Tài liệu Language activities for improving linguistic competence of the first year students in thai nguyen university

i THAINGUYENUNIVERSITY SocialistRepublic of Vietnam BATANGASSTATEUNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES FOR IMPROVING THE LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE OF FIRST YEAR STUDENTS IN THAINGUYENUNIVERSITY A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of Graduate School BatangasStateUniversity Batangas City, Philippines In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Major in English By: NGO THI BICH NGOC (SARAH) November, 2014 i THAINGUYENUNIVERSITY SocialistRepublic of Vietnam BATANGASSTATEUNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines APPROVAL SHEET This dissertation entitled LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES FOR IMPROVING THE LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE OF FIRST YEAR STUDENTS IN THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITYprepared and submitted by Ngo Thi Bich Ngoc in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English has been examined and is recommended for Oral Examination. MATILDA H. DIMAANO, Ph.D. Adviser PANEL OF EXAMINERS Approved by the Committee on Oral Examination with a grade of ………. ....................... Chairman …………….. Member ……………………. Member …………….. Member …………….. Member Accepted and Approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Philosophy in English. Comprehensive Examination: ……….. ......................... Dean ii THAINGUYENUNIVERSITY SocialistRepublic of Vietnam BATANGASSTATEUNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines ABSTRACT Title : Language Activities for Improving Linguistic Competence of the First Year Students in Thai Nguyen University Author : Ngo Thi Bich Ngoc Degree : Doctor of Philosophy major in English Language Literature Major : English Year : 2014 Adviser : Dr. Matilda H. Dimaano Summary This study attempts to determine the level of Linguistic Competence of the First Year Students at Thai Nguyen University for the school year 2014. Specifically, it seeks to answer the following questions:1) What is the level of linguistic competence using the following:connotation, denotation, antonyms, synonyms, ambiguities, andvocabulary. 2) What is the level of understanding of students on word-formation in terms of compounding. 3) acronym, clipping, blending and Which among the items in the different cluster students find most difficult? 4) How do the teachers assess the linguistic competence of the students? 5) difference between teachers‟ assessment and Is there a significant iii THAINGUYENUNIVERSITY SocialistRepublic of Vietnam BATANGASSTATEUNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines students‟ competencies? and 6) What English language activities may be suggested to improve students‟ understanding of English words and concepts? A questionnaire for teacher for teacher and a teacher made test for students were used to determine the level of students‟ linguistic competence and the relationship between teachers‟ assessement and students‟ results. The research found out that the over-all linguistic performance of the students is generally better, as the students were able to demonstrate an average level of linguistic competence.Students have average level of understanding in word formation.The items found most difficult under the cluster of linguistic competence are items (8) for connotation,(20) for denotation, antonyms (28), synonyms (34), and ambiguities (44). For vocabulary cluster is item (55), while for word formation cluster, the items that are found to be most difficult are the following: acronym item (69), clipping (74), blending (87), and compounding (93). Linguistic skills are not frequently used or practiced by the students as perceived by the teacher respondents. There‟s no relationship exists between the teacher‟s assessment and the level of students‟ linguistic competencies as indicated by the significance of the p-value at 0. 05 levels and the language activities that composed of set of exercises were designed for improving students‟ linguistic competencies in the areas of connotation, antonyms and acronyms iv THAINGUYENUNIVERSITY SocialistRepublic of Vietnam BATANGASSTATEUNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines ACKNOWLEGEMENT The researcher wishes to express her sincerest thanks and appreciations to those who in one way or another have helped me make this piece of work a reality. Dr. Dang Kim Vui, Thai Nguyen University President for his effort to improve English language Education in Viet Nam Dr. Matilda H. Dimaano, her adviser, for the knowledge shared in patience in editing the manuscript in consonance with academic writing norms and most of all, for the trust in the research that motivated her to complete this study Dr. Nguyen The Hung, Director of International Training and Consultancy Center for his encouragement. The teachers and students respondents of the study, for their active involvement and cooperation, Her ever dearest friends, for their encouragement and support Her affectionate parents and sibling, for the love, concern and understanding and for being her great inspiration in pursing this endeavor. N.T.B.N v