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IMPROVING STUDENTS’ ENGLISH VOCABULARY
BY USING TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE (A Classroom Action Research in the Sixth Year of MI NU Manafiul Ulum
Kudus in the Academic Year of 2009-2010)
A Thesis
By Nining Pujiningsih
S890908124
Submitted to Fulfill One of the Requirements for Getting Graduate Degree in
English Education
ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
GRADUATE SCHOOL
SEBELAS MARET UNIVERSITY
SURAKARTA
2010
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ii
APPROVAL
This thesis entitled “Improving Students’ English Vocabulary by Using Total Physical Response ( A Classroom Action Research in the Sixth Year of MI NU Manafiul Ulum Kudus in the Academic Year of 2009-2010)” has been approved by the consultants.
Surakarta, June 2010
Consultant I Consultant II
Dr. Ngadiso, M.Pd. Dr. Abdul Asib, M.Pd. NIP.19621231 198803 1 009 NIP. 19520307 198003 1 005
The Head of English Education Department
Graduate School
Sebelas Maret University
Dr. Ngadiso, M.Pd. . NIP.19621231 198803 1 009
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LEGITIMATION FROM THE BOARD OF EXAMINERS
IMPROVING STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY BY USING TOTAL PHYSICAL
RESPONSE (A Classroom Action Research in the Sixth Year of MI NU Manafiul
Ulum Kudus in the Academic Year of 2009-2010)
By
Nining Pujiningsih
S890908124
This thesis has been examined by the board of thesis examiners of the English
Department, Graduate School of Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta on
………………2010
Board of the examiners: Signature
Chairman : Prof. Dr. Joko Nurkamto, M.Pd. (………………)
NIP. 19610124 198702 1 001
Secretary : Dr. Sujoko, MA. (………………)
NIP. 19510912 198003 1 002
Members : 1. Dr. Ngadiso, M.Pd. (……………….)
2. Dr. Abdul Asib, M.Pd.. (……………….)
The Director of Graduate School The Head of English Education Department
Prof. Drs. Suranto, M.Sc., Ph.D. Dr. Ngadiso, M.Pd. NIP. 19570820 198503 1 004 NIP.19621231 198803 1 009
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PRONOUNCEMENT
The following student:
Name : Nining Pujiningsih
Number of Student Registration : S890908124
Truly pronounced that, all aspects of this thesis entitled IMPROVING
STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY BY USING TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE (A
Classroom Action Research in the Sixth Year of MI NU Manafiul Ulum Kudus in
the Academic Year of 2009-2010) are my own original work. All statements in
this thesis which do not belong to the writer have been written between quotation
marks and can be shown, explained, and also proved in the list of bibliography.
If my pronouncement proves wrong on the other day, I will accept all
consequences or any academic punishment.
Surakarta, June 2010
Nining Pujiningsih
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ABSTRACT
Nining Pujiningsih, S 890908124: Improving Students’ Vocabulary By Using Total Physical Response (A Classroom Action Research in the Sixth Year of MI NU Manafiul Ulum Kudus in the Academic Year of 2009-2010) Surakarta: English Education Department Graduate School of Sebelas Maret University. 2010.
The objective of the research is to know whether Total Physical Response can improve students’ English vocabulary and the most significant improvement of it, and also to identify the advantages of TPR in improving students’ English vocabulary in MI NU Manafiul Ulum Kudus.
The research was conducted in MI NU Manafiul Ulum Kudus for about seven months from October 2009 to April 2010. The method of the research is classroom action research. The procedure of the research consists of identifying the problem, planning the action, implementing the action, observing the action, and reflecting the result of the research. The subject of research was the students of the sixth grade. In collecting the data the researcher used observation notes, diaries, video recording, interview, and tests. To analyze the qualitative data, the researcher analyzed the improvement of vocabulary mastery by applying the five steps of the data interpretation technique, they are 1) extending the analysis by raising questions, 2) Connecting the findings with the personal experience, 3) Seeking the advice of critical friends, 4) Contextualizing findings in the literature, and 5) Turning to the theory. To analyze the quantitative data, the researcher applied descriptive analysis and t-test.
The research findings show that Total Physical Response can improve the
students’ English vocabulary including the meaning, spelling, pronunciation, and using of words. The most significant improvement was the aspect of meaning and spelling. TPR could increase the students’ motivation and confidence in learning vocabulary. TPR could change the students to be active learners as they involved in the activity and they automatically learned by doing. Somehow, there were some weaknesses of applying TPR; the students still got difficulty in aspect of using word in sentence and they were sometimes confused to cover the four aspects of vocabulary at the same time. That’s why the improvement of the pronunciation aspect and using of words were not significant.
Based on the research findings, the research suggests: first, to the teacher
to teach English by using TPR, the activities actually can be modified based on the students’ interest as long as it covers the four aspects of vocabulary mastery. Second, the students should be totally in getting involved in the teaching learning process. Making mistakes is part of learning process and they need not to be afraid of. Third, the other researchers should prepare the planning of the research well and develop some dimensions that have been observed deeply.
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MOTTO
Verily, Allah will not change (good) condition of people as long as they do not
change their state (of goodness) themselves (by committing sins and by being
ungrateful and disobedient of Allah) (Q.S. Ar-Ra’ad: 11)
Never give up till we get what we want.
Life is a journey, so make the best of it.
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DEDICATION
This thesis is dedicated to:
Her parents, Mamah Eutik Mintarsih and Bapak H. Edom Suryadi, for their
unconditional love, support and prayers along her life. They give her the true love.
Her beloved husband. Raden Mas Hendy Hendro Hadi Srijono, M.Si. For his
love, affection and never ending support in facing this life
Her beloved children, Raden Mas Afriezal Rizki Hadi Perdana, Raden Ajeng
Nindy Dyah Kusuma Proborini, Raden Mas Irwanda Restu Hadi Perbawa, for
their love and wish, they remind her to finish this thesis
Her beloved brothers and sisters, for their love and supports
Her beloved friends, for their love, cares and never ending support in finishing
this thesis
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AKNOWLEDGEMENT
Alhamdulillahirobbil‘alamiin. Praise be to Allah SWT as the writer is able
to finish this thesis entitled “Improving Students’ English vocabulary by Using
Total Physical Response (A Classroom Action Research in the Sixth Year of MI
NU Manafiul Ulum Kudus in the Academic Year of 2009-2010)” as one of the
requirements for achieving the Graduate Degree of the English Education of
Sebelas Maret University.
This work could not be completed without a great deal of help. In this
occasion the writer would like to express her sincere gratitude to Dr. Ngadiso,
M.Pd. and
Dr. Abdul Asib, M.Pd., as the consultants who had given their valuable advices
and guidance to arrange this thesis. This gratitude is also given to:
1. The Director of Graduate School who gives permission to the writer to write
this thesis.
2. The Head of the English Education Department who gives permission to the
writer to write this thesis.
3. Syaikhul Mukmin, S.Pd.I., the Headmaster of MI NU Manafiul Ulum Kudus,
for giving his permission to the writer to conduct the research in MI NU
Manafiul Ulum Kudus.
4. Tashliyati, S.Pd., the class teacher and research collaborator.
5. Her beloved family, Mamah Eutik and Bapak Haji Edom, sisters and brothers,
her husband, Raden Mas Hendy HH Sridjono, M.Si., her children Afriezal,
Nindy, and Irwanda, for their love, cares, and never ending supports.
6. Her beloved friends, Runtung, Rusiana, and Siti Fatimah, for their love, care,
motivation and help.
7. Her beloved students in MI NU Manafiul Ulum, especially for Ridho who was
her best student and Didin who gave her some impression, for always giving
her good times to do research.
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8. Her big family of the English Department of the Graduate Program 2008. For
their friendship and support.
Finally, the writer realizes that this thesis is far from being perfect. Therefore it is
really a pleasure for her to receive criticism, comment, and suggestion.
Surakarta, June 2010
The writer,
NP
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE ....................................................................................................................... i
APPROVAL ............................................................................................................. ii
LEGIMITATION ..................................................................................................... iii
PRONOUNCEMENT .............................................................................................. iv
ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. v
MOTTO .................................................................................................................... vi
DEDICATION .......................................................................................................... vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ....................................................................................... viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................... ix
LIST OF APPENDICIES ........................................................................................ xii
LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................... xiii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
A. Background of The Study ............................................................ 1
B. Formulation of the Problem ......................................................... 8
C. Objective of the Study .................................................................. 8
D. Benefit of the Study ..................................................................... 8
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
A. The Nature of Vocabulary and Mastery
1. The Definition of Vocabulary Mastery .................................. 10
2. Types of vocabulary ............................................................... 11
3. Learning and Teaching Vocabulary ....................................... 13
4. Teaching Vocabulary and Its Purpose for Students of MI
Manafiul Ulum Kudus ........................................................... 14
5. Teaching Process of English Vocabulary .............................. 18
6. Vocabulary Learning Strategies ............................................. 20
B. Total Physical Response
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1. Definition of Total Physical Response ................................... 25
2. History of Total Physical Response ...................................... 26
3. Total Physical Response in Teaching Vocabulary ................. 27
C. The Nature of Teaching English to Young Learners and
Development of Young Learner
1. Teaching English to Young Learners ..................................... 30
2. Techniques and Resources ..................................................... 37
3. Young Learner’s Development .............................................. 41
4. The Language Development of Children ............................... 43
D. Rationale ...................................................................................... 45
E. Hypothesis .................................................................................... 47
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
A. Setting of the Research ................................................................ 48
B. The Subject of the Research ......................................................... 49
C. The Method of the Research ........................................................ 49
D. The Procedures of the Study ........................................................ 50
E. Data and Sources of Data ............................................................. 53
F. Technique of Collecting Data ...................................................... 54
G. Technique of Analyzing Data ...................................................... 54
CHAPTER IV RESEARCH FINDING AND DISCUSSION
A. Introduction .................................................................................. 58
B. Report of Cycle 1
1. Planning ................................................................................. 60
2. Action of Cycle 1 ................................................................... 62
3. Observing ............................................................................... 71
4. Reflecting of Cycle 1 ............................................................. 74
5. Revising the Plan ................................................................... 75
C. Report of Cycle 2
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1. Revised the Plan ..................................................................... 76
2. Action of Cycle 2 ................................................................... 78
3. Observing ............................................................................... 86
4. Reflecting of Cycle 2 ............................................................. 89
5. Revising the Plan ................................................................... 91
D. Research Findings ................................................................. 92
E, Discussion ................................................................................ 92
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION, IMPLICATION, SUGGESTION
A. Conclusion ................................................................................... 98
B. Implication ................................................................................... 99
C. Suggestion .................................................................................... 99
BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................... 101
APPENDICIES
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LIST OF APPENDICIES
Page
1. Appendix 1 : The field Note Observation ....................................................... 104
2. Appendix 2: Tape Script of English Teacher’s Interview .............................. 106
3. Appendix 3 : Interview to the Students ........................................................... 108
4. Appendix 4: The result of pre-test 1 .............................................................. 121
5. Appendix 5: The result of post-test 1 ............................................................. 122
6. Appendix 6: The result of pre-test 2 ............................................................... 123
7. Appendix 7: The result of post-test 2 ............................................................. 124
8. Appendix 8: The result of post-test 1 and post-test 2 ...................................... 125
9. Appendix 9: The result of t-test of pre-test and post-test 1 ............................. 126
10. Appendix 10: The result of t-test of pre-test and post-test 2 ........................... 127
11. Appendix 11: The result of t-test of post-test 1 and 2 ..................................... 128
12. Appendix 12: Lesson Plan .............................................................................. 129
13. Appendix 13: Photograph of teaching and learning process ........................... 166
14. Appendix 14: Sample of Instrument of the pre-test andf post-test of cycle 1... 169
15. Appendix 15: Sample of Instrument of the pre-test andf post-test of cycle 1... 172
16. Appendix 16: Sample of Collaborator Journal................................................ 175
17. Appendix 17: Copy of Letter Permission ....................................................... 181
18. Appendix 18: Copy of The Profil of MI Nu Manafiul Ulum .......................... 182
19. Appendix 19: Copy of Silabus ........................................................................ 184
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LIST OF TABLES
Page
1. Table 1: Types of vocabulary, their features and implication for teaching and
Learning process .............................................................................. 11
2. Table 2: Knowing about a word ...................................................................... 19
3. Table 3: The schedule of research ................................................................... 48
4. Table 4: Time allotment of meetings in cycle 1 .............................................. 61
5. Table 5: The material of cycle 1 ..................................................................... 61
6. Table 6: The implication of cycle 1 ................................................................ 75
7. Table 7: Time allotment of cycle 2 ................................................................. 77
8. Table 8: The material of cycle 2 ..................................................................... 77
9. Table 9: The implementation of cycle 2 ......................................................... 89
10. Table 10: The progress report of research ....................................................... 91
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
English plays an important role in globalization era. It is widely used as a
means of communication among people around the world. For example: the use of
English as a means of communications among the nations of ASEAN
(Association of Southeast Asian Nations). Indonesia is one of nine ASEAN
members, the Indonesian government has taken step to introduce English as a
subject in the school curriculum in the primary years. And, the final goal of
teaching English at the elementary school based on the 1989 Constitution on the
System of National Education is to enable the students to be functionally
proficient in English (Rachmajanti, 2008).
Actually, English has been included and decided as the first foreign
language since 1945. Further, since the issue of the Decree of the Minister of
Education and Culture No. 096/1967, English has been incorporated into
secondary-school curriculum as compulsory subject. Prior to the launching of the
1999 Curriculum, English was only introduced at the secondary schools
(Rachmajanti, 2008: 161). However, because of its importance, in Indonesia,
English has been introduced for Elementary School. In Elementary School,
government has already run a policy and regulation to include English subject as a
local content.
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Several arguments supporting the importance of English for Elementary
School students are: (1) speaking English in Indonesia is required for the demands
of tourism industries; (2) nowadays, the result of final examinations in many
schools is unsatisfactory; (3) some educators believe that the earlier the children
learn a foreign language, the more opportunity the will acquire a high proficiency
in the target language; and (4) the Indonesian government has automatically
prepared the human resources for the future.
In line with those arguments, nowadays almost all of Elementary Schools
especially in Kudus either state or private school, includes English in their
curriculum. Although it is only a local content, many parents are willing to give
more experience and material of English by sending their children to English
private courses. It proves that not only the government but also the parents in this
case, have realized the importance of introducing English earlier to their children.
Then, as students of Elementary School are young learners, teaching
English sometimes becomes difficult to be done. They perhaps think that English
is a strange language as it is extremely different from their first and second
languages. It will be much more difficult if they do not realize the importance of
learning English. That’s why, the teacher should introduce the importance of
learning English to them in the first meeting of English class. Next, the way of
teaching English should be considered as the important thing because the success
of learning teaching process depends much on it. An appropriate method and
approach in teaching English will enable the early age students to comprehend
English holistically.
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For the beginners, vocabulary is more appropriate to enhance them to the
next material in different skills. Vocabulary is the first thing should be taught
because without having enough vocabulary someone will learn nothing. The
students’ mastery of English vocabulary can be measured through the students’
capability in using them in written or spoken. They truly know about English
vocabulary when they are capable to write and use them correctly. Immediately
they can jot down the words they listen; they know the meaning of them-indicated
by correct using of them in written.
They are able to use the vocabulary if they know the meaning, how to
pronounce, how to spell, and how to use them in a sentence. Knowing the
meaning of some words does not merely know its translation in different
language. Knowing means understanding how the words are put in different
contexts and used differently. For example: good morning. The students not only
know that good morning is selamat pagi but they can greet someone in the
morning using good morning.
