Oral and written discourse analysis: basis for integrative activities for basic English course at Thai Nguyen University

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THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY

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ORAL AND WRITTEN DISCOURSE ANALYSIS: BASIS FOR

INTEGRATIVE ACTIVITIES FOR BASIC ENGLISH

COURSE AT THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY

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:

VU KIEU HANH

April 2015

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ABSTRACT

Title : Oral and Written Discourse Analysis: Basis for Integrative

Activities for Basic English Course at Thai Nguyen University

Author : Vũ Kiều Hạnh

Course : Doctor of Philosophy

Major : English

Year : 2015

Adviser : Dr. Matilda H. Dimaano

Summary:

This study aimed to analyze the oral and written discourse of First Year

College students enrolled in Basic English Course at Thai Nguyen University

with integrative activities as the output of the study. It made use of the

descriptive method of research. The respondents of the study comprised of

367 students and 65 teachers. The statistical tools used were mean,

percentage, percentile rank, ranking, standard deviation, and t-test.

The findings of the study show that the biggest group of respondent or 46.9

percent have parents with educational attainment in the tertiary level of education

which means that student‟s parents have higher educational attainment and are

motivated to send their children to higher education as they do.

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In addition, the students came from at least 13 different places in

Vietnam. This indicates that the University campus under study cater to

students coming from different places in Vietnam and therefore handles a

heterogeneous student population. As regards the place of origin in terms of

whether these are urban or rural, it can be noted that majority comes from

urban areas. Thus, it can be said that the respondents can afford and have

access to University education.

Further, findings revealed that 357 out of 367 students or 97.3 percent

had exposure to the English media. However, mere exposure did not give

much impact on the learning of the English language. Findings also indicates

that certain factors constrained the students to be exposed to foreign media,

like the lack of English shows in TV station, or the mandated program of the

government to control English language instruction. The identification and

resolution of these factors could be critical in the successful English language

learning of the students.

In relation to pronunciation and fluency, the average score of correct

items is 2.80 which indicates that the level of pronunciation and fluency

competence of the students is average for this set of student population while

in comprehension and vocabulary, the average score of correct items is 2.84

This indicates that the level of comprehension and vocabulary competence of

the students is also average. In terms of grammatical accuracy, the average

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score of correct items is 2.71 which indicates that the level of grammatical

accuracy competence of the students is average.

The total performance of the students for oral discourse on the other hand

is indicated in their average score of 2.78. This means that students have

developed oral discourse competency perhaps due to varied language activities

provided by their teachers and their daily interactions using the English language.

In the evaluation of written discourse competency, for cohesion and

coherence, the average score of correct items is 4.53 This result, reflects

the poor performance of the students, but also the relative difficulty of these

test items. In the case of logical order, the results show that the average

correct score is 2.0. This indicates the poor performance of the students and

the relative difficulty of these question items.

For the student written paragraph, in terms of completeness, the average

correct score is 3.06 which means that in terms of completeness of written

paragraph, the students‟ performance is average for this given population.

In the aspect of logical order, the result shows a mean score of 2.92. This

indicates that the performance of the students in insuring logical order of a written

paragraph is average for this population while for unity and coherence, the mean

score obtained is 2.95. This indicates that the ability of the students to achieve

unity and coherence in their written paragraph is average.

In terms of the total performance of the students in written discourse, the

mean score obtained was 3.09. This indicates that in general, the written

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discourse performance of the student respondents is average. This implies

further that students were provided by their teachers with varied classroom

writing activities for them to practice and their exposure to such activity enrich

their understanding written discourses.

Among the 28 mean combinations being compared, 19 mean

combinations showed significant differences or 67.9 percent. This indicates

that majority of the means compared are significantly different and are

generally not related to each other.

The competency items that did not show significant differences were

the mean combinations involving the oral discourse and last two items of

the student written paragraphs namely order and unity and coherence.

These mean combinations with p-values above 0.05 are indicative of

existing statistical relationship and are predictive of each other.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

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Sincerest and profound gratitude and appreciation are extended to all

the persons who in their own special ways have made this dissertation a

reality. The author is most grateful to:

Prof. Dr. Dang Kim Vui, President of Thai Nguyen University, Vietnam

for offering the Doctor of Philosophy major in English in cooperation with

Batangas State University, Philippines;

Dr. Matilda H. Dimaano, Dissertation Adviser, for her indisputable

expertise, invaluable comments, guidance, and encouragement that led to the

completion of this research;

The Panel of Examiners Dr. Maria Luisa A. Valdez, Dr. Amada G.

Banaag, Dr. Myrna G. Sulit, and Dr. Felix Panopio, for their profound insights,

suggestions and recommendations to improve this study;

The visiting professors from the Batangas State University including Dr.

