The effect of TPR and word lists on the vocabulary achievement of the fourth grade students of Elementary School - Widya Mandala Catholic University Surabaya Repository

CHAPTER I

CII{PTER 1
INTRODT]CTION
1.1 BACKGROTJNDOF THE STUDY
Parentsnowadayslike their children to leam a foreign language.
The foreign
languagethat is mostpreferableis English.For this aim they send
their childrento
English coursesto learn it. They e'en stan it at the early age
of tl.reirchildren.
Rubin and rhompson (1994: 4) supportthis by sayingthat "Sonre
peoprethink
that the besttime to beginshrdyinga foreignlangragers rn

childhoodandtha.tthe

voungeryou are, the ea,sierit is to leam anotherlanguage.
" English becornesa
farniliar chosen language for them but children as young
rearnersusuallv find

somedifficulties in achievingit. They haveto reamit piece
by piece.wilkinson
11986:117)asquotedbyPuspawati
(1997:l)statesthar,,peopletregintolearn
the larguagefrom o''e word, phrase,clause,and sentenc€.
They leam one by one
until theyknow whatthe languageis aboutandhow to use
11.,,
Teaching English fcrr chirdren especialryerementary
studentsis sometimes
difficuit. children *s'aily get trored easily It usuaily
happensbeca'se the
p'oceduresof teachingthat the teachersuseareabnost
the samefiom

time to time

so thaf they becomeInonotonous,Besides,the chfldren
arso ha'e so many
:;ub-lects

that they ha'e to reameveryda1.'.
Alr of thesecreateboredornanroirqthe
studenls.I1 canbe srrrethat the students'rnotivationin leaming
rviil be decreased.
They facethi-r5igua1;.rarrnosteveryday a'd it seems
that wrrattrreyiraverqrmed
so far about the lessonu'ir be rneaningless.
As quotedby Bernaus(i9g7: 45),
l{anner (1984: 3) writes trrat "rr4otivationis sou,e kind
.f internal tlrive trrat

encourages
somebodyto pursuea cfjrl!:seof acdon.If we perceivea goal and that
goal is sufficiently attractive, we will be strongty motivated to do whafever rs
nec€ssary
to reachthat goal." He explainsfurtherthat " The teachermust provide
the proper conditions for learning and must stimulate the strdents' interest in
learning." So the studentsneedsomethingnew to reducethis boredom.As it is
saidby Allen and Yalette(1977:32) in wibisono ( i 988: l0)- "ln orderro hold
the

interest of most students,it is necessaryto provide a rarge number
of'aried
activities." Celcemurcia(1984: 5) also confirms this statementby saying
that
"Introducing varietyinto leamingactifities is a moreexternalfonn

of motivatron.

If the teachs can use sorne varieties in each lesson to make trre class
more
enjoyable and less routine, this wilr also motivate the studentsto leamins
English."
There are somevariations that can be used to teachforeign languagesuch
as using reali4 pictures-games,songs,drama,p ,zzles,and short stories.
One of
the easiestand enjoyablevariationsamongtheseis using songs.conceming

the

useof songsin teachingEnglish, Jaffe(1976: l5) as quotedby Wibisono(l9gg:

l l) confirmsthat "The useof familiar songsenablesdreteachernot
only to ennch
the classand to add some varieq, to the lessonbut also to createa feeline
of
warmth."
Chenfeld(1978:166) explainsfurtheraboutsingingthat:
Singingis an importantand enjoyabletype of oral languageactivity.
Not only
are children exercising their vocal cords (so essentia|in successful
oral
Ianguageexperience)but arso they are leaming about language,ttre
wo"to ana
themselves.Singingis a delighttulway to freethe spirit an"d;"lt;t
f";;r"
in personalexpression.Involvedin song.childrenoften forget their insecurities
anc fears_

