Sociolinguistic competengcies of first year college students of Thai Nguyen University system basis for creativity enhancement activities

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BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Republic of the Philippines

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
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SOCIOLINGUISTIC COMPETENCIES OF FIRST YEAR COLLEGE
STUDENTS OF THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SYSTEM: BASIS FOR
CREATIVITY ENHANCEMENT ACTIVITIES

A Dissertation
Presented to
The Faculty of Graduate School
Batangas State University
Batangas City, Philippines

In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Major in English

By:
NGUYEN LAN HUONG ( PERFUME)

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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
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BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
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APPROVAL SHEET
This dissertation entitled SOCIOLINGUISTIC COMPETENCIES OF
FIRST YEAR COLLEGE STUDENTS OF THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
SYSTEM: BASIS FOR CREATIVITY ENHANCEMENT ACTIVITIES
prepared and submitted by NGUYEN LAN 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.

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ABSTRACT

Title

: Sociolinguistics Competencies of First Year College
Students of Thai Nguyen University System:

Basic for

Creativity Ehancement Activities
Author

: Nguyen Lan Huong (Perfume)

Course

: Doctor of Philosophy

Major

: English

Year

: 2015

Adviser

: Dr. Amada Bannag

SUMMARY
This study was undertaken to determine the sociolinguistic
competencies of first-year college students of Thai Nguyen University to
propose creativity enhancement activities.
A descriptive method was employed in this study which includes
a total of 400 students and 57 English teachers who serve as the
respondents. In this study, a survey questionnaire and researcher -made test were used.
The data were analyzed using frequency distribution, weighted
mean, regression analysis, One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)

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and

Pearson-product Moment Correlation using 0.05 level of

significance.
The study seeks to answers to the following questions:
1. What is the profile of the students in terms of:
1.1. Age
1.2. Gender
1.3. Educational attainment of parents
1.4. Exposure to the English language
1.5. Family income
1.6. Type of high school graduated from?
2. What is the level of students‘ sociolinguistic performance?
3. How do teachers assess the level of students‘ sociolinguistic
competencies with reference to?
3.1. Respect
3.2. Friendliness
3.3. Confidence
3.4. Resourcefulness
3.5. Emotional maturity?
4. Are there significant differences on the students‘ level of
sociolinguistic competencies as assessed by the teachers when
grouped according to their profile variables?
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5. Are there significant relationships between the students‘
performance

and

teachers‘

assessments

on

sociolinguistic

competencies?
6. Which among the parameters of sociolinguistic competencies as
assessed by the teachers‘ respondents are strongly manifested by
students?
7. What creativity enhancement activities may be prepared towards
improved sociolinguistic competencies?
The study found out that most of the respondents belong to age bracket
of 16 to 20 years old, females who graduated from public schools and
exposed to English language on university level. They mostly come

from low to average income earners with both parents are only high
school diploma holders.
The level of sociolinguistics performance of the respondents‘ was
on the normal range, not so fluent but not pitiable. The respondents‘
were able to obtain this level of performance since they have the ability
to know how to speak to different people in different situations Teachers
positively assessed that students‘ possessed a good competence in
terms of sociolinguistic aspect. There is no significant difference on the
students‘ level of sociolinguistic competencies as assessed by the
teachers when grouped according to profile variables. There is no
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statistically significant relationship between the students‘ performance
and the teachers‘ assessment on sociolinguistic competencies. The five
independent

variables

(respect,

friendliness,

confidence,

resourcefulness and emotional maturity) was not considered the best
predictor of the students sociolinguistic competencies. Creativity
enhancement activity is planned for implementation and evaluation to
improve the students‘ sociolinguistic competence.
It is therefore recommened that language students‘ may need to
understand pragmatic aspects of the target culture better in order not
only to speak grammatically but also to interpret appropriately what they
hear and to interact effectively in the class. Students‘ may learn how to
use and interpret the sociolinguistic rules of

English in various

contexts by developing awareness on areas in which sociolinguistic
system of his/her own culture from those of other cultures. Students
may develop common speech pattern to bond quickly and establish
friendship to other students with different cultures. Teachers may need
to incorporate many cross-cultural analyses in their teaching in order to
address learners‘ possible communicative problems. Teachers may use
the creativity enhancement exercises to imrove the sociolinguistics
performance. Follow-up study may be conducted to focus on the
effectiveness of the proposed creativity enhancement activity.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The writer extends her sincerest thanks and appreciations to those
people who in one way or another have helped make this piece of work
a reality.
Dr.Dang Kim Vui,