How to pronounce can be understood from pronouncing the words
correctly. Students can distinguish the slightly different words such as, tree and
three. English has more complex pronunciation than Bahasa Indonesia, and it
often becomes a problem. For example: a student says thank you the same as they
say tank you. For us, Indonesian people it does not a big deal because we do
understand each other. Yet, for the native speaker it is irritable thing as the
meaning of the word will be far away or it means nothing.
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How to spell means that the students are able to spell the words. It will be
difficult thing when the words are similar to the others. For example: sea and see.
Usually, it is tightly connected with knowing of words. When students understand
the word, they will be able to indicate whether to spell sea or see.
How to use words is an ability to use or to apply the words either in
spoken or written. For example: a student says, “jump to the left” when the teacher
says “jump”. In another occasion, the student says: “jump to the chair ”. In this
case, of course, the student has already understood how to use the word jump in
different contexts.
In line with the conditions of mastering vocabulary, in a fact, the method
of teaching vocabulary in many schools seems to be inappropriate yet. Nearly all
of teachers give the vocabularies directly when the students ask the meaning of
English words and do not give them an understanding in a context so that the
students really know how to use those words. Sometimes, vocabularies are given
in the form of list of vocabularies to be memorized. In this case, vocabularies will
be like words saving in students’ mind. Unfortunately, they cannot use the words
when needed as they only know the translation of those. Actually, learning
vocabularies will be much easier if they are given in a context. For example, if we
tell our students that the English of buku is book. It is better if we also tell them
words read, take, open, close, etc. Surely, the students will understand when there
is a sentence; read a book, open the book, and so forth. In different occasion,
probably they will be able to say open the window, close the door, etc. That‘s
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why, the meaning, the spelling, the pronunciation and the example of using the
words also important to give.
Related to vocabulary mastery, it is found that students of Madrasah
Ibtidaiyah NU Manafi’ul Ulum are poor in vocabulary mastery. It is caused by
some factors including pronunciation, lack of language input, lack of language
practice. English pronunciation often makes students feel stressful since the letter
and the pronunciation is different depends on the words. Then, to be said that
students lack of language input because students have English class only once a
week for about an hour and they do not have other sources to study about English.
Unfortunately, no one takes an English private course. They depend only on the
teacher. Certainly, they have limited material and get little experience of English.
Further, limited time of English class will cause the students’ lack of practice. As
English is seldom met in their real life experience, the frequency of practicing
English is less.
The teacher might give contribution to this problem. It is almost always
that the teacher teaches vocabularies by giving list of words and let the students
memorize them. Obviously, the way cannot be said as teaching. The students, of
course are not willing to do so as memorizing the words in such way is difficult.
They would not know how to pronounce, how to spell, and how to use the words.
They might know the meaning, but actually they only know the translation of
particular words.
Generally, vocabularies for elementary students are those related to their
environment. It will help much since the objects are available and they have
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already known those in their native language or national language. For example:
things in the classroom. All of students have understood the thing, the name, and
the function of those in the classroom. So, it is a challenge for the teacher to find a
proper method to improve the students’ ability in mastering the vocabularies.
There are many methods in teaching vocabularies and one of them is Total
Physical Response (TPR). To be fitted with the students’ age, this method seems
to be appropriate to teach vocabulary since children seem like playing and moving
all the time. As they are interested in body movement, vocabulary actually can be
taught through action. Basically, first vocabularies for children are easy to be
conveyed in action. Take it for granted, all of students are willing to do some
actions in the classroom together with their friends.
Therefore, the researcher would apply Total Physical Response as a
method in teaching vocabulary in Madrasah Ibtidaiyah NU Manafi’ul Ulum
Kudus. Total Physical Response is a language teaching method built around the
coordination of speech and action. It attempts to teach language through physical
(motor) activity. TPR makes learning become enjoyable and less stressful.
Here, some of they key features of Total Physical Response method: (1)
The teacher directs and students act in response-the instructor is the director of the
stage play in which the students are the actors (Asher, 1977: 43); (2) Listening
and physical response skills are emphasized over oral production; (3) The
imperative mood is the most common language function employed, even well into
advanced level. Interrogatives are also heavily used; (4) Whenever possible,
humor is injected into the lesson to make learning be enjoyable for learners; (5)
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Students are not required to speak until they feel naturally ready or confident
enough to do so; grammar and vocabulary are emphasized over other language
areas; (6) and spoken language is emphasized over written language (Larsen-
Freeman, 1986: 118-120).
The key features of TPR are suitable with the students’ interest and
condition. That is why certainly the writer would like to apply TPR as a method to
solve the problem of vocabulary mastery in the sixth year students of MI NU
Manafi’ul Ulum Kudus. Hopefully, the using of this method in English teaching
and learning can improve the students’ English vocabulary mastery because it
tends to be a lot of fun and the techniques involved are relatively simple. It is also
hoped that this method can be one of the joys of learning as well. From the
explanation above the writer is interested to know more the effect of using TPR
method in improving English vocabulary of Madrasah Ibtidaiyah NU Manafiul
Ulum students.
The target after applying Total Physical Response to the students of
Madrasah Ibtidaiyah NU Manafi’ul Ulum Kudus is the students’ vocabulary
mastery will improve significantly and they get an easy understanding how to
master English vocabulary through this method. They can find their own way in
creating physical (motor) activity to new words they know and are able to use
them either in spoken or written. So, this method enhanced the students to
improve their English vocabulary mastery independently-they can learn new
words by themselves after guided for the first.
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B. Formulation of the Problem
Based on the background of the study, the writer formulates the problem as
follows:
1. Can Total Physical Response improve the students’ English vocabulary?
2. What is the most significant improvement of the components of vocabulary
by using Total Physical Response?
3. What are the advantages of the implementation of Total Physical Response in
improving the students’ English vocabulary?
C. Objectives of the Study
This study attempts to solve the problems which need positive solutions, they
are:
1. To know whether Total Physical Response can improve students’ English
vocabulary in MI NU Manafiul Ulum Kudus.
2. To know the most significant improvement of students’ English vocabulary by
using total physical response.
3. To identify the advantages of total physical response in improving students,
English vocabulary in MI NU Manafiul Ulum Kudus.
D. Benefit of the Study
The research is expected to give some benefits for the students, the teachers,
and other researchers.
1. For the students.
Through Total Physical Response, the students will get an enjoyable situation
and get the clear words and their meanings, pronunciation, spelling and the
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use of them. The result of this study, hopefully, will improve their vocabulary
mastery.
2. For the teachers
For the teachers, by understanding the result of this study, they can be careful
in selecting teaching techniques and methods in their class. It is hoped that the
result of this study helps the teachers to teach vocabulary properly by using
Total Physical Response for Elementary School students.
3. For other researchers
For other researchers, the result of the study helps them in teaching
vocabulary. In conducting research process, the data offer the literature for the
researchers. It is hoped that the data can open their mind in completing
vocabulary field research.
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CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
In this chapter, the researcher would review some literature related to
vocabulary mastery by using Total Physical Response (TPR).
A. The Nature of Vocabulary and Mastery
The following will presents the nature of vocabulary and mastery from
different point of view:
1. The Definition of Vocabulary Mastery.
Whute (1986: 337) states, “Vocabulary is the word that is used in language.
They are elements that are combined to make sentences or discourse. The more
vocabulary will be needed in order to intake accurate word choice, so it will
effectively convey thought and ideas. Hornby (174: 252) states that vocabulary is
total number of words which make up language with rules for combining them.
Vocabulary of language consists of lexical forms (words) that refer to part of our
experience. In English, these words consist of consonants and vowels (Nasr, 1985:
36). Julian Edge (1993: 27) states that knowing many words in a foreign language
is important as it enables us to have more chance in understanding the language.
Mastery means natural or acquired facility in specific activity: ability,
adeptness, art, command, craft, expertise, expertness, knack, proficiency, skill,
technique (http://www.answers.com/topic/mastery). It can be said that mastery is
possession of skill, ability, and technique in conducting a certain activity.
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Mastering vocabulary deals with learning words at the first. Learning words
is a cyclical process of meeting new words and initial learning, followed by
meeting those words again and again, each time extending knowledge of what the
words mean and how they are used in the foreign language (Cameron, 2001: 74).
In short, vocabulary is words that are combined to express idea through
sentence or discourse. It is a starting point in learning English. It plays an
important role in learning; as a basic knowledge. Without knowing about
vocabulary, one will not be able to communicate with others. Mastering
vocabulary means knowing the form and the meaning of words and having ability
to use them communicatively either written or spoken. The aspects in vocabulary
mastery include pronunciation, spelling, meaning, and the use of the words.
Therefore, the indicators are:
a. Students know the meaning of words
b. Students are able to pronounce word correctly.
c. Students are able to spell or write words.
d. Students are able to use words in a sentence.
2. Types of vocabulary
Thorndike and Lorke in (Nation, 1990: 19) define types of vocabulary as
follows:
Table 1: Types of Vocabulary, their Features, and the Implications for Teaching
and Learning.
Types of Vocabulary
Number of Words Frequency Coverage
of Text Origins Implications for teaching and learning
High-frequency words
2,000
Occur frequently
About 87% of the running words in a
About half are from Latin, French, or
Spend a lot of time on these words. Make sure
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Academic vocabulary Technical vocabulary Low-frequency words
800 About 1,000 to 2,000 for each subject About 123,000
Occur frequently in most kinds of academic texts Occur, sometimes frequently, in specialized texts. Do not occur very frequently.
text. About 8% of the running words in academic text. About 3% of the running words in a specialized text. About 2% or more of the words in any text.
Greek. About two-thirds are from Latin, French, or Greek. About two-thirds are from Latin, French, or Greek.
About two-thirds are from Latin, French, or Greek.
they are learned. If learners are in upper-secondary school or in tertiary education, spend a lot of time on these words. Make sure they are learned. Learning the subject involves learning the vocabulary. Subject teachers can deal with the vocabulary, but the English teacher can help with learning strategies. Teaching strategies for dealing with these words. The words themselves do not deserve teaching time.
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3. Learning and Teaching Vocabulary
Nation (in Cameron, 2001: 85) listed basic techniques by which teachers can
explain the meanings of new words, all of which can be used in the young learner
classroom:
a. by demonstration or pictures:
(1) Using an object
(2) Using a cut-out figure
(3) Using gesture
(4) Performing an action
(5) Photographs
(6) Drawing or diagrams on the board.
(7) Pictures from books.
(To these we might and moving images, from TV, video or computer)
b. by verbal explanation
(8) Analytical definition
(9) Putting the new word in a defining context
(10) Translating into another language
Verbal explanation (8) and (9) require pre-existing knowledge of the
language, definitions and explanations might help students to activate networks to
construct a meaning of a particular word. Notice that all except (10) require the
learner to do some mental work in constructing a meaning for the new foreign
language word. Sometimes, a new word is explained in the foreign language by
using picture, but soon it is translated in the first language. It make the students do
not need to concentrate on working out the meaning.
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Still, Nation (in Cameron, 2001) suggests that an explanation should be
followed by a check of understanding, using different technique. So, having
explained car through defining context, and their understanding can be check
using a picture. If it has not been understood, a further explanation can be given.
4. Teaching Vocabulary and Its Purpose for Students of MI Manafiul Ulum
Kudus
Brown (2001: 15) says that teaching is showing or helping someone to learn
how to do something, giving instruction, guiding in the study of something,
providing with knowledge, causing to know or to understand. Hornby (1987: 86)
states that teaching is giving instruction of knowledge, skill, lesson, living and
others.
Teaching English to school-age children therefore is not merely a matter of
setting them loose on a plethora of authentic language tasks in the classroom. To
successfully teach children a language requires specific skills and intuitions that
differ from those appropriate for adult teaching (Brown, 2001: 87).
From definition above it can be concluded that teaching English vocabulary
means facilitating students in learning vocabulary with the appropriate method
based on their age in order to enhance them with sufficient vocabulary.
Vocabulary has been taught in every level study from elementary to
advance. For Elementary School, teaching vocabulary is intended to make the
students master the vocabularies given which are based on the curriculum. As
foreign language, English sometimes make them get upset because of their limited
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vocabularies. Therefore, teaching vocabulary for Elementary students is a must in
order to give them a basic knowledge.
In general, teachers of Elementary School do simple way in teaching
vocabulary, giving the meaning of new words immediately to be memorized.
Usually they use a textbook with some new vocabularies and automatically
translate them for students. Even, they just give students some words in a piece of
paper and ask them to memorize. In a fact, those are not appropriate way to teach
vocabulary. Students will be passive and actually it is hard for them to memorize
words without any context.
The English teacher in MI NU Manafiul Ulum Kudus seems do the same
way as other teachers of Elementary School in common. The consequence, the
students, especially the sixth students of MI NU Manafiul Ulum Kudus, is poor in
vocabulary mastery. They have told the truth that they had not been taught enough
vocabulary. On the other hand, too much time is spent for structure and reading
comprehension. Actually intensity in teaching vocabulary is not a big deal. The
most important is the use of appropriate technique in teaching vocabulary so that
they have sufficient words as a starting point to learn English.
Here, an English teacher plays an important role because she/he is the most
influential person in the classroom. She/he has to create a desirable classroom
climate to plan a variety of learning activities so that the students will enjoy the
learning and easily absorb the material.
She/he has to be able to apply various techniques in teaching English
because the students at Elementary School like to learn something by doing. In
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this case, using appropriate and interesting instructional media and new
techniques of teaching vocabulary is required.
Teaching vocabulary is really important as it is the foundation for students
to know more about English vocabulary. When the students do not have enough
words in their minds, it will be hard to go forward. They probably feel strange
with the pronunciation and spelling at once. Therefore, teacher should give them
an understanding about the purpose of learning English vocabulary.
It is obvious that the purpose of teaching English vocabulary is introducing
students with words that are used in high frequency. It begins from the simple
words that students are interested in. Besides to attract their attention and interest,
it will make the process of learning English vocabulary run smoothly. The
students are willing to memorize words that are often used in language class.
That’s why teacher must notice about learning vocabulary in and out of class
(Virginia, 1983: 8).
As Elementary school students are young learners, teaching English
vocabulary becomes a need. The aim is certainly to enhance the students in order
to be able to learn English holistically in the next level. They should be enhanced
with not only simple vocabulary but also the complex one. Traditionally, teachers
give only simple words such as pen, table, door, etc. In a fact, such new words
should not be presented in isolation. The teacher should provide the context. Of
course, students will have more chance in understanding the new words and it will
stimulate their brain to think over about the new words they have known.
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Many researchers claimed that learners should initially be taught at least two
thousand high frequency words. Later it seems to be the goal for second language
learners. Meara in Celce-Murcia (2001) states that students who start to acquire
language should learn large vocabularies because of two reasons:
a. The language has a small number of words that occur many times in most of
material we see and a large number of words that occur only once o twice.
b. Most learners expect to learn as much as possible a number of vocabularies,
and it would be a mistake not to fulfill on the expectations.
West in Celce-Murcia (2001) states that the famous list of high frequency
words is the General Service List of English Words. It is claimed that knowing
these words will enable someone to access about 80 percent of the words in any
written text and thus stimulates motivation since the words acquired can be seen
by learners to have a demonstrably quick return. However, it is based on old word
counts and recently is being revised.
Dealing with that case, it should be taken into account that learners have
different need relates to vocabulary because of context. Learners in Indonesia
perhaps need to know more about vocabularies related to rainy season than spring.
