Teaching and learning by TPR method

Total Physical Response

Background 

Total Physical Response (TPR) is a language teaching method built around the coordination of speech and action; it attempts to teach lan­guage through physical (motor) activity. Developed by James Asher, a professor of psychology at San Jose State University, California, it draws on several traditions, including developmental psychology, learning the­ory, and humanistic pedagogy, as well as on language teaching proce­dures proposed by Harold and Dorothy Palmer in 1925. Let us briefly consider these precedents to Total Physical Response.

Total Physical Response is linked to the "trace theory" of memory in psychology (e.g., Katona 1940), which holds that the more often or the more intensively a memory connection is traced, the stronger the memory association will be and the more likely it will be recalled. Retracing can be done verbally (e.g., by rote repetition) and/or in association with motor activity. Combined tracing activities, such as verbal rehearsal accompanied by motor activity, hence increase the probability of suc­cessful recall.

In a developmental sense, Asher sees successful adult second language learning as a parallel process to child first language acquisition. He claims that speech directed to young children consists primarily of commands, which children respond to physically before they begin to produce verbal responses. Asher feels adults should recapitulate the processes by which children acquire their mother tongue.

Asher shares with the school of humanistic psychology a concern for the role of affective (emotional) factors in language learning. A method that is undemanding in terms of linguistic production and that involves game like movements reduces learner stress, he believes, and creates a positive mood in the learner, which facilitates learning.

Asher's emphasis on developing comprehension skills before the learner is taught to speak links him to a movement in foreign language teaching sometimes referred to as the Comprehension Approach (Winitz 1981). This refers to several different comprehension-based language teaching proposals, which share the belief that (a) comprehension abilities precede productive skills in learning a language; (b) the teaching of speaking should be delayed until comprehension skills are established; (c) skills acquired through listening transfer to other skills; (d) teaching should emphasize meaning rather than form; and (e) teaching should minimize learner stress.

The emphasis on comprehension and the use of physical actions to teach a foreign language at an introductory level has a long tradition in language teaching. We saw in Chapter 1 that in the nineteenth century Gouin had advocated a situationally based teaching strategy in which a chain of action verbs served as the basis for introducing and practicing new language items. Palmer experimented with an action-based teaching strategy in his book English Through Actions (first published in Tokyo in 1925 and ultimately reissued as Palmer and Palmer in 1959), which claimed that "no method of teaching foreign speech is likely to be eco­nomical or successful which does not include in the first period a very considerable proportion of that type of classroom work which consists of the carrying out by the pupil of orders issued by the teacher" (Palmer and Palmer 1959: 39).

Approach

Theory of language

Asher does not  directly discuss the nature of language or how languages are organized. However, the labeling and ordering of TPR classroom drills seem to be built on assumptions that owe much to structuralist or grammar-based views of language. Asher states that "most of the gram­matical structure of the target language and hundreds of vocabulary items can be learned from the skillful use of the imperative by the instructor" (1977: 4). He views the verb, and particularly the verb in the imperative, as the central linguistic motif around which language use and learning are organized.

Asher sees language as being composed of abstractions and non-abstractions, with non-abstractions being most specifically represented by concrete nouns and imperative verbs. He believes that learners can ac­quire a "detailed cognitive map" as well as "the grammatical structure of a language" without recourse to abstractions.

Abstractions should be delayed until students have internalized a detailed cognitive map of the target language. Abstractions are not necessary for people to decode the grammatical structure of a language. Once students have internalized the code, abstractions can be introduced and explained in the target language. (Asher 1977: 11—12)

This is an interesting claim about language but one that is insufficiently detailed to test. For example, are tense, aspect, articles, and so forth, abstractions, and if so, what sort of "detailed cognitive map" could be constructed without them?

Despite Asher's belief in the central role of comprehension in language learning, he does not elaborate on the relation between comprehension, production, and communication (he has no theory of speech acts or their equivalents, for example), although in advanced TPR lessons imperatives are used to initiate different speech acts, such as requests ("John, ask Mary to walk to the door"), and apologies ("Ned, tell Jack you're sorry").

Asher also refers in passing to the fact that language can be internalized as wholes or chunks, rather than as single lexical items, and, as such, links are possible to more theoretical proposals of this kind (e.g., Miller, Galanter, and Pribram 1960), as well as to work on the role of prefab­ricated patterns in language learning and language use (e.g., Yorio 1980). Asher does not elaborate on his view of chunking, however, nor on other aspects of the theory of language underlying Total Physical Response. We have only clues to what a more fully developed language theory might resemble when spelled out by Asher and his supporters.