President of Thai Nguyen University, for

establishing the international cooperation relationship between BSU and
TNU.
Dr. Hoang Bich Thao, Director for International Training Center, for
her assistance and for supporting the researcher a chance to gain
professional growth through completion of this study.
The Panel of Examiners, for their honest and meaningful
comments and recommendation to go on with this research work.
Dr. Amada Banaag, her adviser and mentor, who drained all her

effort and her best during the entire preparation and revision of this study.
To the Rectors of universities, for their permission to conduct the
research at Thai Nguyen Universities.
To the teachers - respondents of the study,

for their active

involvement and cooperation.
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To the students who served as her respondents for their
assistance and collaboration in providing information necessary for the
completion of the study.
To her husband and her children, for inspiring her fulfill her dream.
To her ever dearest friends, and relatives who in one way or
another, gave her encouragement and remarkable support.

N.L.H

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DEDICATION

With pride and honor,
This piece of work is lovingly dedicated
To her beloved parents, her loving husband
and to her children

N. L. H

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
ABSTRACT ..............................................................................................i
ACKNOWLEDGMENT ...........................................................................vi
DEDICATION ...................................................................................... viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS .........................................................................ix
LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................xii
CHAPTER
I.

THE PROBLEM
Introduction .......................................................................1
Statement of the Problem .................................................6
Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study ...............7
Significance of the Study ..................................................8

II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Conceptual Literature .................................................... 10

Theoretical Framework .................................................. 44
Conceptual Framework .................................................. 47
Hypotheses of the Study ................................................ 48
Definition of Terms ......................................................... 49

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III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURE
Research Environment .................................................. 51
Research Design ........................................................... 53
Subjects of the Study ..................................................... 53
Data Gathering Instrument ............................................ 56
Data Gathering Procedure ............................................. 58
Statistical Treatment of Data ......................................... 59
IV. PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND
INTERPRETATION OF DATA
V. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS ANRECOMMENDATIONS

Summary of Finding ..................................................... 118
Findings ....................................................................... 120
Conclusions ................................................................. 126
Recommendations ....................................................... 127
BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDICES
A. Questionnaires For Students .................................. 135
B. Questionaire for Teacher ........................................ 139
C. Test on Socioliguistics Competence ....................... 141
D. Letters of Request to the Head of Institution ........... 146
E. Documents for Validation of Questionaires .......... 149
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G: Photographs of the Study Sites ............................. 150
H: Photographs of the Approval Test Administration of
the Head of Institutions ........................................... 151
K. Photographs of the Teachers-Respondents........... 152

L. Photographs of the Students Respondents ............. 153
CURRICULUM VITAE

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LIST OF TABLES
Page
1. Distribution of Population and Sample ........................................... 54
2. Percentage Distribution of the Students‘ Profile in terms of Age ... 60
3.

Percentage Distribution of the Students‘ Profile in terms of
Gender .................................................................................. 61

4. Percentage Distribution of the Students‘ Profile in terms of
Educational Attainment of Parents ........................................ 62
5. Percentage Distribution of the Students‘ Profile in terms

Exposure to English Language ............................................. 64
6. Percentage Distribution of the Students‘ Profile in terms
Monthly Family Income ......................................................... 65
7. Percentage Distribution of the Students‘ Profile in terms of
Type of High School Graduated ............................................ 66
8. Level of Students‘ Sociolinguistic Performance ............................. 68
9. Sociolinguistics Competence in terms of Respect as Perceived
by the Teachers ..................................................................... 71
10. Sociolinguistics Competence in terms of Friendliness as
Perceived by the Teachers.................................................... 73
11. Sociolinguistics Competence in terms of Confidence as
Perceived by the Teachers.................................................... 75
12. Sociolinguistics Competence in terms of Resourcefulness as
Perceived by the Teachers.................................................... 77
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13. Sociolinguistics Competence in terms of Emotional Maturity as

Perceived by the Teachers.................................................... 79
14. Summary Table on Sociolinguistics Competence as Perceived
by the Teachers ..................................................................... 81
15. Difference of Responses on Sociolinguistics Competence in
terms of Respect When Grouped According to Profile
Variables ............................................................................... 83
16. Difference of Responses on Sociolinguistics Competence in
terms of Friendliness When Grouped According to Profile
Variables ............................................................................... 86
17. Difference of Responses on Sociolinguistics Competence in
terms of Confidence When Grouped According to Profile
Variables ............................................................................... 88
18. Difference of Responses on Sociolinguistics Competence in
terms of Resourcefulness When Grouped According to
Profile Variables .................................................................... 90
19. Difference of Responses on Sociolinguistics Competence in
terms of Emotional Maturity When Grouped According to
Profile Variables .................................................................... 92
20. Relationship Between the Students‘ Performance and
Teachers‘ Assessment on Sociolinguistic Competencies ..... 94
21. Sociolinguistic Parameters of Sociolinguistic Competencies
that Manifest to Students....................................................... 96
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure
1

Page
The Reasearch Paradigm……….`…………………...

