Resource materials for the three modalities of english language among sophomore college students of thai nguyen university

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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

RESOURCE MATERIALS FOR THE THREE MODALITIES OF
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AMONG SOPHOMORE COLLEGE
STUDENTS OF THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY

A Dissertation Proposal
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 THU HOAI
June 2015


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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

APPROVAL SHEET
This dissertation entitled “RESOURCE MATERIALS FOR THE THREE
MODALITIES OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AMONG SOPHOMORE COLLEGE
STUDENTS OF THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY” prepared and submitted by
NGUYEN THI THU HOAI 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.


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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

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: PASSED

_____________
Date

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

Title

: Resource Materials for the Three Modalities of English
Language among Sophomore College Students of Thai
Nguyen University

Author

: Nguyen Thi Thu Hoai

Course

: Doctor of Philosophy


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Major

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

: English

Year

: 2015

Adviser

: Dr. Matilda H. Dimaano

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

Summary
A study was conducted to determine the performance of Sophomore
College students of Thai Nguyen University, Vietnam in the three English

language modalities namely; speaking, listening, and oral or speaking to serve
as basis for proposed resource materials. The descriptive method of research
was used in the study applying survey technique for teacher assessment of
responses and teacher-made test to determine students’ performance.
Respondents of the study include 279 Sophomore College students of Thai
Nguyen University, Vietnam and their respective English teachers. The survey
questionnaire and teacher-made test served as the sources of data for
statistical analyses.
Findings of the study revealed that in the demographic profile of the

student respondents according to gender, there was a close distribution of both
genders with the males slightly exceeding the females by seven percent .Their
parents’ have tertiary education and student respondents’ originated from 14
different places in Vietnam four of which are urban and ten are rural. As for the


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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

types of high school attended, majority of them or 95.70 percent had their
education in public schools which means that majority had to avail of the
standardized education program of public schools and further reflected their
less affluent status, consistent with their profile on place of origin where most
of them come from rural areas.
In relation to student's performance in the three language modalities,

students have generally low performance in reading with a mean correct rating
of 24.91 percent and a verbal equivalent of poor while in listening, the mean
percent correct score of 31.59 and speaking with a mean correct score of
47.74 which both indicate students’ average performance. In relation to
student's performance in the three language modality test groups stratified
according to profile variables, for gender, the p-value for Listening and
Speaking is below 0.05 indicating that the performance of the male and the
female students are significantly different. For reading, a p-value greater than
0.05 was obtained which indicates that gender is a significant factor that

influences the reading skills of these students.
On the aspect of Parent’s Education, a significant difference is noted for
speaking while in place of origin, the p-values were below 0.05 and are
significantly different for urban and rural origin. In the case of the type of High


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Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

School all the p-values were below 0.05 indicating that performance of the
students in the three modalities are significantly different for both the private
and public schools.
In teachers’ assessment of the students’ reading, listening and speaking
skills, one out of 13 items obtained an agree score of >50 percent. This item
pertains to phonetic analysis which indicates that the teacher respondents

either do not fully grasp the concept of the survey or they do not understand
the questions in the context of their teaching English at the sophomore level
and were answering the survey questions randomly.
According to the perception of the teacher respondents regarding
frequency of use by the students, majority of the items got ratings below 2.5.
Only one had a rating of 2.5 which pertains to reading comprehension which
means that this is the only modality item teachers perceived as frequently
practiced and demonstrated by the sophomore students.
As for the perceptions of teacher respondents according to their degree

of importance, two items had mean scores close to 4.0 or equivalent to
moderately important, four items had a score of 3.0 or slightly important and
three had a score of 2.0 or less important which indicate that the teacher


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Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

respondents consider only Reading Comprehension and Context clues as the
more important student’s skills given emphasis in the sophomore stage.
As for the relationship of teacher’s assessment and students’
performance in the three language modalities, reading performance of the
students are significantly different from the frequency and degree of
importance ratings of the teachers while the listening performance of the
students is not significantly different from the frequency and degree of

importance ratings of the teachers. The speaking performance of the students
on the other hand is significantly different from the frequency rating of the
teachers but not significantly different from the degree of importance rating. In
general, among the three language modalities, it was the listening
performance of the students that is significantly related to the assessment of
the teachers. The reading and the speaking performance are generally
independent of the teacher’s assessment.
For the proposed remedial exercises in the three modalities of language,
considerations are utilized as bases such as low performance score of the

students in the modality areas; meaningful relationship of the performance
scores with the profile variables; and the meaningful relationship of the
performance scores with the teachers’ assessments.


