THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE (TPR) METHOD TO IMPROVE THE STUDENTS’ ENGLISH VOCABULARY MASTERY AT FIRST GRADE OF SMP N 1 KENDAL

Safira, Anis. 2022. “The Implementation of Total Physical Response (TPR)
Method to Improve the Students‟ English Vocabulary Mastery at First Grade of
SMP N 1 Kendal”. Final Project, English Education Study Program, Faculty of
Language and Arts Education, Universitas PGRI Semarang.
Advisor I: Th. Cicik Sophia Budiman, S.S., M.Pd., Advisor II: Dr. Sukma Nur
Ardini, S.S., M.Pd.
Mastering vocabulary is very important thing in language acquisition. This
research was focused at investigating the implementation of Total Physical
Response (TPR) method in improving students‟ English vocabulary mastery at
first grade of SMP N 1 Kendal. The objectives of this research were to find out the
result of students‟ vocabulary mastery before and after applying TPR method; and
to find out whether there was any significant difference of students‟ achievement
in their vocabulary understanding who were taught before using TPR and after
using TPR method. TPR is a language teaching method which is related to the
coordination of speech and action. To achieve the aim of this research, it used pre-
experimental design. This research was conducted at first grade of SMP N 1
Kendal. The number of sample was 32 students. The data was gained from pre-
test and post-test. The instrument of this research used tests divided into multiple
choices, matching, and translating test. Then the data was analyzed by using t-test
formula in SPSS program to find out the significant difference on students‟
English vocabulary mastery before and after applying TPR method. The scores
result of the data analysis of students‟ pre-test showed that the students still lack
of vocabulary. It can be seen from the score percentage which only got 5.3% on
pre-test. On the other hand, in post-test, the students‟ score increased after
applying TPR method. The score percentage gained 8.3% which meant the score
category was good. The students‟ scores in the post-test achieved 100 points. It
was higher than pre-test which only around 65 points. Based on the calculation by
using formulas, the value of t-test was 9.594. Meanwhile, t-table value at level
significance 5% was 2.04. According to the result, it can be concluded that t-test
was higher than t-table (9.594>2.04). It showed that there is significant effect of
the students‟ English vocabulary mastery after they received TPR treatment. The
main factor affecting this improvement was the students‟ interest in teaching
learning process through Total Physical Response. Based on this data, the
researcher stated that TPR gives beneficial to students in learning English
vocabulary.
Keywords: implementation, vocabulary, Total Physical Response, young learners.