Tài liệu English language macro-skills of freshman vietnamese students in selected colleges in bacgiang city input to intervention measures

i THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines ENGLISH LANGUAGE MACRO-SKILLS OF FRESHMAN VIETNAMESE STUDENTS IN SELECTED COLLEGES IN BAC GIANG CITY: INPUT TO INTERVENTION MEASURES A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of Graduate School Batangas State University Batangas City, Philippines In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Major in English By: NGO THU THU HUONG (Autumn) December 2014 ii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines ABSTRACT Title : English language macro-skills of freshman Vietnamese students in selected colleges in Bacgiang city: input to intervention measures. Author : Ngô Thị Thu Hương (Autumn) Course : Doctor of Philosophy major in English language and Literature. Year : 2014 Adviser : Dr. Matilda H. Dimaano. Summary: The main focus of the study was to assess the Freshman Vietnamese students’ English Language Macro Skills among selected Colleges in Bacgiang City. This study sought to find out the learning contents of a general English course offered to Freshman students, the level of students’ performance in the macro-skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening, the relationships between pairs of macro- skills in English language, the difficulties students have in the macro-skills, iii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines the difficulties appear to be more relatively serious and the intervention measures proposed to enhance macro- skills of students The study made used of the descriptive method of research to determine the English language macro-skills of Freshman Vietnamese students among selected colleges in Bacgiang. There were 299 students from three colleges of Bacgiang and 30 teachers who were the respondents of the study. Findings of the study revealed that General English courses cover skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing as well as essential vocabulary, idioms and colloquial language. They are designed to give students confidence to communicate effectively in real life and provide them with effective training in English for work, study and travel. In Bac Giang Colleges, the course General English I required students to attend and participate in all class activities and do homework and this is given ten percent weight. Students are also required to take progress test in grammar, vocabulary, reading and writing and assigned also ten percent of weight and a midterm test in the same area with twenty percent allocated weight for each. iv THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines The dissertation also assessed about the level of students’ performance in the macro-skills in reading, writing listening and speaking the English language were all of average level of the given student population. The dissertation also showed that there were significant differences existed in the students’ performance among the macro-skills in English language and were therefore not related to each other. Most students encountered difficulties in comprehension for macro skills in reading and listening; sharpening writing skill for macro kill in writing; and pronunciation for the macro skill in speaking. The difficulties in macroskills are those that pertain to comprehension skills both in Reading and Listening. Finally, The dissertation proposed the intervention measures composed of select strategies designed to improve skills where students demonstrated poor performance. v THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The researcher wishes to express her personal thanks and appreciation to those who, in one way or another, have helped make this dissertation. First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Thai Nguyen University - Viet Nam and Batangas State University – Philippines who have made very favorable condition and opportunity for the development of the dissertation. I am indebted to ITC, Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry of Thai Nguyen University for accepting me as a PhD. Student and for your guidance and supports during the course. I wish to recognize with great gratitude valuable advice, and general assistance provided by Dr. Matilda H. Dimaano, for her patient guidance, helpful suggestions, encouragement and constructive supervision in writing of this research. Her enlightening suggestions and detailed comments have shaped this dissertation largely. Without her help, this field study report would have been impossible. vi THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines I owe my gratitude to Dr. Corazon Cabrera and The Panels for their highly intellectual abilities to give excellent advises and detailed review during the preparation of this study. I greatly appreciate the financial assistance and spiritual supports of Bacgiang Ngo Gia Tu College , of Foreign Language Department, of my dear colleague for me and my family during my PhD. study. I would like to give expressions to my gratitude to all the teachers of the Graduate School of Batangas State University of the Philippines and teachers of English Department from three Colleges in Bacgiang province for their valuable lectures that inspire me to carry out the research. I take this opportunity to express my thankfulness the first year students from three Bacgiang Colleges for their cooperation in completing the questionnaires. My classmates, thank you very much for making the atmosphere of our class as friendly as possible. I am also very grateful for the wholehearted support and love that my husband and children, along with her parents, brothers extended during the writing process. They supported her high and low points that accompanied the realization of this study. I can just say thank you all for everything. vii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TITLE PAGE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- I TABLE OF CONTENTS.........................................................................ii LIST OF TABLES...................................................................................v LIST OF FIGURES.................................................................................vi CHAPTER I.THE PROBLEM Introduction ..................................................................................1 Statement of the Problem .......................................................... 11 Scope, Delimitation and Limitation ............................................ 14 Significance of the Study ........................................................... 15 II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Conceptual literature.................................................................. 17 Research Literature .................................................................. 