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Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

Based on these findings, the study recommended that the proposed
output in the form of remedial exercise be reviewed by school heads prior to its
used in the classroom; that the students’ weaknesses in reading, listening and
speaking must be given attention by administrators; and that a similar study
may be conducted along modalities of language.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

The researcher would like to convey her sincerest gratitude to the
following persons whose valuable contributions enabled her to finish this
academic work:
Dr. Dang Kim Vui, President of Thai Nguyen University for the
opportunity given to be included in the Ph. D English program in partnership
with Batangas State University;
Dr. Matilda H. Dimaano, Dissertation Adviser, for providing valuable
inputs for the improvement of this study. Her guidance and expertise in
research proved to be of great help in the completion of this academic
endeavor;
Dr. Corazon Cabrera, Dr. Amada Banaag, Dr. Maria Luisa A. Valdez, Dr.
Felix M. Panopio, Dr. Myrna G. Sulit, Panel of Examiners for their insightful
comments that enrich this research;
Dr. Remedios P. Magnaye, Recording Secretary for her patience and
dedication in preparing the minutes of the defense proceedings;
Teacher and student respondents of the study, for the cooperation and
willingness in answering the research instruments;
Colleagues and friends for their encouragement to finish this study;

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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

Finally, my parents and family for their love, support and words of
encouragement.
Nguyen Thi Thu Hoai


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Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

DEDICATION
This work is wholeheartedly dedicated to my parents, husband, and
children Dam Minh Tri, and Dam Thi Kim Ngan.

Nguyen Thi Thu Hoai


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Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
TITLE PAGE........................................................................................ i
APPROVAL SHEET............................................................................ ii
ABSTRACT......................................................................................... iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENT...................................................................... viii
DEDICATION....................................................................................... x
TABLE OF CONTENTS...................................................................... xi
LIST OF TABLES................................................................................ xiv
LIST OF FIGURES............................................................................. xvi
CHAPTER
I. THE PROBLEM
Introduction............................................................ 1
Statement of the Problem ..................................... 7
Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study..... 8
Significance of the Study ....................................... 9
II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Conceptual Literature............................................. 11
Research Literature................................................ 40


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BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

Synthesis ............................................................... 47

Theoretical Framework ......................................... 50
Conceptual Framework ......................................... 53
Hypothesis............................................................. 54
Definition of Terms................................................. 56
III. RESEARCH METHOD AND PROCEDURE
Research Environment .......................................... 58
Research Design .................................................. 59
Subjects of the Study ............................................ 60
Data Gathering Instrument..................................... 61
Data Gathering Procedure..................................... 64
Statistical Treatment of Data ................................ 66
IV. PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF
DATA .................................................................... 68
V. SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Summary of Findings............................................. 119
Conclusions ........................................................... 130
Recommendation .................................................. 131
BIBLIOGRAPHY.............................................................................132


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Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

APPENDICES…………………………………………………………. 139
A. Questionnaires............................................................. 140
B. Letters of Request....................................................... 151
C. Documentations......................................................... 159
CURRICULUM VITAE………………………………………………… 172


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Republic of the Philippines

LIST OF TABLES

Table

Title

Page

1

Distribution of the Respondents of the Study………………. 61

2

Gender Profile of the Student Respondents……..…………. 69

3

Parent's Educational Attainment …………………………….. 70

4

Place of Origin of the Student Respondents……………….... 72

5

Type of High School Profile …………………………………..... 74

6

Levels of Students’ Performance in the
Learning Modality of Reading................................................ 77