THAINGUYENUNIVERSITY SocialistRepublic of Vietnam BATANGASSTATEUNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Dedication This dissertation is dedicated To my loving and ever supportive husband, Mr. Le Huy and my loving sons, Le Minh, to my family, and to my dear UTT community N.T.B.N vi THAINGUYENUNIVERSITY SocialistRepublic of Vietnam BATANGASSTATEUNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TITLE PAGE………………………………………………………...... APPROVAL SHEET…………………………………………………. i ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………… ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT…………………………………………...... iv DEDICATION…………………………………………………………. v TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………... vi LIST OF TABLES…………………………………………………..... ix LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………………………… xi CHAPTER I. THE PROBLEM Introduction............................................................ 1 Statement of the Problem………………………….. 7 Scope, Delimitation and Limitation………………... 8 Significance of the Study…………………………… 9 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Conceptual Literature………………………………. 11 Research Literature…………………………………. 50 Synthesis…………………………………………….. 55 Theoretical Framework…………………………….. 58 vii THAINGUYENUNIVERSITY SocialistRepublic of Vietnam III. IV. BATANGASSTATEUNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Conceptual Framework…………………………….. 62 Hypothesis…………………………………………… 64 Definition of Terms………………………………….. 64 RESEARCH METHOD AND PROCEDURE Research Design……………………………………. 66 Research Environment ................................... 66 Subject of Study…………………………………….. 69 Data Gathering Instrument…………………………. 71 Data Gathering Procedure…………………………. 73 Statistical Treatment of Data………………………. 75 PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,INTERPRETATION OF DATA…………………………… V. 76 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION Summary of Findings .............................................. 118 Conclusions ............................................................ 136 Recommendations ................................................. 137 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………........ 138 APPENDICES A. Test for Students ………………………………… 146 B. Questionnaire for Teachers .............................. 164 viii THAINGUYENUNIVERSITY SocialistRepublic of Vietnam BATANGASSTATEUNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines C. Validation Letter 1 on Test for Students and Teacher Questionnaire………………………….. 171 D. Validation Letter 2 on Test for Students and Teacher Questionnaire …………………………. 172 E. Validation Letter 3 on Test for Students and Teacher Questionnaire …………………………… 173 F. Letters of Request to the Heads of Institutions…. 174 G. Response Letters of the Heads of Institutions….. 178 H. Photographs of the study sites…………………… 179 I. Photographs of the Student Respondents……… 180 J. Photographs of the Teacher Respondents….….. 183 K. Photograph s of the teacher made test and survey questionnaire validation………………….. CURRICULUM VITAE 184 ix THAINGUYENUNIVERSITY SocialistRepublic of Vietnam BATANGASSTATEUNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines LIST OF TABLES Table 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Page Distribution of student respondents in the five universities………………………………………………..... 69 Performance of student respondents in teacher-made linguistics tests………………………………………………. 77 Performance of student respondents in a vocabulary test…………………………………………………………… 83 Performance of student respondents in teacher-made word formation tests……………………………………..... 84 Performance of student respondents in teacher-made linguistic tests………………………………………………. 89 Most difficult item for students respondents in the teacher-made vocabulary test ……………………………. 91 Most difficult item for students respondents in the teacher-made word formation tests……………………… 92 List of skills validated by 66 teachers respondents as linguistic competencies of Freshman students…………. 95 List of students linguistic skills according to the frequency of use by Freshman students as perceived the teacher respondents…………………………………... 97 List of students linguistic skills according to their importance by as perceived the teacher respondents…………………………………………………. 99 x THAINGUYENUNIVERSITY SocialistRepublic of Vietnam 11 12 BATANGASSTATEUNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Students‟ t-test comparison of the mean % scores for linguistics tests via frequency of use as perceived by the teacher respondents…………………………………… 102 List of areas under linguistic competence to be used as topic for design of language activities and the basic of their choice …………………………………………………. 104 xi THAINGUYENUNIVERSITY SocialistRepublic of Vietnam BATANGASSTATEUNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Research Paradigm……………………………................................63 1 THAINGUYENUNIVERSITY SocialistRepublic of Vietnam BATANGASSTATEUNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines CHAPTER 1 THE PROBLEM Introduction In our world today, language is our means of communication and learning. It is one‟s knowledge and a tool of expression of thoughts, perceptions and sentiments. Thoughts and ideas can never be expressed and can‟t be understood by one another without good language. Language is considered important because it is the vehicle for communication between countries, cultural groups, various companies, organization, communities and friends. It also represents a fundamental expression of social identity. As a mirror that allows a person to understand what one is thinking, language is considered complex and constantly evolving. It allows cultures with their shared set of values, customs and history to exist and as a part of speech language is important for one‟s survival for it forges friendship, cultural ties and economic relationship. Thoughts and emotions are shaped by language and it also determines one‟s perceptions and reality. It is considered the light of the mind and its retention helps maintain feeling of cultural kinship. Knowledge of the English language is one of most important aspect for 2 THAINGUYENUNIVERSITY SocialistRepublic of Vietnam BATANGASSTATEUNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines the learners for it is considered the key factor to competitiveness. Because language enables people to communicate and express themselves, it becomes an important part of any society. As a currency used in exchanging ideas, language is considered the simple greatest skill an individual should possess and master. It is compared to a glue that hold societies together and mankind evolved, grow and prosper through language. It is the key that unlocks our mind. In everyday lives, language is essential in interaction. Language is use to give information to people around us, expressing feelings, desires and questions as well as understanding the world. In varied situations we communicate with others effectively through our words, gestures and tone of voice. Through the use of language, people are able to communicate with one another, form bonds and teamwork. Without language we would not be able to communicate verbally or written, not be able to read, write or communicate with each other thoroughly. With language, one would have the ability to transmit and transport ideas orally, written and electronically. At present, the importance of language is recognized by many institutions. Second language teaching is being offered by some schools as early as middle school and they are requiring specific language requirements for those who would like to study in the schools. 3 THAINGUYENUNIVERSITY SocialistRepublic of Vietnam BATANGASSTATEUNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines In learning the complexities of language, creation of a warm and comfortable environment for the learner is a must. It is of vital importance that learner must develop his communication skill since this will serve as the foundation of his future communication abilities. Having effective communication skills serve as an asset for lifetime quality communication. Learning other language besides the national language is also of vital importance since it helps to have additional knowledge of other people and cultures. It is also considered most important is our knowledge of our mother tongue to preserve identity as language is said to be logical code apart from social and cultural actions. It is also fundamental to have knowledge on the concept of language to understand the teaching practice of foreign language. It is impossible for teachers to develop any kind of effective and successful communication among learners as well as any kind of sharing of ideas without language. As a system of linguistic knowledge which is possessed by all and any speakers of a language, linguistic competence is a universal property, common to any human being, no matter, no race, economic class or physical characteristics, and independently of his/her intellectual and personality attributes. The speaker is allowed by this 4 THAINGUYENUNIVERSITY SocialistRepublic of Vietnam BATANGASSTATEUNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines system to go from a finite number of rules specific of any language to the production of an infinite number of new sentences. To distinguish grammatical sentences from ungrammatical ones is covered in linguistic competence. It is wrong to say that language is taught and misleading to say that it is being learned. Language is not learned but it grows in the mind so that creativity of language which is the speakers ability to produce new and different sentences to be immediately understood by his hearer that constitute unheard dialogue, grammatical sentences every time they establish a conversation is the most notable aspect of competence. Knowledge of language in an abstract way is also considered in linguistic competence. It must be considered a major role when linguistic, social and cultural knowledge are mixed. It is stated that 70 percent of English Language happened among non-native speakers so that language teachers must have the knowledge that English language is not exclusive to English native speakers only. So it is not the best solution for teachers to teach English focusing on native speaker‟s interaction since learners interact with other people from different linguistic and cultural communities. In learning English as a foreign language, students most common difficulties encountered are attributed to the interference of their mother tongue like Vietnamese language particularly in 5 THAINGUYENUNIVERSITY SocialistRepublic of Vietnam BATANGASSTATEUNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines pronunciation, syntax, and usage; their lack of opportunity also to use the English language in some communication or situations in their daily lives; the kind of English lessons taught by their teachers, their being passive listeners, shyness to use English language in conversation in class or their lack of confidence in the language; and their irresponsibility in their own learning. Their poor performance in English is also attributed to students‟ wrong perceptions of learning as they tend to be more focus on other activities such as taking examinations and out class activities whereby learning is affected as they no longer equate learning with broadening knowledge which rendered learning or studying the language not interesting or worthy to students causing negative effects on their learning experiences. These causes can also be related to other issue like that of their problem or lack of understanding of words or vocabulary. In the field of literacy, relationship between students‟ vocabulary knowledge and their reading comprehension is considered one of the best. It is believed that students who were taught many vocabulary words tend to become better readers and writers. Relationship between words and concepts is developed through effective vocabulary instruction. Considered the basic units of thoughts and beliefs are concepts and these are labeled as words. So that, if there is familiarity in concept, then the 6 THAINGUYENUNIVERSITY SocialistRepublic of Vietnam BATANGASSTATEUNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines corresponding word to this underlying knowledge is clearly understood, recalled and utilized. Students‟ experiences help in the development of concepts. Reading and writing are contributory factors in the growth of concepts which in turn make students understand and use more words. It is believed that students vocabulary increase when they elaborate their conceptual knowledge based on known words; relate new words to known concepts or existing words since deep understanding of words richly expound and connect with other concepts. On the other hand, students need to have good intuitive command of morphology. They have knowledge in specific morphemic elements and its combinations. They can explore on the use of prefixes and suffixes and based words and on Greek and Latin prefixes for them to be provided with valuable prior knowledge in their learning of new terminologies. Students with better understanding on word formation such as prefixes, suffixes and roots have the tendency to acquire larger vocabularies and better comprehension in compared to those who do not have such background, knowledge and skills. Having full knowledge and understanding of vocabulary improve students‟ outcomes. . As a College teacher of Thai Nguyen University teaching Basic English, I‟m interested to investigate the level of linguistic competence 7 THAINGUYENUNIVERSITY SocialistRepublic of Vietnam BATANGASSTATEUNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines of students in English in terms of connotation, denotation, antonyms, synonyms, and ambiguities as well as the level of students‟ understanding on word formation relative to acronym, clipping, blending, and compounding with the end view of proposing language activities to enhance their linguistic performance. This prompted the researcher to conduct the study. Statement of the Problem This study attempts to determine the level of Linguistic Competence of the First Year Students at Thai Nguyen University. Specifically, it seeks to answer the following questions: 1. What is the level of linguistic competence in the Academic and NonAcademic text using the following: 1.1 connotation 1.2 denotation 1.3 antonyms 1.4 synonyms, 1.5 ambiguities, and 1.6 vocabulary 2. What is the level of understanding of students on word-formation in terms of : 3.1. acronym 3.2. clipping 8 THAINGUYENUNIVERSITY SocialistRepublic of Vietnam BATANGASSTATEUNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines 3.3. blending 3.4. compounding 3. Which among the items in the different cluster students find most difficult? 4. How do the teachers assess the linguistic competence of the students? 5. Is there a significant difference between teachers‟ assessment and students‟ competencies? 6. What English language activities may be suggested to improve students‟ understanding of English words and concepts? Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study The study covers the level of Linguistic competency of Thai Nguyen University first year students specifically on connotation, denotation, antonyms, synonyms and ambiguities; word formation in terms of the acronyms, clipping and blending, and compounding. The output of the study is the proposed language activities to enhance the linguistic competency of first year students of Thai Nguyen University. The study includes the 382 First year College students taking up Basic English course in Thai Nguyen University system in Academic Year 2013-2014.