In linked with curriculum of English as a foreign language that is taught in
Elementary School, nowadays it is widely accepted that vocabulary teaching
should be a part of the syllabus and taught in a well planned. The material for the
sixth year students are cleaning the classroom, daily routine, parts of the body,
objects in the classroom, etc. It can bee seen that students at that age still learn
about things in their surrounding.
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5. Teaching Process of English Vocabulary
Vocabulary teaching as a “social” process with comprehensible input is a
must when expecting comprehensible output. The most important, teachers must
provide students with adequate teaching methodology and time, as well as
appropriate vocabulary and learning activities that will develop verbal skills.
Hatch and Brown (1995): 372) describe five “essential steps” in vocabulary
learning based on research into learner’s strategies:
a. Having sources for encountering new words.
b. Getting a clear image, whether visual or auditory or both, for the forms of the
new words.
c. Learning the meaning of the words.
d. Making a strong memory connection between the forms and meanings of the
words.
e. Using the words.
Vocabulary needs to be met and recycled at intervals, in different activities,
with new knowledge and new connections developed each time. The same words
are met again. Looking at the five steps, we can see that each ‘step’ is in fact
something that needs to happen over and over again, so that each time something
new is learnt or remembered.
Thornbury (2002: 15) states that knowing the meaning of a word does not
just know its dictionary meaning (or meanings) – it also means knowing the
words commonly associated with it (its collocations) as well as its connotations,
including its register and its cultural accretions.
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According to Cameron (2001), different aspects of word knowledge are
summarized in the following table, which combines similar lists from Ellis and
Sinclair (1990: 99) and Schmitt and Meara (1997: 18). These in turn draw on
work by Richards (1976) and Nation (1990).
Table 2 Knowing about a word
Type of Knowledge What is involved Example Receptive knowledge: aural/decoding
To understand it when it is spoken/written
Memory To recall it when needed Conceptual knowledge To use it with the correct
meaning Not confusing protractor with compasses
Knowledge of the spoken form: phonological knowledge
To hear the word and to pronounce it acceptably, on its own, and in phrases and sentences
To hear and produce the endings of verb forms, such as the /n/ sound at the end of undertaken
Grammatical knowledge To use it in a grammatically accurate way; to know grammatical connections with other words.
She sang very well not * she sang very good; to know that is and be are parts of the same verb
Collocational knowledge To know which other words can be used with it.
A beautiful view not *a good-looking view.
Orthographic knowledge To spell it correctly Protractor not* protractor
Pragmatic knowledge, knowledge of style and register
To use it in the right situation
Would you like a drink? Is more appropriate in a formal or semi-formal situation than what can I get you?
Connotational knowledge To know its positive and negative associations, to know its associations with related words
To know that slim has positive connotations, when used about a person, whereas skinny is negative.
Metalinguistic knowledge To know explicitly about the word, e.g. its grammatical properties
To know that protractor is a noun; to know that pro is a prefix.
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In summary, knowing word involves knowing about its form, (the sounds,
the spelling, the grammatical change that can be made to it), its meaning (its
conceptual content and how it relates to other concepts and words), its use (its
pattern of occurrence with other words, and in particular types of language use).
Based on the theories of vocabulary that have been previously discussed,
mastering vocabulary means knowing the form and the meaning of words and
having an ability to use them communicatively either written or spoken. The
aspects in vocabulary mastery include pronunciation, spelling, meaning, and the
use of the words. Therefore, the indicators are: (1) students know the meaning of
words; (2) students are able to pronounce words correctly; (3) students are able to
spell or write words; and (4) students are able to use words in a sentence.
6. Vocabulary Learning Strategies
Vocabulary learning strategies is needed to discover the meaning of a new
word and to consolidate the new word found.
a. Guessing meaning from context
One of strategies mostly known is guessing word meaning from context.
The success of this strategy depends on the context. When the context is rich
enough, this strategy can be successful. On the contrary, if the context is not
sufficient in giving clues, this strategy can be hard for the learners. Steps to guess
a new word from the context is by looking at the unknown word, then looking at
the context, then finding relations among other clauses, sentences, or paragraphs.
The basic step of this system are: (1) decide the part of speech of the
unknown word (noun, verb, adjective, adverb, etc); (2) examine the clause or
sentence in which the unknown word states; (3) Look at the relationship between
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the clause or sentence to other sentences or paragraphs; and (4) Use knowledge
gained from such clues to guess the meaning of the word. Some signals that
might lead to successful guessing are conjunctions, punctuations, rhetorical
relationships, and reference words.
b. Mnemonic devices
This strategy which requires a manipulation and deep processing is the
Keyword Method, an aid to memory, or a ‘mnemonic device’. There are three
steps. First, the learner chooses an L1 or L2 word based on phonological or
orthographic similarity with the L2 target word. Then a strong association
between the target word and the keyword must be constructed to that, when seeing
or hearing the target language. Finally, a visual image is constructed to combine
the referents of the keyword and the target word. The important point is
concentrate on remembering the image of the interaction between the keyword
and the foreign word. For example: the target word is sapu (broom), and the
keyword is sweep. The association between the target word and the keyword is to
think of the image a mother sweeps the floor using a broom.
c. Vocabulary notebooks
A further strategy of learning vocabulary is setting up vocabulary
notebooks. It is done by writing down new words that the learners hear or see
within a certain period and noting its frequency, learning roots and derivatives in
the word’s family, or writing a sentence using the new words.
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d. Other learner strategies
Various strategies can help discovering meaning and consolidating it in
memory. Teachers can encourage students to use L1 cognate, peer groups, link a
word to a personal experience, say a new word aloud, use a verbal or written
repetition, and review new material immediately.
According to Cameron (2001), the using of appropriate strategy will
influence the success of learning vocabulary. Some available strategies are not to
be adopted automatically, and some training might be helpful. The general
principles of helping children to learn apply to strategies are:
a. Teachers can model how to use strategies and draw children’s attention
explicitly to aspects of strategy use. For example, teachers can show how to
find clues to the meaning of a new word in a picture or in other words in the
same sentence.
b. Teachers can teach the sub-skills needed to make use of strategies. For
example, to use a dictionary efficiently requires knowledge of alphabetical
order and lots of practice.
c. Classroom tasks can include structured opportunities for using strategies. For
example, when reading a story, teachers can explicitly encourage prediction of
the meanings of new words.
d. Independent strategy use can be rehearsed in classrooms. For example,
children can be helped to prepare lists of words that they want to learn from a
lesson, can be shown ways of learning from lists and later can be put in pairs
to test each other.
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e. Young learners can be helped to reflect on the learning process though
evaluating their achievements. For example, at the end f a lesson they can be
asked how many new words they have learnt, and which words they need to
learn more about. Through regular self-evaluation, children can come to
understand more about what they are learning and how.
In a short, students should decide a particular strategy based on their
ability, and the teacher should give an explicit training to cope with various
strategies needed so that students are able to use different strategies to understand
new words properly.
B. Total Physical Response.
Total Physical Response is developed by Dr. James J. Asher, a professor of
psychology at San José State University, to aid learning second languages. The
method relies on the assumption that when learning a second or additional
language, language is internalized through a process of code breaking similar to
first language development and that the process allows for a long period of
listening and developing comprehension prior to production. Students respond to
commands that require physical movement. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_-
Physical - Response)
TPR has important elements in common: (1) It is based on the way children
learn their native language, that is, by acquiring listening comprehension before
speaking, reading, and writing skills; (2) It shares the premise that learning a
second language should be a "natural" experience with emphasis on
communicative competence and realistic utterances; (3) It perceives language
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globally, with attention to detail emphasized later in the learning process; and (4)
It emphasizes on the use of the brain's right hemisphere, for implicit learning.
TPR has a number of advantages: (1) Students will enjoy getting up out of
their chairs and moving around; (2) Simple TPR activities do not require a great
deal of preparation on the part of the teacher; (3) TPR is aptitude-free, working
well with a mixed ability class, and with students having various disabilities; (4) It
is good for kinesthetic learners who need to be active in the class; (5) Class size
need not be a problem, and it works effectively for children and adults; (6) It is
good tool for building vocabulary; and (7) It is memorable, actions help
strengthen the connections in the brain; (8) It can be a challenge for shy students.
On the other hand, like other method, TPR has also some disadvantages: (1)
whilst it can be used at higher levels, TPR is most useful for beginners. It is also
at the higher levels where preparation becomes an issue for the teacher; (2)
Students are not generally given the opportunity to express their own thoughts in a
creative way; (3) It is easy to overuse TPR. "Any novelty, if carried on too long,
will trigger adaptation." Asher writes, "No matter how exciting and productive the
innovation, people will tire of it”; and (5) the teacher may find that it is limited in
terms of language scope. Certain target languages may not be suited to this
method.
In short, Total Physical Response is a method that is used to teach a second
or foreign language that concerns with listening comprehension in order to get
students’ understanding in learning the language naturally and easily. Here, the
role of teachers is as an instructor and the students as imitator.
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1. Definition of Total Physical Response.
TPR is a hands-on approach to second language learning in which the
teacher infuses language through commands and by which the student responds
with kinesthetic (body) movement to show total comprehension.
The TPR (Total Physical Response) teaching style was developed in
response to the observation that "Adults...in first language acquisition manipulate
children's physical behavior by a massive number of commands. The infant
becomes ready to talk only after many months of moving in response to gentle
directions from adults. At first, probably the infant listens to the instruction
without giving any responses. After the instruction has been repeated for several
times in weeks or months, the infant will be able to imitate or respond depending
on the stage of producing words.
In other words, learning foreign language seems to be similar with that case.
The students who do not know about the language will be given some instructions
based on the need. They need not to utter, just listen and do the instruction from
the teacher. Later, they will be capable in saying the same utterances when they
are ready to speak.
To determine whether students understand about the material, teacher can
pay attention to the student’s response. There are three types of test item
responses existing for listening: action response, evaluation response, and
communication response. All are intended to create a response that can be used to
evaluate listening (comprehension) skill without resorting to the other language
skills or with only minimal use of simple utterances that make little or no demand
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on the speaking skill. In an action response one hears a command and physically
carries out the command.
The complexity of the teacher's utterance and the degree of familiarity of the
utterance could become factors in the determination of scores. An evaluation
response calls for the learners to give some indication of whether an utterance
accurately portrays reality, or which of a set of possible responses is the correct
one. Action response and evaluation response items call for little or no use of
speaking, while communication response calls for oral response. The students'
utterance involves not only their perception of the teacher's message, but also its
intent and the formulation of an appropriate response with well-chosen linguistic
structures.
It can be concluded that TPR is a method of teaching foreign language
through some commands to give oral experiences to students in acquiring
language with kinesthetic movement.
2. History of Total Physical Response
According to Asher, TPR is based on the premise that the human brain has a
biological program for acquiring any natural language on earth - including the
sign language of the deaf. The process is visible when we observe how infants
internalize their first language. It looks to the way that children learn their native
language. Communication between parents and their children combines both
verbal and physical aspects. The child responds physically to the speech of their
parent. The responses of the child are in turn positively reinforced by the speech
of the parents.
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For many months the child absorbs the language without being able to
speak. It is during this period that the internalization and code breaking occurs.
After this stage the child is able to reproduce the language spontaneously. With
TPR the language teacher tries to mimic this process in class.
In conclusion, TPR has been developed based on the process of acquiring
language of children. They start to acquire language by listening and are going to
be able to respond physically, uttering the words or sentences that are often
repeated. Further, they perhaps will be able to read or even write a particular
words or sentences that are always shown to them through picture or modeling.
3. Total Physical Response in Teaching Vocabulary
In the classroom the teacher and students take on roles similar to that of the
parent and child respectively. Students must respond physically to the words of
the teacher. The activity may be a simple game such as Simon Says or may
involve more complex grammar and more detailed scenarios. TPR can be used to
practice and teach various things. It is well suited to teaching classroom language
and other vocabulary connected with actions. It can be used to teach imperatives
and various tenses and aspects. It is also useful for story-telling. Because of its
participatory approach, TPR may also be useful alternative teaching strategy for
students with dyslexia or related learning disabilities, who typically experience
difficulty in learning foreign languages with traditional classroom instruction
(http://www.positivepractices.com/BilingualEducation/TotalPhysicalResponse%5
BTPR.html).
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Total Physical Response is largely about movement. By physically moving
to learn verbs and even nouns, learning increases and stress decreases.. However,
it is recognized that TPR is most useful for beginners, though it can be used at
higher levels where preparation becomes an issue for the teacher. It does not give
students the opportunity to express their own thoughts in a creative way. The
following are the steps in using TPR for teaching:
a. Aspect of meaning
1) Teacher explains in native language about the rule of TPR, that is the
students just listen and need not to speak at first. They have to act out the
commands from the teacher.
2) Teacher asks some volunteers to come to the front of the room and sit with
her/him in chairs that are lined up facing the other students. Other students
listen and watch.
3) Teacher gives various commands beginning with verbs while doing them
together with the volunteers, for example: "swim" (use both hands and do
something general like a butterfly free stroke in the air).
4) Teacher allows the volunteers to do the instructions and she/he remains
seated.
5) Then, teacher asks one of the volunteers to perform the instructions alone.
6) Teacher approaches the other students who have been sitting observing
her/him and the volunteers and gives the same commands.
7) The students follow the teacher’s action.
8) After the students master the instructions, the teacher gives the new ones
as the steps above.
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9) Teacher turns to the rest of the class and gives the commands randomly to
the students.
10) The last step, teacher writes the new commands on the blackboard. Each
time she/he writes a command, she acts it out.
11) The students copy the sentences from the blackboard into the notebooks.
Using TPR in teaching vocabulary can be fitted to the real situation in the
classroom. Sequence steps above are intended to make the students understand the
new vocabularies given. To be said knowing vocabulary, students have to know
the meaning, the spelling, the pronunciation, and the use of the words. In order to
equip the students in those four aspects, teacher might add more steps after
students understand the meaning. The following are additional steps, to teach
aspect of spelling, aspect of pronunciation, and aspect of using the words, that are
actually elaboration of previous steps to teach vocabulary holistically.
b. Aspect of spelling
1) The teacher asks the students to write the instructions on the board.
2) The teacher asks volunteers to spell the words along with her.
3) The teacher asks the students randomly to spell the words alone.
c. Aspect of pronunciation
1) The teacher asks a student to be an instructor.
2) Then, the first student who becomes instructor gives instructions to the
second student.
3) From the first student, teacher can check the pronunciation, and from
the second student, teacher can check whether the meaning is correct.
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d. Aspect of using word
1) The teacher asks the students to make new imperative sentences spoken
or written using the same words on the board.
2) The teacher asks the students to practice using their sentences.
C. The Nature of Teaching English to Young Learners and Development of
Young Learners.
Teaching English to young learners should consider the development of
young learners in order to do a successful teaching. The following is theoretical
review related to teaching English to young learners.
1. Teaching English to Young Learners
The number of teachers of young learners is increasing as children start to
learn English at younger age around the world. The term young learners can be
used to describe:
a. Pre-school learners
b. Primary school learners and
c. Secondary school or teenage learners.
In teaching adult, the materials are papers, books, the blackboard, etc. For
children, all sorts of material are used-magnets, hamster, costumes, and so on.
Activities need to be child-centered and communication should be authentic.
Children learn because they want, not for the sake of teacher. They are willing to
learn if they enjoy the English material. On the other hand, they will immediately
show unwillingness if the material cannot attract them. Many authors advise
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teachers to teach children holistically and to focus on the whole children. Several
themes repeatedly come up:
a. Focus on meaning, not correctness.
Children speak, write, listen, or draw something based on their capability
in groups. The teacher does not correct errors.
b. Focus on the value of the activity, not the value of the language.
Children prepare an oral introduction of their pet (e.g. it is my rabbit. Its
name is Ruby), make a poster with an image of the rabbit that could be used if the
rabbit were to get lost.
c. Focus on collaboration and social development.
The children work in group then make a report. Each student has a role in
the group.
d. Provide a rich context, including movement, the senses, objects and pictures,
and variety of activities.
The students learn terms for community occupations such as teacher,
doctor, and postman. They wear appropriate costume and act out brief scene by
following the teacher’s direction.
e. Teach ESL holistically, integrating the four skills.
The students listen to a story then repeat a refrain in the story and supply
some missing words. If possible, they help the teacher to tell story, discuss about
the characters, etc.
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f. Treat learners appropriately in light of their age and interests.
At the end of a unit, students play bingo using vocabulary and pictures
from the unit.
g. Treat language as a tool for children to use for their own social and academic
ends.
In a group, students sing and chant the same pieces. They enjoy activities
that allow them to work with friends.
Use language for authentic communication, not as an object of analysis.
The whole students in a class do not know term of present continuous tense, but
enjoy making up role plays.
Those principles are important to be understood and applied for teaching
children. Further, the principles should be adjusted to the children’s development.
The activity has to be matched to their age or class level.
In line with the principles, for helping young learners to learn, Read (2003)
proposes some of the optimal conditions:
a. learning is natural
b. learning is contextualized and part of a real event
c. learning is interesting and enjoyable
d. learning is relevant
e. learning is social
f. learning belongs to the child
g. learning has a purpose for the child
h. learning builds on things the child knows
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i. learning makes sense to the child
j. the child is challenged appropriately
k. learning is supported appropriately
l. learning is part of a coherent whole
m. learning is multi-sensory
n. the child wants to learn
o. learning is active and experiential
p. learning is memorable
q. learning allows for personal, divergent responses
r. learning takes account of multiple intelligences
s. the learning atmosphere is relaxed and warm
t. The child has a sense of achievement.
(Read in (http://www.teachingenglishgames.com/3-5.htm) also suggests the
seven Rs which provide an integrated framework for managing children positively
and creating a happy working environment:
Relationships - creating and maintaining a positive relationship with learners
is at the heart of establishing a happy learning environment.
Rules - establish a limited number of rules and make sure they are clear, as
well as the reasons for having them.
Routines - classroom routines make it clear to everyone what is expected of
them and what they should do.
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Rights and Responsibilities-although these may not be stated explicitly with
very young learners, teachers can model through their own actions which of
these they value.
Respect - students who are treated respectfully by the teacher will respond in
a similar way to the teacher. If the children feel that the teacher treats them as
individuals, they will also respond to the teacher as an individual and not with
a collective group mentality.
Rewards - reward systems can be an effective way of reinforcing appropriate
behavior e.g. using stars, stickers, points, smiley faces, raffle tickets or
marbles in a jar (http://www.teachingenglishgames.com/3-5.htm).
On her website, Vernon presents some of the problems many preschool
teachers face. Preschool learners:
• have very short attention spans
• forget things quickly
• may not be fully confident in their first language
• may not be motivated to learn
• may be fearful
• develop at very different rates which leads to mixed ability groups
• can be easily overwhelmed
• Need to be taught with effective language learning techniques and not just
with time fillers to keep them busy.(http://www.teachingenglishgames.com/3-
5.htm)
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The solutions she proposes include:
• Change your games and activities every 5-10 minutes.
• Vary the pace during the lesson, mixing up energetic games with quiet ones.
• Repeat, review and revise. Use short games to review vocabulary and phrases
you have already taught.
• Make lessons playful and full of physical movement. Children will find them
more enjoyable, be more motivated and remember the language better.
• Teach in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere with plenty of encouragement.
• Avoid competition with preschool learners. It can be stressful and overwhelm
them. Play games where everyone wins, or where you do not single out a
winner.
• Encourage and support young learners.
• Use chants, rhymes and songs. These are great for movement and frequent
repetition of vocabulary and phrases.
Do not focus on reading and writing - leave those for when children are older.
• Focus on listening and understanding, building vocabulary and the acquisition
of short phrases.
• Concentrate also on speaking practice, starting with single words and short
phrases, and gradually moving onto longer sentences and questions.
• Avoid abstract concepts and focus on concrete items that children understand
and relate to. For example, start with familiar topics such as colors, numbers,
greetings, animals, fruit, food and drink, families, body parts, shapes, clothing,
the weather, days of the week and everyday sentences and phrases.
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• Use please and thank you and be positive. Focus on positive behavior rather
than telling children what not to do.
• Be prepared - practice telling stories before you go into class and have your
picture flashcards and materials ready.
Mix up active participation and listening. If the children become restless do
something active.
• Be flexible. If something is not working then change the game or activity.
• Involve shy children - help them to express themselves.
• Bring in real objects whenever possible, such as clothes to dress up in, or
props for acting out little plays or stories. When you cannot bring in realia use
whatever objects are available in your class, and use colorful pictures of real
items.
• Use stories. Stories are a great resource for preschool learners, who will want
to hear the same tales told repeatedly.
Cameron (2003:73) argues that the continuing growth of teaching English to
young learners brings a number of challenges. Starting to learn English at an
earlier age may not bring automatic improvements to proficiency levels, unless
teacher education and secondary language teaching both adapt to meet the
challenges of the new situation. According to Cameron, amongst other knowledge
and skills, teachers of young learners need:
• an awareness of how children think and learn
• skills and knowledge in spoken English to conduct whole lessons orally
• an ability to identify children's interests and use them for language teaching
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• to be equipped to teach initial literacy in English.
Other current issues in teaching young learners include:
• the use of learners' first language in the language classroom
• teaching other subjects through the medium of English e.g. CLIL
• developing appropriate assessment of young learners
• Young learner teacher education.
From the previous theory, it can be said that teaching English for young
learners is different from adults. Teacher has to give appropriate material and
various activities based on the principles and conditions in teaching children so
that the teaching and learning process will be successful. Therefore, TPR is
required to teach English for young learners as it is suitable with the students’
interest at such age. By acting and moving they can learn new words easily and
this way might be interesting for them. If the students are interested in the way
they learn, they would master the new words well.
2. Techniques and Resources
Using the right technique and resource in conveying the material for young
learners is a must. Wrong technique can be a terrible thing as students cannot
pretend that they enjoy the material and listen to the teacher as if they understand
what is being taught. They would spontaneously express what they think, even to
say that they do not like English. Surely, it will be hard for the teacher to hear
that. Therefore, the following techniques and resources are important as
consideration:
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a. Using songs, poems, and chants.
To play with language, teachers need to use songs, poems, and chants to
teach children. They seem not tired of practicing the same songs, poems, or
chants many days of week. Often, they incorporate gestures and movements
into their songs and chants. The following example is a song usually used:
If you’re happy clap your hands
If you’re happy clap your hands
If you’re happy and you know it then you’re surely want to show it
If you’re happy clap your hands.
If you’re happy step your feet.
If you’re happy step your feet.
If you’re happy and you know it then you’re surely want to show it
If you’re happy step your feet.
If you’re happy say amen.
If you’re happy say amen
If you’re happy and you know it then you’re surely want to show it
If you’re happy say amen
These techniques build vocabulary. Learners hear pronunciation modeled
and then they practice the same sounds repeatedly. A five or ten minute session of
singing or chanting can be fun and effective.
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b. Dramatic activities.
Dramatic activities can be helpful whether the students have a big or small
in the production. Even if a child has a non speaking role, he or she might listen
intently. All of children would take a part in drama activities than adults.
c. Storytelling
Stories are a powerful means of language teaching. It can be used to
develop listening, speaking, and writing. Children usually enjoy the same stories
many times. Teacher can vary the presentation by using picture, flannel board, or
moving characters. You can tell or read a story while the students move puppets
or doll. Others, they listen to a tape-recorded story together or individually.
Teacher should be creative in varying the way of presenting the story. It
can be done through games. For example: a brief story that can be covered by
number of students in the class. One student memorizes one sentence, and the next
student memorizes the next sentence, and so forth. After all of students are able to
recite, then the teacher ask them to tell the whole story from the first student till
the last one.
d. Gesture and Movement
Children need to move around than adults do. As mentioned above, you
can combine movement and gesture with songs, poems, and chants, with drama,
and with stories. Or, you can ask them to raise their hand in answering question,
or shake their head when say no, etc. Make a habit of using gesture and movement
with children because they need it.
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e. Total Physical Response (TPR)
It is well-known as TPR, an approach created by James Asher. In TPR,
teacher gives command and models them. Soon, the students are asked to do the
same and the other commands based on the teacher’s various command. Through
TPR, grammar is not overtly taught, the focus is on comprehension, and the input
is supposed to be comprehensible.
f. Total Physical Response (TPR) Storytelling
TPR storytelling (Ray and Seely 1998; Seely and Romjin 1998) is a metod
of second or foreign language teaching that includes actions, pantomime, and
other techniques. Much is taught through stories. The words of a story are taught
through associated gestures. Each vocabulary has each gesture. Students then
practice the vocabulary in pairs: one speaks and the other makes the gesture. After
vocabularies are covered, the teacher tells a mini story. Later, the students will be
able to tell the story themselves because they have learned all of the movement
and gestures in the previous.
g. Teaching grammar
Younger children are less likely focus on the vocabulary or pronunciation
errors of others, or to correct them. As they grow older, teacher needs to teach
them grammar. When the children have errors in grammar, vocabulary, and
pronunciation, teacher can choose a range of strategies: ignore the error, make a
mental note, rephrase the sentence, rephrase the expand, or present a lesson to a
group or the whole class later on.
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Based on the previous explanation, it can be concluded that teaching young
learners can be done through various techniques and resources based on the age
and the students’ need to explore a particular skill of students including
vocabulary.
3. Young Learner’s Development
Considering the development of children, to take a right step in teaching
them is needed. The following will discuss the development of young learners:
a. Cognitive Development
Piaget (in Woolfolk, 1995: 33) states that a child has four stages of
cognitive development as follows:
1) Sensorimotor (0-2 years)
This stage has some characteristics such as it begins to make use of imitation,
memory, and thought. It also begins to recognize that objects do not cease to
exist when they are hidden. It moves from reflex actions to goal-directed
activity.
2) Preoperational (2-7 years)
It gradually develops use of language and ability to think in symbolic form,
able to think operations through logically in one direction; it also has
difficulties seeing another person’s point of view.
3) Concrete Operational. (7-11 years)
Most of children are able to solve concrete (hands-on) problems in logical
fashion, understand laws of conservation and are able to classify and seriate.
They also understand revisibility.
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4) Formal Operational (11-adult)
In this stage, they are able to solve abstract problems in logical fashion. They
become more specific in thinking and develop concerns about social issues.
Before they learn to speak, children communicate through crying, smiling, and
body movement. By the end of the first year, more or less, most children have
their first word. They have entered what psychologist call the one word stage.
From the explanation above, it can be concluded that children pass some
stages in developing their cognitive based on their age.
b. Affective
According to Brown (2000: 143) affect refers to emotion or feeling. The
affective domain is the emotional side of human behavior, and it may be
juxtaposed to the cognitive side. The development of affective stages or feelings
involves a variety of personality factors, feeling both about themselves with
whom they come into contact.
The affective domain includes many factors: self-esteem, extroversion,
inhibition, risk-taking imitation, anxiety attitudes, empathy (Brown, 2000: 145).
c. Psychomotor
Bloom also (http://www.kidsdevelopment.co.uk/Typesoflearning.html.)
classifies psychomotor categories as follows:
1) Imitation: watch and copy the actions of another.
2) Manipulation: perform a task from written or verbal instructions.
3) Precision: adeptly perform a task without outside help or instruction, show
ability to demonstrate skill to others.
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4) Articulation: combine skills to meet new, unforeseen demands.
5) Naturalization: use internalized knowledge to perform tasks in a “second way.
4. The Language Development of Children
a. Pronunciation
The majority of first graders have mastered most of the sound of mother
tongue, but a few of sounds may be unconquered. The v, th, and zh sounds are the
last to develop. About 10 percent of 8 year-olds still have some trouble with s, z,
v, and zh (Rathus in Woolfolk, 1995: 55). Young children may understand and be
able to use many words but prefer using words they can pronounce easily.
Intonation or word emphasis may also cause problems for young children. If
the meaning of a sentence is ambiguous and intonations makes the difference,
then the children as old as 8 or 9 may misunderstand (Moshman, et al., in
Woolfolk 1995: 55) give this example. Consider the sentence, “George gave the
book to David, and David gave another book to Bill.” With a different intonation,
emphasizing the and, for example, the meaning is changed to “George gave the
book to David, and George also gave one to Bill.”
Don’t expect early elementary-school students to pick up subtle meaning in
intonation.
b. Syntax
Children must master the basic word orders, or syntax, in their native
language early. By early elementary school, many children can understand the
meaning of passive sentences, yet they do not use such constructions in their
formal conversations. Other accomplishment during elementary school include
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first understanding and then using complex grammatical structures such as extra
clauses, qualifiers, and conjunctions.
c. Vocabulary and Meaning
Between the age of 2 and 6, the average child learns between six and ten
words a day. This means the average 6-year-old has a vocabulary of 8,000 to
14,000 words. From ages 9 to 11, about 5,000 new words are added to this
repertoire. It seems that the time before puberty, especially the preschoolers, is a
sensitive period for the language growth. Research has shown that learners can
learn much about language after puberty, but that very positive or very negative
conditions during the sensitive period puberty can greatly help or hinder language
development (Berger, Johnson & Newport in Woolfolk, 1995: 57).
In the early elementary years, some children may have trouble with abstract
word such as justice or economy. They may also take statements literally and thus
misunderstand sarcasm or metaphor. Many children are in their preadolescent
years before they are able to distinguish being kidded from being taunted or
before they know that a sarcastic remark is not meant to be taken literally
(Gardner in Woolfolk, 1995: 57).
d. Pragmatics
Pragmatics involves the appropriate use of language to communicate.
Children show an understanding of pragmatics when they talk in simpler
sentences to younger children or command their pets to “come here!” in louder,
deeper voices (Rice in Woolfolk, 1995: 57). But there is much more to successful
communicating, for instance, children must learn of turn-taking in conversation.
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The conversation of young children tends to follow the rules of turn-taking, even
if the children don’t listen to each other. Young children know the structure of
conversations-turn-taking, how to take-turns even though the “talk” is not always
related. What seems to adults to be disjointed, unrelated remarks do not bother
young children at all? They are paying attention to their own remarks, not the
other children’s: and they probably assume that everyone else is doing the same.
D. Rationale
Based on the observation, there are some problems encountered. Students of
MI NU Manafiul Ulum Kudus have less motivation in studying English. They
also seem to be busy with their activities in English class. Then, the most specific
one is that their mastery of English vocabulary is low.
The indicators and the causes of the problem are various. The first, their
parents do not give them an understanding of the importance of English as the
teacher does. So, they think that English is not useful for their life in the future. It
makes them have less motivation to learn English. The second, their English
teacher might teach them using a conventional method. It contributes much to the
atmosphere during learning-teaching process and causes the students busy with
themselves. The third, in teaching vocabulary, the teacher does not use a particular
method. The teacher gives a number of words and asks the students to learn them
by heart. In doing so, the students get difficulty in memorizing. They do not have
a strong reinforcement to make the words stay longer in their mind. It makes them
uninterested in learning vocabulary. The result, they know only the meaning and
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do not know the correct pronunciation, spelling, and the use of the words in a
sentence.
Based on the illustration above, using Total Physical Response is required
because it is fitted to the students at such age. Some reasons of using TPR are: 1)
the movement will make them enjoy learning new vocabularies. They are able to
move physically in memorizing some new words because basically children like
to learn by doing. Students also write the meaning of the words, spell the words,
and use the words in a sentence; 2) this method enables the students to learn
vocabulary well without feeling bored. That’s why TPR can solve the students’
problem.
After applying this method, it is expected the sixth year students of MI
Manafiul Ulum Kudus can improve their English vocabulary mastery maximally
as they learn words by practicing instruction, spelling, pronouncing, and using the
words. Therefore, the students hopefully will be able to learn vocabulary in an
easier way and they can master the vocabulary well.
The success of applying this method can be seen through indicators, they
are: (1) students know the meaning of words. One of activities in TPR is to copy
what the teacher writes down on the whiteboard and write the meaning by
themselves. In finding the meaning of words, students need not to open a
dictionary because it has already been clear through the instructions they have
practiced before. (2) Students are able to pronounce words correctly. The teacher
gives the commands several times in a correct pronunciation in order to give
examples to the students. The teacher asks the students to pronounce the words
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and corrects the students’ pronunciation. (3) Students are able to spell or write
words. The teacher gives some words and asks the students to spell and write the
words after the teacher has given students the correct spelling of words and writes
them on the white board. And (4) students are able to use words in a sentence.
Teacher can ask the students to make new commands or sentences based on the
words given.
E. Hypothesis
Based on the theories and rationale presented above, the writer proposes
the hypotheses as follows:
1. Total Physical Response can improve the students’ vocabulary mastery.
2. The most significant improvement of the students’ vocabulary mastery is in
meaning.
3. Total Physical Response has some advantages when it is used for teaching
vocabulary for children.
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CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
In this chapter the writer describes: setting of the research, the subject of the
research, the method of research, procedure of the study, technique of colleting
data, and technique of analyzing data.
A. Setting of the Research
The research is applied at MI NU Manafiul Ulum Kudus. This school is
located in Prambatan Lor Kudus about 3 km on the West of Kudus. The number
of students from the first until sixth grader is 149 altogether.
The research is conducted from October 2009 to April 2010 as the following
table:
Table 3 the schedule of research.
No Activity Month October November December January February March April
1 Pre survey √ 2 Proposal √ √
3 Review literature √
4 Developing instrument √
5
Collecting & analyzing the data
√
6 Report writing √ √ √
7 Submitting the document
` √
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B. The Subject of the Research
The subjects of this research are students who join this program. The
number of sixth year students of MI NU Manafiul Ulum Kudus is 25 students.
Most of them live around MI NU Manafi’ul Ulum Kudus. So, MI NU Manafi’ul
Ulum is their neighborhood. In general, they are from middle-lower economic
level that has low motivation in studying especially English. Even a number of
students are not interested in English at all. There are 6 boys who tend to hate
English.
C. The Method of the Research
In this study, the writer uses Classroom Action Research. Action research is
a systematic process in collecting and analyzing data to investigate practical issues
arising within a particular context in order to come to a decision about what the
future practice should be (Wallace, 1998: 4; Burns, 1999: 31).
Ebbutt in Cohen (2007) regards action research as a systematic study that
combines action and reflection with the intention of improving practice. Action
research is designed to bridge the gap between research and practice (Somekh, in
Cohen, 2007). Action research combines diagnosis, action, and reflection (McNiff
in Cohen, 2007).
Action research is concerned equally with changing, individuals, on the on hand, and, on the other, the culture of the groups, institutions and societies to which they belong. The culture of a group can be defined in terms of the characteristics substance and forms of the language and discourses, activities and practice, interactions of the group (Kemmis and Mc Taggart in Cohen, 2007)
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From the definitions above, it can be concluded that Classroom Action
Research is a systematic study that combines diagnosis, action, and reflection to
investigate practical issues in order to come to a decision about the issue in the
future.
D. Procedures of the Study
The procedures of the study consist of six steps they are identifying initial
ideas, reconnaissance and constructing general plan, implementing action,
observation, and reflection. The six steps form cycle moves to form the next
cycles continually. Here are the procedures of the cycles.
1. Identifying initial idea
This step refers to identifying the general idea. The general idea is
essentially a statement, which links an idea to action. In other words, the general
idea refers to a state of affairs or situation one wishes to change or improve on
(Elliot, 1991: 71).
2. Reconnaissance
This activity could be subdivided into:
a. Describing the facts of the situation
One needs to describe as fully as possible the nature of the situation one
wants to change or improve on
b. Explaining the facts of the situation
Having collected and described the relevant facts one needs to explain
them. In this steps one moves from a description of the facts to a critical analysis
of the context in which they arise. This involves:
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1) Brainstorming for generating explanatory hypotheses.
2) Hypothesis testing (Elliot, 1991: 71)
3. Constructing the general planning
The general plan of action will contain:
a. The revised statement of the general idea
b. A statement of the factors one is going to change or modify in order to
improve the situation, and the actions one will undertake in this direction
c. A statement of negotiations one has had, or will have to conduct with others
before undertaking the proposed course of action.
d. A statement of the resource one will need in order to undertake the purposed
courses of action.
e. A statement of ethical framework, which will govern access to and release of
information (Elliot, 1991: 75)
In this step the writer will improve students’ vocabulary including
pronunciation, spelling, meaning, and the use of the words by Total
Physical Response.
4. Action
The writer conducts actions to help the students in improving English
vocabulary by using TPR. As stated previously, mastering vocabulary means
knowing the meaning, the pronunciation, the spelling, and the using of .the words.
a. TPR can improve the students’ understanding (meaning) of words when the
teacher gives instruction and does the instruction by using bodily action. For
example: open the door!. Then the teacher opens the door. The teacher
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practices it many times to let the students know the meaning of “open the
door!”. If the students do not understand the meaning of the sentence, the
teacher should not translate into the native language of the students
immediately. The teacher can give different instruction, for example: close the
door! Then practice it. Certainly students will know the meaning of open the
door by comparing with close the door.
b. TPR can improve spelling when the teacher writes the instructions on the board
and spell them by using fingers or moving the body to form the letters if
necessary. All of the words should be mastered by the students with the
correct spelling. The students pay attention to the teacher’s mouth or
movement of parts of the body if necessary in spelling the words then repeat
after her. Further, the teacher might ask the students to spell the words on a
board.
c. TPR can improve pronunciation when the teacher pronounces the words using
the correct pronunciation. It is similar to spelling in which students pay
attention to the teacher’s mouth to know how to pronounce the words correctly.
The difference is, in spelling, words will be spelled letter by letter, in
pronunciation students pronounce the words. Teacher can give the similar
words, for example: watch and wash. Still, the students may look at the words
on a board. The teacher may ask one student to point his/her friends to do
something. For example: Andi, ask Rina to wash her face.
d. TPR can improve students’ ability in using words through various instructions
by using the same words. Teacher can give different instructions by using the
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same words, for example: open the door, open the window. Of course, still
accompanied with practice The teacher can ask one student to give instruction
to other students.. By doing so, the students will understand the using of open
in a sentence. It enables them to make different instruction using open.
5. Monitoring
The writer observes the students condition. She takes notes about the
students’ vocabulary progress in teaching learning process. She uses a diary
(students check list). The students’ checklist is used in order to know the students’
progress from the first cycle to the second cycle and also determine what
treatment can be given to the students after seeing the result of cycle one. The
suggestion of diary from the collaborators is also used to determine the material
for giving posttest in cycle one and two, such as the weaknesses often were still
being found in cycle one, she asks some questions about the students’ condition
and about the students’ way of learning and improving their English. She asks two
colleagues to come and observe her class and give some suggestions to make up
and revise her plan.
6. Reflections
The writer reviews her action and revises from original plan whether the
plan she put into operation is effective. The revision involves time and
learning management, the strategy, competition, and test.
E. Data and Sources of Data
There are two kinds of data the writer uses, the quantitative and qualitative
data. The quantitative data are in the form of language ability scores. The data are
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the students’ scores from the beginning of research until the end of research. It
comes from the regular assessment.
The qualitative data are information in the forms of students’ responses,
observation reports, colleague inputs, and field notes. There are three sources of
data; (1) event, the teaching learning process in natural setting; (2) respondents,
the students, teachers, and colleagues; and (3) document, the result of students’
worksheet.
F. Techniques of Collecting Data
The quantitative data are taken from administering pre-test, regular tests
after some teaching learning process and post-test. Then, in getting qualitative
data, the writer does direct observation in the classroom, interviews the teachers,
and also the students regarding to their activities in studying English vocabulary.
The writer uses tape recorder, photograph, interview, portfolios, and field notes.
After collecting the data, the researcher, collaborator, and the classroom teacher
will discuss the result.
G. Technique of Analyzing Data
There are two techniques in analyzing data, quantitative and qualitative. In
analyzing quantitative data, the writer uses the students’ previous mark (pre-test)
and post-test in order to know whether TPR can improve their English
vocabulary. The results of the tests are analyzed using t-test non independent to
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know the difference before and after the cycle. The formulation of t-test was
)1(
)( 22
−
∑−∑
=
nnnDD
Dt
(Ngadiso, 2008:17b)
In analyzing qualitative data, the writer analyzes the improvement of
English vocabulary by identifying appropriate data analysis and data interpretation
techniques. Mills (2004: 113-115) explains that data interpretation techniques had
five steps, they are:
1. Extend the analysis by raising questions
Wolcott (in Mills, 2004: 113) suggested,” This is a strategy for pointing
the way rather than leading the way.” It could be said that this model positively
impacted audience participant. Conducting the strategy raised a number of
questions. The analysis of data could be extended by raising questions about the
interventions that were not asked as parts of the original investigation but which
might signal the beginning of the test action research cycle.
2. Connect the findings with the personal experience.
Action research was very personal business, so it made sense to
personalize our interpretations. For example the researcher might present her/his
findings based on experiences in conducting this study, which is focused on the
students. It could be said that the researcher could share interpretations based on
his/her intimate knowledge and understand teaching learning process. The
interpretation was not only based on analysis of data (test scores, surveys,
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interview, and observations) but also on the memories and emotions of
adolescents off task behavior a powerful interpretive lens.
3. Seek the advice of critical friends
It was better for the researcher if she or he has difficulty focusing
interpretive lens to work to rely on her or his trusted colleagues to offer insights
that she may have missed because of her closeness to the work and request to
colleagues so that they shared with their possible interpretations. Similarly, she
might ask her informants (students, parents, teachers, and administrators) for
their insights.
4. Contextualize findings in the literature.
The review of related literature was a powerful way for teacher researchers
to provide support for the study’s findings. Walcott (in Mills, 2004: 115)
suggested the qualitative (action) researchers drew connections with external
authority. Most often this is accomplished through informed references to some
recognized body of theory in one’s special field, or to the recognized classic, in
the tradition or the literature review. Making this connection also provided
teacher researchers with a way to share with colleagues the existing knowledge
based on the specific area of focus and to acknowledge the unique contribution
the teacher researcher has made her or him understand the topic studied.
5. Turn to the theory.
It dealt with a modest definition of theory as “an analytical and
interpretive framework that helps the researcher makes sense of ‘what s going
on’ in the social setting being studied” (Mills, 2004: 115). Theory served a
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number of important roles for qualitative (action) researchers. First, theory
should provide a way for teacher researchers to link their work to broader
current issues in order to find a solution by using a theory. Second, theory
allowed the researcher to search for increasing levels of abstractions, or move
beyond a purely descriptive account. It also allowed us to communicate the
essence of descriptive work to our colleagues at research meeting. The last,
theory could provide a rationale or sense of meaning to the work we do. It could
be said that from those three modest definitions above, it could be concluded
that theory plays important role as interpretive framework to find out what
happens in the field, which was studied.
In analyzing the qualitative data, the researcher uses the five steps, they
are: extend the analysis by raising questions, connect the finding with the
personal experience, seek the advice of critical friends, contextualize findings in
the literature, and turn to the theory. The researcher considers using the five
steps because it is more appropriate with the data encountered in this research.
Moreover, it is much simpler to be adjusted with the time available. By using
those five steps hopefully the researcher could analyze the data accurately.
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CHAPTER IV
RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
This chapter describes stages of activities developed as part of
implementing TPR in improving vocabulary mastery of Elementary students of
MI Manafiul Ulum Kudus. The objective is to present the research findings which
provide evidence for answering the problems stated in chapter 1. The description
of the findings is based on the data from the teacher’s and collaborator’s field
note, the interview, and the tests.
A. Introduction
Vocabulary mastery is necessary for the students who learn English as it is
a basic for further learning. The wrong perception about learning vocabularies that
is learning new words is indicated by translating them into native language. The
ideal condition of mastering vocabulary is students know the meaning, the
pronunciation, the spelling, and the use of particular words. Those four aspects
should be taught to the students in learning new vocabularies so that they can
master the vocabulary holistically. Unfortunately, the students do not learn in such
way in mastering new vocabularies.
In accordance with the case, there are some problems encountered based
on the interview, observation, and the result of pre-test. Based on the interview, it
is known that the atmosphere of the classroom does not support the students to
learn English well. The teacher teaches by lecturing and it causes boredom for the
students. In teaching vocabulary, the students are asked to list and memorize
words. Moreover, the teacher does not use a particular method to teach
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vocabulary. Then, almost all students confess that they have difficulty in finding
meaning, pronouncing, spelling, and using English words.
Based on the observation done before the research process with the
collaborators on October 8th 2009, 7 students showed that they were not interested
in English; six of them said that they hate English. In addition, the teacher said
that the condition of the sixth year students were very stressful. They seemed to be
unmotivated enough to learn English. In teaching and learning process, they were
likely to be busy with their own activities.
Based on the result of pre-test, the score of the students in mastering the
vocabularies is low. Mean of the pretest is 60.28. There were ten students who got
score under 60.
The causes of the problems are from both of the teacher and the students.
The teacher realizes that the students get difficulties in learning new vocabularies,
but she has not tried to use a certain method to teach vocabulary. As stated
initially, the teacher uses lecturing method in teaching English, and especially for
vocabularies, the teacher asks the students to memorize list of words.
From the students’ point of view, English is difficult, especially in
pronunciation and the meaning. It can be understood as the method used is
lecturing. Hence, they hardly understand about English. In addition, they seem to
be lack in curiosity, motivation, and involvement in teaching learning process.
Related to the problems, the researcher proposes TPR as a method to teach
vocabularies. It is a method in which the students act and move based on the
instructions given. So, the new words are made in imperative and will be acted by
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the students. This method is appropriate for the students at such age since they
prefer moving to sitting. As using TPR is learning by doing, certainly this method
would help them to learn new words easily.
The target of using TPR for the students of MI NU Manafi’ul Ulum Kudus
for teaching vocabulary is hopefully this method can improve the students’
English vocabulary. It can be measured through four aspects, they are: meaning,
spelling, pronunciation, and using the words.
B. Report of Cycle One
1. Planning
Based on the causes of the problem above, the first cycle of the action research
is aimed to improve:
a. The students’ vocabulary mastery including the meaning, pronunciation,
spelling, and using of words.
b. The students’ curiosity to learn and to know something new.
c. The students’ motivation to learn vocabulary more.
d. The students’ involvement so that they can actively involve in the teaching
and learning process.
