(Luận văn) english writing skills and critical thinking skills of freshman college students in the university of transport technology system basis for functional writing activity

i THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines ENGLISH WRITING SKILLS AND CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS OF FRESHMAN COLLEGE STUDENTS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF TRANSPORT TECHNOLOGY SYSTEM: BASIS FOR FUNCTIONAL WRITING ACTIVITY lu an n va p ie gh tn to A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Graduate School Batangas State University Batangas City, Philippines d oa nl w va an lu ll u nf In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Of Doctor of Philosophy Major in English oi m z at nh z an Lu April 2015 m co NGUYEN THANH TU l gm @ By: n va ac th si ii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines APPROVAL SHEET This dissertation entitled “ENGLISH WRITING SKILLS AND CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS OF FRESHMAN COLLEGE STUDENTS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF TRANSPORT TECHNOLOGY SYSTEM: BASIS FOR FUNCTIONAL WRITING ACTIVITY” prepared and submitted by NGUYEN THANH TU 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 lu an n va MATILDA H DIMAANO, Ph.D Adviser gh tn to PANEL OF EXAMINERS p ie Approved by the committee on Oral Examination with a grade of _ w d oa nl DR AMADA G BANAAG Chairman DR FELIX M PANOPIO Member u nf va an lu DR MARIA LUISA A VALDEZ Member ll DR MYRNA G SULIT External Representative oi m z at nh Accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy major in English z MATILDA H DIMAANO, Ph.D Dean, Graduate Studies College of Arts and Sciences m co _ Date l gm @ Comprehensive Examination: PASSED an Lu n va ac th si iii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines ABSTRACT : English Writing Skill and Critical Thinking Skill of Freshman College Students in The University of Transport Technology System: Basis for Functional Writing Activities Author : Nguyễn Thanh Tú Degree : Doctor of Philosophy Major : English Year : 2015 gh : Dr Matilda H Dimaano lu Title an n va tn to p ie Adviser w Summary: oa nl This study aimed to assess the English writing skills and critical thinking d skills of Freshman College students in the University of Transport Technology an lu System in the three provinces of Vietnam to be utilized as basis for functional u nf va writing activity It made use of the descriptive method of research There were ll m oi 306 students and 20 teachers who were the respondents of the study The z at nh data gathering instruments used were the teacher-made test for student z respondents and survey questionnaire for teacher respondents The statistical @ deviation, t- test m co l gm tools used were the mean, percentage, percentile rank, ranking, standard Results of the study showed that majority of the respondents are an Lu n va ac th si iv THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines males which comprise 98 percent or 300 of the 306 total populations This indicates that in the universities that were studied, they were gender-based either, they were all male school and have only started to accept female students In their parents’ educational attainment majority of the students’ lu parents have educational attainment in the “other” level or education higher an n va than the tertiary with 48.7 percent tn to For place of origin, the students come from at least 13 different places in ie gh Vietnam with majority or 21.0 percent coming from “Others” or different places p in Vietnam, which indicates that the three University campuses under study oa nl w cater to students coming from different places in Vietnam As to type of school, d majority come from public high school which comprise 287 of 306 respondents lu va an or 93.8 percent which indicates that the public high schools are the main ll u nf institutions catering to the students because public high school is free and oi m subsidized by the Vietnamese government z at nh Further, the level of writing skills of student in terms of the discourse component is average as indicated in their average score of 9.5 correct items z @ with a mean score equivalent of 67.8 percent which is above 50 percent This gm m co l value has a percentile rank of 34.3 percent In terms of grammatical components, the level of students’ writing skills is average based on the an Lu n va ac th si v THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines average score of 6.6 correct items with an equivalent mean correct score of 66.3 percent The students have average level of skill performance in mechanics; component skill of morphology as well as in syntax As regards teachers’ lu assessment of the critical thinking skills of students, findings of the study an n va showed that the critical thinking skill that most respondents agree garnering a tn to score of 19 or 95 percent belongs to the cognitive skills classification This is ie gh followed by four skills that rank position and all belong to the affective skill p classification The evaluation of critical thinking skills of students according to oa nl w their frequency of use as perceived by teacher respondents indicated that the d skills ranged in frequency from 2.20 to 3.95 with equivalent rating of “Rarely” to lu va an “Often” respectively The same critical thinking skills were evaluated by the ll u nf teacher respondents according to their degree of importance of which result oi m ranged from 2.45 to 4.25 with equivalent ratings of “Less Important” to z at nh “Moderately Important” respectively In terms of relationship of the ratings on level of writing skill to the z @ teachers’ assessment of critical thinking skills of students, findings of the study gm m co l showed that majority of the p-values of the different mean combinations were greater than or equal to 0.05 with 104 combinations out of 165, indicating an Lu n va ac th si vi THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines these means as not significantly related This implies that these mean combinations that is critical thinking item skill x writing test component skill are statistically independent of each other In relation to the output of the study in the form of functional activities, it lu is designed to improve the students’ critical thinking especially for this an n va population of Vietnamese students The study recommended that English tn to teachers must engage students to varied writing activities; that the writing ie gh activities developed may be reviewed by language teachers prior to its p utilization; and further studies may be conducted on other components of d oa nl w language to determine students’ English proficiency ll u nf va an lu oi m z at nh z m co l gm @ an Lu n va ac th si vii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines ACKNOWLEGMENT The researcher wishes to express her sincerest thanks and appreciations to those who, in one way or another, have helped her make this dissertation a reality The author is most grateful to: lu Prof Dr Dang Kim Vui, President of Thai Nguyen University, Socialist an n va Republic of Vietnam for his contribution and support to the Doctor of tn to Philosophy major in English Program in collaboration with Batangas State ie gh University, Republic of the Philippines; p Dr Matilda H Dimaano, Dissertation Adviser, for her guidance, oa nl w suggestions, critical comments and tenacious effort to see through the d completion of this work; lu va an The Panel of Examiners: Dr Myrna G Sulit, Dr Amada Banaag, Dr Ma ll u nf Luisa Valdez, Dr Corazon B Cabrera, Dr Felix Panopio for their invaluable oi m insights, candid remarks and recommendations to enhance this study; z at nh Dr Do Ngoc Vien, Rector of University of Transport Technology for the approval of the request to conduct the study; z @ The Respondents of the Study, for their active involvement and m co l gm cooperation in making this study possible; Her Classmates and Colleagues, for their support friendship and an Lu n va ac th si viii THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines inspiration; and Finally, to her Parents, Husband, Beloved Children, Relatives, and Friends for their whole-hearted encouragement, financial, moral and spiritual support lu an Nguyen Thanh Tu n va p ie gh tn to d oa nl w ll u nf va an lu oi m z at nh z m co l gm @ an Lu n va ac th si ix THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines DEDICATION This dissertation is dedicated to my loving and ever supportive husband, Mr Nguyen Van Khanh and my loving sons, Khanh Nam, Duc Minh, to my family, and to my dear University of Transport and Technology (UTT) lu community an n va tn to p ie gh Nguyen Thanh Tu d oa nl w ll u nf va an lu oi m z at nh z m co l gm @ an Lu n va ac th si x THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TITLE PAGE .i APPROVAL SHEET ii lu an ABSTRACT iii va n ACKNOWLEDGMENT .vii gh tn to DEDICATION ix p ie TABLE OF CONTENTS x nl