A study on using total physical response method (TPR) to improve english vocabulary for the second grade students at lomonoxop primary school

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES ĐÀO THỊ PHƯƠNG THẢO A STUDY ON USING TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE METHO

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES

ĐÀO THỊ PHƯƠNG THẢO

A STUDY ON USING TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE METHOD (TPR)

TO IMPROVE ENGLISH VOCABULARY FOR THE SECOND GRADE

STUDENTS AT LOMONOXOP PRIMARY SCHOOL

(Nghiên cứu về việc sử dụng phương pháp Phản xạ toàn thân (TPR) để nâng cao vốn từ vựng tiếng Anh cho học sinh lớp 2 trường tiểu học Lomonoxop)

MA MINOR THESIS (Type 1)

Major: English Teaching Methodology Course code: 8140231.01

HANOI - 2019

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES

ĐÀO THỊ PHƯƠNG THẢO

A STUDY ON USING TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE METHOD (TPR)

TO IMPROVE ENGLISH VOCABULARY FOR THE SECOND GRADE

STUDENTS AT LOMONOXOP PRIMARY SCHOOL

(Nghiên cứu về việc sử dụng phương pháp Phản xạ toàn thân (TPR) để nâng cao vốn từ vựng tiếng Anh cho học sinh lớp 2 trường tiểu học Lomonoxop)

MA MINOR THESIS (Type 1)

Major: English Teaching Methodology Course code: 8140231.01

Supervisor: Prof Dr Nguyễn Hòa

HANOI - 2019

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine The data and findings discussed in the thesis are true I further declare that this thesis has not been published elsewhere

Đào Thị Phương Thảo

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis could not be completed without the assistance of many people

On this occasion, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Prof Dr Nguyễn Hòa who had given me the valuable advice, guidance and also motivation to complete this thesis

It is an honor for me to extend my special thanks to the Head of English Department and all of my colleagues as well as the students in class 2A1 at Lomonoxop primary school Without their help and encouragement, I would not have accomplished my work

Finally, I would like to show my deepest gratitude to all of my friends and my family, especially my parents, and my brother, whose continuous encouragement, support and love have helped me pass through insurmountable difficulties during

my project

This thesis is expected to be able to provide useful knowledge and information to the readers I realize that it is far from being perfect Therefore it is really a pleasure for me to receive suggestions and contributions to improve my thesis

Hanoi, June 2019

Đào Thị Phương Thảo

by TPR

The research findings showed that, there was a significant improvement in students‟ vocabulary retention after TPR was used in class Additionally, students expressed positive attitudes towards using TPR in their English vocabulary lessons

These findings can lead to the conclusion that the writer concluded that teaching English vocabulary through TPR is very beneficial for the students in learning English vocabulary Therefore, the Total Physical Response method is recommended for English teachers in teaching vocabulary

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF TABLES vii

LIST OF FIGURES vii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS viii

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Objectives 1

1.3 Research questions 1

1.4 Scope 2

1.5 Significance of the study 2

1.6 Research outline 2

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 4

2.1 Conceptual framework 4

2.1.1 Teaching English vocabulary 4

2.1.2 Teaching vocabulary to young learners 7

2.1.3 Teaching English vocabulary to young learners with TPR method 10

2.1.4 Attitudes 14

2.2 Previous studies 17

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 20

3.1 Context of the research 20

3.2 Participants 20

3.3 Research design 20

3.4 Research procedure 21

3.4.1 Action research 21

3.5.2 Questionnaires 27

3.5.3 Field notes 28

3.5.4 Interviews 28

3.6 Data analysis procedure 31

3.6.1 Quantitative data analysis 31

CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 33

4.1 Quesion 1 To what extent can the use of TPR method affect 2nd graders‟ vocabulary retention at Lomonoxop Primary School? 33

4.1.1 Test 33

4.1.2 Field notes 38

4.1.3 Interview 40

4.2 Quesion 2 What are the students‟ attitudes towards using TPR in learning English vocabulary? 41

4.2.1 Questionnaire 41

4.2.2 Interview 43

4.2.3 Field notes 44

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS 47

5.1 Recapitulation 47

5.2 Conclusion 48

5.3 Implications 48

5.4 Limitiations 49

REFERENCES 50 APPENDICES I APPENDIX 1 FIELD NOTES I APPENDIX 2 LESSON PLAN II APPENDIX 3 TEST RESULT IV APPENDIX 4 PRE-TEST 1 V APPENDIX 5 POST-TEST 1 VI APPENDIX 6 PRE-TEST 2 VII APPENDIX 7 POST-TEST 2 VIII

APPENDIX 8 QUESTIONAIRE IX APPENDIX 9 QUESTIONAIRE X APENDIX 10 QUESTIONAIRE RESULT XI APENDIX 11 INTERVIEW XII APENDIX 12 INTERVIEW XIII APENDIX 13 INTERVIEW NOTE-TAKING SAMPLE XIV APENDIX 14 INTERVIEW NOTE-TAKING SAMPLE XVI

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1 Content for testing in cycle 1 26

