Chart 4.6. Other factors affecting the implementation of TPR
4.3. Findings from the interview
Data was also collected through semi-structured interviews. An interview guide was used to elicit teachers’ perceptions about TPR, their experiences of implementing TPR in their own classes, the reasons for using or not using TPR, as well as the benefits of TPR.
The interview data was coded according to Miles and Huberman’s (1994) qualitative data analysis scheme – data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing and verification. The interview items and the participants’ responses were categorized, based on the relevant research questions. From the extensive reading of the responses, it is possible to identify the common patterns and themes as to the nature of the responses. Based on the preliminary coding analysis, the interview summarized the teachers’ perceptions, practices, roles and reasons respectively.
The analysis of the data gathered through interview has also shown consistent results with findings of questionnaire and observation. It has also signified that EFL teachers employ TPR occasionally. The results of the study are reported and interpreted with reference to three research questions that guided this study.
Research question 1: EFL teachers’ perceptions of using TPR method to teach English to young learners in English classes. Factors affecting implementation of TPR
The teachers’ perceptions regarding TPR method in EFL classes focused on the
effectiveness and practicability of TPR as well as students’ competency to practice TPR activities in classroom.
In this interview, there are two specific questions raised:
Question: What do you know about TPR method? In your opinion, TPR method should be used by teachers in English classes in primary schools? Yes or no.
Explain your answer.
For the majority of teachers, TPR is really a helpful method to teaching language to young learners. For example, teacher D answered: “I think that TPR is a teaching method based on hands-on activities. It is suitable for all students, especially children. Thus, I think this method should be used in English classes because of its advantages, such as: motivate students, fun, and so on”. Teacher B also mentioned that “This method mainly use body language. So it helps students remember vocabulary easily. It is very helpful in my teaching vocabulary.
For some teachers, TPR is also a method that not only brings benefits for students but also for their own teaching. For instance, teacher H responded that “When using TPR, I find it useful for me a lot. I can work well with mixed ability classes that I used to teach before. Also, it helps me solve unexpected problems with lesson plan because it takes me a short time to prepare. I am really like this”
Question: How do you feel the practicability of TPR in your English classes?
Most of the teachers feel that the practicability of TPR is not as good as what that have expected. Teacher T shared her feelings about this point of view as follow:
“I have experienced TPR for 2 years. When attending at college, I used to be introduced about this method. And I think it is quite simple to practice. But, now I realize that it is not simple as I think, especially in this context, teach English to young children. Although TPR can engage students in learning process, it is difficult to reach result of 100%. I think it is due to many reasons such as interest, classroom condition, etc”.
Research question 2: Implementation of TPR by teachers in their classes
In this part, the interview emphasize on the use of TPR by answering the following question: Have you ever used TPR in your classes? If yes, how do you use it?
The interview data reveals that most of the participants have used TPR in their
classes, but the frequency of use varies widely. Some teachers stated that they frequently used TPR in their classes in order to teach and revise vocabulary, develop speaking and listening comprehension skills. Sometimes they use it as a tool for classroom management.
Most of them implemented such activities in the classroom and sometimes they asked the students to practice TPR outside the classroom. For instance, teacher K stated that “Yes, I often use TPR in my classes. Sometimes I ask my students to work in pairs or small groups to carry out TPR activities. My students are required to finish these tasks after class if they want. I like using these activities in my classes”.
However, the majority of the participating teachers answered “not so often”
when asked how often they used TPR. Most of them used TPR activities five or six times a semester. For instance, teacher M does not use TPR activities frequently in her class due to the diversity of students’ learning styles and large class size. She answered that “I used TPR in my previous classes, but there were many different learning styles in my class. This affects a lot to effectiveness of TPR. Moreover, I often use TPR activities outside classroom because of large class size”.
• Factors affecting the implementation of TPR
The interview data collected from the responses of the question as below:
Question: In your opinion, what are the factors that affect the implementation of TPR?
A variety of teachers referred to teachers’ perception which is one of the major factors influencing the use of TPR in any language classes. Based on the results and findings of research question one and two, I interpreted how teachers’ perceptions have influence their practices when it comes to TPR in this section. In brief, three cases/relationships can be identified from the above data analysis. For case one, EFL teachers’ perceptions do influence their practices as to whether or not and how to implement TPR in their classes. While some teachers adopted TPR activities in their classes since they believed in its value of contributing to students’ language learning.
Some other teachers rarely or never use TPR as they doubt the effectiveness of TPR and students’ language proficiency to pointing out the problems in their method. For
those teachers in case one, they tend to practice what they believe.
In case two, EFL teachers’ perceptions mismatch their actual practices. Although some teachers thought that TPR was useful for their students’ learning, they still did not use it in their teaching practices. For example, teacher H considered that TPR is meaningful, but she has not used this method since this method is rather limited in- class time. She said that:
“TPR is very time consuming. As you know, learning a single vocabulary item would require the instructions of the teacher, the students’ demonstration, and the teacher’s feedback. Thus, I rarely use this method because I don’t have much time, there are many tasks to do in my classes.”
For case three, teachers’ practices tend to change with their changing perceptions. For example, Teacher A once thought that “It is necessary to correct all students’ errors when they are demonstrating TPR activities. In my opinion, this is a good way to limit students’ errors. I once tried to use this way, but I gave up as I found students’ motivation to be decreased. After that, I decided to change my practice. I avoid correcting for my students as little as possible. If yes, I only correct major errors or correct them implicitly”.
The finding above seems to reveal that teacher’s perceptions and practice are interrelated to each other in a specific context in which students’ reactions would influence teachers’ perceptions and teaching practice.
On the other hand, some teachers mentioned factors related to pupils and others.
For instance, teacher Y shared “I think TPR classes will be more successful if teachers understand their learners’ characteristics. How many boys? How many girls? You know, the boys are often more active”. Or another teacher said “Oh, pupils! Yes, it is very important factor in case teachers wanna use physical movement or something active”. Related to other factors, some teachers referred to classroom condition, class size as well as materials, etc. As said by teacher T,
“Yeah, TPR is a combination of various factors. Among them, teachers should consider classroom setting, class size or something relevant”.
In general, there have many different opinions related to this aspect.
Nonetheless, the study only focuses on some important factors affecting the
implementation of TPR.
Research question 3: What are the suggestions for the teachers to use TPR method in English classes effectively?
There are many ideas related to the suggestions for teachers so that they can use TPR method in English classes effectively. However, the interview mainly focuses on the following suggestions:
First of all, it is useful for teacher to avoid correcting directly errors of students.
If necessary, teacher may correct major errors as teacher A mentioned in situation above.
Secondly, the interview indicates that teachers should consider the appropriate setting so that TPR can be use correctly in English classes. This idea comes from teacher D:
“Based on my experiences, I think that teachers should know how to use this method because teachers can’t teach everything with it. They can only employ it to teach vocabulary and grammar, especially imperatives”.
Besides, teacher H also suggested that “It is necessary to make personalize activities related to students’ daily lives. This will help students pay more attention and remember what was taught”.