MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HUE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
------------

VO THI THU HUONG

AN INVESTIGATION INTO EFL TEACHERS’
PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICE
OF USING TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE (TPR) METHOD
TO TEACH ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS
AT SOME PRIMARY SCHOOLS
IN QUANG BINH PROVINCE

MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY
OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

HUE, 2014


MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HUE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
------------

VO THI THU HUONG

AN INVESTIGATION INTO EFL TEACHERS’
PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICE
OF USING TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE (TPR) METHOD
TO TEACH ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS


HUẾ, 2014


STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine. The data and findings discussed in
the thesis are true and have not been published elsewhere.

Author
Vo Thi Thu Huong

4


ABSTRACT
This study investigates issues relating to teaching English using Total Physical
Response (TPR) method at some primary schools in Quang Binh. It aims to explore
primary teachers’ perceptions of using TPR to young learners, how teachers use it
in classroom at present, and whether they faced any challenges in teaching process.
The data were collected through the questionnaires, the interviews and the
classroom observations. Twenty primary teachers and fifty pupils in Quang Binh
province participated in the study. The collected data identified the teachers’
perceptions and practice of using TPR to young learners. The findings of the study
revealed that most of the teachers had positive perceptions toward using TPR to
young learners. In spite of the fact that many of the teachers agreed upon the
effectiveness of the TPR method, a few of them still did not feel satisfied because of
some constraints that impeded the successful implementation of TPR. Hence, some
suggestions were forwarded based on the major findings so as to minimize
problems encountered and maximize the implementation of TPR to young learners
at primary schools.


Pages
6


APPENDIX B.............................................................................................................71
APPENDIX C............................................................................................................ 76
APPENDIX D ............................................................................................................77
LIST OF TABLES

7


LIST OF CHARTS

8


LIST OF FIGURES

9


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

EFL:

English as a Foreign Language

FLP:

is thus more and more popular in many countries over the world in recent years. In
Vietnam, English language teaching has formally extended to the primary schools
since 2003, as a result of changes in the national English education policy - Foreign
Language Project 2020 of the government (FLP). The major aim of this project is to
motivate the primary school students and help them to be ready and have self confidence in learning English at higher levels.
Nonetheless, teaching English to young learners is quite a hard task for foreign
language teachers unless they are equipped with the appropriate knowledge.
Teaching English to young learners requires a lot of creativity. As Harmer (2001)
stated, young learners especially those up to the ages of primary students, learn
differently from older learners, adolescents and adults. They are easily getting
bored, losing interest after ten minutes or so. If English is taught in an interesting
way, it will motivate students to learn it better. Additionally, children language
ability is developed through practical application. Therefore, the acquisition of
language should be natural and direct. Primary school teachers should realize that
there is no best teaching method, thus they need to apply many different methods to
teach English to young learners. But the applied methods need to be not only
interesting but also effective. Also, Harmer (2007) claimed that some pupils forget
the lesson easily because they are not active during the learning process or not
involved in the learning process directly; there is no good atmosphere of learning
11


process in the class if there is no interaction between teacher and students.
Hence, the teaching methods chosen for young learners should be supported by
suitable techniques and activities which will attract their attention. One of the main
methods is used for teaching language to young learners is Total Physical Response
(TPR) which is just like the way children acquire their native language (Asher,
1977). In fact, the Total Physical Response (TPR) method developed by James
Asher (2000) provides ideas to design the activities for the success of English
language learning and teaching.

method to teach young learners in English classes.
b. To describe the implementation of Total Physical Response method to young

learners in English classes as well as find out factors that affect the
implementation of TPR.
c. To provide some suggestions for teaching English to young learners more

effectively.
1.4. Research questions
The study aims to answer the following research questions:
1. What are EFL teachers’ perceptions of using TPR method to teach English to
young learners in English classes?
2. How is TPR method used by the primary teachers in English classes? What
are the factors that affect the implementation of TPR method?
3. What are the suggestions for the teachers to use TPR method to young
learners in English classes effectively?
1.5. Significance of the study
Concerning the objective of this study mentioned above, this study hopefully
can give some contributions as follows:
•