Based on the result of the discussion with the principal, the teacher of the
sixth grade, and the English teacher in a democratic and dialogic atmosphere on
November 26th 2009, the actions planned for the first cycle are:
a. Conducting TPR
b. Using conducive classroom.
c. Giving good response to the students.
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In doing a classroom action research, planning is the first step which should
be done. Therefore, the researcher plans important things in order that the research
runs well. The planning is presented in the following:
1) Time allotment
The time allotment in each meeting is 80 minutes. The researcher should
manage the time well, so that the purpose of this research can be obtained. There
are four meetings in Cycle excluding of pre-test and post-test.
Table 4: Time allotment of meetings in cycle 1
NO TIME ACTIVITIES 1 Thursday, November 26th 2009 Pre-test 2 Thursday, December 3rd 2009 The first meeting 3 Thursday, December 10th 2009 The second meeting 4 Thursday, January 7th 2010 The third meeting 5 Thursday, January 14th 2010 The fourth meeting 6 Thursday, January 21st 2010 Post test
2) Teaching Material
The material surely has been adjusted with the curriculum. The following is
the material of the first cycle:
Table 5: Material of cycle 1
NO MEETING TOPIC OF TEACHING
1 1St Cleaning the classroom 2 2nd Daily routine 3 3rd Parts of the body 4 4th Object in the classroom
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3) Field-note
To help the researcher to know what happens during the process of
implementing Total Physical Response in improving vocabulary, the researcher
uses field note. As this field note can record the students’ activities, the researcher
can know the progress and consider what to do in the next meeting.
4) Video Shooting
The researcher uses video shooting to record the process of action research
in the classroom so the real process of conducting the research can be observed in
detail and evaluated for the next meeting.
2. Action of Cycle One
The researcher carried out the actions of cycle 1 in four meetings. The topic
is cleaning the classroom, daily routine, parts of the body, and object in the
classroom. The actions were focused on implementing Total Physical Response.
The data were collected through classroom observation, video-tape, photographs,
questionnaires, and post-test.
a. First Meeting
The lesson started at 11.00 A.M, the last period of the day. It ended at
12.20 A.M. The researcher and the collaborative teacher came to the class on
time. In the first meeting the researcher introduced herself and then checked the
students’ presence in order to know the students’ name one by one.
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1) Warming up
The researcher, then, introduced TPR in teaching vocabulary. The students
seemed to be curious as they never knew about the method before. So far, they
learnt vocabulary by memorizing list of words. The researcher started the class by
giving simple instructions, for example: sit down, stand up, jump, etc. Some of the
students could do the instructions while others remained in their seat looking at
each other. Lately, they realized that it was Total Physical Response.
2) Main Activities
• Aspect of meaning
The researcher asked the students in English what they use to clean the
classroom. Some students answered loudly in English, and others answered in
Bahasa Indonesia. Then, the researcher showed the tools for cleaning the
classroom that had been prepared. In the beginning, they just pointed the tool that
was meant by the researcher. The sentence, for example: We use broom to sweep
the floor. Because almost all of them had already known the word “broom”, they
spontaneously pointed to the broom. In this case, they perhaps did not know the
word ‘sweep”.
Then, the researcher asked some volunteers to come to the front to do
some instructions. They were Ridho, Muslih, and Wahid. The other students paid
attention while sitting in their seat. They were really enthusiastic and looked
motivated. After the volunteers did all of instructions, then the students followed
them based on the volunteer’s instruction. When Muslih said “sweep the floor”,
Ridho and Wahid immediately moved their hands as if they swept the floor. Then
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Ridho asked all of the students to stand up and said “clean the blackboard”. They
acted as they clean the blackboard.
• Aspect of spelling
To improve the students’ ability in spelling, the teacher wrote some
instructions on the board and asked students to write them down on their book.
(Sweep the floor, dust the table, mop the floor, erase the board, throw the
rubbish). After the words were mastered well, the teacher cleaned the board.
Then, the teacher asked the students to write the instructions on the board and
spell them along with her. Later, the teacher asked the students randomly to spell
the words alone.
• Aspect of pronunciation
In improving the students’ ability to pronounce the new words related to
cleaning the classroom, the teacher asked a student to be the instructor. Then, the
first student who became instructor gave instructions to the second student. From
the first student, teacher could check the pronunciation, and from the second
student, teacher could check whether the meaning is correct.
• Aspect of using word
The last step of improving English vocabulary mastery by using TPR was
teaching how to use words. After the students were trained how to know the
meaning, the spelling, and the pronunciation of new vocabularies the teacher let
them make new sentences based on the vocabularies given. The teacher asked the
students to make new imperative sentences by using words dust, clean, mop, and
throw.
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3) Closing
The teacher gave a conclusion of the material given. The teacher asked them
to practice some instruction including aspect of meaning, spelling, pronunciation,
and using the words in turn. Then, the teacher gave assignment to the students.
b. Second Meeting
The second meeting was at the same time as the first meeting that was at
11.00 – 12.20 A.M. It was on Thursday, December 10th 2009. The topic was daily
routine by using VCD, hair dryer, comb, toothbrush, and dipper as the media.
After the teacher greeted the students and asked their condition, then the teacher
told them that they would study about daily routine by using TPR as they did last
week. All of the students cheered and looked so happy at that hot noon.
1) Warming up
The teacher played VCD about daily routines that were practiced by some
children through TPR. Some students imitated what they saw in Video. They
laughed and seemed to be very happy because they never watched video in the
classroom before.
2) Main Activities
• Aspect of meaning
In this meeting, the volunteers were three girls, they were: Heni, Luluk,
and Fadhila. The teacher gave the same instruction as the video showed: wash the
face, go to the bathroom, etc. They did all of instructions along with the teacher.
Then, they did together with the volunteers without the teacher. Luluk asked
Fadhila, “Wash the face.” Then, Fadhila wiped her face with her palm-hands.
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Then, Fadila gave different command to the other volunteers. After they mastered
the instructions, one of them gave instruction to the rest of the class.
• Aspect of spelling
To improve the students’ ability in spelling, the teacher wrote some
instructions on the board and asked students to write them down on their book.
(Wash the face, brush the teeth, go to the bathroom, take a shower). After all of
the words were mastered well, the teacher cleaned the board. Then, the teacher
asked the students to write the instructions on the board and to spell them along
with her. Later, the teacher asked the students randomly to spell the words alone.
• Aspect of pronunciation
In improving the students’ ability to pronounce the new words related to
cleaning the classroom, the teacher asked a student to be the instructor. Then, the
first student who became instructor gave instructions to the second student. From
the first student, teacher could check the pronunciation, and from the second
student, teacher could check whether the meaning is correct.
• Aspect of using word
The last step of improving English vocabulary mastery by using TPR was
teaching how to use words. After the students were trained how to know the
meaning, the spelling, and the pronunciation of new vocabularies, the teacher let
them make new sentences based on the vocabularies given. The teacher asked the
students to make new imperative sentences by using words wash, brush, go, and
take.
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3) Closing
The teacher gave a conclusion of the material given. The teacher asked
them to practice some instruction including aspect of meaning, spelling,
pronunciation, and using the words in turn. After giving the assignment to the
students, the teacher closed the meeting.
c. Third Meeting
The third meeting was on Thursday, January 7th 2010. The topic was part
of the body. The media was pictures. As usual, the teacher had been ready in the
classroom at 11.00 A.M. The teacher addressed the students and asked their
condition.
1) Warming up
The teacher asked them whether they ever heard the song:
Head, shoulder, knees, and toes
Knees and toes 2 X
And ears, and eyes, and nose, and cheek,
Head, shoulder, knees, and toes
Knees and toes 2 X
All of them answered that they never heard the song before. Then, the
teacher asked volunteers to sing in front with her. The other students paid
attention to the volunteers by listening to the song while seeing the movement.
The teacher sang and touched her parts of her body based on the song.
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2) Main Activities
• Aspect of meaning
The teacher asked all students to sing along with her and the volunteers.
They had sung twice, and the teacher let the volunteers sing. Then, the teacher
asked them to act based on the song: pull your ears, close your eyes, touch your
shoulder. There were still some mistakes because they did not know the meaning
of pull, close, and touch. After the same verbs were given for different parts of the
body, they understood, pull your nose, touch your eyes, touch your knees, push
your nose.
• Aspect of spelling
To improve the students’ ability in spelling, the teacher wrote some
instructions on the board and asked students to write them down on their book.
(Shake your head, nod your head, touch your shoulder, open your eyes). After all
of the words were mastered well, the teacher cleaned the board. Then, the teacher
asked the students to write the instructions on the board and to spell them along
with her. Later, the teacher asked the students randomly to spell the words alone.
• Aspect of pronunciation
In improving the students’ ability to pronounce the new words related to
parts of the body, the teacher asked a student to be the instructor. Then, the first
student who became instructor gave instructions to the second student. From the
first student, teacher can check the pronunciation, and from the second student,
teacher can check whether the meaning is correct.
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• Aspect of using word
The last step of improving English vocabulary mastery by using TPR is
teaching how to use word. After the students were trained how to know the
meaning, the spelling, and the pronunciation of new words, the teacher let them
make new sentences based on the words given. The teacher asked the students to
make new imperative sentences by using words open, close, pull, push, and touch.
3) Closing
The teacher gave a summary of the lesson by asking the students to do
some instructions in turn and gave an assignment afterward. Then, the teacher
closed the meeting.
d. Fourth Meeting
The fourth meeting was on Thursday, January 14th, 2010. The topic was
objects in the classroom, and the media were stationeries and objects in the
classroom. In the beginning, the teacher greeted and asked the students’ condition.
1) Warming up
The teacher asked what objects they can find in the classroom. The
students answered, board, table, chair. Then, the teacher asked what they have got
in their bag. All students opened their bag in a hurry and answered,” ruler, book,
bag, pencil, pen, etc”.
2) Main Activities
• Aspect of meaning
The teacher told the students that they were going to study about objects in
the classroom. As the students have already known about TPR, they immediately
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raised their hands when the teacher asked some volunteers. Three volunteers came
to the front and brought their stationeries. Then the teacher gave instruction,
“open your bag”, “take your pencil”, “take your pen”, and “close your bag”.
After they mastered the vocabularies, then they gave instruction to the other
students. Of course, they had been ready with their own bag in their hands.
• Aspect of spelling
To improve the students’ ability in spelling, the teacher wrote some
instructions on the board and asked students to write them down on their book.
(Open your bag, take your ruler, take your book, and close your bag). After all of
the words were mastered well, the teacher cleaned the board. Then, the teacher
asked the students to write the instructions on the board and to spell them along
with her. Later, the teacher asked the students randomly to spell the words alone.
• Aspect of pronunciation
In improving the students’ ability to pronounce the new words related to
objects in the classroom, the teacher asked a student to be the instructor. Then, the
first student who became instructor gave instructions to the second student. From
the first student, teacher can check the pronunciation, and from the second
student, teacher can check whether the meaning is correct.
• Aspect of using word
The last step of improving English vocabulary mastery by using TPR was
teaching how to use words. After the students were trained how to know the
meaning, the spelling, and the pronunciation of new words, then the teacher asked
them to make new sentences based on the words given. The teacher asked the
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students to make new imperative sentences by using words open, take, put, and
close, write.
3) Closing
In this last meeting, the teacher gave conclusion of the material and gave
an assignment. Then, the teacher closed the meeting.
3. Observing
In conducting this action research, the researcher cast a role as the teacher
in conducting Total Physical Response. During implementing the method, the
researcher and her collaborative teacher observed the situation, facts, the students’
progress, and their response in each meeting. The following is the result of
observation in each meeting:
a. First meeting
The result of the observation in the first meeting showed that the students
are less active to get involved in the teaching learning process. Only few students
responded the teacher’s instruction. It took some time for the teacher to convince
them that they should not be afraid of being volunteers. Then, some students were
willing to be volunteers and followed what the teacher said. Yet, some students
seemed to be ashamed to participate. They did not follow the instructions.
Sometimes they looked busy talking to their friends.
In this meeting, the students learnt the four aspects, but because of limited
time, the evaluation was only the aspect of meaning. The collaborative teacher
claimed that TPR could improve the students’ ability in mastering new words
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especially meaning aspect. In addition, the time allotment should be well managed
in order that the time for evaluation is available.
b. Second meeting
In this meeting, the students were more responsive than in the previous
meeting. The teacher did not need more time to have some volunteers. The
students who were still ashamed in the first meeting began to pay more attention
to the teacher’s instruction. Also, those who talked each other in the previous
meeting seemed to begin to cope with teacher’s instruction. They involved
themselves during the class.
c. Third meeting
Based on the observation, it can be said that the students were much more
enthusiastic than before. The student began to be familiar with TPR. They cheered
and sang the song happily. When the teacher stopped singing, they asked more.
They enjoyed the song much. In this meeting, they sang a song about parts of the
body. From the four aspects, aspect of meaning is well-understood by the
students, while for aspect of spelling, pronouncing, and using the words in a
sentence, only half of students who could do them well. There were twenty two
students who could master the four aspects well. On the contrary, 3 students were
still not able to master the four aspects. The collaborative teacher gave an advice
of using larger room in order that the students could move and act freely.
d. Fourth meeting
It was recognized that the students could interact each other, as they
understood the material about objects in the classroom. Yet, some students were
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still ashamed to ask questions. The students understood the aspect of meaning. For
aspect of spelling, there were thirteen students who still had problem in
pronouncing the words. For aspect of pronunciation, there were 13 students who
were still got difficulties, and there were eleven students who still could not use
the words in a sentence. In this meeting, the students seemed to be noisier. That’s
why; the collaborative teacher suggested handling the students’ noise.
Based on the observation in each meeting, it can be concluded that the
students’ ability improved. The following was the improvement achieved by the
students in the first cycle.
1) The improvement of students’ ability in vocabulary mastery
Based on the observation in each meeting in the previous, it was noticed
that the students were enthusiastic in following the lesson. It supported them to
learn new words intensively. It can be said that there was improvement in
students’ vocabulary mastery particularly in aspect of meaning. Yet, some of the
students were still ashamed in practicing spelling and pronunciation. At last, the
researcher and her collaborative teacher strongly agreed that Total Physical
Response was good in improving students’ vocabulary mastery.
2) The improvement of student’s motivation, confidence, and involvement in
learning vocabulary
The researcher and the collaborative teacher agreed that Total Physical
Response was successful in motivating students to learn vocabulary. Students
memorized more words by using this method. One student expressed the
following opinion:
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“Saya senang belajar Bahasa Inggris dengan mempraktekkan, karena kata-katanya dapat diingat kembali. Belajar dengan cara seperti ini menyenangkan, tidak membosankan”.
The researcher also noticed that the movement and action could improve the
students’ confidence in learning new words. They were not afraid of making
mistake in responding what the teacher said. They felt that English was easier than
they thought. It was important as it could give them more motivation to learn
about English in the next level.
Some students who were not interested in English stated that learning
English through TPR was enjoyable. They could memorize words easily.
4. Reflection of Cycle 1
After doing action research in the class, there were some strengths and
weaknesses found. The strengths and weaknesses could be seen as follows:
a. The strengths of cycle 1:
1) There was improvement in students’ vocabulary mastery.
2) The most significant aspect of vocabularies improved was meaning.
3) The students’ motivation, confidence, and involvement in class improved.
b. The weaknesses of cycle 1:
1) Some students were still ashamed and got difficulties in spelling, pronouncion ,
and using the words.
2) The class was little bit disorganized and noisy as they had to act and move. It
often caused them to laugh since it was new for them.
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3) The time allotment seemed to be insufficient as the students had to master the
four aspects of vocabulary.
4) The room should be larger to provide the students more spaces to act and
move.
5. Revising the Plan
To handle the problems encountered in cycle 1, the researcher and the
collaborative teacher revised the plan to eliminate or reduce the weaknesses of the
implementation of Total Physical Response in cycle 1. It was expected that the
weaknesses would not occur again.
The revised plan included the class management so that the situation
would be well-controlled. Then, related to the spelling, students would be given a
song of alphabet to remind them about the right spelling of English. For
pronunciation aspect, the teacher would give an understanding to the students that
the way of spelling and pronouncing was different by giving some examples and
exercises to be practiced. The room would be set as well as possible to let the
students move freely. Also, time management would be reviewed in order that the
material could be conveyed in time allotted.
Table 6: The Implementation of Cycle 1
Cycle 1 Discussing Explanation
Planning Students’ problem Solution
a. Most of the students’ English vocabulary mastery is low. They lack curiosity, motivation, and involvement in teaching learning process.
b. Most of the students’ motivation, involvement, and confidence in speaking English are low.
Introducing and implementing Total Physical Response to learn English vocabulary.
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Acting Meeting 1 Introducing Total Physical Response Conducting Total Physical Response to study vocabulary of the topic “Cleaning the Classroom”.
Meeting 2 Conducting Total Physical Response to study vocabulary of the topic “Daily Routine”.
Meeting 3 Conducting Total Physical Response to study vocabulary of the topic “Parts of the Body”.
Meeting 4 Conducting Total Physical Response to study vocabulary of the topic “Objects in the classroom”.
Observing The researcher and collaborative teacher observed the implementation and noted the results in field notes, diaries, and video shooting.
Reflecting Revising
Strengths Weaknesses
a. There was improvement in students’ vocabulary mastery.
b. The most significant aspect of vocabulary that improved was meaning.
a. Some students were still ashamed and got difficulties in spelling, pronunciation, and using the words.
b. The class was little bit disorganized and noisy as they had to act and move. It often caused them laugh since it was new for them.
c. The time allotment seemed to be insufficient as the students had to master the four aspects of vocabulary.
a. Focusing to improve the aspects of vocabulary on spelling, pronunciation and using word.
b. Focusing to motivate the students to be involved in teaching learning process to avoid noise.
c. Managing the time to be adjusted with the time allotment.
d. Arranging the students seat, so they could be comfortable in acting something
C. Report of Cycle 2
1. Revised Plan
Based on the weaknesses encountered in cycle one, the researcher and
collaborative teacher revised the following plans:
a. Focusing on aspects of spelling, pronunciation and using words.
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b. Focusing to motivate the students to be involved in teaching learning process to
avoid noise.
c. Managing the time to be adjusted with the time allotment.
d. Arranging the students’ seat, so they could be comfortable to act.
The researcher, then, planned a sequence of steps to be conducted in cycle
2 as follows:
a. Time allotment
The time allotment in each meeting is 80 minutes. There were five meetings
in cycle 2 including posttest of cycle 2.
Table 7: Time allotment of meetings in cycle 2
NO TIME ACTIVITIES 1 Thursday, February, 4th 2010 the first meeting 2 Thursday, February, 11th 2010 The second meeting 3 Thursday, February, 18th 2010 The third meeting 4 Thursday, February, 25th 2010 The fourth meeting 5 Thursday, March 4th 2010 Post-test
b. Teaching Material
The teaching materials of the second cycle were food and drinks, direction
and location, clothes, and hobby. The teaching media were map, dinning set,
clothes, and real objects.
Table 8: The materials of cycle 2
NO MEETING TOPIC OF TEACHING
1 1St Food and drinks 2 2nd Direction and location3 3rd Clothes 4 4th Hobby
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2. Acting of Cycle 2
a. First Meeting
1) Warming up
The researcher and the collaborative teacher entered the class at 11 A.M.
The researcher greeted the students and asked their condition. The teacher
arranged the students’ seat in a circle without table. She stood up in the middle of
the circle. The teacher asked them whether they were hungry and sleepy. All of
them answered in choirs, “ Yaaaa…. Bu….. “. “Ok, we will go home after we
study about food and drinks. So, be active and we will go home early”. They were
curious with dinning set brought by the teacher. After the students settled
themselves, the teacher told them that they would study English by using TPR.
All of them seemed to be more enthusiastic as they thought that they would have
lunch and go home early.
2) Main Activities
a) Aspect of Meaning
The teacher showed them the dining set and said their names: a glass, a
plate, a spoon, a fork, a teapot, a napkin, a bowl, water. Then, the teacher gave
example of series of instructions while practicing, take the glass, pour the water,
drink the water, take the plate, take some rice, eat, wipe your mouth, and wash
your hands.” The teacher asked who wanted to be volunteers. Some students
raised their hands while standing up and little running. The teacher said that all of
students would get their turn in order to avoid noise. Then, the students sat and the
teacher chose some who were less active than others. After that, the volunteers did
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the teacher’s instruction. The next turn, each volunteer gave instructions to the
students who were sitting. They might sit after giving all of instructions as the
teacher did. Then, the teacher asked more volunteers to come to the front. The
teacher did the same as before in order to give the same opportunity to the
students in involving themselves in the learning process.
b) Aspect of spelling
The teacher held the plate and said, “take the plate”. Then, the teacher held
the spoon and asked the students to say something. One student replied, “spoon”.
Ok, what…? Spoon? Bla bla bla spoon. The other student said “take the spoon”.
Good, the teacher replied. The teacher wrote the student’s sentence on the board.
She held the other thing and let the other students said something. The teacher
wrote down only the spelling of nouns, they are: plate, glass, spoon, fork, and
water. Then, the teacher asked the students to write down the spelling and spell
them later. If the spelling was correct the teacher would erase the sentence. It was
done many times until the students spelled correctly.
c) Aspect of pronunciation
The students pronounced the instructions that had been already spelled. The
teacher wrote them again on the board. Then, one student pronounced the words
and gave instructions to the other student to do so. The second student pronounced
the words. When the teacher was sure with the students’ pronunciation, the
teacher asked them to pronounce the sentences together.
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d) Aspect of Using Word
In this aspect, the teacher gave the students some time to make sentences
using words napkin, bowl, and teapot. Here the teacher said, “take the glass”.
Then, she encouraged the students to make different sentences. One student
replied, “take the bowl,”. The other students make different sentences using the
words given. Then, the teacher said, “eat”. One student in the left side answered,
“eat rice”. Good, “eat the rice”, the teacher replied.
3) Closing
The teacher summarized the material by reviewing some instructions
including aspect of meaning, spelling, pronunciation, and using the words in
sequences and closed the meeting.
b. Second Meeting
1) Warming up
The researcher and the collaborative teacher entered the class at 11 A.M.
The researcher greeted the students and asked their condition. As usual, the
teacher gave a question to the students before the lesson. Whose house is the
nearest from this school? They did not understand the question. Then, the teacher
drew a map of house and the school. The teacher repeated the question, while
confirming to the students, Wahid, where is your house? He said, no and
spontaneously all of his friends laughed at him. Ok, please look at the map on the
blackboard. This is Wahid’s house and this is our school. From this school, go
ahead, turn left, go ahead until T-junction, turn right, Wahid’s house is on the
corner. Ok, today we will study about direction and location.
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2) Main Activities
a) Aspect of Meaning
By giving real example of showing how to get to Wahid’s house, the students
understood what they were studying about. The local map of school neighborhood
was put on the board. Then, the teacher acted, go ahead, turn right, turn left, look
at the left side, look at the right side, stop. To give an understanding about the
meaning of direction and location, the teacher acted how to get to market. Then,
the teacher asked who wanted to be volunteers. Wahid came to the front. The
teacher then gave the same instructions as before. It seemed that Wahid did not
master the meaning aspect, since he did not do the instructions well.
Then, four girls came to the front as volunteers. The teacher gave the same
instructions as before. Two of them could not act well. The four girls were back to
the seat. The teacher wrote down the instructions on the board and asked one boy
to act the instructions. After that, one girl gave instructions to the rest students
who were sitting.
b) Aspect of Spelling
The teacher wrote down some verbs of the sentences on the blackboard,
they were: go straight, turn left, turn right, and stop. Then, she asked volunteers
to write down the words. The word go straight had been done as example. One
boy came to the front and wrote the phonetic spelling of the rest of words. Then,
he spelled the words followed by the other friends.
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c) Aspect of pronunciation
The teacher pronounced the previous instructions followed by action and
then wrote the verb on board. The students repeated them, they were: go straight,
turn left, turn right, and stop. The teacher asked one volunteer to pronounce turn
right and asked the other students to repeat. Then, she asked the students
randomly to pronounce turn left. By doing so, the teacher and the other students
could check whether the pronunciation was correct or incorrect.
d) Aspect of using word
The teacher gave the students clue, “bank” and asked them to make new
sentence with the vocabularies they had learnt before. The girl who sat in the left
side answered, “stop in bank”. Then, the teacher said, “stop at the bank”.
3) Closing
The teacher summarized the material by reviewing some instructions
including aspect of meaning, spelling, pronunciation, and using the words in
sequences and closed the meeting.
c. Third Meeting
1) Warming up
The researcher and the collaborative teacher entered the class at 11 A.M. The
researcher addressed the students and their condition. The teacher asked the
students to mention the names of clothes they were wearing. Later, the teacher
asked them what they were going to study. They answered, “uniform”. Well, we
will study about uniform, the teacher said. The teacher began to mention the
names of uniform: cap, tie, T-shirt, trousers, dress, belt, socks, and shoes. Then,
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she asked further, what is it? She is asking while holding a hat. There was no
answer. This is a cap. Ok, now please all of you repeat after me. The teacher
asked the students to touch the clothes they wore and said the names along with
her. Further, she began to teach in the following aspects:
2) Main Activities
a) Aspect of meaning
The teacher asked the students to touch the correct name of uniform they were
wearing. Then, separately the teacher asked two boys to be volunteers and did
instructions along with her, touch your cap, put your cap off, put your cap on, put
your tie on, put your left shoe off, and put your right shoe off. After the
instructions were sufficient, the teacher asked the first boy to give instructions to
the second boy. Next, one girl came to the front and gave instructions to the rest
students.
b) Aspect of Spelling
The teacher wrote down some words of the sentences on the blackboard,
they were: put on, put off, T-shirt, dress, trousers, socks, and shoes. After that, she
asked volunteers to write down the words. One girl wrote the spelling of T-shirt
and made mistake in writing the spelling of h. Then, the other boy came to the
front and corrected it. It was still wrong. One girl tried to correct the mistake,
unfortunately it was still wrong. Ridho, the active student corrected the mistake.
Then, he spelled the words followed by the other students.
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c) Aspect of pronunciation
The teacher pronounced the words on the blackboard and repeated by the
students, they were: put on, put off, T-shirt, dress, trousers, socks, and shoes.
Then, the teacher asked all of the students to pronounce the words on the board.
Then, she asked the students randomly to pronounce trousers. By doing so, the
teacher and the other students could check whether the pronunciation was correct
or incorrect. It was repeated for all words on the board.
d) Aspect of using word
The teacher gave the students clue, “touch” and asked them to make new
sentence with the vocabularies they had learnt before. The boy in front of the
teacher answered, “touch your belt”. Then, the teacher asked one student to give a
clue and the other students made different sentences. Most of students make a
sentence that is slightly different from the example given.
3) Closing
The teacher asked the students to stand up and did her instructions in series.
Then, she summarized the material by reviewing some instructions including
aspect of meaning, spelling, pronunciation, and using the words in sequences and
closed the meeting.
d. Fourth Meeting
1) Warming up
The researcher and the collaborative teacher entered the class at 11 A.M.
The researcher greeted the students and asked their condition. Good afternoon
students. Good afternoon, Mam. How are you today? I’m fine. Ok, today we will
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study about hobby. The teacher asked the students what their hobbies were. Some
students answered loudly, reading. Next, the teacher show tools for hobbies and
asked them what hobby needed the tool. The teacher held a racket, and the
students answered badminton. Good, then, the teacher held a ball. Again, they
replied together, football.
2) Main Activities
a) Aspect of Meaning
The teacher asked who wanted to be volunteers. Most of students raised their
hands. The teacher chose four volunteers and let them do instructions along with
her, read the book, go swimming, play badminton, play football, sing a song, draw
a mountain, and fish at the river. After they remembered the instructions, they
gave command to their friends. They, in a fact have already known about hobbies.
That’s why they could act the instructions. Yet, some boys seemed to forget since
they acted incorrectly.
b) Aspect of Spelling
The teacher wrote down some words of the sentences on the blackboard,
they were: swimming, singing, reading, drawing, football. Then, she asked
volunteers to write down the phonetic transcription. One girl came to the front and
wrote the spelling of swimming. It was already correct. Then, she spelled the
words. Next, the students one by one wrote the phonetic transcription of the words
on the blackboard and spelled the words.
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c) Aspect of pronunciation
The teacher pronounced the words on the blackboard and repeated by the
students, they were: swimming, singing, reading, drawing, football. Then, the
teacher asked one volunteer to pronounce fishing and asked the other students to
repeat. By doing so, the teacher and the other students could check whether the
pronunciation was correct or incorrect. It was repeated for the five words on the
board. There were thirteen students pronounce the words badly.
d) Aspect of using word
The teacher showed a thing and then asked the students to make new
imperative sentences, for example: comic. Read the comic. Each student was not
allowed to make the same sentence. They had to make different sentences. Again,
the students made almost the same sentences as example given by substituting
noun or verb.
3) Closing
The teacher summarized the material by reviewing some instructions
including aspect of meaning, spelling, pronunciation, and using the words in
sequences and closed the meeting.
3. Observing
Based on the observation during the process of cycle 2, the problems
encountered in the first cycle could be managed well. The following is the result
of the observation in each meeting:
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a. First meeting
The result of the observation in the first meeting showed that some students
are bored. They seemed to be less active in answering the teacher’s question. It
could be seen from their face expression when the teacher told them that they
would learn about food and drink. Yet, with the new position of seat, they felt
freer than sitting in rows. They were sitting in a big circle without table in front of
them. In the first meeting of the first cycle, the collaborative teacher claimed that
the time management was not good. Therefore, in this meeting the teacher
managed the time well so the teaching learning process covered the four aspects.
The meaning aspect was understood well by the students, so the teacher was
concerned with the aspects of spelling, pronunciation, and using words in this
meeting. For spelling and pronunciation, the teacher wrote down the words and
asked the students to write the spelling and pronounce them later. In a fact, it took
more time to do so. When there was a mistake in writing the spelling, the other
students had to correct it until it was correct. For using word aspect, the teacher
asked the students to make a new sentence based on the words given.
b. Second meeting
In this meeting, the students had been used to studying using TPR. They
understood well the rule of TPR. They followed the instruction, and they did not
talk to their friends anymore. They could answer all of instructions well. The
teaching learning process was including the four aspects. In addition, the using of
media ran well as it was prepared before the class began in order to manage time
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well. Unfortunately, some boys seemed not to be really enthusiastic in following
the lesson. They sat in a bad manner.
c. Third meeting
The meaning aspect was understood well by the students, so the teacher was
concerned with the spelling, pronunciation, and using word aspect in this meeting.
The way of writing down the words and spelling them seemed efficient. In a fact,
it took more time to do so. When there was a mistake in writing the spelling, the
other students had to correct it until it was correct. For aspect of using word, the
teacher gave a clue word and asked the students to make a new sentence.
d. Fourth meeting
In the third meeting there were thirteen students who got difficulties in
pronunciation, but in the fourth meeting they had given attention more. The
teacher gave them more opportunity to pronounce the words. In the end of lesson,
the teacher always asked all of the students to sing alphabet song and pronounced
the new words many times. Also, the teacher succeeded in handling the students’
noise by pointing them randomly or calling the name of those who made noise.