Theory of learning

Asher's language learning theories are reminiscent of the views of other behavioral psychologists. For example, the psychologist Arthur Jensen proposed a seven-stage model to describe the development of verbal learning in children. The first stage he calls Sv-R type learning, which the educational psychologist John DeCecco interprets as follows:

In Jensen's notation, Sv refers to a verbal stimulus—a syllable, a word, a phrase, and so on. R refers to the physical movements the child makes in response to the verbal stimulus (or Sv). The movement may involve touching, grasping, or otherwise manipulating some object. For example, mother may tell Percival (age 1) to get the ball, and Percival, distinguishing the sound "ball" from the clatter of other household noises, responds by fetching the ball and bringing it to his mother. Ball is the Sv (verbal stimulus), and Percival's action is the response. At Percival's age, children respond to words about four times faster than they respond to other sounds in their environ­ment. It is not clear why this is so, but it is possible that the reinforcing ef­fects of making proper responses to verbal stimuli are sufficiently strong to cause a rapid development of this behavior. Sv-R learning represents, then, the simplest form of verbal behavior. (DeCecco 1968: 329)

This is a very similar position to Asher's view of child language acqui­sition. Although learning psychologists such as Jensen have since aban­doned such simple stimulus-response models of language acquisition and development, and although linguists have rejected them as incapable of accounting for the fundamental features of language learning and use (see Chapter 4), Asher still sees a stimulus-response view as providing the learning theory underlying language teaching pedagogy. In addition, Asher has elaborated an account of what he feels facilitates or inhibits foreign language learning. For this dimension of his learning theory he draws on three rather influential learning hypotheses:

1. There exists a specific innate bio-program for language learning, which defines an optimal  path for first and second language development.
2. Brain lateralization defines different learning functions in the left- and right-brain hemispheres.
3. Stress (an affective filter) intervenes between the act of learning and what is to be learned; the lower the stress, the greater the learning.

Design

Objectives

The general objectives of Total Physical Response are to teach oral proficiency at a beginning level. Comprehension is a means to an end, and the ultimate aim is to teach basic speaking skills. A TPR course aims to produce learners who are capable of an uninhibited commu­nication that is intelligible to a native speaker. Specific instructional objectives are not elaborated, for these will depend on the particular needs of the learners. Whatever goals are set, however, must be attainable through the use of action-based drills in the imperative form.

The syllabus

The type of syllabus Asher uses can be inferred from an analysis of the exercise types employed in TPR classes. This analysis reveals the use of a sentence-based syllabus, with grammatical and lexical criteria being primary in selecting teaching items. Unlike methods that operate from a grammar-based or structural view of the core elements of language, Total Physical Response requires initial attention to meaning rather than to the form of items. Grammar is thus taught inductively. Gram­matical features and vocabulary items are selected not according to their frequency of need or use in target language situations, but according to the situations in which they can be used in the classroom and the ease with which they can be learned.

The criterion for including a vocabulary item or grammatical feature at a particular point in training is ease of assimilation by students. If an item is not learned rapidly, this means that the students are not ready for that item. Withdraw it and try again at a future time in the training program. (Asher 1977: 42)

Asher also suggests that a fixed number of items be introduced at a time, to facilitate ease of differentiation and assimilation. "In an hour, it is possible for students to assimilate 12 to 36 new lexical items depending upon the size of the group and the stage of training" (Asher 1977: 42). Asher sees a need for attention to both the global meaning of language as well as to the finer details of its organization.

The movement of the body seems to be a powerful mediator for the under­standing, organization and storage of macro-details of linguistic input. Lan­guage can be internalized in chunks, but alternative strategies must be developed for fine-tuning to macro-details. (Asher, Kusudo, and de la Torre 1974: 28)

A course designed around Total Physical Response principles, however, would not be expected to follow a TPR syllabus exclusively.

We are not advocating only one strategy of learning. Even if the imperative is the major or minor format of training, variety is critical for maintaining con­tinued student interest. The imperative is a powerful facilitator of learning, but it should be used in combination with many other techniques. The opti­mal combination will vary from instructor to instructor and class to class. (Asher 1977: 28)

Types of learning and teaching activities

Imperative drills are the major classroom activity in Total Physical Re­sponse. They are typically used to elicit physical actions and activity on the part of the learners. Conversational dialogues are delayed until after about 120 hours of instruction. Asher's rationale for this is that "every­day conversations are highly abstract and disconnected; therefore to understand them requires a rather advanced internalization of the target language" (1977: 95). Other class activities include role plays and slide presentations. Role plays center on everyday situations, such as at the restaurant, supermarket, or gas station. The slide presentations are used to provide a visual center for teacher narration, which is followed by commands, and for questions to students, such as "Which person in the picture is the salesperson?". Reading and writing activities may also be employed to further consolidate structures and vocabulary, and as fol­low-ups to oral imperative drills.