Table 3.2 Content for testing in cycle 2 26

Table 3.3 Field note sample 28

Table 3.4 Interview participants description 29

Table 3.5 Classification of Graded Scores 31

Table 4.1 Pre-test 1 scores 33

Table 4.2 Post-test 1 scores 34

Table 4.3 Paired Samples Statistics cycle 1 35

Table 4.4 Paired Samples Correlations cycle 1 35

Table 4.5 Paired Samples Test cycle 1 35

Table 4.6 Pre-test 2 scores 36

Table 4.7 Post-test 2 scores 36

Table 4.8 Paired Samples Statistics cycle 2 37

Table 4 10 Paired Samples Test cycle 2 38

Table 4.11 Interview result for question 1 40

Table 4.12 Questionnaire Analysis 42

Table 4.13 Category of the criterion 43

Table 4.14 Interview result for question 2 43

LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1 Classroom action research cycle 23

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

TPR: Total Physical Response

No : Number Q: Question

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

In this chapter the writer introduces the rationale, the objectives, the scope, and the outline of the study Besides, the research questions and the significance of the study are also mentioned

1.1 Rationale

English as a means of communication is widely used among people around the world Learning vocabulary is, therefore, very important because vocabulary provides learners with materials in order to produce complete utterances It is the key component that links the four language skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing all together.Wilkins (1972) wrote that “…while without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed” We can often manage to communicate with some useful words or expression even without grammar Lewis (1993) went further to argue, “Lexis is the core or heart of language”

At the school where the research was conducted, the students start learning English from grade 1 The 2nd graders have eight periods of English every week with the

book Super Minds 2 published by Oxford University Press, (2013) The students

have chance to learn and practice using new vocabulary frequently However, how

to encourage students in learning English vocabulary and guide them to learn it effectively are the two important points which needs putting under consideration by teachers Among many activities, TPR is considered to be a very useful way because it can make used of the main characteristics of children It catches the attention of the children, it makes the children give attention to the form meaning or use of the words

1.2 Objectives

This study attempts to solve the problems which need positive solution They are:

To know how Total Physical Response help improve students‟ English vocabulary retention and how to motivate them to study vocabulary

1.3 Research questions

In order to get the objectives of the study systematically, the following questions

b Practical significance

This study will contribute to the improvement of students‟ English vocabulary retention as well as help the English teachers in designing the process of teaching English especially in using TPR method in teaching English at primary school Additionally, the result of this research is expected to be used as an additional reference in carrying out further researches

Chapter 4 is findings and discussions In this part, the findings of the research in

accordance with the two research questions and some discussions are mentioned Chapter 5 is conclusion This chapter covers the main points of the research, the

conclusion and some implications and limitations of the study

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, the conceptual framework of this study which consists of teaching English vocabulary, teaching English vocabulary to young learners, teaching English vocabulary to young learner with TPR method and attitudes The previous studies related to this field are also mentioned by the writer

is what makes the essence of a language Without vocabulary, speakers cannot convey the meaning and communicate with each other in a particular language Webster (1983: 2046) states that vocabulary is a list of words, and sometimes, phrases, usually arranged an alphabetical order and defined: a dictionary, glossary,

or lexicon According to him, vocabulary is all the words of a language and they are used by a particular person, class, profession, etc Sometimes, they are all the words recognized and understood by a particular person, although not necessarily used by him (in full, passive vocabulary)

Talking about the importance of vocabulary, Schmitt (2000) emphasizes that

“lexical knowledge is central to communicative achievement and to the acquisition

of a second language” Other researchers such as Laufer and Nation (1999), Maximo (2000), Read (2000), Gu (2003), Nation (2001) and others have realized that the acquisition of vocabulary is essential for successful second language use and plays

an important role in the formation of complete spoken and written texts

From the above definitions, it comes to the conclusion that vocabulary is an important tool to express the idea For anyone who learns a second language,

vocabulary knowledge is considered as a crucial tool because vocabulary directly affects the success of communication Vocabulary proficiency depends much on the quality and quantity of the vocabulary that the learners have mastered The richer the number of word that the students can know, the better they can be in using language This study followed the definition of Linse (2005:121) which defines vocabulary as the collection of words that a person knows

2.1.1.2 Types of vocabulary

There are many ways to classify vocabulary According to Judy K Montgomery (2007), there are four kinds of vocabulary They are: Listening vocabulary, speaking vocabulary, reading vocabulary and writing vocabulary Listening vocabulary are the words we hear and understand When people were the babies, they just listen then look and get the meaning of the words They continue to learn new words this way all of their lives; Speaking vocabulary are the words people use when speaking The number of people‟s speaking vocabulary is much less than their listening vocabulary most likely due to the ease of use; Reading vocabulary is the words people understand when reading texts Among these words, there are words people do not use in speaking vocabulary; Writing vocabulary are the words people can retrieve when they write to express themselves They are strongly influenced by the words they can spell Harmer (1991) divides vocabulary into two types: active and passive vocabulary The first type, active vocabulary is the vocabulary that the students have been taught and that they are expected to be able to use The second one, passive vocabulary refers to the words which the students are able to recognize when they meet them, but which they will probably not be able to pronounce

Haycraft, quoted by Hatch and Brown (1995) agrees that there are two kinds of vocabulary: receptive vocabulary and productive vocabulary Receptive vocabulary

is the vocabulary that that learners can understand when reading text or listening to the text Learners know and recognize the meaning of words when they see them This causes them to understand the text they have read but not used to speak and write Productive vocabulary is the words that are understood and can be

pronounced by the learners The learners can use these words well in speech and writing

