NGO THI BICH NGOC SUGGESTED LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES FOR IMPROVING THE LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE OF FIRST YEAR STUDENTS IN THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Speciallity: English Language and Literature Ph.D. E. DISSERTATIOM SUMMARY THAI NGUYEN - 2014 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam Republic of the Philippines The study was done at: INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE STUDY PROGRAMS, THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Scientific supervisor: Dr. Matilda H. Dimaamo The peer review 1: The peer review 2: The peer review 3: The dissertation is defended to the Panel of Experts at: Dissertation can be found at: National Library Learning Resource Center, Thai Nguyen University Library of International Training and Development Center Library of Batangas State University, Philippines 1 “ In this summary dissertation, all figures and tables are numbered as in dissertation” In our world today language is our mean of communication and learning. It is one’s knowledge and a tool of expressing of thoughts and perception. Thoughts and ideas can never be expressed and can not be understood by one another without good language. Because it enables people to communicate and express themselves, it becomes an important part of any society. Learning other languages besides national language is also of vital importance since it helps to have additional knowledge of other people and cultures. Considered as the international language, English now is chosen by many people and in learning it as the second language. One of most difficulties of the students in learning English are related to their problems of linguistics and words formation and in order to have a good command of this language, students need to have opportunities to improve their ability of these skills. Thus, the theme “Language Activities for improving Linguistic Competence of the First Year Students in Thai Nguyen University” is chosen to study The structure of dissertation includes 5 chapters 2 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1. THE PROBLEM Language is considered important because it is the vehicle for communication between countries, cultural groups, organization, communities and friends. Language is used to give information to people around us, expressing feelings, desires, and questions as well as understanding the world. 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 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, their lack of confidence in the language; and their irresponsibility in their own learning. These causes can also be related to other issue like that of their lack of understanding of words or vocabulary. It is believed that students’ vocabulary increase when they elaborate their conceptual knowledge based on known words; relate new words to known concepts to deep understanding of words 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 3 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. As a College teacher of Thai Nguyen University teaching Basic English, I am interested to investigate the level of linguistic competence of students in terms of connotation, denotation, antonyms, synonyms, and ambiguities as well as the level of students’ understanding on word formation related 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. 2. STATEMENT OF 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 of students in the teacher - made test using the following: 1.1 . connotation 1.2 . denotation 1.3 . antonyms 1.4 . synonyms, 1.5 . ambiguities, and 1.6 . vocabulary 4 2. What is the level of understanding of students on word-formation in terms of : 3.1. acronym 3.2. clipping 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? 3. SCOPE, DELIMITATION AND LIMITATION The study covered the level of linguistic competency of Thai Nguyen University first year students. The output of the study is the proposed language activities to enhance the linguistic competency of first year students of Thai Nguyen University. The respondents included in the study were the 382 First year College students taking up Basic English course in Thai Nguyen University system in the Academic Year 2013-2014. Results of this study were limited only on the data gathered from these respondents 5 4. SIGNIFICANT OF THE STUDY This study is believed to have significant to the Administrators of Thai Nguyen University. the First Year Students, Basic English Teachers, Parents of the First Year Students and future researcher. Administrators. Findings of this study will provide relevant input for them to be able to design an effective curriculum for the students. First Year Students of TNU. Students will be informed on their weaknesses so that they can devise ways to improve their linguistic performance. Faculty Teaching Basic English. Results of this study will provide relevant information to the faculty teaching Basic English to design their own instructional material to enhance the linguistic proficiency of students. Parents of First Year Students of TNU. Findings of this study will provide them the weaknesses of their children so that they may provide proper guidance and motivation for their children’s improvement. Future Researchers. Future researchers may use this study to broaden their knowledge in the field linguistic. 6 CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE 1. REVIEW OF RELATED STUDIES This section presents of some literatures related to the topic 2. RESEARCH PARADIGM INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT Figure 1. Research Paradigm The research paradigm explains the relationship of the input- process-output of the study. The input covers the level of linguistic competence including connotation, denotation, antonyms, synonyms, ambuigities and vocabulary. Also part of the input is the level of understanding of students on word formation employing acronyms, Assessment Through -Survey Questionnaire - Teacher- made Test Language Activities a 1. Level of Linguistic Competence using the following: - connotation - denotation - antonyms - synonyms - ambiguities - vocabulary 2. Level of understanding of students on word - formation: - acronym - clipping - blending - Compounding 7 clipping, blening and compounding, The process bos involvesthe assessment of the level