Learner roles

Learners in Total Physical Response have the primary roles of listener and performer. They listen attentively and respond physically to com­mands given by the teacher. Learners are required to respond both individually and collectively. Learners have little influence over the con­tent of learning, since content is determined by the teacher, who must follow the imperative-based format for lessons. Learners are also ex­pected to recognize and respond to novel combinations of previously taught items:

Novel utterances are recombinations of constituents you have used directly in training. For instance, you directed students with 'Walk to the table!' and 'Sit on the chair!'. These are familiar to students since they have practiced re­sponding to them. Now, will a student understand if you surprise the individ­ual with an unfamiliar utterance that you created by recombining familiar elements (e.g. 'Sit on the table!'). (Asher 1977: 31)

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.

Summary of the steps follows:

1. Students watch demonstration of key words and then a command using them.

2. Students listen again and watch as the teacher performs the action.
3. The teacher gives the command and models the action again, this time having students perform the actions simultaneously.
4. The teacher gives the command to the group without modeling the action.
5. The teacher gives the command to an individual without modeling the action.
6. The teacher models variations & combinations for the groups.
7. Students perform variations & combinations.
8. If some students are ready, they give commands to classmates.

Conclusion

Total Physical Response is in a sense a revival and extension of Palmer and Palmer's English Through Actions, updated with references to more recent psychological theories. It has enjoyed some popularity because of its support by those who emphasize the role of comprehension in second language acquisition. Krashen (1981), for example, regards provision of comprehensible input and reduction of stress as keys to successful lan­guage acquisition, and he sees performing physical actions in the target language as a means of making input comprehensible and minimizing stress (see Chapter 9). The experimental support for the effectiveness of Total Physical Response is sketchy (as it is for most methods) and typ­ically deals with only the very beginning stages of learning. Proponents of Communicative Language Teaching would question the relevance to real-world learner needs of the TPR syllabus and the utterances and sentences used within it. Asher himself, however, has stressed that Total Physical Response should be used in association with other methods and techniques. Indeed, practitioners of TPR typically follow this recom­mendation, suggesting that for many teachers TPR represents a useful set of techniques and is compatible with other approaches to teaching. TPR practices therefore may be effective for reasons other than those proposed by Asher and do not necessarily demand commitment to the learning theories used to justify them.

 

Rencana Pelaksanaan Pembelajaran (RPP)

Nama Sekolah                    :    SMPN 1 Besuki

Mata Pelajaran                   :    Bahasa Inggris

Kelas/Semester                   :    X / 1

Alokasi Waktu                    :    2 x 45 menit ( 1x pertemuan )

Topik Pembelajaran          :    Procedure

Pertemuan Ke                    :    5

A.     Standar Kompetensi

         Mendengarkan

Memahami makna teks fungsional pendek dan teks monolog sederhana berbentuk recount, narrative dan procedure dalam konteks kehidupan sehari-hari.         

B.     Kompetensi Dasar

Merespon makna dalam teks monolog sederhana yang menggunakan ragam bahasa lisan secara akurat, lancar dan berterima dalam berbagai konteks kehidupan sehari-hari dalam teks: recount, narrative, dan procedure.

C.     Indikator Pencapaian Kompetensi

Indikator Pencapaian Kompetensi	Nilai Budaya Dan Karakter Bangsa
§ Menjawab pertanyaan teks monolog sederhana  berbentuk procedure § Melakukan teks monolog lisan berbentuk procedure § Mempresentasikan teks monolog lisan berbentuk procedure	Religius, jujur, toleransi, disiplin, kerja keras, mandiri, demokratis, rasa ingin tahu, semangat kebangsaan, cinta tanah air, menghargai prestasi, bersahabat, cinta damai, gemar membaca, peduli lingkungan, peduli sosial, tanggung jawab, mandiri

Kewirausahaan/ Ekonomi Kreatif :

§  Percaya diri (keteguhan hati, optimis).

§  Berorientasi pada tugas (bermotivasi, tekun/tabah, bertekad, enerjik).

