NABILULFIKRI BIN OTHMAN

T1 TESL2

REFLECTION (TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE)

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.

Total Physical Response is linked to the "trace theory " of memory in psychology, 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. Well, as a start, me and my group carry out an activity called head and shoulder, which is a song introducing our body parts such as head, shoulder, knees, toes, nose and many else. This song requires the children to sing and show the body parts that they mention during the singing. This is a good activity as it applies the theory of language building through coordination of speech and action. We found it very interesting as it is simple to be carry out yet it is a meaningful learning as the pupils will do this activity by themselves. It is easy to be understand as it is also adding new vocabulary for the children.

Besides, children can improve their motor skills through out the learning process involuntarily. However, teacher should be aware that all the childre are participating in this activity and the teacher need to show or introduce the body parts before the teacher proceed with this activity. This is essential in order to ensure that the children really know their body parts then this activity can acts as a solidifying to strengthen their memory about this and easier to recall, as said in trace theory.

NABILULFIKRI BIN OTHMAN

T1 TESL2

Our second activity is drawing shapes. The teacher will introduce basic shapes such as triangle, square, rectangle, circle and many more, then the students need to picture or imagine the shape of their house or any house they have seen. The teacher will then ask them to use those shapes they have learnt and combine all of them in a drawing to build a house, sun and anything else that they like. The purpose is to teach them about how does various shapes look like and involuntarily improve their vocabulary, and it also help students to use their imagination on how a house look like. Imagening is quite important in learning process as it makes the students think creatively, it also helps them to recall the shape of their house as well as the shapes they have learnt in class.

The teacher only acts as their facilitator in guiding them in drawing the house. As for example, the teacher should tell them about the positions of the shapes in order to draw a house, but the teacher cannot show it to them, otherwise the children will not learn to use their brain effectively. The pupils can understand things better if they can explore about it themselves instead of being shown on how to do things.

The third activity is a train building. This activity is carried out by giving each pupils a single short sentence which they need to act according to the sentence given. Then those pupils will need to find their partners whom will stand beside them in making a train. If the arrangement is correct, those texts will become a logic story. This activity is very unique as it need pupils to act out according the short passage given to them and this also helps teacher in observing their level of understanding. The role of the teacher in this is to facilitate the pupils as if they have questions to ask and overall the activity will be carried out by themselves.

This activity can generate a creative thinking among the pupils and as those children were busy making movements or act out the actions, it will eventually help them to recall about those words and its actions and apply them in the future. This is also involving the trace theory and building language through speech and action. However, this activity is quite hard to be carried out and that is why the teacher will act as the facilitator and guiding the children in doing it.

NABILULFIKRI BIN OTHMAN

T1 TESL2

Last but not least is charade. Charade is a common game where the participants were divided into groups and a person will be chosen from each groups. It is simple as each representator from the groups will be given short and simple sentences, and he or she will need to act out or try to picture out the sentences, one at a time, so that his or her teammates can interpret the meaning and guess the sentence given as only the representator know the actual sentence. Each group need to change their representator for different sentences so that all participants can try it. This is an interesting game, but the teacher need to help the pupils and need to ensure that the sentences are not long, rare vocabulary and difficult to be act out. This activity also practice the coordination of speech and action which will help in learning a language.