REVIEW OF THE FIVE FINGERS METHOD
FOR ENGLISH TEACHING
By
Agus Riyanto
A. Introduction
Many English methods have been introduced by experts years ago. Among of them are Grammar Translation Method (GTM), Audio Lingual Method (ALM), Silent way method, Suggestopedia method, Direct method, and many others. Somehow result of English score in Indonesia for both secondary and tertiary students are still low. To deal with this problem an offer has been proposed to use The Five Fingers method for English teaching. This method was created by Syahban Ahmad, a practician of English teaching. Ahmad (2010:3) claims that:
“Fingers can sistematically become a powerfull guide to brain speed theraphy in the process of English speaking learning, the easiest, the best, the fastest and spectacular. The magic power of the right hand when holding every fingers of left hand is able to arrange words and create systematic communication sentences, effective, and responsive in a communicative conversation, simple and easily understandable”.
The statement above appears to be so convincing for every English teacher to implement the method. In order to facilitate the use of the method, there are 12 steps to do. They are: 1) Determine word to be questioned: verb, noun, or adjective; 2) Make sure to understand the meaning of pronoun: they, we, I, you, he, she, it; 3) make sure to understand question words: where, when, why, who, which, whose, how, how long, how many, how old, etc; 4) determine structure or tense form; present tense, past tense etc; 5) Make every first interogrative sentence initiated by question word; 6) The form of the sentence are: (a) interogrative with question word, (b) interogrative sentence with yes or no answer, (c) positive tag question sentence, (d) negative tag question sentence, (e) asumption question with yes answer; 7) make sure the use of conjunction word; 8) practice to speak (without seeing book); 9) first question sentence using question word: what do +S+verb…, then do position altered by does etc; 10) by holding fingers at the correct position is the main key to forming attitude habit of achieving time target so that it may lead one to be able to speak fluently and full of self confident; 11) as ability of making question reached in 4 second, then it can be added an and word at the third interogrative sentence, but at the fourth, so at the fifth; 12) make sure to understand the development of personal pronoun, object pronoun, posessive pronoun, posessive adjective, reflexive adjective, I, me, my, mine, and myself, he, him, his mother, his, himself, she,her, her father, hers, we, us, our teachers, ours, ourselves, they, them, their books, theirs, themselves, it, its, itself.
The using of five fingers method can be described on the picture belows:
Basic concept of five fingers method | Example of arrangement sentence: |
What | do you drink every morning |
Do | you drink coffe every morning |
You | drink coffe every morning, don’t you |
You | don’t drink coffe every morning, do you |
You | drink coffe every morning |
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As the right hand holds left hand thumb, then one must speak “What do you drink every morning?”, after finishing speaking the first line, the right hand moves to the point finger and hold it, then one omitting question word what and speak” Do you drink coffe every morning”?, after finishing speaking the second line, the right hand moves to the midle finger and hold it, then one omitting do, and speak”You drink coffe every morning, don’t you?”, after finishing speaking the third line, the right hand moves to the ring finger and hold it, and speak”You don’t drink coffe every morning, do you?”, after finishing speaking the fourth line, the right hand moves to the litle finger and hold it, and speak “ You drink coffe every morning”.
The using of the sentence form should be carried out consistantly, so that the habit formation moves from fingers to one’s mind. Mind does not control on forming sentences, but fingers lead to the creation of sentence by heart. This condition is expected to the flowing of words from mouth automatically since sound apparatus works well coordinated by fingers and mind.
B. Perspective of Teaching Learning Theory
1. Behaviorism Perspective
Fingers are used to facilitate learning. This happen when one tries to remember and arrange the words in a correct structure. At the early learning process, arranging word in a certain structure can be very difficult for anyone. Structure is word arrangement with certain order in a sentence, that each part of the sentence has its exact position. Fingers, here represent the exact position of each part in a sentence, that one simply needs to pay attention to each finger so that he/she easily can remember each word position to build a sentence. Rather than remembering the word position, seeing which finger being hold will absolutely remind one on what position the word is. The use of fingers play as stimulation and cause learning process takes place so that learner produce speaking as a respon.
Let’s consider this analogy, a place we used to go is red coloured, so that when we are on our way heading it, we are expecting seeing red colour to identify the place as fast as we can. When the finger thumb is the question word and located at first part of the sentence, as we hold the thumb, we will identify it as question word and locate it at the first part of a sentence. Thumb represents question word, by holding the thumb one saying the question word. Index finger represents omitting question word. Midle finger represents omitting auxullary verb. Ring finger represents adding not after auxullary verb. Little finger represents affirmative sentence. Following the basic concept of five fingers method, one will be able to at least build five structures; they are: question sentence using question word, interogrative question, positive tag question, negative tag question, and assumption.
Learning process by using this method takes place when learner holding fingers as they represents structure function. Fingers become icon which easily recognized by learner as they hardly remember how to arrange the word. This is why then habit of word forming automatically sustained. Considering the learning process, it appears to be in line with behaviorsm teaching and learning theory. There are two main features in five fingers method which lead to the significant relation with behaviorist. They are, the using of fingers and habitual formation. These two features create condition which learner as living organism give up response and orderly interaction with the environment.