77 Synthesis ................................................................................... 83 Theoretical Framework .............................................................. 88 Conceptual Framework.............................................................. 92 Hypothesis ................................................................................. 93 Definition of Terms..................................................................... 94 viii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines III. RESEARCH METHOD AND PROCEDURE Research Design ....................................................................... 96 Subjects of the Study ................................................................. 96 Data Gathering Instrument ........................................................ 98 Data Gathering Procedure ......................................................... 99 Statistical Treatment of Data ................................................... 100 IV. PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION Summary .................................................................................138 Conclusion ...............................................................................150 Recommendation.....................................................................151 BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................................... 152 APPENDIXES Appendix A. Questionnaire on English Language Macroskills..... 162 Appendix B. Questionnaire on Teacher’s Assessment of the English Language Macroskills of Students................................................ 170 Appendix C. Validation Letter of the Questionnaire for Students . 183 Appendix F. Letter of Request to the Head of Institution ............. 186 ix THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Appendix G. Letter of Request to the Head of Institution ............. 186 Appendix G. Letter of Request to the Head of Institution ............. 187 x THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines ..................................................................................................... 187 Appendix H. Letter of Request to the Head of Institution............. 188 xi THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Appendix J. Photograph of the study sites ................................... 188 Appendix J. Photograph of the study sites ................................... 189 Appendix G. Documents for Validation of Questionnaires in Batangas State University ............................................................. 191 xii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Appendix H. Documents for Administration of Questionnaires in Bacgiang Colleges........................................................................ 192 Appendix I. Documents for Response Letters of the Heads of Bacgiang Colleges........................................................................ 193 Appendix J. Documents for Group Discussion of Bacgiang Colleges ..................................................................................................... 195 Appendix K. Psychrometric Conversion Table ............................. 196 CURRICULUM VITAE ......................................................................... 198 xiii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines LIST OF TABLES Table Title Page 1 Distribution of student respondents in the three colleges..............97 2 Performance of student respondents in the different skill areas of the Reading test .........................................................................109 3 Performance of student respondents in the different skill areas of .....................................................................................................113 the Writing test............................................................................113 4 Performance of student respondents in the different skill areas of the Listening test ........................................................................115 5 Performance of student respondents in the different skill areas of the Speaking test........................................................................118 6 Student's t-test comparison of the mean % scores for each test group shown as p-values.............................................................119 7 Difficult item for student respondents in the teacher-made tests on macro-skills in English language. Rank of 1- Most Difficult (MD), Mean % of < 50% - Difficult (D), Mean % > 50% - Not Difficult (ND) .....................................................................................................122 8 Most difficult items for student respondents in the teacher-made tests on macro-skills in English language....................................126 xiv THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 Title Page Research Paradigm..............................................................93 2 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM Introduction In learning English, there are five macro skills that are needed by learners to communicate effectively and these are listening, speaking, reading, writing and viewing. In communication process these skills are very essential. These skills may approach or solve future problems in communication most especially in our day-to-day tasks such as in learning or gaining information, presenting, or holding a successful meeting. A combination of micro skills like in writing which consists of spelling, vocabulary, made up of macro skills which refer to the primary key, main and largest skill relative to a particular context. In English language, each skill which comprised the macro-skills has its own features. The knowledge regarding the use of these five macro skills is of vital importance. Consistently seeking improvement along these macro skills will contribute to the self-development, effective communication and success in many different environments and contexts of the learners. Absence of these macro skills to a person pose difficulties on his movement through life and to thrive in the varied areas such as religion, politics, business, education and career. 