. [ by walking to the students seats] ( Walked to their friends seat with the teacher) Students: ( Turn their face to the other students)

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Teacher: Stop . Jump. Stop. turn around. Walk. stop Jump. Stop. Turn around. Walk. Stop. Turn around. Walk. Jump . turn around. Sit down. (the teacher gave commands quickly by changing their previous order and performed the action together). 3. Teacher: Stand up, sit down, walk, stop. Turn around Walk. turn around. sit down. Walk. stop. Turn around. Walk. Turn around, sit down (Now the teacher is sitting down on her seat). Students : (Performed perfectly) 4 . Teacher: (teacher asks one of the volunteer students to follow her command stand up. Sit down walk. Stop, etc Student: (perform correctly.) 5. Teacher: stand up. sit down. stand up. Jump. Stop class: ( Perform the action). II. 1.Teacher : Teacher: Students: Teacher : Teacher : Students: Teacher: Students: Teacher: Students : Teacher : point to the door (by pointing with her index finger) point to the desk (by pointing the to desk) (performed the action) point to the chair. stand up point to the door. (Stood up and pointed to the door) Walk to the door (by walking to the door) (walked with the teacher) Touch the door ( by touching). (performed the action with the teacher) point to the desk . Walk to the desk. Touch the desk. Point to the door. Walk to the door. Touch the door. Point to the chair - walk to the chair touch the chair. (She continued the commands by changing their order) 2. Teacher : (by sitting) She told students to command each other. 12

Students : (performed the action)

Students : (performed the action

Students: Walk to the door, touch the door point to the door. Teacher: Class : Teacher : stand up- sit down. Stand up pint to the desk point to the door, walk to the door, etc ( Perform the action) stand up- Jump to the desk ( students laugh ). Touch the desk. sit on the desk. Students: (Confused with the new command and laughed) (but later they perform it) Teacher: point to the door and walk to the door. Students: (performed perfectly) Teacher: Class: (writes the new commands on the black board by acting out. (Copy the sentences to their note books) class is over.

After a week students speak a lot (Larsen Freeman, 2000: 108 -111) From this classroom lesson experience I can list some procedures as a summary. 1. Teacher tells instruction with the students native language and select four volunteer students (This could be until students understand the classroom language. Therefore, this step may be optional. 2. Teacher gives the command and then models the action while the students listen and watch. 3. Teacher gives the command and model the action by signing the action to the students students perform. This action can be done several times. 4. Teacher gives command without modeling the action by sitting; students perform the action appropriately. 5. Teacher gives command with out modeling individual student, the student perform the action. 6. Teacher gives command, with out modeling, the whole class. 7.T eacher writes the new commands on the black board by acting out. Students copy the sentences to their note books. 8. Teacher gives command with out modeling the action; students repeat the verbal commands and perform the action. 13

Generally, throughthesespecificprocedures,wecanfindthatthecommand

andtheactionarerepeatedagainandagain.Inthisway,first,studentscan establish the connection between the target language and the action and understand the target language by themselves. Second, students will remember the meaning of the target language unconsciously,while performingtheactionscommandedbytheteacher.

3. Advantages and disadvantages of TPR

Every creation in the world, has its own advantages as well as disadvantages. While we are talking or writing about some things or some bodys work, it is better to start from good did. Thus I am going to discuss about the advantage and disadvantages of total physical response method of teaching foreign or second language in starting with its strengths.

3.1

Advantages13

TPR has a lot of advantages. First it ( Brown, 1994) utilizes the imperative mood, even into more advanced proficiency levels; commands are an easy way to get learners to move about and loosen up. Therefore, if it is presented in skillful manner, by skillful teacher, it helps the learners to drill the target language repeatedly without losing students interest. This means it has an ability to encourage and sustain their interest and also to attract their attention for a long time. This is because, TPR motivates the students, since it is enjoyable for students especially, youngers around. I have got a chance to watch different TPR classroom in teaching learning process in Internet. They do not sit on the chair only. All students were motivated the whole period, always laughing and smiling , with the command and model of 14 , are enjoying getting up out of their chairs and moving

