Enlish language macro skills of freshman vietnamese students in selected colleges in bac giang 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 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 THU HUONG
April 2015


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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

APPROVAL SHEET
This dissertation entitled “ENGLISH LANGUAGE MACRO-SKILLS OF
FRESHMAN VIETNAMESE STUDENTS IN SELECTED COLLEGES IN BAC
GIANG CITY: INPUT TO INTERVENTION MEASURES” prepared and
submitted by NGO THI THU HUONG 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.
MATILDA H. DIMAANO, Ph.D.
Adviser

PANEL OF EXAMINERS
Approved by the Committee on Oral Examination with a grade of ______.

DR. AMADA G. BANAAG
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.

Comprehensive Examination: ____________
_____________
Date

MATILDA H. DIMAANO, Ph.D.
Dean, Graduate Studies
College of Arts and Sciences


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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 Bac Giang City: Input to
Intervention Measures.
Author

: Ngô Thị Thu Hương

Degree

: Doctor of Philosophy

Major

: English

Year

: 2015

Adviser

: Dr. Matilda H. Dimaano

Summary
Knowledge regarding the four-macro skills that are needed by learners
to communicate effectively which include listening, speaking, reading, and
writing 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.
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


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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

subconsciously to grow naturally within them.
This study focused on the Freshman Vietnamese students’ English
Language Macro Skills among selected Colleges in Bac Giang City. It utilized
the descriptive method of research. The subjects of the study are composed of
299 first year college students taking up Basic English course in the three
colleges in Bac Giang namely Ngo Gia Tu College, Industry and Technology
College and Vocational College. The data gathering instruments used in the
study are the documentary analysis and teacher-made test.
Findings of the study revealed that the learning contents of a General
English course offered to Freshman students in Bac Giang was determined
through literature and detailed outline of the course General English I for
Diploma Degree Program with English Language as field issued by the
Ministry of Education and Training of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. It is
given four units credits with 60 hours- time allocation for the first semesters.
English I has the learning objectives of providing students with guidance in the
study of English Alphabet, vowels, consonants, stress, intonation and basic
structures; developing their ability to use these structures in different contexts;
enriching their knowledge in vocabulary and grammar and improving their
ability to communicate effectively by providing comprehensive re-enforcement

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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

activities in the four macro-skills of English language.
In addition, the course outline of General English I course is divided into
five units where each unit has six components namely: grammar, vocabulary,
reading, writing, speaking and listening.

Each unit also comprises overall

objectives. In unit I, the overall objectives are for the students to get to know
to each other and introduce themselves and other people. In Unit II, the overall
objectives are for the students to be able to ask for personal information, talk
about their family, family members, class, jobs and engage in conversation
about class, friends and family members.
For Unit III, the overall objectives are for the students to be able to use
the present simple with personal pronouns to talk and to write about work and
daily activities; and to tell time and date. For Unit IV, the overall objectives are
for the students to use the present simple, to talk and to write about shopping,
likes and dislikes, free time and leisure activities and for the students to be
familiar with situations in an English class.

Regarding Unit V, the overall

objective is for the students to describe the place where students live and for
them to ask and to give directions, as well as to report. In speaking, the focus
is on taking about stories and practice police interview while in listening the
focus is on listening for specific information.


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Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

Further, results of the study as to 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. There were significant
relationships existed in the students’ performance among the macro-skills in
English language. It was only the reading versus listening pair that showed no
significant relationship. Students encountered difficulties in comprehension for
macro skills in reading and listening; while sharpening writing skill is the
difficulty students encountered for macro kill in writing; and pronunciation for
the macro skill in speaking. The most serious among the difficulties in macroskills are those that pertain to comprehension skills in reading and listening.
The intervention measures proposed were composed of select strategies
designed to improve skills where students demonstrated poor performance.
The following are the recommendations of the study that English
teachers have to be encouraged to provide more language exercises for their
students to improve their language deficiencies; proposed intervention
measures must be utilized to validate their usefulness; similar studies on

English language macro skills be conducted on universities to determine their
students language performance.