So songs deal with children's u'orld. Children's world is a fun world where
piaying and learning should deal with all of the fun. parents
anrl teacherscannor

force their childien to learn somethingthat they do not like. They
should find
other alternativethat is interestingand fun for teachinga foreign language
to their
children.Freeman(1986: 1r 5) says"Languagelearningis more
effectivewhen rt
is ftrn"' Kline in Dryden urd vos (1999:9) also supportstrris
idea; he saysthat
"L.earningis most effectivewhen it is fun". Hemowo in Dryderr
and vos (r999:
l0) adds funher by saying that "Frm condition wo'rd push
someoneto rry
senousl-v,get i'volved, and get pa-csionate
in doing sornething-including rn
learning."MoreoverBrien ur Drydenand lbs (1999: r3r)finds
that ..Mostof the
studentsof elementaryand secondaryschoolrearnbetterwhen
they get invorved
and move." The children can acceptit easily and it also can attract
their attentrcn

to it.
Children like to sing songs. They find their happinessin it. They
learn
llom what they hearand see.vos in Dryden and \ros (999:
32) saysthat ..you
Iearn thro.gh what you see-what you hear, what you do."
Magnesenin Drydar
and vos (1999: 100) supportsthis by sayingthat " we rearn90
9/ofrom what rve
say and do." sometirneswhile singing the songs,they arso like
to make some
gesturesas the expressionof their happiness.
cercemr-'cia(r9s4:2) supportsthis
idea by saying that in lmman communication. gving and
receiving informab'n
can be conveyednonverballyvia gestures,body languageor proronics.
So the
childre' enjoy leamingsomethingfrom what they do. Schank
in Drydenand vos
(1999 26) saysthat "In reamingsomething,you

should pra*ice it. Drvden and

vos (1999: 25) add that "The complex rnformation can be absorbedand
remernberedeasill if the studentsreally get involved." Many researchersin
Drydenand vos (1,999 129-130)arsosaythat "peoplerearnbetterwhenthey get
rnvolved, move, experience,and try." Adults should guide the action that they
create in order to make learmng much more valuable. The adults will be the
models first before the children can imitate it. It is becausethe action that they
leam should be rneaningful.Thc actionsthat the studentsmake can refer to the
acticn mentioned in the Total physical Response,becausethe sftrdentshave to
listen first to the instruction oftheir teacherthrough songsbefore they act it out.
Songsaccording to many scholarsare among the best ways of teachinga
foreign language.Silviera (Ur$LEs!4gAm€S.cOm)
quotesthat:
The authors of spectrumin prentice Hall Regentspublications state that songs
are an important aspectof culture, represantingthe history, folklore and current
idiom of a country. Singing can build students:confidenie by allowing them
to
enjoy a degree of fluenry in English before they achieve it rn ipeaking.
Mgreover songs can be incorporated to all larrgrrageskills, like ,i,*t-g

writing, listening and reading.
Griffee (1992: 3) defines" 'Songs' as piecesof music that have words. Both
songs and poetry are vocalry produced, linguistically meaningful and have easy
melodyto be followed. songsalsohavea personalquatitythat makesthe listensrs
react as if the song were being sung for the listenerspersonally" Songsare good
to be used for teachingyoung learnersor childern especiallyfor teachingthem
a
foreign language.Even adults can be moved to tears or other strong emotions
by
music. So, it can be acceptedthat songscan be usedto teach foreign language
becausesongs are enjoyabre.From songs the crrildren can learn somethinq
bv
doingit.

Ai the first time we rearn a language, we should leam firs;t about the
vocabulary.Not only do adultshavedifficultiesil leaming,but childrenalso do.
we can finri lyncs. which are identicalto words in a song-The childrencan be
taught vocabularyusing thesewords.campbell (2001: ll) states"songs bound
together the ability of language including vocaburary, ability in expressing
sornething,fluently in communication,good social relationshipwith othersand in

all skills of language."The vocabularythat the childrenhaveto masteris usuallv
relatedto their caily activitiesarrdtalk abouttheir surrounding.In chiidransongs,
we can find that most of the contentsof the songsis talking aboutthe life of the
children themselves.It is about thek daily activities and their surrounding For
examplea song entitled "This is the way". This songtalks about daily activities
like taking a bath, bnrshingteeth,wearingturiform, walking to school.etc.

I.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Based on the importanc€ of improving teaching vocabulary to young
leamers,the study will be conducted in the effect of teaching vocab'lary to the
fourth grade of elementarystudentsthrough children song using Totat phSrsica!
Responsemethod. In this study the writer tries to answerthe following question:
Does the applica{ionof the children songsthrough TpR in teachingvocabulary
have a different effect from the applicationof the word list on the fourth pnade
elementarystudents'vocabularyachievernent?