7

Levels of Students’ Performance in the
Learning Modality of Listening............................................. 79

8

Levels of Students’ Performance in the
Learning Modality of Speaking............................................. 81

9

Correlation of Students’ Performance in the Three Language
Modality Test Groups with Profile Variables………………….. 84


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BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

Student Skills Employed in Teaching the Basic English

Course………………………………………………………....... 87
11

Teachers’ Assessments of Student Skills and
Their Frequency of Use ……………………………………..... 89

12

Teachers’ Assessments of Student Skills and
Their Degree of Importance ………………………………….. 91

13

Teachers’ Assessments of Students’ Performance
in Three Language Modalities ……………………………..... 93

14

Bases for the Design of Remedial Exercises on the Three
Modalities of Language...................................................... 95


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Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure
1

Title

Page

Conceptual Paradigm of the Study …………….....................55


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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM
Introduction
English as a versatile language is considered an amazing language.
Though it only ranked third in terms of the number of people using, still it
becomes the global language and declared as the lingua franca of the world.
English language is spread through the demands of the business
sector, the academe, science and technology, and the diplomatic advocacy of
the espousing country. There are reasons identified why foreign language
learners need to learn English. First to be able to do business, to be educated,
to have a political alliance with, to be able to work or migrate in America, for it
is believed that proficiency in this language offers attractive economic returns;
uplifts the status of people in the third world countries and English language
serves as the major bridge towards greater opportunities, understanding,
academic progress and personal development.
Being aware of the importance of the English language, government
agencies of most countries invest on English learning process. They have set
goals to improve the English proficiency of their component population and

impose programs through their educational system. This scenario is not new to


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Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

Vietnam and in fact the government has planned long term national project in
line with foreign languages. They set programs to uplift the status not only of
the English proficiency of its students but also the competence of language
teachers from primary to tertiary schools.
Learners studying the foreign language basically develop competence in
speaking and writing with emphasis on grammar. There are four ways in
learning the English language. These include visual or seeing, auditory or
hearing, kinaesthetic or moving, and tactile or touching. According to Bandler,
et al., (1997) language learning involves stimulation of multiple areas in the
brain and that English language learning to be effective cannot be just one
dimensional which means that the more faculties involved, the better and
longer term is the learning. Understanding of the cognitive skills is not always
involved in the learning process which explains the reason why adults tend to
learn the second language slower compared to the young.
English language has four modalities or skills which include reading,
writing, speaking and listening. In learning the language, listening comes first,
followed by speaking, then reading and finally writing. There are two ways how
these four language modalities are related to each other. These are the
direction of communication, the in or out, and the method of communication,

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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

the spoken or the written.
Reading as a skill that helps man discover new things around him
serves as the foundation of learning of an individual. One acquires knowledge
and key concepts from the simplest to the most complex through reading. It is
considered vital in different learning situations. Ability to read well provides
opportunities for personal fulfilment and job success.
Further as an important skill in communication, reading is also a
multifaceted process. It involves word recognition, comprehension, fluency and
motivation. A person gets information from written letters and words through
reading. As a basic life skill, reading serves as a cornerstone for a student’s
success in school since all subjects require this skill for smooth flow and
transfer of learning. Total comprehension is the ultimate goal of reading and
integration of several or all subskills into a unitary skill during reading is
required. Reacting to authentic and real reading materials at different levels of
comprehension such as literal, interpretative, evaluative critical and creative
levels on the other hand are the ways integration is achieved.
Listening

as

language

modality

is

a

very

important

area

of

communication. There is an active involvement of individual in listening as it
involves a sender, a message and a receiver. Willingness of an individual to