of lingistic competence and word formation of the students. These were assessed through survey questionnaire, teacher-made test. Finally, form the relationship of the first two boxes emerge the third box of the paradigm that illustrates the output of the study, the suggested language activities. CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHOD AND PROCEDURE 1. RESEARCH DESIGN This study made used of descriptive method of research to determine the level of Linguistic Competence of the First Year Students at Thai Nguyen University. According to Dr. Y.P. Aggarwal (2008) descriptive research is devoted to the gathering of information about prevailing conditions or situations for the purpose of description and interpretation. This type of research method is not simply amassing and tabulating facts but includes proper analyses, interpretation, comparisons, identification of trends and relationships. In this study, level of linguistic competence of first year college students of Thai Nguyen University System in terms of connotation, denotation, antonyms, synonyms, and ambiguities as well as the level of students’ understanding on word-formation in terms of acronym, clipping, blending, and compounding were determined. These were assessed through survey questionnaire and teacher-made test. The output of the study was in the form of language activities to improve students’ linguistic competency. 8 2. SUBJECT OF THE STUDY The subjects of the study comprised of three hundred eighty two first year students taking up Basic English course in five universities namely; Thai Nguyen University of Education (TUE), Thai Nguyen University of Information and Communication Technology (ICTU), Thai Nguyen University of Sciences (TUS), and Thai Nguyen University of Medicine and Pharmacy (TNUMP) at Thai Nguyen University system during the first semester Academic Year 2013-2014. Table 1: The distribution of sample respondents Universities Students Teachers Population Proportionate allocation Population Proportionate Allocation University of Education 2200 98 22 22 University of Telecommunication and Information Technology 1300 58 16 16 University of Sciences 1400 63 10 10 University of Agriculture and Forestry 2500 112 11 11 University of Medicine and Pharmacy 1140 51 7 7 Total 8540 382 22 22 [...]... teachers’ assessment versus the students performance in the linguistic test Weighted Mean This was used to determine the students level of linguistic performance CHAPTER IV: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 1 LEVEL OF LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE OF FIRST YEAR STUDENTS The levels of linguistic competence of First year students of the six universities in TNU Vietnam was assessed along the areas of connotation, denotation,... performance in clipping is one of the high scores next to compounding The students test achievement in blending on the other hand is implied that students did not find difficulty in finding the origins of clipped words and can indicate the pattern used in this kind of word formation In the test for compounding, the score that is above 50 percent with a verbal interpretation of average suggests that the. .. than the mean scores obtained for the frequency and indicate the low ratings of students skills versus the perceived importance of these skills by the teachers The result indicates tat the approach that the teachers are doing in teaching linguistic skills based on their degree of importance is reflective of the frequency of use and skills development of the students The data suggest that in developing... 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: 1.1 connotation, 1.2 denotation 1.3 antonyms 1.4 synonyms 1.5 ambiguities 1.6 vocabulary 22 2) What is the level of understanding of students on wordformation... excluded from the data analysis For the teacher respondents, all the questionnaires were answered completely and thus, all the 66 responses were included in the analysis 3 DATA GATHERING INSTRUMENT The main instrusment used in gathering was questionnaire checklist for teacher and the teacher - made test for students to determine the level of students in linguistic competence and word formation and... understanding of English words and concepts? 2 FINDINGS 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. .. 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 3 RECOMMENDATION Based on the findings and conclusions of the study, the following are the recommendations: 1 Provide students. .. as the scores in denotation, ambiguity, and synonyms This not only shows consistency in expectation but also provides independent validation of the students linguistic skills Thus, the similarities in performance in these areas affirm the linguistic level of the students to be average and at par with their tertiary status 2 LEVEL OF UNDERSTANDING OF STUDENTS ON WORD FORMATION The students level of. .. the students have an average level of understanding with regards to the use of compounding Among the four areas of word formation, this is the area where the students demonstrated the best performance The results from the word formation test indicate that while the students have developed their linguistic skills, they have acquired more advanced word formation skills that would complement their linguistic. .. assessment and the level of students linguistic and word formation competencies, it can 20 be observed that there is no relationship exists between them This also indicates that for this population of respondents, the teachers’ perception was not predictive of the students performance in the different areas of linguistic competence One of the reasons for this disparity is the tendency of the teachers . competency of Thai Nguyen University first year students. The output of the study is the proposed language activities to enhance the linguistic competency of first year students of Thai Nguyen University. . determine the students level of linguistic performance CHAPTER IV: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 1. LEVEL OF LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE OF FIRST YEAR STUDENTS The levels of linguistic competence of First. information to the faculty teaching Basic English to design their own instructional material to enhance the linguistic proficiency of students. Parents of First Year Students of TNU. Findings