commit to user
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
commit to user
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.
commit to user
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
commit to user
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
commit to user
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