I 3 THE OBJECTIVE OF THE STTJDY
From the problemmentionedabove,,the objectiveof this study is to find
out whether teaching vocabulary through children songs usng Total physical
Responsegives a different effect from teaching vocabulary using word

lists to
young leamersespeciallythe fourth grade studentsof the elementary
school. The
effect is the improvanent of the students'vocabularyachievement.

1.4HYPOTHESIS
There are two hypothesesthat the writer is going to use. They are the nul
hypothesisand the altemativehypothesis
HO

: There is no significant dif;lerence between the vocabulary
achievemmt of the studentswho are taught through chitdren
songsuslng Total physical Responsemethod and thosewho are
taughtusing word list

HA

: There is a sipificant

difference betweqr the locabulary

achievementof the srudentswho are taught throug;hchildren
songs using Total Physical Responsemethod and those who are
taught using word list.

I.5 THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The writer hopesthat the result of this study can glr€ somecontnbrtions
for teacherswho useteachingtechniquesfor teachingEnglishvocabulary
through
children songsusing TpR to the fourth gradestudentsofthe
elementarvschool.

For exarnplethe siruat-ionof

learning aclivities becomesrncre relax
.teaching

becausesometirnesthe studentsare given variationsin learning.

r.6 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONOF

THE STUDY

This study is limited to the teaching of English vocabulary to yorng
learnersby using Total Physical Responsemethod through children songs for the
fourth grade shrdentsof elemortary school. The English vocabularyto be taught
cousistsof certain verbs like get up, wash, sweep,take a bath, brush, wear, comb,
t, go, show,have,s.". use,follow, handup, handdown, wave,bend,tum right,
turn ieft, iurrrp up, iump down, tum around and certain nouns like face, floor.
teeth, clothes,breakfast,head, eye, ear, mouth, nosg shoulder,knee, and
toe.
Theseverbs and nouns will be leamt togetherin the children songsand word list.
The words that are taught are taken from the topics mentioned in their 1994
curriculum, but the studentswill learn about thesetopics in the secondsemesterThe action that the students act out will be considered as the Total physical
Response.The children arethe fourth gradeofelementary school.

I.7 THE DEFINTTIONOF THE KEY TERMS
Before the writer comes to the next chapter, it is irnportant to give the
definition cf the key termsfirst in order to avoid misunderstqnding:
'

vocabularJ:are all the u'ords,which exist in a language(Coilins, 1995:
92i ). ht this studythe vocab.rarythat aretaughtconsistof certainverbs
usediu the daily activities,andphysicaleducationand certainnounstl.lat
describe
partsofbody.

Song:refersto piecesof rnusicthat havewords(Griffee,1992.-?l
Teaching:refers to the teacher'seffort to help the szudentsto have clear
understandingof what a word denotes or refers to, or to know the
meaningof a word (Mukarto, 1989:66)
Method: is an overall plan for representationof langxragebased.pon a
selectedapproach(Edward, 1963in Brown, 1994:4g)
Total PhysicalResponse:is a techniquein w'rrichthe studentsrespond
physicallyto oral commands(Glison. l9g6)
Children: are students under l4years oki (Kohnstamn (1950) in
Suryabrata
(1998:193)
word list: a list of new words trrat has not been taught yet tirat has
meanings-It is used for herping people understandthe meaninesof the
words easily.
r

Ef;lect: is the resurt of a change caused by somebody or something
(Oxford,1995:134)

r

Achievement:a thing done successfulryespecianywith effort and skill
(Homby,1995:10)

1.8 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
The writer makesthis study basedon the Total physical Responsemethod
for helping the fourth grade studentsof erernentaryschool or yo'ng reamers
to
learn foreign languageespeciallythe English vocabulary.For trris, the

writer *,lr

combineboth Total PhysicatResponsemethod and children songsi'
order to
makeleamingmore enjoyable,interestingand easierto be fullowed. As it

is sard

by Krakowian(.1984:26)"The learning of vocabularyis *suailv crassified
as a
krnd of meaningfullearning."It meansthat the teachersshouldmake
the le-amrng
becornesmeani:rpfulby presentingit into interestingand enjoyabrerearrring.

Asher in Br