Document Type
Research Project
Majors
Spanish
Secondary Education
Completion Date
5-9-2013
Abstract
The following research addresses a critical question in the field of foreign language education; specifically, the research was conducted at a high school in the Spanish 2 classroom. First, the question was decided upon after careful observation of 95 Spanish students in Spanish 2. Many students struggle with communicating with one another; communication is a key component in learning a foreign language. The students struggled because they did not know vocabulary words to communicate. Therefore, this research studies the effect of Total Physical Response in the foreign language classroom. TPR is a method which requires students to physically respond to words. TPR also assumes that by producing words, students then understand the words. the research question is as follows: Will total physical response increase vocabulary retention in second tear Spanish students?
To collect this data, there were three different methods used: observation, student interviews, and data collection. The data collection shows the average scores between two different classes. One, the control class, learned the vocabulary as normal. There was no difference in the methodology and no use of TPR. The data shows that the class who used TPR scored an average of 2.64 points higher. Additionally, initial observation showed that students were more engaged when using TPR.
Research Question(s)
Will total physical response increase vocabulary retention in second tear Spanish students?
Recommended Citation
Buckman, Amy, "Total Physical Response in the Foreign Language Classroom" (2013). Education Senior Action Research Projects. 24.
https://scholar.valpo.edu/sarp/24