the teacher; they run, walk , touch , Jump, jump on the chair, jump on the table, lay down on the floor, sweep the floor, carry the chair, touch different parts of their bodies. So, in my observation this activities made the student motivated. Moreover, the language is directly used in context. This makes the language memorable. Students memory will be stored longer since they used their bodies to acquire the meaning of the words. Furthermore, it is an interesting and effective way to develop the intellect of children. For example, in my watching of the TPR class in Internet which I pointed out above, students are told to do different activities, including the formers, teacher commanded them to dance, to sing, to climb up and climb down the steps, to touch different parts of computer, to make bed, to cook food, to butter and to slice cakes , to draw picture on the air and on the blackboard , to play a game, to identify similar things; colors, numbers, letters, etc. These and other activities, totally the teaching learning processes, in addition to developing students intellect, meet the students learning preferences, that is , Kinaesthetic ( touching , doing . . . ) , visual ( watching . . . ) and auditory ( listening . . . ).

3.2.Disadvantages 14
Besides its strength, TPR has different limitations. First, it needs the patient, energetic and enthusiastic teacher and also bilingual-especially, very good at the target language. As I attempted to discuss in this paper the teacher is leading students to do the actions rather than standing in front of the black board and just talking. While I was watching the TPR classroom, the teacher was doing every activity before the students, including lying down on the floor and was speaking loud with his commands. There was no room to sit or to stand up for a long time, a little bit. Because of this, the teacher needs energy. He needs enthusiasm because if he is not creative and active enough, children will be tired by the repetitive practices. If I put my self, in his shoes, I could not do that I lack patience, energy and creativity. Second, TPR is not very effective in a large class size. If there are too many students in one class, it will be hard for the teacher to guarantee that every learner

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gets enough practice. The classroom of TPR I watched was not more than twelve students that is, between five and twelve. But, if we want to apply in our situation, it is very difficult, due to the class size of our schools. Also TPR can work well with imperatives in instructions and vocabularies , but I am afraid, it may not function well with more complex grammar, whether it is videotape,etc. Third, TPR only works for children and beginners. It is clear that the teaching technique is a powerful tool that enables students to internalize a huge volume of a target language with a high speed; however, the achievement can exhaust student, especially advanced and adults. Forth, it is difficult to teach impaired students as it needs physical activities as well as sight, but we can teach students with hearing problem. supported by technology or without using for example, computer,

4.Personal view on the method

I have gained a lot of knowledge about, the way to teach children a second or a foreign language from TRR. Firstly, I understood the importance of making students free from stress. Most of the time, children do not like to worry about some thing rather, they would be funny. This means they are motivated in playing, singing, dancing and etc, despite of individual difference. Thus, the same is true for language learners. If this is so , students can learn the language easily. Next, this assignment leads me back to see my previous teaching experience. In 1998 E.C, when I was teaching in elementary schools, I used to teach English language and sport the same class- grade 5. Knowingly or unknowingly, most of the time, I used imperative drills in presenting both of the subjects I was teaching, especially sport. Even if the medium of instruction was Afan oromo, I used English language to teach it. There sport was taught not inside the classroom, but out side. Therefore, while I was commanding them to do different physical exercises; such as , walk , jump, run, bend back, bend forth, kneel down, bend left , bend right lie down, stand

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up and the like, I used English language rather than Afan Oromo. These activities helped those students to put the vocabularies into their long memory. What comes to my mid is, while they were playing at break time in the football field, they were using English language instead of their mother tongue. I think so that, because the imperative drills I was using at sport period influenced them to use English, even out side the classroom. So, it is possible to conclude that imperative drills have enough power for teaching second or foreign language. Furthermore, for the sake of doing this assignment I am forced to read different materials to know much about the Ashers foreign language teaching method- TPR. I also watched different English TPR classroom during the teaching learning process in a computer window. From these materials I have understood much how children learn the foreign and second language easily. Lastly , I tried to review different Ethiopian English students text booksespecially Grade 1- 8 expect grade 2 and 4 (because I could not get them). In these text books I have found a lot of activities which are nearly similar to TPR. I am going to discuss about activities by taking some of them as example. To begin with grade one: 1. T: Show me your head. T: Touch your foot. St: [ Points to her head] this is my head. St: ( Touches her foot). (Page 17)