To monitor the effects of action in solving the problems, the researcher
and her collaborative teacher did an intensive observation.
The results of observation can be explained as follows:
1) The improvement of vocabulary mastery
There was improvement in students’ vocabulary mastery in aspects of
meaning, using words, spelling, and pronunciation. The students who got
difficulties in the first cycle could cope with the process of teaching and learning.
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2) The improvement of students involvement
Based on the observation in cycle 2, the teacher and the collaborative
teacher found a significant improvement related to students’ involvement. By
making a big circle, the students could be involved maximally. Mostly, they were
not in doubt and ashamed to act as in the first cycle.
3) The improvement of class management
Class management in cycle 2 was much better than that of cycle 1. By
making a big circle, it was easy to manage so that noise could be eliminated. In
fact, the way in conducting TPR by setting the students’ seat position in a big
circle worked well.
4. Reflecting of Cycle 2
This stage is aimed at analyzing and examining the final results of the action
in the cycle 2. After doing action research in the class, there were some strengths
and weaknesses. The strengths in cycle two were the improvement of vocabulary
mastery especially aspects of pronunciation, and spelling, the improvement of
students’ motivation, confidence and involvement during the lesson.
The following table is the result of implementation of cycle two
Table 9: Implementation of Cycle 2 Cycle 2 Discussing Explanation
Planning Students’ problem Solution
a. The students had problems with spelling and pronunciation.
b. The students were noisy during the lesson. c. The time allotment is not sufficient
a. Writing the same words on the blackboard to be
spelled and to be pronounced. b. Changing the seat position into big circle without
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tables available to avoid noise. c. Preparing the media before the class began.
Acting Meeting 1 Conducting Total Physical Response to study vocabulary of the topic “Food and drinks”.
Meeting 2 Conducting Total Physical Response to study vocabulary of the topic “Direction and Location”.
Meeting 3 Conducting Total Physical Response to study vocabulary of the topic “Clothes”.
Meeting 4 Conducting Total Physical Response to study vocabulary of the topic “Hobby”.
Observing The researcher and collaborative teacher observed the implementation and noted the results in field notes, diaries, and video shooting.
Reflecting
Strengths Weaknesses
a. There was improvement in students’ vocabulary mastery especially in spelling and pronunciation.
b. The class management was improved; the seat position made the class well-managed.
The students still got difficulty in aspect of using word and they were sometimes confused to cover the four aspects of vocabulary in the allotted time.
a. The strengths of Cycle 2
1) There was improvement in students’ English vocabulary mastery especially for
the aspects of spelling and pronunciation.
2) The class management was improved; seat position made the class well
organized and enabled the teacher to control the students’ involvement,
confidence, and motivation.
b. The weaknesses of Cycle 2
Some students still got difficulty in aspect of using word and they sometimes
confused to cope with the four aspects of vocabulary in the allotted time.
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5. Revising the Plan
Table 10: Progress Report of the Research
Data source Beginning of Cycle 1 End of Cycle 1 End of Cycle 2 Observation, interview, portfolio, etc.
(1)Vocabulary mastery - Meaning: The students
know few meaning of words. They said that English is difficult.
- Spelling: The students spell the words badly.
- Pronunciation: The students cannot pronounce the words well.
- Using the words: The students cannot use the words in a sentence.
(2) Teaching learning process - The students are less active initially as they try to adapt with the new method, but they are interested in the method.
(1)Vocabulary mastery - Meaning: The students
understand the meaning aspect indicated by doing instructions correctly.
- Spelling: Some students were still ashamed and got difficulties in spelling.
- Pronunciation: the students were still hesitating to pronounce the words.
- Using the words: The students still got difficulties in using the words in a sentence.
- (2) Teaching learning process -The students are active and enjoy the material delivered through TPR.
(1)Vocabulary mastery - Meaning: The students
understand the meaning aspect well.
- Spelling: The students were not ashamed anymore and were able to spell well.
- Pronunciation: The students could pronounce word well.
- Using the words: seven students still got difficulties in using the words in a simple sentence.
(2) Teaching learning process - The students are active and there is significant improvement of their vocabulary mastery.
Test Average of pretest is 62.60
Average of post-test 1 is 73
Average of post-test 2 is 86.20
Observation, interview, portfolio
Problems encountered - The students have less
motivation in learning English initially.
- The students have less ability in vocabulary mastery.
Weaknesses - Some students were still
ashamed and got the difficulties in spelling and pronounce the words
- The class was little bit disorganized and noisy as they had to act and move. It often caused them to laugh since it was new for them.
- The time allotment seemed to be insufficient as the students had to master the four aspects of vocabulary.
Weaknesses
Some students still got difficult in aspect of using word and they were sometimes confused to cope with the four aspect of vocabulary in the allotted time.
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D. Research Findings
Based on the result of reflective and analysis, there are some findings as the
following:
1. The improvement of vocabulary mastery
2. The improvement of confidence, motivation, and involvement in English class.
3. The improvement of class management
E. Discussion
The teacher taught the students by using Total Physical Response to teach
vocabulary. The action had been implemented in two cycles. The research findings
showed that the using of TPR contributed some improvements in the following
aspects:
1. The improvement of vocabulary mastery.
As vocabulary is basic for Elementary students to be able to learn more
about English, the four aspects of knowing vocabulary is given; aspect of
meaning; aspect of spelling; aspect of pronunciation, and aspect of using words. It
equips them a comprehension about new vocabularies. In fact, Total Physical
Response can improve the students’ vocabulary mastery. Swaffar and Woodruff
found that after a semester of TPR instruction at the University of Texas, the
percentage of students going on to the next level of instruction jumped from 50%
to 75%, and student ratings of the course went from ‘average’ to ‘above average’,
while ratings of the professors went from ‘slightly above average’ to ‘above
average to excellent’ (Asher in Sebelius, 2002: 11).
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In TPR, for aspect of meaning, they learnt the words in form of imperative
sentences. They acted based on the instructions. The correct movement indicates
that they know the meaning of particular words. The students seemed like this
aspect as they could move and act. They learnt quite fast in this aspect because
they learn by doing. Diaz (2005: 2) states that language is inseparable from
physical activities. When we are infants, we are immersed in a language we don't
speak, in an environment that we explore with every part of our body. Our parents
and caregivers literally walk and tell us through activities - for example, we learn
lots of vocabulary while someone stands behind us at the bathroom sink, soaping
our hands until they're slippery, holding them under warm water, rubbing or
scrubbing, all the while talking about what we're doing and what it feels like. In
this way, movement and feeling are intimately tied to the process of internalizing
the language.
For aspect of spelling, they spelled the words. For this aspect, most of
students needed more time to spell. They often inferred from alphabets of Bahasa
Indonesia by saying ai for a, saying i for i, saying ei for e. Besides some vowels,
they also got difficulties in spelling consonant g, h, j, p, and r. Yet, this problem
can be solved in the cycle 2. In cycle 2, the words were written on the board then
the students wrote the phonetic transcription and spelled afterward. Widodo
(2005: 240) states that if TPR is used a lot, it would become repetitive. This
method is a fun way of changing the dynamics and pace of a lesson used in
conjunction with other methods and techniques. To sum up, TPR should be
combined with others since it needs much energy so that learners do not feel tired
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of learning language. That’s why, the teacher always asked them to sing alphabet
song anytime in order to recall the correct spelling and to avoid boringness.
For the aspect of pronunciation, it was as difficult as aspect of spelling.
Sometimes, the students were confused to differentiate between the ways to spell
and to pronounce. For example: knees (kei-en-i-i-es). They spelled kei for k. Yet,
they had to omit kei in pronunciation. Some of them said [kni:s]. Meanwhile, the
correct pronunciation was [ni:s]. It took more time to give them understanding
about the difference between spelling and pronunciation in English. The other
case, the way to pronounce shoulder became a problem. They get used to say s for
sh. Actually, there were many other difficulties in changing the way the students
pronounce the words. So, the teacher gave them an understanding that the
pronunciation did not have any relation with spelling and kept asking them to
pronounce the words.
In teaching weather, Nactigal (2010: 2) states that the teacher can have
question use the native language while the students answer in English
accompanying with gestures. The teacher instructs the students to repeat the hand
gesture every time he or she repeats the phrase, and then alternates, making the
gesture and prompting students to repeat the corresponding sentence. This is what
Asher calls a “language-body conversation.” As the students repeat, it shows that
the role of giving correct model including spelling and pronunciation is a must so
that the students can spell and pronounce words correctly.
The last aspect of vocabulary is aspect of using word. In this aspect, the
students seemed to be hard to create new sentences by connecting one word to the
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other words they have learnt before. In this aspect it can be seen that less students
could use new words they have learnt. For those who could, they created a simple
sentence that was slightly different from the sentences they have learnt, for
example: wash your hand. Diaz (2005: 1-3) claims that when we use TPR
strategies to teach, our goal is truly to be able to understand, speak, read, and write
the language, not "about" the language. It is obvious that the students probably
have not been ready yet to produce a sentence.
The most significant improvement of vocabulary mastery achieved by the
students of MI Manafiul Ulum Kudus was in the aspect of meaning and spelling.
For the aspect of meaning, the students would be easily reminded by the
movements. It helped them much in recalling the meaning of particular words
they had learnt. For aspect of spelling, they might have learnt before about
spelling since it was not a new thing for them. Although they sometimes get
difficulty to differentiate the spelling of some words, the aspect of spelling
improved.
Based on the computation of “t-test non-independent formula between the
pre test and post test, “to” is 7.3665, with the level of significance ά= 0.05. Because
“to” (7.3665) is bigger than “tt” (1.71) (“t0” >“t1”) in cycle 1, to (8.5830) in cycle 2 is
higher than “tt” (1.71) and “to” (5.5916) from t- test between post test 1 and post test
2 is higher than “tt” (1.71), (see appendix 9-11, PP. 129-131), it means that there is
significant difference between the pre-test and post-test of cycle 1, cycle 2, and
between post test 1 and pos test 2. It can also prove that conducting TPR improve
the students’ English vocabulary mastery.
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2. The improvement of confidence, motivation, and involvement in English
class.
Total Physical Response motivates students to learn English especially
vocabulary. This method enables them to learn vocabulary by acting and moving.
Because TPR was enjoyable, the students were free to act and move without being
ashamed. Acting and moving made them more confident to learn English. The use
of various media also motivates them to be involved during the lesson. Surely,
TPR helped them much in recalling the words they have learnt previously.
Almost all of students expressed the following opinion:
“Saya senang belajar dengan mempraktekkan karena mudah diingat. Belajar dengan cara ini juga menyenangkan karena ada alat peraganya.”
Some students who seemed not interested in English initially, had improved
significantly by getting involved either to be volunteers or instructor. One of them
stated that learning English by acting and moving is enjoyable.
The high involvement and enthusiasm in the activities of TPR causes the
noisy. Most of students enjoyed the class and subconsciously laughed even
shouted when they acted or moved incorrectly.
Based on the students’ comments, they expressed their enthusiasm in
learning vocabulary using TPR. During the implementation of TPR, students
learnt freely without being afraid of making mistakes. They are concerned with
giving the right response to the instructions given.
The illustration above indicated that the students’ confidence and
motivation significantly increased. It is in line with what Stevick states that there
are four major sources of motivation to reinforce the students’ original desire to
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learn language. They are joy of discovery, the satisfaction of control, the joy of
remembrance, and the elation of use (Lubis; 1988:19).
3. The improvement of class management
Total Physical Response could be applied by modifying the activities and
setting the class or students adjusted to the time and situation. Often, as the
students are deeply involved, they subconsciously laughed and shouted when their
friend made a mistake. Of course, the class will be noisy. To avoid much noise,
changing seat position might be a good idea. In a big circle without table
available, it is easier to control them. According to Krashen’s Affective Filter
Hypothesis (in Sebelius: 2002:11) the less stress the student feels related to the
process of acquisition, the more s/he can acquire and the better will be the
retention. The fact that students enjoy learning language through TPR is
evidenced by studies showing attrition rates in foreign language programs
dropping after schools switch from traditional to TPR-based methods.
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CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, AND SUGGESTIONS
A. Conclusions
All stages in the action research were completely done from October 2009 to
April 2010. Based on the findings of the research chapter IV, it can be concluded
that:
1. TPR can improve the students’ English vocabulary mastery in four aspects:
meaning, spelling, pronunciation, and using the words. The most significant
improvement was aspect of meaning and spelling.
2. TPR can improve the students’ motivation, achievement, and confidence.
During the implementation of the actions, the students were more active and
enjoyed the learning activities than the previous condition. The students were
actively involved in the teaching learning activities. Before the actions were
conducted, the students seemed to be not interested in English and of course
unmotivated to learn English. It caused them to have a chat with their friends and
often did any other activities. Surely, they neglected the teacher’s explanation.
They seemed to listen, but actually they did not. In addition, they were afraid of
making mistakes. They were shy to do exercises on the board. Related to
vocabulary, most of them only knew the meaning of words. By applying TPR and
the using of media such as VCD, they were more enthusiastic to learn. They got
more experience and knowledge in learning new vocabulary that is not only
aspect of meaning, but also spelling, pronunciation, and using the words.
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3. TPR can improve class management and teaching and learning process
During the implementation of the actions, the English teacher stated that she
got more knowledge about teaching English particularly in using TPR. Also, she
was inspired to use various kinds of media in teaching learning process. She
realized that actually students could learn much if they were taught by using an
appropriate method and media. Moreover, the teacher planned to be more creative
in teaching English by paying attention to the students’ need and interest.
B. Implications
The common way of teaching vocabulary in Elementary level is by giving
a list of new words. The purpose is enhancing the students with sufficient words
to cope with the material. Unfortunately, there is no exposure for aspects of
meaning, spelling, pronunciation, and using word. That way seems not effective
as it will be easy to forget. This research found that using TPR was very effective
to improve the students’ vocabulary mastery including the four aspects.
Hopefully, it will give a new perspective to the way of teaching vocabulary for
Elementary level in order to improve the vocabulary mastery optimally.
C. Suggestions
Based on the facts of how effective is TPR to improve the students’
vocabulary mastery, the researcher gives some suggestions to the teachers, the
students, and the other researchers as the following:
1. For the English Teachers
Mastering vocabulary for Elementary students are very important as it is a
basic knowledge of learning language. Therefore, the appropriate way of teaching
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vocabulary is required. Based on the result of the research, the researcher would
like to suggest:
a. The teacher uses TPR to teach vocabulary. The activities can be modified
based on the students’ interest as long as it covers the four aspects of
vocabulary mastery.
b. The teacher gives the right model to the students for all aspects. The teacher
should master the four aspects well.
2. For the Students
a. The students should be involved in the teaching learning process. If they
are passive, the result will not be maximal. Being active is required as it is
one factor that supports the successful teaching and learning process.
b. The students have to be brave to be volunteers and to participate during the
class. Making mistake is part of learning process and they need not to be
afraid of that.
3. For the Other Researchers
a. The researcher hopes the other researchers prepare the planning of the
research well and develop some dimensions that have been observed
deeply. It is necessary for understanding the situation in which the
researcher will conduct a research in order to consider the right technique
to be applied to solve the problem.
b. The other researcher should have enough knowledge related to her/his
research in order that the research will be well-conducted and useful.