Comparison between The Direct Method and Total Physical Response

The Direct Method and Total Physical Response are two strategies and interventions used for the
teaching of second and foreign languages. The purpose of this paper is to provide a close
overview to find out similarities and dissimilarities between these two language teaching
methods and find out which one is more effective in real life use. For the research purpose
related information has been collected from books and internet. This response paper is based on
reading of second chapter of the book The teaching principles written by H. Douglas Brawn
comprises page no 21-22 and 30-31.

The Direct Method was established after Grammar Translation Method the failure of teaching
communication competence. The major assumption of this method is that second language can
be learned in a natural way as the first language is learned by child. Therefore, this method
emphasizes on use of target language in class room and avoids any kinds of direct translation.
rammer analysis involves in it but inductively. Total physical response (TPR) was established by
James Asher in 1960s.Like the Direct Method it also holds the belief that a second language can
be learned in a same way a first language is achieved but it emphasizes on listening
comprehension before production. New things are taught through demonstrations, pictures and
objects both The Direct Method and Total physical response .Unlike The Direct Method, Total
physical response takes care of students affective factors.

Having observed the criteria of these two methods, the Direct Method is more useful and
effective. Total physical response is more effective and appropriate for beginning level of
language proficiency especially for knowing literal meaning, but for advanced level where more
critical thing need to learn it is not an ideal method. It is also a time consuming method. In
general Total physical response is to do more with communicative skill rather than other skills of
language teaching like reading and writing- which is another shortcoming .On the other hand,
The Direct Method is a complete method which able to teach all skills of a language and to be
applicable to people of any proficiency levels and it is somehow faster approach to learn a
second or foreign language. The Direct Methods grow learners confidence by encouraging them
speak in L2 no matter how many mistake they do.
The basic premise of the The Direct Method was that second language learning should be more
like first language learning-lots of oral interaction, spontaneous use of the language, no
translation between first and second languages, and little or no analysis of grammatical rules.

These methods have dissimilarities as well as some similarities that make them alike in some
ways.
One of those similarities between both methods is that the teacher is a
m o d e l t o b e followed and imitated by the students. In the audio-lingual method, the students
imitatethe teachers pronunciation of the new vocabulary that is presented. In the
TPR, the students are supposed to imitate the nonverbal language that the teacher
produce inorder to convey meaning.A n o t h e r r e s e m b l a n c e b e t w e e n t h e m i s
t h a t L i s t e n i n g a n d s p e a k i n g l a n g u a g e a r e emphasised over written language. In
audio-lingual method, the teacher emphasises the pronunciation by making the students listen
utterances and repeat them. Students havet o p a y a t t e n t i o n t o w h a t t h e t e a c h e r s a y t o
p e r f o r m t h e c o r r e c t a c t i o n i n o r d e r t o motivate the learners to produce oral language
naturally. Even thought these methods have some characteristics in common such as
the onesmentioned above, they also have differences that

Audio-Lingual Method started with military purpose during the Second World War and it is
based on behaviorism that Pavlov and Skinner made famous. There is the belief that
a language can be acquired through language habits formation such as listening and
repeating sentences and sounds.
Total Physical response is a language learning method that started in the
60s and 70san d it is b ase on the belief that the p rocess of
learn ing a langu ag e has to b egin with listening comprehension
before production. Total Physical Response has to do with the
coordination of speech and action. The teacher gives commands to the
students and the pupils have to demonstrate that they understand the
commands by performing them.Among these methods, there are some
similarities that make them alike in some ways.On e of those
similarities between b oth met ho ds is th at th e teacher is a
mo d el to b e followed and imitated by the students. In the audio-
lingual method, the students imitatethe teachers pronunciation of
the new vocabulary that is presented. In the TPR, the students
are supposed to imitate the nonverbal language that the teacher
produce inorder to convey meaning.A n o t h e r r e s e m b l a n c e
between them is that Listening and speaking language
a r e emphasised over written language. In audio-lingual method, the
teacher emphasises the pronunciation by making the students listen
utterances and repeat them. Students haveto p ay atten tio n to wh at
the teach er say to perfo rm th e co rrect action in o rder
to motivate the learners to produce oral language naturally. Even
thought these methods have some characteristics in common such
as the onesmentioned above, they also have differences that
The The Direct Method

Teachers have been using the The Direct Method for years. The benefit of using this method
is to immerse the students in English. This is done by providing demonstrations on how to use
the language with the the help of realia and visual aids. The teachers who use this method teach
grammar inductively, in other words, the rules of grammar are not taught directly. Grammar
rules are avoided as much as possible and there is emphasis on good pronunciation.Teaching
with this method is performed entirely in the target language and students are discouraged from
using their native language.