Remedios P. Magnaye, Dr. Rosa Adelaida Ecalnir and other professors for

their lectures;

Dr. Tran Van Dien, the Rector of Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture

and Forestry, Dr. Nguyen Tuan Anh Dean of International School and Dr.

Pham Viet Binh, Rector of Thai Nguyen University of Information and

Transportation Technology for their approval of the researcher‟s request to

conduct the study;

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The respondents of the study, for their active involvement;

Her loving classmates and colleagues, for their support and friendship

that inspire the researcher to pursue this research work;

Her parents and sibling, for their encouragement, financial, moral and

spiritual supports and for continuously believing that she can finish this

academic work.

Vu Kieu Hanh

DEDICATION

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This research is dedicated to my beloved parents, Vu Van Hieu and

Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy, children, Trinh Vu Gia Minh (Heo) and Trinh Vu Duc

Duy (Bo), for giving me the best of everything most especially their love.

Vu Kieu Hanh

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

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TITLE PAGE.......................................................................................... i

APPROVAL SHEET ..............................................................................ii

ABSTRACT ..........................................................................................iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT......................................................................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 ...............................................6

Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study .............7

Significance of the Study ...............................................8

II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Conceptual Literature ...................................................10

Research Literature ......................................................36

Synthesis ......................................................................43

Theoretical Framework .................................................45

Conceptual Framework.................................................47

Hypothesis ....................................................................49

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Definition of Terms........................................................49

III. RESEARCH METHOD AND PROCEDURE

Research Environment ................................................50

Research Design ..........................................................52

Subjects of the Study....................................................53

Data Gathering Instrument ..........................................55

Data Gathering Procedure............................................57

Statistical Treatment of Data .......................................58

IV. PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

OF DATA .............................................................................. 60

V. SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

Summary of Findings....................................................98

Conclusions ...............................................................108

Recommendation .......................................................109

BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................110

APPENDICES

A. Questionnaire on Teacher‟s Assessment.......... 116

B. Teacher-Made Test on Oral and Written

Discourse Analysis for Students ........................ 120

C. Validation Letters............................................... 127

D. Response Letter of the Heads of Institution ...... 130

E. Photographs of the Study Sites ......................... 133

F. Photographs for Administration of Teacher-Made

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Test to Students.................................................. 134

G. Photographs for Administration of Questionnaire ....136

to Teachers ......................................................... 137

H. Photographs for Response Letters..................... 139

CURRICULUM VITAE

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LIST OF TABLES

Table Title Page

1 Distribution of the Respondents of the Study ................................ 54

2 Gender Profile of Student Respondents ........................................ 60

3 Profile of Parent's Educational Attainment..................................... 61

4 Profile of Place of Origin of Student Respondents ........................ 62

5 Profile of Student‟s Exposures to English Media ........................... 63

6 Performance of Student Respondents in the Oral Discourse

Competence Test........................................................................... 65

7 Performance of Student Respondents in the Written

Discourse Competence Test.......................................................... 68

8 Student's Comparison of the Mean % Score for Each Test

Group Shown as P-values ............................................................. 71

9 Validated Student‟s Skills as to Oral and Written

Discourse Competencies. .............................................................. 73

10 Competencies of Freshman Students and their Frequency of Use ...... 74

11 Students‟ Oral and Written Discourse Skills According to the

Degree of Importance .................................................................... 75

12 Comparison Between Students‟ Performance and Teachers‟

Assessment in the Different Oral and Written Discourse

Competencies .......................................................................................... 78

13 Bases for the Design of Integrative Activities for Basic English.......... 79

LIST OF FIGURES

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Figure Title Page

1 Conceptual Paradigm in Determining the Levels of Oral and

Discourse Competencies of Freshman tudents.............................48

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CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM

Introduction

College English is one of the foreign language courses required in the

tertiary level curriculum to be taken by freshmen students. This course is

known in various titles like Basic English Course, Basic College English,

Freshman English or College Composition. A description of this course is that

it is designed to assist students in preparing for various types of writing,

reading, analyzing and responding expected of the college level student.

In Basic English class, students will learn how to focus and organize

essays through practicing several kinds of common writing patterns of

organization which the students would employ in their academic writing. In

other Universities, students taking up Basic English will study the principles of

expository writing, audience-directed prose and are expected to explain and

defend ideas. Because reading, viewing, and writing are inextricably linked,

first-year English also emphasizes critical reading and viewing.

The students are expected to analyse and understand a variety of texts,

including expository and literary texts that represent diverse voices and ideas,

visual images, and the students‟ own writing. The focus of College English is to