i THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES FOR IMPROVING THE LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE OF FIRST YEAR STUDENTS IN THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Graduate School Batangas State University Batangas City, Philippines In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Of Doctor of Philosophy Major in English By: NGO THI BICH NGOC April 2015 ii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines iii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY 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 : English Year : 2015 Adviser : Dr Matilda H Dimaano Summary Language is essential in interaction in everyday lives It is used to give information to people around us, expressing feelings, desires and questions as well as understanding the world Through the use of language, people are able to communicate with one another, form bonds and teamwork Without language a person would not be able to communicate verbally or written, not be able to read, write or communicate with each other thoroughly orally, written and electronically At present, the importance of language is recognized by many institutions In learning the complexities of language, creation of a warm and comfortable environment for the learner is a must The purpose of the study is to determine the linguistic competence of First Year Students of Thai Nguyen University The study used descriptive iv THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines research The respondents of the study comprised of 382 freshman students and 66 college teachers The data gathering instruments utilized includesurvey questionnaires for the teacher respondents and the teacher made test for the student respondents Statistical tools used were frequency, percentage and rank, linear regression, coefficient of correlation, weighted mean, standard deviation, and t-test The following were the findings of the study: students got an average level or above 50 percent performance in their linguistic competence along the areas of connotation, denotation, antonyms, synonyms, ambiguities and vocabulary as well as in word-formation in the areas of acronym, clipping, blending and compounding Relative to the items in the different clusters which students find most difficult, it was observed that for connotation, the most difficult item is item 8, for denotation is item 20 The most difficult item in the test area of antonyms is item 28; for synonyms, is item 34; in the case of ambiguities, it is item 44; and for the vocabulary test, it is item 55 In word formation, it can be observed that for acronym, the most difficult item is item 69, for clipping is item 74 while for blending, it is item 87 For compounding, the most difficult item is item 93 In the teachers‟ assessments of the linguistic and word- formation v THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines competencies, six skills which included four skills in linguistic area and two skills in the word- formation area showed rank differences of 10 or less, indicating that these were the skills where the perception of the teachers were relatively congruent which revealed that they had unclear understanding of the abstract concepts of linguistic and word formation areas and their test application In the relationship between the teachers‟ assessment and the level of students‟ linguistic and word formation competencies it was observed that among the 11 mean combinations being compared, all showed significant pvalues at 0.05 significant level This tend to the rejection of the null hypothesis of no significant relationships Language activities were designed based on the four indicated skill areas and belong to linguistic skills and none from word formation skills It was only in the four areas of linguistic skills that the students need language activities for them to cope with their skills requirement Recommendations of the study include providing students with exposures on varied learning activities to enhance further their linguistic competencies; presenting the developed language activities to language teachers for further suggestions; and conducting further study on other components of communicative competence maybe done vi THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines ACKNOWLEDGMENT The researcher would like to convey her deepest gratitude and sincerest appreciation to the following persons whose valuable contributions have helped much to make this academic work a reality: To Dr Matilda H Dimaano, dissertation adviser, who tirelessly worked on reading version after version of this manuscripts, and for providing valuable inputs and insightful comments that improved this study as well as for the encouragement and assistance that facilitated its completion; Dr Nguyen The Hung, director of International Training and Consultancy Center for his encouragement; To the panel members: Dr Ma Luisa Valdez, Dr Amada Banaag, Dr Felix Panopio, Dr Myrna G Sulit, Dr Remedios P Magnaye for their valuable insights which greatly improved this work; The teachers and the student respondents of the study for their active involvement and cooperation; To her friends for their encouragement and support; and To her parents and siblings for their love, concern and understanding and for being an inspiration in pursuing this academic endeavor vii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my loving and ever supportive husband, Mr Le Huy and my loving son, Le Minh, to my family, and to my dear Thai Nguyen University community Ngo Thi Bich Ngoc viii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TITLE PAGE i APPROVAL SHEET ii ABSTRACT iii ACKNOWLEDGMENT vi DEDICATION .vii TABLE OF CONTENTS…………………………………………………… viii LIST OF TABLES…………………………………………………………… xi LIST OF FIGURES .xiii CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM Introduction Statement of the Problem Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study Significance of the Study II REVIEW OF LITERATURE Conceptual Literature 11 Research Literature 52 Synthesis 59 Theoretical Framework 63 ix THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Conceptual Framework 65 Hypothesis 68 Definition of Terms 68 III RESEARCH METHOD AND PROCEDURE Research Environmen……………………………………… 71 Research Design 73 Subjects of the Study 74 Data Gathering Instrument 76 Data Gathering Procedure 78 Statistical Treatment of Data 80 IV PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA 81 V SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION Summary of Findings 139 Conclusions 155 Recommendations 157 BIBLIOGRAPHY 158 APPENDICES A Test for Students 167 x THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines B Questionnaire for Teachers 187 C Validation Letter on the Test for Students & Teachers Questionnaire 193 D