w LIST OF TABLES .xiii an lu CHAPTER d oa LIST OF FIGURES .xv u nf va I THE PROBLEM ll Introduction m oi Statement of the Problem z at nh Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study z Significance of the Study .9 l gm @ II REVIEW OF LITERATURE m co Conceptual Literature 11 an Lu Research Literature 42 n va ac th si 165 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines (3) Validation Letter of the Questionnaire for Teachers lu an n va p ie gh tn to d oa nl w ll u nf va an lu oi m z at nh z m co l gm @ an Lu n va ac th si 166 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Appendix D: Request Letters (1) lu an n va p ie gh tn to d oa nl w ll u nf va an lu oi m z at nh z m co l gm @ an Lu n va ac th si 167 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines (2) lu an n va p ie gh tn to d oa nl w ll u nf va an lu oi m z at nh z m co l gm @ an Lu n va ac th si 168 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines (3) lu an n va p ie gh tn to d oa nl w ll u nf va an lu oi m z at nh z m co l gm @ an Lu n va ac th si 169 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Appendix E Documentations lu an n va p ie gh tn to d oa nl w ll u nf va an lu oi m z at nh z m co l gm @ Ha Noi Campus an Lu n va ac th si 170 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines lu an n va p ie gh tn to d oa nl w ll u nf va an lu oi m z at nh z m co l gm @ Thai Nguyen Campus an Lu n va ac th si 171 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines lu an n va p ie gh tn to d oa nl w ll u nf va an lu oi m z at nh z m co l gm @ Vinh Yen Campus an Lu n va ac th si 172 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines lu an n va p ie gh tn to d oa nl w ll u nf va an lu oi m z at nh z gm @ m co l Dr Do Ngoc Vien – Rector of University of Transport Technology an Lu n va ac th si 173 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines lu an n va p ie gh tn to w d oa nl Mr Nguyen Duy Hoa – Leader of Thai Nguyen Campus ll u nf va an lu oi m z at nh z m co l gm @ Mr Nguyen Van Bang – Leader of Vinh Yen Campus an Lu n va ac th si 174 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines lu an va n The student respondents in Ha Noi Campus p ie gh tn to d oa nl w va an lu ll u nf The student respondents in Thai Nguyen Campus oi m z at nh z m co l gm @ The student respondents in Vinh Yen Campus an Lu n va ac th si 175 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines lu an n va p ie gh tn to d oa nl w ll u nf va an lu oi m z at nh z m co l gm @ The teachers respondents in University of Transport Technology an Lu n va ac th si 176 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Appendix F Psychrometric Conversion Table lu an n va p ie gh tn to d oa nl w ll u nf va an lu oi m z at nh z m co l gm @ an Lu n va ac th si 177 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines lu an n va p ie gh tn to d oa nl w ll u nf va an lu oi m z at nh z Source:http://faculty.pepperdine.edu/shimels/Courses/Files/ConvTable.pdf Accessed 05/08/2014 m co l gm @ an Lu n va ac th si 178 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines CURRICULUM VITAE NGUYEN THANH TU Phan Dinh Phung, Thai Nguyen Mobile no 0988774489 E-mail add: thanhtucdgt@gmail.com lu an PERSONAL INFORMATION n va : April 28, 1981 Place of Birth : Thai Nguyen Province, Viet Nam Age : 33 Nationality : Vietnamese Religion : Buddhism : Female d Sex oa nl w p ie gh tn to Date of Birth lu : Nguyen Van Khanh u nf : Nguyen Khanh Nam, Nguyen Duc Minh ll Sons’ names va Spouse : Married an Civil Status oi m z at nh EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND Elementary Level z @ 1986-1991 Doi Can School, Thai Nguyen province gm Nguyen Du Secondary School, Thai an Lu Nguyen province m co 1991-1996 l Lower Secondary Level n va ac th si 179 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Socialist Republic of Vietnam BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY Republic of the Philippines Upper Secondary Level 1996-1999 Luong Ngoc Quyen Upper Secondary, Thai Nguyen province Tertiary Level College of Foreign Languages, Viet Nam 1999-2003 lu Thai Nguyen Teachers’ Training an University va n Master of Arts in English to gh tn Laguna State Polytechnic University, Thai Nguyen U p ie 2009 niversity of Agriculture and Forestry oa nl w Siniloan, Laguna, Philippines d WORK EXPERIENCE va an lu Lecturer oi August 2004 - present m Thai Nguyen Campus ll u nf University of Transport Technology z at nh z m co l gm @ an Lu n va ac th si