Understanding the classification of English vocabulary will help teachers optimize each type then have appropriate choices of vocabulary and methods when teaching students

2.1.1.3 English vocabulary retention

According to Richards & Schmidt (2002) vocabulary retention is “the ability to recall or remember things after an interval of time In language teaching, retention

of what has been taught depends on the quality of teaching, the interest of the learners, or the meaningfulness of the materials”

Ellis (1995) states that learning a word, both in L1 and L2 involves various components: processing auditory and visual input, producing spoken and written output, and knowing the syntactic and semantic relations between words, making it

a complex task Vocabulary needs to be retained in the mental lexicon or long-term memory before it can be recalled and produced in meaningful sentences Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) describe the process of remembering words in different stages: after a word comes in and attention is paid to this by the learner, a transfer to short-term memory takes place

This research followed the definition of Richards & Schmidt to investigate the ability of recall and remember the vocabulary of the students after learning by TPR method

2.1.1.4 Teaching English vocabulary

There are many comments related to teaching vocabulary According to Ratnawati (2005), students do not use all the words we just hear or read in speaking or writing There are some words which remain „passive‟ The „active‟ vocabulary should be presented and used systematically Vocabulary should be always taught in normal speech utterances and the structures which the students know already should be used to introduce new vocabulary Vocabulary items should be focus on one topic, words should be taught again even they are taught already when they are in the new

contexts Teachers can give the students an understanding of the meaning in many ways Additionally, vocabulary should be practiced regularly in many forms like transformation drills, questions and answers, etc They should be put in many structures and situations in which students can practice using it many times and the last point is that students should be encouraged to learn the words which contain the same roots

Harmer (2001) mentions five techniques for teaching vocabulary in general The first technique is demonstration It means the teachers use actions to illustrate the words which students will learn The second technique is explanation With this technique, teachers use diagram, textbook, board to explain the construction of language The third one is discovery It means new language form could be understood by letting students to discover them in a test or by looking at grammatical evidence The fourth one is check question which is used to check the students ‟understanding of the meaning and words usage in the text or paragraph The last technique is presentation With this technique, the teacher shows pictures, videos and also uses the mime, actions, and gestures to present the words

It can be clearly seen that vocabulary should not be learnt in only individual words They should be put together with other words or in sentences, in contexts so that the learning process will not be boring and passive like the traditional way Teachers need choose the appropriate techniques to help the students learn vocabulary in an effective way

2.1.2 Teaching vocabulary to young learners

2.1.2.1 Characteristics of young learners

According to Scoot and Ytreberg (1990), children have five main characteristics First, they ask questions all the time Second, They rely on both spoken words and the physical representation of the words to convey and understand the meaning; They have definite views about what they like and do not like to do; Children have developed sense of fairness about what happens in the classroom and they begin to question the teachers‟ decisions; They are able to work with others and learn from others

Slattery and Jane (2001, 4) points out that young learners acquire through hearing and experiencing They learn through doing things They love playing, learn best when they are enjoying and using their imagination and love playing with language sounds Young learners‟ grammar will develop gradually on its own They understand situations more quickly than the language used Additionally, they use language skills long before being aware of them They have a very short attention and concentration span and so need variety Young learners are comfortable with routines and enjoy repetition They respond the language well through concrete things (visual things) rather than abstract things, and need physical movements and real activities to stimulate their thinking

Young learners have much energy and they like to be involved in activities which make them happy and release their energy They learn languages mostly by looking and listening They can learn effectively through doing and playing They do not think seriously about trying to learn vocabulary, they learn new vocabulary better in natural ways and because they like to learn Children like learning by hearing the sounds, by imitating and making funny actions or sounds They do not have serious reasons for studying English They do not realize that they are learning a language Therefore, let them see a natural reason is necessary They are easily motivated but also easy to feel bored with activities repeated many times They learn more effectively through their real experience by directly doing actions

Based on “Psikologi Perkembangan” written by Tim Pengembangan MKDK IKIP Semarang (1989: 102), the elementary school students are the children between 6 to

12 They are in the smart age They often show what they know and are proud of it There is a strong correlation between physical condition and school achievement Primary students intend to praise themselves At the end of this phase, they begin to have an interest in special subject

Eled (2015) highlights eleven key characteristics of primary learners: (1) Primary learners find security in rhythm, ritual, and repetition; (2) Primary learners learn through play; (3) They want to belong to a community that is safe, beautiful, and

good; (4) They explore the world with wonder; (5) Primary learners “understand” the world first through their bodies; (6) primary learners seek independence and mastery; (7) They thrive in the natural world; (8) They use stories to construct meaning; (9) They seek patterns in the world around them; (10) They construct their identities and build cultural bridges; (11) They express themselves in complex ways

Obviously, primary students have different characteristics and attitudes that contrast with the high school students and the key point is how to understand and make use

of these characteristics to support the teaching and learning process

2.1.2.2 Teaching English vocabulary for students in primary school

The students of the primary school may have different motivation levels towards learning In this case, teachers have to challenge and motivate their students to learn something new Teaching English vocabulary for children in primary schools is different from teaching English for adult learners Therefore, methodologies and techniques should be considered carefully by teachers when teaching English for primary students

Brown (2001) lists out several teaching methods for language teaching

Grammar translation method can be viewed as a traditional method which concentrates on memorization of vocabulary and grammatical rules It provides vocabulary with direct translations to memorize Students will learn mostly by their mother tongue They are passive in using target language

