i THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines STRATEGIC, LEXICAL AND SYNTACTIC COMPETENCIES IN ENGLISH OF FRESHMAN STUDENTS IN THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY: BASIS FOR DRILL EXERCISES A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of 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: NGUYEN THI THANH HONG April 2015 ii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines APPROVAL SHEET This dissertation entitled “STRATEGIC, LEXICAL AND SYNTACTIC COMPETENCIES IN ENGLISH OF FRESHMAN STUDENTS IN THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY: BASIS FOR DRILL EXERCISES” prepared and submitted by NGUYEN THI THANH HONG in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy major in English has been examined and is recommended for Oral Examination AMADA G BANAAG, Ph.D Adviser PANEL OF EXAMINERS Approved by the committee on Oral Examination with a grade of DR MATILDA H DIMAANO Chairman DR MARIA LUISA A VALDEZ Member DR FELIX M PANOPIO Member DR MYRNA G SULIT External Representative Accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy major in English PASSED Comprehensive Examination: _ Date MATILDA H DIMAANO, Ph.D Dean, Graduate Studies College of Arts and Sciences iii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines ABSTRACT Title: Strategic, Lexical and Syntactic Competencies in English of Freshman Students in Thai Nguyen University: Basis for Drill Exercises Author: Nguyen Thi Thanh Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Major: English Year: 2015 Adviser: Amada G Banaag Summary English as an international language is spoken in many countries both as native and as a second or foreign language It is the world’s dominant language because aside from being designated as an official among sixty two nations, it has the greatest number of speakers In most international organization, English is the official and working language aside from being the most taught foreign language across the globe People with knowledge in English language have better career and pay as well as communication with the outside world iv THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines In globalization where English language and communication play a crucial role, the ability to communicate in English is now a necessity People with different linguistic background believe that if one communicates in English fluently and proficiently he has an edge over the other since English as the language of the global village serves as a neutral language to all This study aimed to assess the strategic, lexical and syntactic competencies in English of Freshman students in Thai Nguyen University The subjects of the study comprised of 382 college students selected through random sampling out of 8,540 total population and 57 teachers of the five universities in Thai Nguyen City Descriptive method of research was utilized with teacher made test and survey questionnaire as instruments used in gathering data Results of the study indicate that majority of the freshman students of Thai Nguyen University employed strategic competencies to cope and promote their communication skills In terms of lexical competencies, freshman students have poor performance in the areas of vocabulary, idioms and word formation but have better performance in synonyms and antonyms As regards to syntactic competencies, freshman students demonstrate poor performance in the areas of verb tenses, direct and indirect speech, but have v THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines better or remarkable performance in the areas of subject verb agreement, pronoun references and phrases and clauses Further, there is no significant relationship that exists between students’ lexical and syntactic competencies Teachers’ assessed that freshman students did not frequently used or practice their lexical and syntactic skills as indicated by their mean score of 3.0 There exists a relationship between teachers’ assessment and the level of students’ lexical and syntactic competencies The drill exercises formulated contains activities geared towards improving freshman students’ lexical and syntactic competencies The study recommended that English teachers handling the subjects maybe given more trainings and workshops in teaching content areas of the course; that the proposed drill exercises maybe presented to school administrators for review, suggestions and evaluation; and that follow up studies maybe conducted on aspects related to the variables of the study vi THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines ACKNOWLEDGMENT The researcher would like to express her profound gratitude to the following persons who in one way or another help to make this humble work a reality Dr Matilda H Dimaano, Dean of the Graduate Degree Studies of Batangas State University and chairman of the panel for oral defense, for her intellectual suggestions and meaningful recommendations; Dr Amada G Banaag, her adviser, for the genuine concern, guidance and encouragement that led the completion of this research; Dr Myrna G Sulit, external representative, for her very insightful suggestions; Dr Felix M Panopio, statistician, for his kindness in sharing his mathematical expertise; Dr Maria Luisa A Valdez, panel member for her comments and encouragement; Dr Remedios Magnaye, recording secretary, for writing down all the suggestions of the panel for the improvement of this work; To the participants in this study and colleagues at Thai Nguyen University, who rendered help in the collection of data for this study; vii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines To her family whom she selflessly and unconditionally love; her mother for believing that she can accomplish anything she sets out to do; her sisters, who have always given her a lot of encouragement and her beloved husband for his steadfast love, patience and support for making sure that she could devote all her time to this research endeavor Finally, the researcher is entirely indebted to all her friends for their generosity Thank you! viii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines DEDICATION This humble work is wholeheartedly dedicated to my loving and ever supportive husband, my sons, to my family and to all my colleagues in Thai Nguyen University Nguyen Thi Thanh Hong ix 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 viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ix LIST OF TABLES xii LIST OF FIGURES .xiv CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM Introduction Statement of the Problem Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study Significance of the Study .10 II REVIEW OF LITERATURE Conceptual Literature 13 Research Literature ……………………………………… .51 Synthesis …………………………………………………… 59 x THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Theoretical Framework…………………………………… 62 Conceptual Framework …………………………………… 68 Hypothesis ………………………………………………… 69 Definition of Terms ………………………………………… 69 III RESEARCH METHOD AND PROCEDURE Research Environment .71 Research Design …………… .76 Subjects of the Study ………………… 77 Data Gathering Instrument ……………………………… .78 Data Gathering Procedure ………………………… .80 Statistical Treatment of Data ……………………………… 81 IV PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA…………………………………………………………… 82 V SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION Summary of Findings …………………………………… 153 Conclusions………………………………………………… 163 Recommendations ……………………………………… 164 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………… 165 200 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Appendix C: Validation Letter (3) Validation Letter of the Questionnaire for Teachers 201 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Appendix D: Request letters (1) Letter of Request to the Head of University of Agriculture and Forestry 202 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Appendix D: Request letters (2) Letter of Request to the Head of University of Information and Communication Technology 203 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Appendix D: Request letters (3) Letter of Request to the Head of University of Medicine and Pharmacy 204 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Appendix D: Request letters (4) Letter of Request to the Head of University of Education 205 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Appendix E Documentations (1) Validation of Questionaires in Batangas State University Teachers’ Questionaire Validation Dry run of Students’ Test Questionaire 206 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines (2) Photographs of the Research Sites University of Agriculture and Forestry (UAF) University of Education (UE) University of Medicine and Pharmacy (UMP) University of Sciences University of Information and Communication Technology (UICT) 207 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines (3) The Researcher with the Heads of Institutions for the Approval of the Conduct of the Study The Vice Rector of UAF Validation of Questionaires The Head of UMP Validation of Questionaires The Vice Rector of UEVvalidation Questionaires The Head of University of Sciences Validation of Questionaires The Vice Rector of UICT Validation of Questionaires 208 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines (4) Photographs of the Teacher Respondents Teacher Respondents at UAF Teacher Respondents at UE Teacher Respondents of UMP Teacher Respondents of University of Sciences Teacher Respondents of UICT 209 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines (5) Photographs of the Student Respondents Administration of Test Questionaires to Student Respondents at UE Administration of Test Questionaires to Student Respondents at UMP P Administration of Test Questionaires to Student Respondents At UICT Administration of Test Questionaires to Student Respondents at US Administration of Test Questionaires toStudent Respondents at UAF 210 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Appendix F Psychrometric Conversion Table 211 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 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 CURRICULUM VITAE Nguyen Thi Thanh Hong Phan Dinh Phung quarter, Thai nguyen City, Vietnam Mobile phone: 0912.898.282 Email: thanhongmf@gmail.com PERSONAL INFORMATION Date of birth : 09/04/1979 Birth Place : Thai Nguyen city, Vietnam Age : 35 Nationality : Vietnam Religion : No Sex : Female Spouse : Nguyen Thuan Chilren’s name : Nguyen Minh Hoang Nguyen Minh Quan EDUCATION BACKGROUND 2003 - 2007: Master of Arts Major in English Hanoi University 1997 - 2001: Bachelor of Arts Major in English Thai Nguyen University 214 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines WORK EXPERIENCE Dean of Foreign Languages Department of Thai Nguyen University of Medicine and Pharmacy 2010 – Present Teacher of Foreign Languages Department of Thai Nguyen University of Medicine and Pharmacy 2006 - 2010 Teacher of English at Dai Tu High School Thai Nguyen Province 2001-2006 [...]... identified and remedied through drill exercises designed to enhance their strategic, lexical and syntactic competencies Statement of the Problem This study assessed the strategic, lexical and syntactic competencies in English of Freshman students in Thai Nguyen University This sought answers to the following questions: 1 What are the strategic competencies of Freshman students? 2 What is the level of students ... Republic of the Philippines Students Lexical and Syntactic Skills According to the Importance 110 13 Bases for the Design of Drill Exercises 113 xiv THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 Title Page Research Paradigm on Strategic, Lexical and Syntactic Competencies in English of Freshman Students ... for foreign language studies and has to face a lot of difficulties and challenges in improving quality of English teaching and learning to enhance the language proficiency of the students Those difficulties come from both teachers and students, and sometimes from some other factors such as, government’s policy on English in school education or facilities for English teaching and learning In Thai Nguyen. .. conventions for initiating, maintaining and closing conversations Pragmatic knowledge on the other hand which refers to the abilities for creating and interpreting discourse includes two areas of knowledge; namely: the knowledge of pragmatic conventions for expressing acceptable language functions and for interpreting the illocutionary power of utterances or discourse or functional knowledge and knowledge of. .. Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study The study assessed the strategic, lexical and syntactic competencies of the 382 freshman students selected randomly from five different universities in Thai Nguyen as well as the responses of 57 English teachers who experienced teaching freshman students The lexical competencies tested were in the areas of vocabulary, idioms, word formation, and antonyms/synonyms... other form of exercises that will improve students 12 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines strategic, lexical and syntactic competencies 13 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE This chapter presents the relevant conceptual and research... Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training even though English has become a `compulsory subject in high schools and has been one of the three main subjects beside mathematics and literature, students have no competence for a simple conversation in English because students learn basic grammar at school level for the purpose of passing a test or examinations and not to face any 8 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY. .. generation of personal benefit The college leaders, college managers of the universities in Thai Nguyen in general and in the foreign languages departments in particular may refer to the results of this study to enhance the training quality of faculty and improve the students competencies in English to meet the demands of the National Foreign Language 2020 Project Current and Future Researchers: Result of. .. Each Pair of Students Syntactic Competence 101 9 Relationship Between Each Pair of Students Lexical and Syntactic Competence 103 10 (a) and (b) Student Skills on Lexical and Syntactic Competencies 105 11 Students Lexical and Syntactic Skills According to the Frequency of Use 109 xiii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam 12 BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY. .. benefit from the findings of this work as it will establish their current level of lexical and syntactic competencies and thus identify their areas of handicap which will be used as basis for the design of remedial strategies English Teachers They will be provided with a rationale and understanding regarding the students language performance and would instill in them a deep appreciation of the remedial ... COMPETENCIES IN ENGLISH OF FRESHMAN STUDENTS IN THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY: BASIS FOR DRILL EXERCISES prepared and submitted by NGUYEN THI THANH HONG in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the... on Strategic, Lexical and Syntactic Competencies in English of Freshman Students 68 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines... and syntactic competencies in English of Freshman students in Thai Nguyen University The subjects of the study comprised of 382 college students selected through random sampling out of 8,540 total