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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The researcher sincerely expresses her heartfelt gratitude to the
following who contributed much in the accomplishment of this piece of work.
Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry, Viet Nam and
Batangas State University, Philippines for giving me the opportunity to finish
my Ph.D. degree.
Dr. Matilda H. Dimaano, Dissertation Adviser, for her patience,
guidance, encouragement and supervision in the writing this research. Her
enlightening suggestions and detailed comments have made this dissertation a
reality. Without her help, this study would not have been possible.
Dr. Corazon Cabrera and Dr. Myrna Sulit, external panel members for
their excellent comments and detailed suggestions;
Dr. Felix M. Panopio, statistician, for his kindness in sharing his
mathematical expertise;
Dr. Amada G. Banaag and Dr. Maria Luisa Valdez members of the panel
for their contributions in providing insightful suggestions;
Dr Remedios Magnaye, the recording secretary for writing down all the
comments and suggestions of the panel;

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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

Bac Giang Ngo Gia Tu College, for the financial assistance and moral
support;
The teachers of English Department from three Colleges: Bac Giang
Ngo Gia Tu college, Industry and Technology College, Vocational College in
Bac Giang province for their valuable insights that inspire her to carry out this
research endeavor; and
The first year college students from three the Bac Giang Colleges for
their cooperation in accomplishing the questionnaires.
The researcher is also very grateful for the wholehearted support and
love of her husband – Mr. Trong and her three children Quyen, Diep and
Quan along with all the members of her family during the writing process.


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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

DEDICATION
This piece of work is wholeheartedly dedicated to my loving and eversupportive husband, Mr. Trong and to my children. Sincere thanks are also
afforded to all the members of my family and to all colleagues in Bac Giang
College who made this work possible.

Ngô Thị Thu Hương


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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 ……………………………………………………...vii
DEDICATION ………………………………………………………………...ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................x
LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................xiii
LIST OF FIGURES ...............................................................................xiv
CHAPTER
I. THE PROBLEM
Introduction ..........................................................................1

Statement of the Problem ……………………………………...9
Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study ……………10
Significance of the Study ………………………………….......11
II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Conceptual Literature ………………………………………......13
Research Literature ……………………………………………..64


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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

Synthesis ……………………………………………………….70
Theoretical Framework………………………………………...75
Conceptual Framework ……………………………………… 78
Hypothesis …………………………………………………..... 81
Definition of Terms …………………………………………… 81
III. RESEARCH METHOD AND PROCEDURE
Research Environment .................................................... .. 84
Research Design …………………………………………….. 87
Subjects of the Study ………………………………………... 87
Data Gathering Instrument ………………………………….. 89
Data Gathering Procedure …………………………………… 92
Statistical Treatment of Data ………………………………… 93
IV. PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF
DATA……………………………………………………………. 94

V. SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Summary of Findings …………………………………………..144
Conclusions…………………………………………………......156
Recommendations……………………………………………...157
BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………..………….158


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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

APPENDICES
A. Questionnaire on English Language Macro-skills.....................169
B. Validation Letters of Teacher-Made Test and Survey
Questionnaires for Students and Teachers........……….............178
C. Request Letters
(1) To the Head of Institution of Vocational college .............181
(2) To the Head of Institution of ITC ....................................182
(3) To the Head of Institution of BG Ngo Gia Tu College ....183
D. Documentations
(1) Photographs of the Study Sites….…………...….….........184
(2) Validation of Questionnaires in
Batangas State University ………………………………...185
(3) Administration of Teacher-Made Tests
in Bac Giang Colleges……………………………………....186
(4) Administration of Questionnaires in Bac Giang College...187

(5) The Researcher with the Heads of Bac Giang Colleges
Retrieving the Response Letters to Requests…………...188
E. Psychrometric Conversion Table .............................................. .189
CURRICULUM VITAE


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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

