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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 dont
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 theyre slippery, holding them under warm water, rubbing or
scrubbing, all the while talking about what were 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, “t
o
” is
7.3665
, with the level of significance ά=
0.05
. Because “t
o
”
7.3665
is bigger than “t
t
”
1.71
“t ” “t
1
” in cycle 1, t
o
8.5830
in cycle 2 is higher than “t
t”
1.71
and “t
o
” 5.5916
from t- test between post test 1 and post test 2 is higher than “t
t”
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 she 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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98
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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