In theory: the result of this research may contribute in modifying theories

that focus on the perceptions and practice of TPR method
• In practice: It may develop language teachers’ perceptions and practice on
the use of TPR and this research is very useful for learning-teaching process
on pupils and teachers of primary schools.
1.6. Scope of the study
The scope of the study was limited within 5 primary schools in Quang Binh
province where an investigation into the use of the TPR method in teaching

There have been a number of opinions about this aspect. However, this research
mainly focuses on some important points from different authors in order to present
the young learners’ characteristics.
According to Scott & Ytreberg (1990, p.2-4), the general characteristics of
students in primary schools are:
“They are competence user of mother language; they can tell the difference
between the fact and fiction; they love to play and learn best when they enjoy
themselves, but they also take themselves seriously and like to think what they are
doing is really work; they are enthusiastic and positive about learning; they rely on
the spoken world as well as the physical world to convey and understand meaning;
they are able to work with others and learn from others; their own understanding
comes through eyes, hands and ears; they have very short attention and
concentration span”.
In line with this, Philips (2001) states that “younger learners respond to
language according to what it does or what they can do with it, rather than treating it
as an intellectual game or abstract system […], and are often unselfconscious and
are usually prepared to enjoy the activities the teacher has prepared for them” (p.5).
Under the another viewpoint, Piaget (1970) suggested that teaching English to
children can mean working with very different age groups with different interest and
needs. The range age of the primary schools is from six to eleven years old. Hence,
they have different characteristics and motivations from the students from junior high
school, senior high school or university. That makes teaching primary school students
not the same as teaching adults since the primary school students may have lower
motivation in learning. In this case, in order to successfully teach English to young
learners, language teachers should have specific skills and intuition.
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Based on “English for Primary Teachers” written by Slattery and Willis (2001),
the characteristics of primary school students are presented as below:

language as an abstract system
They have lower levels of awareness They show a growing level

of

about themselves as language learners awareness

as

about

themselves

as well as about process of learning
language learners and their learning
They have limited reading and writing They have well developed skills as
skills even in their first language
readers and writers
They have more concerned about They have a growing awareness of
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themselves than others and have a others and their viewpoints, and a
limited knowledge about the world

growing awareness about the world

around us
They enjoy fantasy, imagination, and They begin to show interest in real life
movement


gives them a sense of assurance and achievement” (p. 169). It means that they give
attention to other people and try to imitate merely like other people do and say.
This is also the way young learners learn and develop their knowledge.
2.1.3. How young learners learn a language
It is a fact that young learners learn best if they are involved in the process of
teaching and learning. There are some theories regarding the language acquisition
process of young learners. Three theories are mentioned below:
Children construct knowledge through
other people, through interaction with
adults. Adults/teachers work actively
Children learn through social
interaction.
(Vygotsky, 1962)

with children in the Zone of Proximal
Development (ZPD).
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) =
difference between the child's capacity
to solve problems on his own and his
capacity to solve them with assistance.
Children construct knowledge from

Children are active learners and

actively interacting with the physical

thinkers.

environment in developmental stages.


the adult uses “scaffolding” to guide a
child’s

language

learning

through

finely-tuned talk. (Cameron, 2001)
(Woro Retnoningsih, 2012, p.3-4)
The distinction between Vygotsky’s and Piaget’s views was that while
Vygotsky (1962) believed that language was central to the cognitive development
19


of children (that it was instruction provided by an adult that helped children learn
and develop), Piaget (1970) claimed that children work through different
developmental stages of learning on their own. The development of children, which
is suggested by Piaget (1970), includes four specific stages as follows:
a. Sensori-Motor Stage (from 0 – 2 years) in which children seemed to learn
through physical interaction with the world around them.
b. Pre-Operational Stage (from 2 - 7 years) when children need concrete situations
to process ideas.
c. Concrete Operational Stage (from 7 - 11 years) in which children begin to
conceptualize and do some abstract problem solving, though they still learn
best by doing.
d. Formal Operational Stage (from 1-15) in which children are able to use
abstract thinking.