THE THE DIRECT METHOD

Total Physical Response (TPR)

TPR or Total Physical Response, developed by James Asher in the 1960s, is based on the
theory that the memory is enhanced through association with physical movement. It is also
closely associated with theories of mother language acquisition in very young children, where
they respond physically to parental commands. TPR as an approach to teaching a second
language is based, first and foremost, on listening and this is linked to physical actions which are
designed to reinforce comprehension of particular basic items.

Total Physical response is a language learning method that started in the

60s and 70san d it is b ase on the belief that the p rocess of
learn ing a langu ag e has to b egin with listening comprehension
before production. Total Physical Response has to do with the
coordination of speech and action. The teacher gives commands to the
students and thepupils have to demonstrate that they understand the
commands by performing them.Among these methods, there are some
similarities that make them alike in some ways.On e of th ose
similarities between b oth met ho ds is th at th e teacher is a
mo d el to b e followed and imitated by the students. In the audio-
lingual method, the students imitatethe teachers pronunciation of
the new vocabulary that is presented. In the TPR, the students
are supposed to imitate the nonverbal language that the teacher
produce inorder to convey meaning.A n o t h e r r e s e m b l a n c e
between them is that Listening and speaking language
a r e emphasised over written language. In audio-lingual method, the
teacher emphasises the pronunciation by making the students listen
utterances and repeat them. Students haveto p ay atten tio n to wh at
the teach er say to perfo rm th e co rrect action in o rder
to motivate the learners to produce oral language naturally. Even
thought these methods have some characteristics in common such
as the onesmentioned above, they also have differences that
make both methods different fromeach other.On e of the asp ects
that mak e each meth od d istin ct is th at TPR method is a
long er p rocess to acqu ire o ra l lan guage th an Aud io -lingu al
meth od . In classes with total p h y s i c a l r e s p o n s e ; t h e
teacher has to wait for the student until he is
p r e p a r e d t o produce oral language. On the other hand, Audio-lingual
method forces the students to produce oral language immediately.
Another difference is how the methods deal with the students feelings.
Audio-LingualMethod doesnt pay attention to the students emotions,
while Total Physical Responsereally focuses on the learners feeling
because it was especially developed to help people reduce the stress of
learning a new language.We can also mention the way teachers
respond to errors as a difference between both methods. The
teacher that uses the Audio-lingual Method has to pay special
attentionto the students errors. That contrasts with TPR because the
teacher has to tolerate theerrors that the students make and just correct
major errors unobtrusively. Even though the fact that these two
methods have the aim to develop listening andsp eaking because
they are th e sk ills th at we master first wh en we learn ou r
mo th er

tongue they are completely different. Both methods have

opposite concepts of humanbeings. Because of this, both
methods have advantages over each other. Even though t h i s
deference they can be complemented but
o b v i o u s l y t h e t e a c h e r h a s u s e a methodology according to
his beliefs most of the time.
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING THE DIRECT METHOD COMPARED WITH TOTAL PHYSICAL
RESPONSE IN TEACHING VOCABULARY ON HOBBIES AND DAILY ACTIVITIES TO SIXTH GRADERS
STUDENTS

Ratno Ratno

Abstraksi

This study is an experimental research. In this study, the writer limits the discussion by stating
the following problems: How well do Elementary students produce their vocabulary after being
taught using Total Physical Response?, How well do Elementary students produce their
vocabulary after being taught using The Direct Method?, Is there any difference result of
teaching vocabulary to Elementary students, using The Direct Method and Total Physical
Response?. The aim of this experimental research is first; to analysis how well the The Direct
Method influences the students in learning vocabulary. Second, how well the Total Physical
Response influences the students in learning vocabulary. So, we can determine whether there is
significance difference in the achievement between students who were taught using The Direct
Method and taught by using Total Physical Response. There were three steps in conducting this
experimental research; choosing the sixth graders of MI Al Iman Gunung Pati as the population,
taking two groups of the students as samples; one as an experimental group and the other as a
control group that consist of 16 students each group and after that conducting the real
experiment. To obtain the data, the writer used post-test only in implement the step. The result of
this research showed that the experimental group got better achievement than the control group.
Dealing with this experimental research, the writer suggests that The Direct Method can be used
as a method in teaching vocabulary to sixth graders of elementary school. The purpose is to
create a new situation that makes students interested in learning English.

Keywords: Teaching, Elementary School, Vocabulary, The Direct Method, and Total Physical
Response