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Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

participate completely in a communicative situation signifies good listening. A
number of processes also work on various levels in order to produce an

understanding of the incoming speech when good listeners involve themselves
with any type of spoken discourse.
In addition, listening is also important in the development of spoken
language proficiency. Means of interaction for the learner is provided by
spoken language likewise access to speakers of the language is essential
because learners must interact to achieve understanding. Good and proper
listening stimulates better communication in actual speaking situation.
Considered the productive skill in the oral mode is speaking. As a
communication skill a person is able to verbalize his thoughts and ideas
through speaking. A person may get involve into three kinds of speaking
situations such as interactive speaking, partially interactive speaking and noninteractive speaking. In interactive listening, learners are engaged in listening
and speaking alternately, and through a conversation partner, request to slow
down conversation, clarification and repetition can be done while in partially
interactive speaking, the speaker may continue to deliver his speech without
interruption from the audience. Non-interactive speaking can best manifest in
speech recording or a radio broadcast. No actual interaction happens.


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Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

Good speaking and listening as part of one process can help learners to
become successful in and out of school. It is believed that if learner speaks
well ideas can be expressed clearly, likewise, if the learner listens well more
learning can be remembered. That is why integration of these language

modalities is considered important in classroom activities to ensure learners’
participation in the use of language. This integration is done for reinforcement
of lessons. The integration of language modalities can best be illustrated for
instance in writing where it helps learner improve their speaking skills, so as
with reading where it facilitates learner’s writing competence.
Improved competence in other modalities resulted from practice in one
modality. Teacher can project how learners can use language for a variety of
purposes if language modalities are integrated in curriculum and instruction.
Modalities can be integrated in instruction through lessons and assessments
more formally and informally for student’s language production scaffolding. A
technique that teacher can make use in integrating modalities is through
cooperative learning. Here learners can work together by means of speaking
and listening to each other and also synthesizing information through reading
and writing their ideas for possible presentation.
In language modalities, learners encountered difficulties. In reading,


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Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

learners no longer enjoy reading as most of them are not fluent readers. They
have hard time understanding a given text as they have not acquired
necessary competence in reading or they lack comprehension in what they are
reading. They also encountered problems in pronunciation and recognition of
English words as well as learners’ inability to group words into thought units.

On the other hand, learners have to cope up with the problems on
vocabulary structures and rate of delivery in listening. Learners also have short
attention span and lose focus due to lack of understanding of the topic when it
comes to listening to a native speaker of the language. Learners also
encountered problem relative to sound of the English language. It takes
sometimes for them to identify the sounds which are unfamiliar to them.
The skill of speaking is considered difficult. Learners might be forced to
speak a language which they are not comfortable with, due to lack of
understanding of its sentence structure, grammar and word order. Though
learners might have knowledge of words, their lack of understanding of their
proper use in sentences poses another problem.
As an English teacher teaching Basic English subjects among second
year college students of Thai Nguyen University, the above mentioned
problems were also observed. These observations prompted her to conduct


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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

the study to know the students’ performance in the three language modalities
namely; reading, listening and speaking in order to come up with resource
materials that will help college students enhance their learning the Basic
English.
Statement of the Problem
This study determined the performance of sophomore college students

of Thai Nguyen University, Vietnam in the three English language modalities to
serve as basis for proposed resource materials.
Specifically, this sought answer to the following questions:
1.

What is the demographic profile of sophomore students with

reference to:
1.1

gender;

1.2

parents’ educational attainment;

1.3

students’ place of origin; and

1.4

type of school attended (high school)?

2. What is the performance of students in the following language
modalities in terms of:
2.1

reading;

2.2

listening; and


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BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
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speaking?

3. Are there significant differences on the performance of students when
grouped according to their profile variables?
4. How do teachers assess the performance of students in
the three language modalities?
5. Are there significant differences between the performance of students
and the teachers’ assessment on the three modalities?
6. What resource materials may be proposed to enhance students’
English modality performance?
Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study
This study focused on determining the performance of students in the
three modalities of language namely; reading, listening, oral or speaking.
Profiles of sophomore college students were also determined in terms of
gender, parents’ educational attainment, students’ place of origin and type of

school attended.
The descriptive method of research was used in the study utilizing
survey technique and teacher-made test as data gathering instruments.
Respondents of the study include 279 second year college students and 50
English teachers coming from the five Thai Nguyen University in Vietnam.