Validation Letter on the Test for Students & Teachers Questionnaire 194 E Validation Letter on the Test for Students & Teachers Questionnaire 195 F Letter of Request to the Heads of Institutions 196 G Response Letter of the Heads of Institutions 201 H Photographs of the Study Sites 202 I Photographs of Students Respondents 203 J Photographs of Teacher Respondents 206 K Photographs of Teacher-Made Test and Survey Questionnaire Validation 207 L Psychrometric Conversion Table…………………………… 208 CURRICULUM VITAE 203 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Appendix I: Photographs of Students Respondents Thai Nguyen University of Education 204 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry Thai Nguyen University of Sciences Thai Nguyen University of Information and Communication Technology 205 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Thai Nguyen University of Medicine and Pharmacy 206 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Appendix J: Photographs of Teacher Respondents Thai Nguyen University of Education Thai Nguyen University of Sciences Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry Thai Nguyen University of Information and Communication Technology Thai Nguyen University of Medicine and Pharmacy 207 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Appendix K: Photographs of Teacher-made Test and Survey Questionnaire Validation 208 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Appendix L Psychometric Conversion Table 209 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Source:http://faculty.pepperdine.edu/shimels/Courses/Files/ConvTable.pdf Accessed 05/08/2014 210 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines CURRICULUM VITAE Name: Ngo Thi Bich Ngoc THAI NGUYEN, VIET NAM Mobile phone: 0965 622 160 Email: bichngoctn@yahoo.com PERSONAL INFORMATION Date of birth: 15/05/1982 Birth place: Thai Nguyen, Vietnam Age: 32 Nationality: Vietnam Religion: No Sex: Female Spouse: Le Huy Chilren‟s name: Le Minh EDUCATION BACKGROUND 1999 - 2003: Master of Arts Major in English Laguna State Polytechnic University 1999 - 2003: Bachelor of Arts Major in English Thai Nguyen University of Education WORK EXPERIENCE 2003 - Present: Lecturer of Foreign Language Department Thai Nguyen University of Education 211 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines 212 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines 213 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines 214 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines 215 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines 216 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines 217 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines [...]... well as their level of understanding on wordformation in terms of acronyms, clipping, 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 respondents included in the study were the 500 First year College 9 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY. .. STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines relevant information to the faculty teaching Basic English course for them 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 useful information on the present performance of their children in Linguistic Through this study, parents as they... kind of proto type explanation as regard to the query on the sounds produced of the phoneme system of the languages of the world The sound system of a language is the phonology of English Included in the phonological system of a language is the inventory of sounds and their features as well as rules that illustrate the interaction with each other The aim in the study of phonological system on the other... Republic of the Philippines students taking up Basic English course in Thai Nguyen University system inthe Academic Year 2013-2014 Students who were in their Second year to Fourth year level were not included in the study Results of this research study were limited only on the data gathered from the respondents in the Academic Year 2013-2014 in Thai Nguyen University system Significance of the Study... determine the level of Linguistic Competence of the First Year Students at Thai Nguyen University Specifically, it sought answer the following questions: 1 What are the levels of linguistic competence using the following as revealed in the results of the Teacher Made Linguistic Test: 1.1 connotation; 1.2 denotation; 1.3 antonyms; 1.4 synonyms; 1.5 ambiguities; and 1.6 vocabulary? 2 What are the levels of. .. program for the teachers to improve their classroom language teaching First Year Students of TNU This study will serve as input for them to be aware of their linguistic performance They 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 10 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of. .. to the Administrators of Thai Nguyen University, First Year Students, Basic English teachers, Parents of First Year Students, the current researcher and future researchers Administrators Findings of this study will provide relevant input for them to be able to design an effective curriculum for the students Administrators can utilize the results of the study by providing Faculty Development Training... understanding of students on word-formation in terms of : 2.1 acronym; 8 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines 2.2 clipping; 2.3 blending; and 2.4 compounding? 3 Which among the items in the different cluster do students find most difficult? 4 How do the teachers assess the linguistic and word-formation competencies of the students? 5 Are there... certain inflectional property It also pertains to the combination of words or morphemes in sentences Morphology as a sub discipline of linguistic refers to the study of the form of words Booji (2007) pointed out that it is one of the major components of grammar that studies word structure especially in terms of morphemes as well as the study of the internal structure of words and of the systematic formmeaning... several aims These include: to describe the structures of words and patterns of word formation in language; to pin down the principles for relating the form and meaning of morphological expression; to explain how the morphological units are integrated and the resulting formation interpreted; and to show how morphological units are organized in the lexicon in terms of affinity and contrast The lexical ... 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 respondents included in the study... a warm and comfortable environment for the learner is a must The purpose of the study is to determine the linguistic competence of First Year Students of Thai Nguyen University The study used... on the Linguistic Competence of First Year Students in Thai Nguyen University 67 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines