i THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam 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 e ii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam 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. Adviser PANEL OF EXAMINERS Approved by the committee on Oral Examination with a grade of ________. DIMAANO Chairman DR. PANOPIO Member Member DR.
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: ____________ _____________ MATILDA H. Date Dean, Graduate Studies College of Arts and Sciences e iii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam 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. e iv THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam 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 e v THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam 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. 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.
e vi THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam 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. 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. Banaag, her adviser, for the genuine concern, guidance and encouragement that led the completion of this research; Dr. Sulit, external representative, for her very insightful suggestions; Dr.
Panopio, statistician, for his kindness in sharing his mathematical expertise; Dr. 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; e vii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam 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! e viii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam 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 e ix THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam Republic of the Philippines TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TITLE PAGE.viii TABLE OF CONTENTS.ix LIST OF TABLES.xii LIST OF FIGURES. THE PROBLEM Introduction.1 Statement of the Problem .8 Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study.9 Significance of the Study. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Conceptual Literature .59 e x THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam Republic of the Philippines Theoretical Framework…………………………………….69 Definition of Terms ………………………………………….
RESEARCH METHOD AND PROCEDURE Research Environment.76 Subjects of the Study ………………….77 Data Gathering Instrument ……………………………….78 Data Gathering Procedure ………………………….80 Statistical Treatment of Data ………………………………. PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA……………………………………………………………. SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION Summary of Findings.165 e xi THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam Republic of the Philippines APPENDICES A. Questionnaire for Students………………………………….
Questionnaire for Teachers…. Documentations (1) Validation of Questionnaires in Batangas State University .205 (2) Photographs of the Research Sites .206 (3) Photograph of the Researcher with the Heads of Institutions for the Approval for the Conduct of the Study .207 (4) Photographs of the Teacher Respondents .208 (5) Photographs of the Student Respondents. Psychrometric Conversion Table …………….210 CURRICULUM VITAE e xii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam Republic of the Philippines LIST OF TABLES Table Title Page 1 Distribution of the Respondents of the Study.77 2 Student Skills Evaluated as to Strategic Competencies.83 3 Student Skills According to the Frequency of Use…….86 4 Student Skills According to the Degree of Importance.88 5 Performance of Student Respondents on Lexical Competence.90 6 Performance of Student Respondents on Syntactic Competence.94 7 Relationship Between Each Pair of Students’ Lexical Competence.100 8 Relationship Between 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 e xiii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam Republic of the Philippines 12 Students’ Lexical and Syntactic Skills According to the Importance.110 13 Bases for the Design of Drill Exercises.113 e xiv THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam Republic of the Philippines LIST OF FIGURES Figure Title Page 1 Research Paradigm on Strategic, Lexical and Syntactic Competencies in English of Freshman Students.68 e 1 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam Republic of the Philippines CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM Introduction English language is considered a significant tool for communication in the 21st century as the world becomes global business. It is also the language that plays an important role in government diplomacy, science, medicine and other profession.
In the world also connected by bits and bytes, English language is also important as it emerged as a common vehicle for communication. 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 others since English as the language of the global village serves as a neutral language to all. In many countries, English has become the language of power and prestige.
As a gatekeeper to social and economic progress, many countries give importance to English language as it serves as a pathway towards progress and learning. Understanding and communicating English is a factor for a person to learn and progress faster because most of the information is available in the English language and for that reason to be globally competitive, e 2 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam Republic of the Philippines communicating effectively in that language is a must. As an international language, English 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 language 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. Further, often referred to as the world’s language, English is spoken widely. In a number of jobs, professions and fields, a working knowledge of English becomes a need.
Knowledge also of the English language to enhance educational attainment through improved communication ability is also important. English as the lingua franca of the modern times of business and of popular culture is also the language of computers and internet aside from being the language of globalization of international business, politics and diplomacy. It enables people of different countries to converse and do business with each other. As a language that serves as a common link for international and inter cultural communication in a global society, its use e 3 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam Republic of the Philippines minimizes cultural diversity and expands cultural convergence.
The narrowing of cultural linguistic diversity, expansion of cultural and linguistic divergence as well as information and media advancement are some of the contribution of English language to globalization. One of the biggest advantages of a country in a global job market is the proficiency of the skilled workers in the English language. In the field of education, proficiency in the English language also improves academic performance of students. Proficiency in the English language has been identified as a requisite in the globalized economy with countries having a large number of its population capable of communicating in English being rewarded with economic advantages.
In Asian countries, this trend has been realized by both governments and individuals and are thus pushing the wide interest in English language study in the last ten years.