Considering children’s preferred learning styles are important since some
research (Berman, 1998 in Ellis & Brewster, 2002) showed that there was a
correlation between success in language learning and preferred learning styles. This
is also supported by a research conducted by Rosemary Smeets (2004) who looked
at young language learners and learning styles and she found that the students did
seem to be able to learn more words when using their preferred learning style
(visual, auditory or kinesthetic).
Among those theories, I strongly agree with Piaget (1970) when he suggested
that young learners aged 7-11 years old or within concrete operational stage learn
best from concrete things around them. Also, I admitted that language was central
to the cognitive development of children, that it was instruction provided by an
adult that helped children learn and develop (Vygotsky, 1962). In particular,
children aged 8-10 are competent mother tongue users (Scott & Lisbeth, 1992). In
addition, Scott & Lisbeth also say that children particularly aged 8-10 are mature
enough. Therefore, at these ages, children can grasp abstract and symbols generalize
language and systematize it.
It is clear that activities for young learners should include movements and
involve the sense. From the points of explanation above, children like to be
involved in something active. It is a supporting point for teaching children using the
Total Physical Response, since the TPR is full with real situation being
21


demonstrated.
To make them active, it is necessary that teachers use the activities involved in
something new (visuals, meaningful contexts, various activities, games, songs, and
technology). This would make learning more enjoyable and faster because they all
appeal to young learners. Besides, the language teachers should be able to make the
circumstance of learning process which is suitable to the characteristics of the
students. It may give motivation to the students to learn effectively.

individuals learning a language at a young age can achieve near native
pronunciation (Huda, 1999).
Therefore, learning language in early years is important for children. They can
comprehend their native language and other languages in the early years, and they
even can acquire English to native levels without an accent before the age of eleven
to twelve because of their brain plasticity.
There are some misunderstandings that many teachers still hold (Cameron,
2001), as follows:
a. Teaching children is easy and simple

Teaching English to young learners is not an easy thing. The first reason is
children’s world is different from adults’. They do not have the same access to
comprehend the grammar (Cameron, 2001). The second reason is children can lose
their interest quickly. They may show their interest at the beginning of the learning
but in the middle of it, if the teacher gives them the same thing, they will feel bored.
Therefore, teachers as the instructors and the class managers should know their
students and the class well.
b. Children just need to learn simple language

Children are like a piece of blank paper. People around them can write anything
on it. If they are just taught with simple thing they will just have that in their mind.
In fact, they may be interested in more complicated thing, such as how to operate a
computer, what are dinosaur look like, etc. Teachers should realize those things.
2.2.2. Teachers of young learners
In teaching as well as learning process, language teacher plays an important role
in transferring knowledge and skill to the students; to guide them in developing
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their mind; to educate them on how to absorb; to analyze; and to expand their

acquiring a foreign language optimally (Long, 1990).
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Followings are some ways teachers can apply in facilitating children learning
English as a foreign language:
a. Giving exposure by using English for the instruction
In giving the instruction, it is strongly recommended that the teacher used
English from the beginning until the end. It is good to provide the target language
input and to encourage them to speak English in the teaching and learning process.
In accordance with Pinter (2006) who claims that teachers who often talk a lot in
the target language, even in the beginning stages of learning a language, can
provide the language input for their students. This helps them to get used to the
patterns of intonation and the sounds of the language. This exposure can be a model
for the students to communicate in English.
b. Giving children chances to be engaged in the teaching and learning process

After the teacher gives the model, the children engage in the learning process by
practicing. Teacher also gives them some chances to practice whether it is in pairs
or in groups.
c. Giving supports to children

Supporting children by giving appreciation after they perform is important.
Support in form of credit or reward can help children in gaining their selfconfidence. If in the performance time they made some mistakes, however, teacher
should give the reward first and then after that correcting the mistakes.
d.

Providing good techniques of teaching

Teacher should provide good instruction in teaching children. However, in the