In direct method, the grammatical rules were not focused much; instead the interaction is paid much attention Teacher explains new vocabulary using realia, visual aids or demonstrations

In audio-lingual method, teachers put new materials in dialogue forms Structural patterns are taught using repetitive drills Therefore, vocabulary is learned in context There is a great effort to get students to produce utterances

Suggestopedia is the method which suggests that the human brain could process great quantity of materials if it is given the right conditions for learning This is considered as a very effective way to help children learn vocabulary

In silent way method, students discover and create the knowledge by their own rather than remember and repeat This method is suitable to improve student‟s vocabulary in narrative text The student can discover some new words and try to remain the words then they performance in front of the class

Total Physical Response (TPR) is also in this list In this method, learners develop their comprehension through carrying out commands and the imperative drills elicit physical action before production With the second graders in primary school, the purpose of teaching English is to introduce English to the students in order to build them the ability of communicating in simple English Therefore, what teachers need consider when selecting vocabulary should be the number of words which are taught and the students‟ need When they present new vocabulary they should primarily try to enable students to recognize the words and their meanings perfectly Based on the explanations above about primary students and teaching vocabulary for primary students, it can be seen that students in primary schools like to see how things operate and they are interested in learning something by making them being active in the classroom Teachers should choose the methods which are appropriate with the children‟s levels, characteristics and the curriculum of the school they are studying And among various methods which can be used in teaching vocabulary for children in elementary schools, TPR is highly recommended, since the TPR is full with real situations being demonstrated

2.1.3 Teaching English vocabulary to young learners with TPR method

2.1.3.1 Definition of TPR

Total Physical Response (TPR) is a teaching method developed by James Asher, a professor of psychology at San José State University, California, USA It was designed to support teaching-learning foreign language

Richard and Rodgers (1986) states that TPR is a language teaching method which is constructed around the coordination of speech and action It makes use of physical (motor) activity to teach language According to Garcia (2001) there are two very important concepts in TPR They are the total physical response involvement in learning process and the role played by the right hemisphere of the brain The first

concept refers to the using action responses to introduce the second language This

is influenced by the way people acquire their first language People listen before speaking The babies listen to the sounds around them and then do things in response to their utterances They do not speak immediately They will speak when they are ready The second concept is related to the brain hemisphere Our brain is divided into two parts, left and right hemispheres They have different functions The right brain controls physical movements and TPR is a right brain method of learning language because the language is learnt mostly through actions

Similarly, Asher (1977) focuses on the way that children combine both verbal and physical aspects to explain for this method A child responds physically to the speech of their parents The responses of the child are in turn positively reinforced by the speech of the parents It is the combination of both verbal and physical aspects

Larsen-Freeman (2000: 113) claims that Total Physical Response was developed in order to reduce the stress people feel when studying foreign languages and thereby encourage students to persist in their study beyond a beginning level of proficiency Obviously, TPR emphasizes the link between words and physical movement The main activity of TRP relates to the commands that teacher gives to students who will obey the teacher‟s commands It will benefit a lot in helping the students recall the words they have learnt because they would remember words better when using their body movements

Learner roles

According to Asher (1997) learners of TPR are the listeners and performers in the lesson After listening to teacher‟s commands, they use actions to respond to teacher They will physically respond in both individuals and in teams or in groups They will follow the content determined by the teacher Learners are also required

to produce novel combinations of their own Learners monitor and evaluate their own progress They are encouraged to speak when they feel ready to speak - that is, when a sufficient basis in the language has been internalized

Teacher roles

According to Larsen and Freeman (2000: 113) the teacher is the director of all students‟ behaviors Teacher is the person who determines the content of the lesson: what to teach, who models Teacher plays a more active role in TPR, not students Therefore, careful preparation is necessary so that the lesson can run smoothly step

by step This determines the success of the lesson

Asher (1977) states that teachers‟ role is not only to teach as to provide opportunities for learning The responsibility of teachers is also to provide the best kind of exposure to language so that the learners can internalize the basic rules of the target language The language input that learners receive is controlled by teachers They give learners raw materials which will help them construct in their own minds Speaking abilities should be allowed to develop in learners at their own natural pace Teachers should not interrupt to correct errors because this will discourage learners‟ learning process

2.1.3.2 Principle of TPR

TPR is an example of the comprehension approach to language teaching In the lesson using TPR, students are not forced to speak Instead, teachers wait until students acquire enough language through listening that they start to speak spontaneously

In a group study, Yuliana (2014) lists out 13 principles of TPR: (1) Meaning in the target language can often be conveyed through actions Memory is active through learner response Beginning foreign language instruction should address the right hemisphere of the brain, the part which controls nonverbal behavior The target language should be presented in chunks, not just word by word; (2) The students understanding of the target language should be developed before speaking; (3) Students can initially learn one part of the language rapidly by moving their bodies; (4) The imperative is a powerful linguistic device through which the teacher can direct students‟ behavior; (5) Students can learn through observing actions as well

as by performing the actions as well as by performing the actions themselves; (6) It

is very important that students feel successful Feelings of success and low anxiety facilitate learning; (7) Students should not be made to memorize fixed routines; (8) Correction should be carried out in an unobtrusive manner; (9) Students must develop flexibility in understanding novel combinations of target language chunks They need to understand more than the exact sentences used in training Novelty is also motivating; (10) Language learning is more effective when it is fun; (11) Language should be emphasized over written language; (12) Students will begin to speak when they are ready; (13) Students are expected to make errors when they first begin speaking Teachers should be tolerant of them Work on the fine details

of the language should be postponed until students have become somewhat proficient”