LIST OF TABLES

Table
1

Title

Page

Distribution of Student Respondents in the
Three Colleges .............................................................88

2

Performance of Students in the Skill Area of
Reading Test................................................................100

3

Performance of Students in the Skill Area of
Writing Test ..................................................................105

4

Performance of Students in Listening Skills..................108

5

Performance of Students in Speaking Test………….....110

6

Percent of Each Pair of Test Groups ...........................112

7

Difficult Items in the Teacher-Made Test ………..….....114

8

Most Difficult Items in the Teacher-Made Test.............119

9

Skills to be Used as Bases for the Design of
Intervention Measures..................................................121

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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure
1

Title

Page

Research Paradigm on the English
Language Macro-Skills of Freshman
Vietnamese Students............................................80


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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM
Introduction
In learning, 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, speaking 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. 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


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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

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 metacognitive 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 macro
skills are indispensable in the learning process and teaching performances as
these 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 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


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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

skills are speaking, reading, listening, writing and viewing.
Speaking, as the most direct and useful form of communication 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. Literary works, artistic
communications like daily recitations and poetry engaged by people through
spoken language are also included. Speaking involves two persons or more
and has these features such as 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. 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 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.
Further, there are difficulties second language learner encountered in
listening like becoming distracted by the errors which the speakers learn to


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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

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.
Reading as an important skill in communication 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 ponder on the unknown. Aside from being a multifaceted 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.
Second language learners encountered difficulties 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 and word recognition where though 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


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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

always represented in writing. Learners either string all the words together or
pause after every word. Non-comprehension is also considered one among the
difficulties encountered in second language learners in reading. Finally, unfamiliar
vocabulary in reading content can be a source of discouragement to learners if
its difficulty interferes in the thought getting process.
In writing most people rely on it because they have difficulty of
expressing verbally what they put in written words and 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.
The latest addition to the macro skills in language is viewing which is
also one of the most important in communication skills.

It is a way of

portraying information in the data base, where the importance of mental faculty
that allows a perceiver to delineate or give details about a target that is
inaccessible to normal senses due to time and distance are given more
emphasis. Media as a form of printed page or illuminated TV set must be a


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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

venue for an active reader and viewer to analyze, react to challenges, explore
and understand them. Through viewing, favorite shows either in movies or
television as well as other forms of viewing devices can be watched by global
audience.
Students who experienced varied difficulties in learning participated fully
in any given learning activities as provided in the outcomes and contents found
in the syllabus. Among the difficulties second language learners experience in
learning are having difficulties with reading, writing and spelling; pronouncing
or reading multi-syllabic words; having reduced or limited vocabulary and word
knowledge in comparison to their peers; having poor retrieval of information
due to problems with meaning; and having poor literacy in their first language.
The behaviors manifested relative to these deficiencies of learners relative to
being easily destructed include: poor organizational skill; show reluctance to
learn or get involved in classroom activities, work slowly or too quickly and
inaccurately; demonstrate lack of motivation and have poor self- esteem.
Explicit teaching of new concepts and skills by teachers offer advantage
to students experiencing difficulties. It provides students with varied learning
opportunities. Effective lessons of teachers must contain clarity review of their
previous work and their lessons must be based on the previous lessons.
Further, new skills and concepts must be presented clearly and modelled by


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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

the teacher and students must be guided through their practice with
accompanying feedback to individual students and independent student
practice with the application of knowledge, skills and opportunity as well as
systematic consultation and revision of work previously covered.
As early as elementary grade, learners should be given rigid training as
part of their education on the use of the language appropriately in learning
English language. The problem of each of communication skills among learners
are pinpointed to insufficient training of teachers to learners starting from the
kindergarten as regards to macro skills in teaching the language. Further, as
part of the rudimentary task and professional work of the teacher, it is required
for them to teach learners with the principles and practice of writing. On the
part of the teacher, mastery of the elements or features of a language is
significant in the second language situation since it helps assess the needs of
the learners on the aspect of communication skills.
The act of speaking in a distinct or strategic way is also another problem
of the learner that needs to be addressed. Learners have the fear in speaking
in class or with peers in the second language or in the public. Teachers must
engage learners with constant practice, through recitations, presentations and
reports inside the classroom. Profound knowledge of teachers in English with
just knowing what structured lessons can be used with the macro skills in