2 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Learning the five macro-skills is not easy. In communicating, being good only in one of these skills will not ease away difficulties. Knowledge of these macro skills can make a big difference in the sound and personal achievement of that person. Seeking improvement of the macro skills consistently may help learners become successful in different perspective. Macro skills integration in lessons should come naturally from the teacher as well as the listener. When one listens, writing opportunities emerge; when one reads, opportunities for speaking emerge. Learners are motivated to have opportunities relative to learning the skills to allow the skills subconsciously to grow naturally within them. The use of the macro skills serve as a vehicle for developing critical thinking as well as meta-cognitive strategies used to evaluate learners' own thinking In language teaching, the five macro skills in communication are considered the most important. For teachers and learners, these five micro skills are indispensable in the learning process and teaching performances as these will serve as the main tool in obtaining a certain language at the same time establishing a link on the interrelatedness of communication and global community. In early language acquisition, knowledge on sentences and syntax in speaking as manifested by learners is considered an interesting feature. The indication of an effective teacher is when the 3 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines learner’s ability to communicate is excellent and has mastery in other areas of learning with the involvement of the five macro skills. In teaching the five macro skills involved in communication skills are speaking, reading, listening, writing and viewing. In speaking, that is the most direct and useful form of communication as it is used by people having face-to-face conversation, over the phone, webcams, and video calling. Talking to someone or making conversation either intentional or unintentional or a discourse pertains to speaking. It can be that two people are said to be talking to each other but they have not communicated anything as they might be using different languages. Literary works, artistic communications like daily recitations, poetry, literature, engaged by people through spoken language are covered in speaking. Speaking involves two persons or more and has these features: a decoder, an encoder, the message, the channel and the feedback. Situations can be designed by teachers where learners could exercise their ability for oral expression. In listening, students develop the skill of prediction and anticipation. Before texting, students recall previous experiences. As regard to listening text topic and form. They will recall in the listening text cause and effect relationship. This shows the importance of listening because without it, there will be no communication that will transpire for listening is most important in communication as it involves 4 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines processing sound waves, meaning interpretation, meaning storing in memory in its mental operation. Listening requires the listener to understand, interpret and evaluate what they hear which makes listening a communication technique. Other skills are just part of listening because of its speech significance and freedom of expression. Everybody comprehend either from a given talk or utterance through listening as it has close ties with speaking as a person who happens to get information may transmit it to another after hearing which makes listening vital to communication. Further, there are difficulties second language learner encountered in listening like becoming distracted by the errors which the speakers learn to ignore or tolerate in spontaneous conversation where it contains language structures that may not be grammatical such as unfinished utterance, pauses and moments of silence. Another difficulty is that on the learner’s lack of socio cultural, factual and contextual knowledge of the target language thereby affecting their problem on comprehension as well as their difficulty to concentrate on sounds, unfamiliar words, sentences for a long period of time. As for reading which is another important skill in communication, it is thought of by many people as a skill intended only for students who are studying their first years. Unknowingly, reading makes a person thinks and explore the mysteries of the world, gain knowledge and 5 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines ponder on the unknown. Aside from being a multi-faceted process where word recognition, comprehension, fluency and motivation are involved, it is also a way where information from written letters and words can be accessed by people. Philosophies and theories regarding meaning, nature and structure of reading served as bases for reading approach. Reading is also vital as its set of decision to carry out an objective that will ensure an output or plan intended for implementation. Recently the most common read items are those of emails and text messages which are part of people’s day to day communication activities rather than books and newspapers. As regard to difficulties of second language learners in reading, these include: pronunciation difficulties most especially in contrastive analysis where learners tend to use the native language habits acquired in them and ingrained in them in articulating English; word recognition where through the same printed words are used in the vernacular and English, the same symbols do not stand for the same sound. Another is the inability of learners to group words into units wherein the groupings and pauses in the flow of English speech is not always represented in writing. Learners either string all the words together or pause after every word. Finally, non-comprehension is also considered one among the difficulties encountered in second language learners in reading. 6 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Unfamiliar vocabulary in reading content can be a source of discouragement to learners if its difficulty interferes in the thought getting process. In writing on the other hand, it is stated that most people rely on writing because they have difficulty of expressing verbally what they put in written words what’s on their thoughts to communicate effectively. Writing has close relationship with reading, speaking and listening for each has its respective functions to play to ensure successful communication. Writing skills need to be practiced all the time. It is not just merely using orthographic symbols, but it also involves thinking characterized by purposeful selection and organization of thoughts or ideas. Beginning learners are given exposure to writing for them to be able to write of which they regarded in turn their writing with profound value. Learners through writing discover, communicate, and connect them to people’s culture, to society, to existing knowledge and to meanings of communication. In the absence of writing poor communication occurs because the main focus of writing is basic communicability so that relative to this, learners must organize their sentences coherently. In writing, language is considered a detriment. Exposure of learners to diverse rhetorical forms through extensive reading and providing them with intensive practice in the actual writing