Additionally, Blair (1992) states four principles of TPR method The first principle

is that comprehension must be developed first before students speak because only when the learners have good comprehension, they can learn the new language best The next principle is that comprehension and memory are well acquired through physical movement He stated that students need time to understand and response to parts of language before trying to speak it out when they are ready This is call

„silent period‟ The last principle is that by responding through actions, learners‟ memory is activated and so they can understand the meaning of new vocabulary Based on these above principles, Asher (2012) draws three learning hypotheses of using TPR in teaching English First, children develop their comprehension by responding physically to their parents‟ commands It will help to develop their speech naturally They acquire listening comprehension before starting to speak Second, TPR is related to right brain activities Third, a stress free environment will benefit the second language learning process like with the first language TPR focuses on the meaning without putting the stress on grammar rules or language forms This helps to create a comfortable environment for learners

Obviously, TPR method is widely used in teaching children Its principles mostly base on the movement of the body and relate to the right brain activities The

complexity of the input is gradually increased Children are involved in listening, responding to commands, and doing actions, and after some time they take over from the teacher and give commands themselves

2.1.3.3 Procedure of TPR

Asher (1977) states that there are four main steps in the procedures of TPR method: 1) Review: this is the quick warm- up for students before the lesson Students move

with commands to review the vocabulary they learned in the previous lesson

2) New commands: Teacher introduces the new commands

3) Role reversal: Students readily volunteer to command their teacher and

classmates

4) Reading and writing Teacher writes new vocabulary items on the board and

gives sentences to illustrate the words

According to Asher, TPR lesson plans should present the detailed commands that the teacher intends to use in his/her lessons He said, “It is wise to write out the exact utterances you will be using and especially the novel commands because the action is so fast-moving There is usually not time for you to create spontaneously.” From these above characteristics and principles of TPR, it can be concluded that TPR is a great tool for learning and teaching a second language for students especially for children The lesson plan of this research will apply this procedure

2.1.3.4 Types of vocabulary used in the lessons with TPR

TPR is largely about movement Verbs are the most suitable type of

vocabulary for this method because teacher can easily illustrate them by

actions With the words that are not easy to be illustrated by doing actions like nouns or some adjectives, etc teacher can combine them with the suitable verbs in lots of interesting ways For example: With some names of animals teacher can guide the students to move, make the sounds or act out like these animals; With some nouns, teacher can combine them with the verbs like: wear the hat, look at the mirror, sit on the chair, etc

2.1.4 Attitudes

There have been numerous definitions given to attitudes Attitudes is defined Baker (1992) as “a hypothetical construct used to explain the direction and persistence of human behavior” Likert (1932) defines the term attitude as "an inference which is made on the basis of a complex of beliefs about the attitude object" Ajzan (1988) considers attitudes as “a disposition to respond favorably or unfavorably to an object, person, institution, or event” Brown (2000) states that “Attitudes, like all aspects of the development of cognition and affect in human beings, develop early

in childhood and are the result of parents‟ and peers‟ attitudes, contact with people who are different in any number of ways.” Brown (2001) indicates that attitude is described by emotional involvements such as feelings, and relationship in community Moreover, attitudes refer specifically to states of emotions and thought relating to the target language, to the learning of the target language, and to the culture of the target language Bagozzi and Burnkrant (1979) states three components of attitude: (1) Knowledge about the object, the beliefs, ideas components (Cognitive) (2) A feeling about the object, like or dislike component (Affective) (3) A tendency-towards-action the object component (Behavioral) Gardner (1985) considers attitudes as components of motivation in language learning Students‟ attitudes positively correlated with their achievement in English For instance, students with positive attitudes towards learning a language were more

at an advantage compared to those with negative attitudes (Spolsky, 1969; Littlewood, 1984; Holmes, 1992; Norlida, 1997) Therefore, the importance of attitudes in enhancing language learning was undeniable This study follows the definition of Gardne

According to Simonson & Maushak (2001) there are four widely used and accepted categories, or approaches, for collecting attitude information The first way is self-reports, where the members of a group report directly about their own attitudes With self-reports a person is asked to report on his or her own attitudes This information can be provided orally through the use of interviews, surveys or in

written form through questionnaires, journals, or diaries, etc The second way is reports of others, where others report about the attitudes of a person or group Sociometric procedure is also another way where members of a group report about their attitudes toward other people Sociometrics are used when the researcher wants to see a picture of the patterns within a group The last one is records which are very helpful when they contain information relevant to the attitude area in question

Within each of these categories, there are strategies for measuring attitude-related behaviors Attitude measurement is usually accomplished by questionnaires and rating scales, interviews, written reports, observations Questionnaires and rating scales are techniques that present information to a respondent in writing and then require a written response The second technique is interviews They are direct meetings between two or more people in which the respondent answers questions A survey is a highly structured interview Often surveys are conducted over the telephone, an approximation of face-to-face interviewing The advantage of interviews is that the interviewer can actively give the questions and receive the answers and also explore directly the facial or body languages of the interviewees which may be very useful for understanding more their feelings The two major problems with interviews are: They are very time consuming and sometime the interviewer may influence the interviewee The third technique of measuring attitude is written reports, such as journals, and diaries, etc They are the descriptions of activities and feelings written during the course The big advantage

of this approach is that reports provide a lot of information about a person's experiences and feelings However they require a great deal of time by both the respondent and the researcher The last instrument is observations where the researcher has to dedicate his or her attention to the behaviors of an individual or group in a natural setting for a certain period of time