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CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM
Introduction
It is apparent that in the 21st century, the trend of globalization is
leading to closer relationships between countries. Of all the different
languages, English, as an international language is widely used in
communication between people and countries. The English language has
spread and developed globally, which is a fact that cannot be ignored.
The ability to speak a language that is not one's own such as English
has become a vital skill, and the world's politics and economy ride on the
ability of individuals to effectively communicate across cultural boundaries.
The key to communication lies in successful expression of one's intended
meaning, which is not always as easy as one would hope. All too often,
students who have studied English for years will go to the country where
the language is spoken only to find that despite years of study, they are still
unable to express their meaning to native speakers. To make matters
worse, the language learner may say a perfectly grammatical utterance
that the native listener can understand, but the speaker might not know the
normal social meaning communicated by such an utterance in the
circumstance at hand in the target language culture.


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Sociolinguistics is a word used to describe the study of the
appropriateness of language in different contexts. In other words,
sociolinguistics is the study of how situational factors such as the
cultural context and setting of a speech event affect the choice of what
should be said.
When language learners learn how to manipulate their utterances to
make them appropriate to the situation in which they are speaking, it is said
that they have achieved sociolinguistic competence in that language. Along
these lines, linguistic competence is the term used to describe a learner's
abilities in the grammatical aspects of language, including grammar,
pronunciation and vocabulary.
Good sociolinguistic skills in a second language are important
because if one makes serious mistakes in this type of competence, people
will not simply think that the person is ignorant but rather, they will think
that he is ill-mannered, dishonest, insincere, rude and pushy. If the
grammar is excellent, the person will be judged all the more severely for
sociolinguistic gaffes. Misunderstandings result in amusement, contempt,
disappointment, shock, bewilderment, serious insult, or ethnic stereotypes.
Improving sociolinguistic competence needs to be a part of the
language learning process from the beginning. Many language schools and
language learning programs focus almost exclusively on language


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components such grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation, and very little
attention is paid to helping students understand how to be appropriate in a
new cultural context. An assumption is often made that language learners
will pick up sociolinguistic competence simply by being exposed to the
culture. Unfortunately, this is not often the case.
The importance of English as a second language in Vietnam cannot
be over-emphasized. English is given high prominence in the country as it
serves as its unifying factor. It is a language of prestige and it is associated
with the elite. English is used in performing several social functions. It is a
means of imparting knowledge across all levels of education in the country.
It is the language of religion, business transactions, technological
advancement as well as the language of other social and secular
transactions in Vietnam.
In Vietnam, English has been considered an ideal choice of majority of
the Vietnamese and has become compulsory subject in many schools from
primary to college. Especially, since 2006 when Vietnam joined World
Trade Organization, which remarked the turning point of the country in the
globalization process, English has considerably confirmed its prime role in
the association trend. Studying English is not only an opportunity but also
the duty of almost Vietnamese students in order to adjust themselves to
the changes of the world, the area in general and the country in particular.


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Whether Vietnamese students like English or not, they who aspires to
make it in this world should master English as their second language.
Mastery of English, a communication tool of wider domain, does not make
them less of Vietnamese. Students will be able to write scientific economic
research proposals and report findings. Students can write and defend
budget proposals and technical papers or prepare lectures or sermons that
could move the hearts of men. Indeed, they could be able to produce
documents that could spell progress and development.
The number of Vietnamese students studying English has increased
steadily over the past few years. However, to master this language is not
as straightforward as it appears to be. Vietnamese learners certainly face
numerous unavoidable difficulties such as lack of qualified teachers,
learning and teaching materials, and so on. It cannot be denied that there
is poor quality of teaching and learning English in Vietnam, especially in
rural areas although English learners are of great quantity. This seems to
be the consequence of the traditional methods of teaching and learning
existing for long in the country.
The ultimate goal of language acquisition is to have ―meaningful
interaction in the target language—natural communication—in which
speakers are concerned not with the form of their utterances but with the
message they are conveying and understanding‖ (Krashen, 2007). Hence,