§  Pengambil resiko (suka tantangan, mampu memimpin)

§  Orientasi ke masa depan (punya perspektif untuk masa depan)

D.     Tujuan Pembelajaran

                  Pada akhir pembelajaran siswa dapat :

·         Siswa dapat menjawab pertanyaan teks monolog sederhana  berbentuk procedure

·         Siswa dapat melakukan teks monolog lisan berbentuk procedure

·         Siswa mempresentasikan teks monolog lisan berbentuk procedure

E.     Materi Pokok

1.    Teks monolog berbentuk procedure, contohnya:

How to Make Gudeg Jogja (Green Jack Fruit Sweet Stew)

Ingredients:

-    5 onions

-   10 candlenuts

-   10 garlic cloves

-   4 bay Leaves

-   1/2 lb. (250g) green jack fruit

-   2-1/2 tsp. (12g) coriander seeds

-   1-1/4 tsp. (6g) cumin

-   1/4 cup (62ml) coconut sugar

-   2 cups (500ml) coconut milk

-   2 tsp. (30g) tamarind

-   2 lb. (1kg) chicken (cut into small pieces with bone)

-   5 cups (1.25l) water

-   2 inches bruised galangal

Instructions:

-  First, cut green jack fruit 1 inch thick. Wash and boil until tender.

-  Next, ground onions, candle nuts, sauté paste, bay leaves, and galangal until fragrant.

-  Add the chicken pieces, stir fry until chicken changes clour.

-  Then, pour 4 cups of water and coconut sugar, bring to a boil.

-  Add the green jack fruit and simmer until the chicken and vegetables are tender.

-  Finally, add coconut milk 5 minutes before it’s done, bring back to a boil. Serve  hot with ice.

- This dish is sweet and usually served with shrimp cracker

2.    Procedure text can be explained as bellow:

Social function  :  to describe how something is accomplished through

                             a sequence of actions or steps.

Generic structure:

-  Goal.

-  Materials (not required for all procedural texts)

-  Steps (a series of steps oriented to achieving the goal)

F.      Metode Pembelajaran/Teknik:

Total Physical Response

G.     Strategi Pembelajaran

Tatap Muka	Terstruktur	Mandiri
§  Bertanya jawab tentang pertanyaan teks monolog sederhana  berbentuk procedure. §  Membahas unsur dan langkah retorika dalam pertanyaan teks monolog sederhana  berbentuk procedure. §  Membahas ciri-ciri leksikogramatika. §  Membacakan cerita kepada kelompok atau kelas (monolog). §  Menceritakan kembali cerita kepada kelompok atau kelas (monolog). §  Membahas kesulitan yang dihadapi siswa dalam melakukan kegiatan terstruktur dan mandiri.	§  Dengan kelompok belajarnya, siswa diberi tugas untuk melakukan hal-hal berikut, dan melaporkan setiap kegiatan kepada guru, a.l. tentang tempat, siapa saja yang datang, kesulitan yang dihadapi. §  Bertanya jawab tentang isi cerita (karakter, setting, plot) yang sudah dibaca, ditonton, dan/atau didengar dengan kelompok belajarnya §  Membahas unsur dan langkah retorika dalam teks naratif. §  Membahas ciri-ciri leksikogramatika. §  Membacakan cerita kepada kelompok (monolog). §  Menceritakan kembali cerita kepada kelompok (monolog).	§  Siswa melakukan berbagai kegiatan terkait dengan wacana berbentuk naratif di luar tugas tatap muka dan terstruktur yang diberikan guru. §  Siswa mengumpulkan setiap hasil kerja dalam portofolio, dan melaporkan hal-hal yang sudah diperoleh serta kesulitan yang dihadapi secara rutin kepada guru.

Langkah-langkah Kegiatan Pembelajaran

§  Kegiatan Awal  (10’)

-      Mengucapkan salam dengan ramah kepada siswa ketika memasuki ruang kelas (nilai yang ditanamkan: santun, peduli)

-      Mengecek kehadiran siswa (nilai yang ditanamkan: disiplin, rajin)

-      Mengaitkan materi/kompetensi yang akan dipelajari dengan karakter

-      Dengan merujuk pada silabus, RPP, dan bahan ajar, menyampaikan butir karakter yang hendak dikembangkan selain yang terkait dengan SK/KD

-      Siswa berdiskusi mengenai pertanyaan yang tertera di buku teks

§  Kegiatan Inti (70’)

Eksplorasi

Dalam kegiatan eksplorasi guru:

§  Memberikan stimulus berupa pemberian materi pertanyaan teks monolog sederhana  berbentuk procedure.

§  Mendiskusikan materi bersama siswa  (Buku : Bahan Ajar Bahasa Inggris mengenai pertanyaan teks monolog sederhana  berbentuk procedure.

§  Memberikan kesempatan pada peserta didik mengkomunikasikan secara lisan atau mempresentasikan mengenai pertanyaan teks monolog sederhana  berbentuk procedure.

§  Siswa diminta membahas contoh soal dalam Buku : Bahan Ajar Bahasa Inggris mengenai pertanyaan teks monolog sederhana  berbentuk procedure.

Elaborasi

Dalam kegiatan elaborasi guru:

§  Membiasakan siswa membuat kalimat pertanyaan teks monolog sederhana  berbentuk procedure.

§  Memfasilitasi siswa melalui pemberian tugas mengerjakan latihan soal yang ada pada buku ajar Bahasa Inggris untuk dikerjakan secara individual.

Konfirmasi

Dalam kegiatan konfirmasi  guru:

§  Memberikan umpan balik pada siswa dengan memberi penguatan dalam bentuk lisan pada siswa yang telah dapat menyelesaikan tugasnya.

§  Memberi konfirmasi pada hasil pekerjaan yang sudah dikerjakan oleh siswa melalui sumber buku lain.

§  Memfasilitasi siswa melakukan refleksi untuk memperoleh pengalaman belajar yang sudah dilakukan.

§  Memberikan motivasi kepada siswa yang kurang dan belum bisa mengikuti dalam materi mengenai pertanyaan teks monolog sederhana  berbentuk procedure.

§  Kegiatan Akhir (10’)

§  Siswa diminta membuat rangkuman dari materi mengenai pertanyaan teks monolog sederhana  berbentuk procedure.

§  Siswa dan Guru melakukan refleksi terhadap kegiatan yang sudah dilaksanakan.

§  Siswa diberikan pekerjaan rumah (PR) berkaitan dengan materi mengenai pertanyaan teks monolog sederhana  berbentuk procedure.

§  Menyampaikan rencana pembelajaran pada pertemuan berikutnya.

H.     Sumber/Bahan/Alat

§  Buku Look Ahead 1  , English for Better Life

§  Buku Inter-Language Kelas X

§  Script dari Look Ahead 1 dan Inter-Language

I.       Penilaian

I. Indikator, Teknik, Bentuk, dan Contoh.

No.	Indikator	Teknik	Bentuk	Contoh
1. 2. 3	Menjawab pertanyaan teks monolog sederhana  berbentuk procedure Melakukan teks monolog lisan berbentuk procedure. Mempresentasikan teks monolog lisan berbentuk procedure	Performance Assessment (responding) Tes Lisan Tes Lisan	Melengkapi dialog Membuat dialog Presentasi individual	Complete the dialogue below using the suitable expression! Give your responses orally based on the situations below! Listen carefully and then identify the goal, mate-rials needed and steps

II. Instrumen  Penilaian

Your teacher will read the following text. Listen carefully and then identify the            goal, materials needed and steps.

How to Make an Omelet

Hello friend, how are you? Have you ever eaten a cheese omelet? Do you know how to make a Cheese Omelet? No? Would you like me to tell it for you? Okay. This is the way. Listen to me.

     To make a Cheese Omelet, you should prepare ingredients such as one egg, 50 grams of cheese, uhm... ¼  cup of milk, three tablespoons of cooking oil, uhm...what else ....? Oh, yeah, a pinch of salt and don’t forget some pepper. Now, to make a Cheese Omelet, you will need some kitchen utensils like a frying pan, a fork, a whisk, a spatula, uhm..... a cheese grater ...and a bowl and of course ....a plate. Okay? Are you following me ? Right! Let me tell you how to make it.

      First, crack an egg into a bowl like this. Then whisk the egg with a fork until it is smooth. After that, add some milk and whisk well. Grate the cheese into the bowl and stir. Next, heat the oil in a frying pan, and pour the mixture into the frying pan. Then, turn the omelet with a spatula when it browns. See, like this. Okay, next cook both sides. After the omelet is done, place it on a plate, don’t forget to season it with salt and pepper and you can eat it while warm. It’s easy, isn’t it? Bon appetite!

Find out:

a.       What is the text talking about?

b.      What is the purpose of the text?

c.       How many steps are there in the text?

Please represent in front of the class how to make or to do something!

III.  Pedoman Penilaian    

No	Aspect of Scoring	Scoring
		Low (45-59)	Average (60-75)	Good (76-100)
1	Pronunciation
2	Intonation
3	Stress
4	Gestures
	Total
	Total Score

Mengetahui, Kepala Sekolah,

Situbondo, Juli 2011 Guru Mapel Bahasa Inggris, Saiful Anwar, S.Pd