In this research, questionnaires, interviews, field notes and observations were used

as the model of Simonson & Maushak

2.2 Previous studies

There are some researchers who also conducted relevant researches on this field The first research is Pujiningsih‟s study in 2010 It is a classroom action research to identify the advantages of Total Physical Response method and to know whether TPR can improve students‟ vocabulary in MI NU Manafiul Ulum Kudus School This research combined both qualitative and quantitative data analysis to collect the data The findings showed that there was an improvement in students ‟vocabulary after applying TP method with the most significant improvement on spelling and meaning The study also figured out some weaknesses of TPR in using words in sentence

The second research is Ni‟mah‟s research (2016) on the use of TPR to improve the students‟ vocabulary mastery This research‟s aim is to see the improvement of student‟s vocabulary after using TPR in learning Besides, it focused on finding out the procedure of teaching and learning method using TPR in vocabulary lesson The research was quite similar to the Nining Pujiningsih‟s research It was also an action research After two cycles of applying TPR, the writer found out the positive effects

of TPR in helping students to learn vocabulary not only in the number of words that students could remember but also in their attention and participation in learning process The procedure of teaching and learning method using TPR in vocabulary lesson was also clarified

The third research was conducted in an elementary school in Indonesia by Fahrurrozi in 2017 The study aimed to describe how TPR improves students‟ vocabulary learning outcomes at the third-grade elementary school Guntur 3 South Jakarta, Indonesia It was also an action research and followed four steps: plan, class action, observation and reflection The writer calculated the average score of students after the pre-test and post-test in each cycle to collect the data and also found out similar results as the two above researches TPR method affected positively to the improvement of students‟ vocabulary

Octaviany (2007) also conducted a classroom action research to investigate the

application of TPR in teaching English vocabulary to the fourth graders of Sd Negeri 04 Krajankulon Kaliwungu Kendal in the academic year of 2006- 2007 He also used pre-tests and post-tests to see the improvement of the result by percentage Questionnaire was also used to answer the problems of the study and field notes were used to observe the situation of the class during each lesson The finding was that TPR was very beneficial to the students in facilitating them in learning English vocabulary

Latifa (2016) did the research on TPR by an experimental design He wanted to measure the effect of TPR on vocabulary retention in his research The researcher used quantitative approach to figure out the answer for the study problem The technique of data collection was the test and the researcher used t- Test formula to calculate the result The post- test result after applying TPR was higher than the pre-test which showed a significant effect of TPR in students‟ vocabulary retention

Dinh Nguyen (2014) conducted a research to describe the procedure of teaching English vocabulary to primary school children through TPR and to justify the importance and effectiveness of using TPR activities in teaching foreign language vocabulary The researcher used mixed method which combined quantitative and qualitative approach Observation, video recording, questionnaire were used to collect the data In the conclusion, the researcher concluded that TPR could be an effective way to introduce English vocabulary and deliver explicit instructions It significantly benefited to students‟ achievement in English vocabulary learning However, the research was only conducted in three lessons so the result was quite tentative

In this chapter, teaching English vocabulary, teaching English vocabulary to young learners, teaching English vocabulary to young learners with TPR method and attitudes are the four key areas which are explored by the researcher It can be clearly seen from the research reviewed that understanding the features of vocabulary, the characteristics of young learners will benefit teachers a lot in choosing the appropriate vocabulary teaching methods for primary students Among these methods, TPR is considered a very suitable and useful way A review on action research is also mentioned in this part to figure out the main steps of an

action research Some previous studies on this field are reviewed and put in comparison to explore the similarities and differences among them Five out of six researchers which are reviewed used action research while the other used experimental research They used various tools to collect and analyze the results like questionnaires, tests, observation, etc and the findings were all showed that TPR had significant effect to the students‟ vocabulary All the above reviews give the researcher of this study valuable knowledge in order to conduct the next steps of this research

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY

In this chapter, the research methods used in this study are discussed in detail Respectively, topics addressed in Chapter 3 are context of the research, participants, design of the research, research procedure, data collection and data analysis

3.1 Context of the research

The research was conducted in a local class of a primary school in Hanoi

This is a private school with five grades from 1 to 5 There are 36 classes Each class has 25 to 32 students English is considered as a very important subject together with Math and Literature in this school The teaching materials for students include text books and other supplementary materials developed and selected by the teachers Students have eight English lessons a week in which six lessons are taught

by Vietnamese teachers and two lessons are taught by foreign teachers To communicate with the native speakers fluently students need to know a huge number of words However, they still meet some difficulties in learning vocabulary

3.2 Participants

The participants involved in the research were 25 students in the grade 2 class In this class, students were at the age of seven They started learning English since they were at grade 1 The book the students used to learn is Super Minds 2 (2013), published by Oxford University Press Students‟ English vocabulary was at basic level In teaching process, it was realized that many students had less motivation in learning new English vocabulary because the number of words they had to learn at grade 2 was much more than at grade 1 Students still learnt in a passive and traditional way They felt bored and could not remember well when learning many new words or phrases Some students with low level felt stressful and did not like studying English