Skinner as cited in Wikipedia (2010) says that there are five main obstacles in learning, they are: 1) People have a fear of failure, 2) There is a lack of directions, 3) There is also a lack of clarity in the direction, 4) Positive reinforcement is not used enough, 5) The task is not broken down into small enough steps. A good English teaching method must be able to deal with those above obstacles. These five main obstacles, somehow to be overcomed by using five fingers method.
Deal with the first obstacle, learners have a fear of failure by having difficult method to achieve learning objective, five fingers method provide simple procedure to achieve learning objective. It is not a difficult method at all, so there is no need for learners to feel a fear of failure. There will be always some time needed to adjust, but considering that fingers are available in every human, one can practice five fingers method any time possible. In fact, a fear of failure with a certain dose will generate internal motivation. This internal motivation grows stronger when one realizes that the problem he/she has been dealing with is merely a simple problem. One will die hard to solve the problem anyway. This method simply lose one’s fair because it is easy to do.
The second obstacle, the direction of using five fingers method in order to achieve learning objective is quite clear. When teacher introduces the way to perform five fingers method, teacher simply needs to show the fingers and demonstrate them along with the pronunciation of sentence being in used. The same sentence may be repeated a few times to ensure learner’s mastery of the sentence and the procedure of five fingers method. Adjustment should takes place at fifth up to the tenth usage of the method. Most people are likely to understand object easily when they organize sense as many as they can. The using of five fingers method does organize human sense such as: fingers, eyes, sound organ. Learners who have finished the tenth usage are assumed to have understood the procedure adequately. An adequation understanding of the five fingers method procedure in a short time is an indicator of direction clearity.
Many teachers often forget to provide reinforcement when learning objective has been performed by learners. This condition often leads to decrease learner’s motivation and hereby learning doesn’t develop maximally. This obstacle doesn’t have anything to do with five fingers method because it depends on teacher’s skill. Skilled teacher will be likely to present reinforcement when learners have shown progress in learning.
To avoid the fifth obstacle, the using of five fingers method provide materials already broken in to pieces, started from the lowest level. Normally, the lowest level of the materials are related to pronoun, verbal and nominal sentences. This materials somehow have been integrated in to the method. Starting from the adjustment level, materials are divided in to pieces, yet the difficulty level will relay on teacher’s ability to develop it. The development of the materials subdivision are related a lot to local policy on curriculum.
2. Cognitivism Perspective
Cognitivism learning theory, formerly introduced by Lev Vygotsky, imply that learning is a change of understanding. This theory somehow has inspired Brunner. As a change of understanding, learning doesn’t always indicate behavior change. Learning also identified as mental activity, somehow to measure learning achievement, operational word need to be used When learners try to identify meaning of icon which are represented by fingers, there is a change of understanding in it. At first they don’t know how to place each part of a sentence but when they see fingers, their mind start to develop an understanding by making connection between finger and word structure. As one function of structure already mastered by learners, they move to another form of structure and word. Shifting of one structure to another leads to the change of understanding. Operational word related to the measurement of should be the same but touching different function of word.
Implementation of cognitivism learning theory based on Brunner’s view are as follows: 1) determine learning objective, 2) choosing learning materials, 3) determine topic which can be learnt inductively by student, 4) providing illustration or sample which can be used by student for learning, 5) enactive-iconize-simbolize, 6) evaluation of process and learning objective.
The using of five fingers method also requires the determination of learning objective. en For example” Student will be able to use will in a correct form”,”Student will be able to use can in a correct form, etc”. When choosing materials, it is in accordance with arranging them from the easiest up to the most difficult, 3) since students can practice themselves when they have been taught earlier related to a certain topic and the way they arrange word in order to build sentence, they can do induction among them easily, 4) Sample given to student through writing the example of sentence structure on the white board in order for them understanding the structure before they start to pratice, 5) by practicing saying the sentences, it will drive them to be active, leading to connect fingers toward word position in the structure, 6) process evaluation occurs when students try to check wether the structure is correct or not. Not only checking the structure but also the way they pronunciate the word in sentence.
Both behaviorism or cognitivism allow three domains of learning objective as the learning result. The domains are cognitive, psychomotor, and affective as it is well known to be Bloom’s taxonomy. The cognitive domain involves six levels, starting from the lowest up the highest, take place when students elaborate all information related to brain activity. The operational words which represent the six levels are likely to be typical rather than spread all over type of word in each level. In psychomotor domain, the level occurs between level 3 and 5, because the students try to accentuate the way they move their sound organs so that they may produce correct pronunciation which mean they try to immitiate how native speaker producing sound of the word. The affective domain occurs when students try to accept the value of being discipline as they focusing their attention to certain form of structure and certain move in producing sound. The tension of being eager to master the method creates effective induction among them.
C. Similarity
The notion of five fingers method seems to have resemblance with other previous method. When five fingers method concentrated to the mastery of structure, then it will be more like GTM. As it is fully awared that GTM deal a lot with grammar, so focusing student on structure mastering, no matter how easy the structure is, it tends to be GTM sense.
to be continued.......
Refference
Ahmad, Syahban. 2010. Magic Five Fingers for English Conversation. Private Publisher. Metro, Lampung.
Wikipedia. 2010.Behaviorism Theory. Wikipedia
Sumber: http://agusr-educationasthelastdefence.blogspot.com/2010/10/five-fingers-method.html
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