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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

language teaching paved the way to actual performance or use of macro skills
in structured lessons, thus achieving more developments and improvements
on the intellectual aspects and acquisition of language of the learners.
Attaining the language skills on the part of the learners need mastery of the
language which takes years to learn. But, it can be attained for teachers are
required to note the oral and written difficulties encountered by learners and
address the difficulties by energizing students to varied learning activities gearing
towards enhancing language proficiency.
Learners can only benefit the outcome of individual societal integration if
they have attained the required level of proficiency in the English language. If
this level is attained, learner experiences personality adjustments and more
social

participation

which

is

contributory

to

his

future

professional

development. Teacher’s teaching must address the needs of the learners.

It

is of vital importance for teachers to determine the needs and difficulties of
students for her to design appropriate instructional materials for the
enhancement of learner’s language proficiency.
As a college instructor teaching Basic English Course at Bac Giang
College, the researcher is interested to investigate the English Language
Macro Skills of Freshmen students with the end view of proposing an
intervention measures to enhance the macro skills of freshmen students.


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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

Statement of the Problem
This study focused on the Freshman Vietnamese students’ English
Language Macro Skills among selected Colleges in Bac Giang City.
Specifically, it sought to answer the following questions:

1. What are the learning contents of a general English course offered to
Freshman Vietnamese students?
2. What are the levels of students’ performance in the macro-skills of:
2.1 Reading;
2.1.1 Word recognition Skills;
2.1.2 Comprehension Skills;
2.1.3 Utilization Skills;
2.2 Writing;
2.2.1 sharpening writing skill;
2.2.2 sentence correction;
2.3 Listening;
2.3.1 comprehension;
2.3.2 homonym;
2.3.3 correct stress of the word;
2.3.4 use of words;
2.4 Speaking;


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Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

2.4.1 pronunciation;
2.4.2 comprehension; and
2.4.3 grammatical accuracy?
3. Are there significant relationships between pairs of macro- skills in English

language?
4. What difficulties do students have in the following macro-skills:
4.1. Reading;
4.2. Writing;
4.3. Listening; and
4.4. Speaking?
5. Which among the difficulties appear to be more relatively serious?
6. What intervention measures maybe proposed to enhance macro- skills of
students?
Scope, Delimitation and Limitation
This study was focused on the English Language Macro skills of First Year
College students among selected Colleges in Bac Giang City. It covered the
learning contents of a general English course offered to Freshman Vietnamese
students as well as the level of students’ performance in the macro-skills of
reading, writing, speaking and listening.

This also determined the significant

differences among the macro-skills in English language and the proposed


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Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

intervention measures to enhance the macro-skills of the First year students

among the selected colleges in Bac Giang Province.
The study covered the three (3) colleges in Bac Giang City namely:
Vocational College, College of Technology and Industry, Bac Giang Ngo Gia
Tu College. This study was limited on the results of the data gathered. Results
of the study were limited on the information from the respondents in the
Academic year 2013-2014.
Significance of the Study
The study is beneficial to the Administrators of Bac Giang College,
English teachers, First Year students, Parents and and Future researchers.
Administrators of Bac Giang College. This study can guide them in
the Curriculum development by evaluating the different English proficiency
enhancing activities. This study will serve as a guide for the realignment of the
existing curriculum of Basic English to meet their institutional goals and
objectives.
Faculty of Basic English. This study will serve as a guide to the faculty
teaching Basic English as they may be aware of the present level of students’
performance in macro-skills. This study will provide them insights on what
classroom learning activities will be appropriate to enhance the Language
proficiency of their students.