3.3 Research design

To conduct this study, the researcher employed the class action research It followed four steps: Planning, acting, observing and reflecting as the model of Kemmis and

McTaggart (1988)

Quantitative data from the tests was used to figure out the effects of TPR on the student‟s vocabulary achievement Qualitative data from observation and interview was used to explore the student‟s attitudes towards using TPR in learning English vocabulary In addition, questionnaires were also used to provide further understanding of the students‟ attitudes and result from field notes also provided more information for the researcher about the students‟ vocabulary improvement

3.4 Research procedure

3.4.1 Action research

3.4.1.1 Definition of action research

According to Kemmis and Henry as quoted by Allwright and Bailey (1991:44),

“Action research has been defined as a form of self-reflective enquiry undertaken by participants in social situations in order to improve the rationality and justice of their own social or educational practices, as well as their understanding of these practices and the situation in which these practices are carried out” Allwright and Bailey (1991) state that “the goals of action research are achieving local understanding and developing viable solutions to problems” Harmer (2001: 344) concludes that action research is a series of procedures that teachers can engage in because they wish to evaluate the success of certain activities and procedures Additionally, Elliot (1991: 49) states that “the fundamental aim of action research is to improve practice rather than to produce knowledge” According to Cohan and Manion as cited by Nunan (1992: 18), “the aim of action research is to improve the current state of affairs within the educational context in which research is being carried out”

3.4.1.2 Action research procedure

There are several ways to conduct an action research According Nunan (1992), there are seven steps in action research cycle:

Step 1 Initiation: In this step the teacher comes up with a problem which the students do not seem interested or motivate What should be done?

Step 2 Preliminary investigation: The teacher spends some time collecting baseline data through observation and recording classroom interaction

Step 3 Hypothesis: After reviewing the initial data, the teacher forms the hypothesis that the students are unmotivated

Step 4 Intervention: The teacher devises a number of strategies for encouraging the students to relate the content of the lesson

Step 5 Evaluation: After several weeks, the classroom is recorded again There is much greater involvement of the students, and the complexity of their language and student-led interactions is enhanced

Step 6 Dissemination: The teacher runs a workshop for colleagues and presents a paper at a language conference

Step 7 Follow up: The teacher investigates alternative methods of motivating students

Sagor (2005: 4) sets out a straightforward four- step model of an action research: Clarify vision and target, articulate appropriate theory, implement action and collect data, reflect on the data and plan informed action

In a different study, Kemmis and McTarggart ( 1988) suggest that action research has four steps:

Step 1 Planning: Planning refers to the proposed strategies to be developed and be used in the research The researcher arranges the schedule of the research

Step 2 Acting: Acting is which the teachers put the plan into actions in order to collect information or data during teaching and learning process

Step 3 Observing: Observing means the researcher refers to the observation of the phenomenon occurred in the class In observing process, the data and the problem is gained through an observation sheet in every meeting The aim of observation itself

is to collect the data which become the indicators of success as an impact of the action that had been planned before

Step 4 Reflecting: Reflecting reflects the previous action or treatments for the next cycle In this step, the researcher analyzes the data and make the conclusion act based on the data gathered then compares them to the criteria of success If there is

a weakness in the previous action, the researcher and observer discuss for the

improvement in the next meeting The reflection‟ result or conclusion is used as the source for the next action cycle

The model of Kemmis and McTaggart (1988) is shown in Figure 3.1 below:

Figure 3.1 Classroom action research cycle

There are some other models of action research, but they are criticized by Kemmis and McTaggart as being fixed and inflexible Regardless of the criticisms, action research is a useful model because it expresses briefly the more important ideas about the essential phases in an action research study The model above is very detailed and clear to understand and easy to adapt to the real context at Lomonoxop primary school Therefore, the researcher will follow the model of Kemmis and McTarggart to conduct this research

Secondly, the list of students‟ names was made

Thirdly, sheets for classroom observation and questionnaires, interview sheets were designed

In the next step, tests were made Other materials and teaching aids were also

The action in cycle 1 was conducted through three lessons and two tests

In the first day, researcher gave students the pre-test of vocabulary which students would learnt after that The test included 20 questions The reseacher then spent about ten minutes left to introduce TPR method which would be applied in the next lessons In the next three lessons, the researcher used TPR to teach students three topics: classroom objects, daily routine and animals

At the end of each lesson, a quick check using TPR was given so that the research could see the number of words the students could remember

In the last day of the treatment in cycle 1, the researcher gave students a post-test with the same structure with the pre-test

before conducting cycle 2

Cycle 2

Step 1: Planing

In the planing step of cycle 2, the reseacher also prepared the lesson plans, steps in doing TPR for each lesson, observation sheets, questionaire sheets, interview sheets, tests and other teaching materials and teaching aids

The time for each lesson:

At the end of each lesson, the researcher did a quick check using TPR to see how many students had the correct answers after the lesson

In the last day of the treatment in cycle 2, the researcher gave the students the test with the same structure with the pre-test

There were four vocabulary tests in this study They were two pre-tests at the beginning

of the two cycles and two post-tests at the end of the two cycles

The content of the tests in cycle 1 covered three topics:

Table 3.1 Content for testing in cycle 1

0 Classroom

objects

door, bookcase, wall, clock, window, board, cupboard, chair, floor

1 Daily routines Get up, get dressed, have breakfast, brush your teeth, go to

school, have lunch, play in the park, have dinner, go to bed

2 Animals Zebra, monkey, hippo, parrot, snake, tiger, bear, crocodile

The tests in cycle 2 covered the topics:

Table 3.2 Content for testing in cycle 2

3 Places playground, cinema, swimming pool, park, hospital, town,

shop, bus stop, street, café, train station

4 Food grapes, beans, bread, lemons, tomatoes, fish, eggs, mangos,

watermelons, potatoes

objects

lamp, mirror, bed, table, mat, armchair, wardrobe, sofa

Each topic included 8 to 9 words and the researcher followed the school syllabus and the content in the book Super Minds 1

The time for each test:

Pre-test 1 : September 15th

Post test 1: November 22-nd

Pre-test 2: November 27th

Post test 2: January 22nd

Multiple choice, matching and odd one out were used in the tests to get the data Each test would include 20 questions and all the four tests had the same structure The

students were familiar with these forms because the structure of the test followed the form of the test in the school

3.5.2 Questionnaires

The questionnaire was intended to figure out the students‟ attitudes towards learning English vocabulary after being taught by using Total Physical Response There were five information questions according to the criteria of Heaton (1975:172) which are:

1) The students‟ interest in some activities in TPR given by the teacher during the action research

2) The advantages that the students gained after the teacher introduced them English vocabulary through TPR

3) The students‟ retention after the learning process using TPR

4) The relevance between the vocabularies offered in this action research and the vocabularies that the students used and needed in their daily activities

5) The sustainability of the action research program

The researcher designed the questionnaire based on the criteria above The questions are made in a simple, understandable and interesting way for the students

to finish because they were just at grade two Before conducting the questionnaire, the researcher asked the colleague for addition input and suggestive feedback on survey items This helped to increase the content validity of the questionnaire The researcher explained carefully all words that the students might not clear The gifts were also given to the students after they finished the questionnaire It was a way to encourage them to focus and did the questionnaire seriously

The students had to choose Agree, Disagree or Doubt for each statement in which Disagree = 1 point; Doubt = 2 points; Agree = 3 points

Below are five main statements in the questionnaire:

Question 1 I like learning English vocabulary by doing actions

Question 2 Doing actions when learning English is good for me in studying vocabulary

Question 3 I got better result after learning English by doing actions

Question 4 I can use the words I learnt in communicating with foreign people Question 5 I want to study regularly by this way

3.5.3 Field notes

To observe the students‟ learning progress and figure out the students‟ attitude towards learning with TPR as well as collect more information about the students‟ progress, the researcher used field notes In observing process, there were three components that the writer would focus on, they were: The participant of the students, students‟ attitude, students‟ vocabulary progress and TPR quick check

result The field note sample is as below:

Table 3.3 Field note sample

- Number of correct answers: ………

- Number of incorrect answers: ……… ……

At the end of the questionnaire, the researcher provided the information of the interview purposes and process Due to the limited time of data collection, the

researcher planned to interview six students which included three girls and three boys In choosing sample of participants the researcher used the purposive sampling method This form of sampling is essentially strategic and necessitates an attempt to establish a good correspondence between research questions and sampling (Bryman, 2004) The inclusion criterion was based on the results of the pre-test 2, post-test 2 after the treatment and the characteristics of each children This means the participants would include both active and less active or shy students, both students with much improvement and less improvement which help to increase the objectivity of the result

Table 3.4 Interview participants description

Participants Sex Pre- test 1

score

Pre-test 2 score

Characteristics

In order to encourage the students to volunteer for the interviews, the students were informed that a gift was provided for each interview participant in appreciation for their time and help Since the purpose of the interview was to obtain additional data

to complement, refine, and contextualize the results from the questionnaire data, the interview questions were developed in accordance with the themes in the questionnaire which support the answer for the research questions

The researcher used semi- structured questions with guiding and probe questions All the questions were made simple and understandable for the students The researcher asked the colleague for addition input and suggestive feedback on interview questions before conducting the interview When conducting it, the researcher explained carefully any words that the students were not clear

Interview question 1

Guiding question:

What did learning English by doing actions help you in learning vocabulary?

Probe questions:

Did it help you to remember more words?

Do you feel more confident when using English vocabulary after learning with this method?

Can you use the words you learnt in speaking with foreign people?

Interview question 2

Guiding question:

How do you feel about learning English vocabulary by doing actions?

Probe questions:

Do you like this method?

Were you happy when learning by this method?

Do you want to study regularly with this method?

If the students‟ answer in the previous question included the idea for the next question, the researcher could move to the other question The researcher could add some more questions to make the answer of the students longer so that their idea could be clearer Because the students were only at grade 2, their answers were usually short so the researcher encourages the students to talk more about their answers, not only say Yes or No

The interviews were conducted in a causal and natural style rather than a formal question-answer pattern All interviews were audio-recorded To ensure that all interviewees would speak their minds in a language they are most familiar with, the interviews were conducted in Vietnamese The interviews were then transcribed and translated for analysis

The researcher then also categorized the students‟ answer for each probe question into three levels: Agree, disagree and doubt then count the number of each answer