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developing English language learners‘ communicative competence is the
focal point of language teaching, and it is critical to learners‘ future
development.
Thai Nguyen University (TNU) is an educational community of
vibrant and learned scholars, professionals, friends, and students. Since its
establishment in 1994, TNU has become one of Vietnam‘s leading regional
Universities. It is a conglomeration of colleges which were established
earlier as separate institutions of learning.
However, Thai Nguyen University, being a mountainous university,
receives students mainly from the mountainous and rural areas where
English is not improved considerably. Entering university, these students
have to study English as a compulsory subject right from the first semester
and they are evaluated with both communication skill and grammar
knowledge. High school graduates come into university with fairly high
levels of grammatical competence, but often with correspondingly low
levels of sociolinguistic competence in terms of foreign language
proficiency. For many, English appears to be learned as a school subject
rather than as a language that is a strong part of many cultures. An

emphasis on learning language as decontextualized knowledge, as a
formal system, seems to takes academic precedence.


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Due to such predicaments, the researcher being in English teacher,
she has been teaching English for part-time and full-time students who
were graduates from various degree courses of different schools. During
her teaching years, she has recognized that First year college students
may not have realized yet how important and relevant English
sociolinguistic competencies to their course and to their life.

For this

reason, the researcher was motivated to conduct this study to assess the
sociolinguistic competencies of the first- year students at Thai Nguyen
University.

Statement of the Problem
This study aimed to find out the sociolinguistic competencies of firstyear College students of Thai Nguyen University to propose creativity
enhancement activities.

Specifically, the study sought to answer the following questions:
1. What is the profile of the students in terms of:
1.1 age
1.2 gender
1.3 educational attainment of parents
1.4 exposure to the English language
1.5 Family income
1.6 Type of high school graduated from?


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2. What is the level of students‘ sociolinguistic performance?
3. How do teachers assess the level of students‘ sociolinguistic
competencies with reference to:
3.1 respect
3.2 friendliness
3.3 confidence
3.4 resourcefulness
3.5 Emotional maturity?
4.

Are there significant differences on the students‘ level of

sociolinguistic competencies as assessed by the teachers when grouped
according to their profile variables?
5.

Are there any significant relationships between the students‘

performance and teachers‘ assessments on sociolinguistic competencies?
6.

Which among the parameters of sociolinguistic competencies as

assessed by the teachers- respomdents are strongly manifested by students?
7.

What creativity enhancement activities may be prepared

towards improved sociolinguistic competencies?
Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study
The focus of the study is the sociolinguistic competencies of first
year college students of Thai Nguyen University for the school year
2013-2014.


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The study included 5 universities of TNU namely: Thai Nguyen
University of Agriculture and Forestry, Thai Nguyen university of Education,
Thai Nguyen University of Economic and Business Administration, Thai
Nguyen University of Industry Technology, Thai Nguyen University of
Science.
The respondents of the study were 400 first-year students at Thai
Nguyen University. The profile of the student-respondents was described in
terms of: age, gender, educational attainment of parents, exposure English
as a language, family income, types of schools graduated from. Another
set of respondents include the 57 English teachers of TNU.
The junior students, senior students and repeaters will not be
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
The study will be deemed significant for its contributions to the
following groups or individuals.
Educational planners. This study will give educational planners an
insight into the ways how to restructure the curriculum into proficiencybased one to better help students achieve needed skills in English.


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English Teachers. The result of this study will provide teachers
ideas on how to enhance their expertise not only in the preparation and
organization of the lesson and teaching materials but also in the different
activities and exercise designed to be given to the students.
Students.

They will benefit from the improvement educational

practice to be gained by the teachers through the study.
The researcher herself. She will be able apply the results of the
study to enhance the language competence of her students and to her own
teaching for the benefit of the students.
To future researchers. They may use the findings of this study as
springboard for conducting similar researches.


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CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE

This chapter presents the conceptual literature, related literatures,
synthesis, theoretical and conceptual framework, definition of terms and
the hypothesis.

Conceptual Literature
This section reviews some related concepts and theories that serve
as the basis of this study. It is consist of topics on communicative
competency development, sociolinguistic competencies, creativity and
resourcefulness and activity planning.
Communicative

Competence

Development.

To

Widdowson

(1983), communicative competence is a set of strategies or creative
procedure for realizing the value of linguistic elements in context of use, an
ability to make sense as a participant in discourse, whether spoken or
written, by the skillful deployment of shared knowledge or code resources
and rules of language use.

According to Ellis (1994), communicative competence is "the
knowledge that users of a language have internalized to enable them to
understand and produce messages in the language".