2. T. Touch the pencil. Touch the bag. Touch the ruler. (P.95) Here , I expected that students should touch the materials from the picture in the text book. 3. T. stand near the blackboard. Stand near the chair. Sit down near the window. ( P. 101) Here teachers use the command to teach the preposition ( 4. near) because in all commands we get it. So the activities help the learners to associate the meaning of near with the action they are doing. Grade three: There are pictures of a boy and a girl in the text book wearing different clothes. T: Touch her Sweater. Toucher shoes. Touch her skirt. Touch his Sweater. Touch his shoes ( p. 19). In this lesson the teacher may present the topic in telling students to take out page 19and make see the picture of children. And while he is saying the command he told them to touch the clothes of the children. 17

Grade five: In this grade level imperative drills are used for giving classroom instructions and for creating situation for conversation concerning on daily routines. Give your paper to a partner to read ( p. 95) can be example for the former. The second activities can be best examples of the latter. Daily routines: Ann: Bekele: Ann: when do you usually get up? at six Oclock. What does it mean in your time?

Bekele: At twelve Oclock in the morning. Ann: can you draw the time and show me. Bekele: yes of course, [ Draw and show the time] P. 47 Grade six In this text book, like the former, imperative drills mostly used for giving classroom instructions, such as, Talk with your partner ( p. 41); to teach simple present tense like, Every day I wash my face. In the evening I make dinner ( p.77). Grade seven In this level, the imperatives are used to teach tenses; especially, simple present tense in the conversation. St1: when do you wash your face? St2: I wash my face every morning when I wake up. St1: What do you do when you get out of bed in the morning? S2. I put on my clothes, brush my teeth, and wash my face. St1. What else do you do? St2: I eat my breakfast, gather my books, and walk to school ( P. 72). These activities can be presented by using pictures or by making students to panto mime the action. Also in this level imperatives help teacher to present past tense through present tense. St1: I go to school everyday. Grade eight Imperatives are used to give complex instruction to students, for example, name 18 St2. I went to school yesterday ((P. 90).

three ways that you can learn about national museum. Generally speaking , according my little revision of the text books, at the beginning the imperatives need to teach very simple lessons, where as , as the grade level of the students increases the complexities of the imperatives also increased. Earlier, we have discussed that, according Asher any language embodies abstractions and non- abstraction. So, when students are at a low grade level, they are expected to learn the non-abstract ones, where as, when their grade level ups, students are expected to learn the abstract language complex. This helps us to finalize the Asher method of teaching was designed from simple to complex or from concert to abstract. My review of students' text books tells us some thing that every of us, including Asher might agree with that, we can not teach every language aspects by using only TPR method , so it is better to combine with other methods of teaching foreign language. Let me sum up my discussion with the Ashers statement . . . . it should be included together with other methods ( 1977, as cited in Harmer 2001)

References
Anner , M.C. 2004. Teaching English as a foreign language ELIA, pp.75-87. Asheer. J. 1981. The Total Physical Response: Theory and practice. California: department of psychology san jose state university pp 324-331 Brown. H. D. 1994. Principles of Language learning and teaching ( 3rd edn). 19

London: Prentice-Hall International . Harmer. J. 2001.The practice of English Language teaching. Malasya: Pearson educational limited.

http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/rodgers.html
http:// www. Englishraven.com/ methods TPR. Html

http://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=A0SO8ZzI
Institution for Curriculum Development and Research. 2007. English for Ethiopia Grade 6 & 5. Addis Ababa. Mega printing PLC. Larsen freeman, D.2000. Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching(2nd ed). New York: oxford university press. Numan, D. 1995. Language teaching methodology. New York: Prentice Hall international. Richards and Rodgers. 1986. Approaches and Methods in Language Ministry of Education. 2007. English for Ethiopia students text book Grade 1. Addis Ababa: EMPDE Ministry of Education. 2007. English for Ethiopia students text book Grade 3. Addis Ababa: EMPDE Ministry of Education. 2007. English for Ethiopia students text book Grade 5. Addis Ababa: EMPDE Ministry of Education. 2007. English for Ethiopia students text book Grade 7. Addis Ababa: EMPDE

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