CHAPTER IV PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA
5. Teachers Assessment of the Students’ Modes of English Language Performance
Fifty three teacher respondents from Thai Nguyen University were administered a survey questionnaire to explore how the teachers assess the student’s micro-skills in the four modes of language. A set of 17 micro-skill
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items listed in the survey was first presented for validation. These micro-skill listing were different from the micro-skills listed in Section 2. These micro-skills are those that were used in the proficiency assessment of the students in the four modes of language.
5.1 Frequency of Use. The 17 micro-skill items were presented to the teacher respondents for them to rate depending on how they perceived the students frequently apply these skills. The result is shown in Table 11.
From the table, it can be noted that all the items got ratings of >3.7 which is verbally equivalent to often. This indicates that all the micro-skills are oftenly used by the students. The item with the highest mean frequency score is the item that pertains to the use of correct words, a writing micro-skill. This is followed by the item on fact and inference, a reading micro-skill, and the item on form of words, a speaking micro-skill. The item with the lowest mean frequency is the item on adjective and adverb form of modifiers, a writing micro-skill and another item on meaning of words and context, a listening micro-skill.
This indicates that the frequency of use of the different micro-skills by the students are randomly spread across the different modes of language, that is, the macro-skill frequencies do not cluster according to the modes of language.
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Table 11
Performance of Students’ in the Four Modes of English Language and their Frequency of Use
Student Skills Mean
Score Rank Rating
READING MICRO SKILLS
Word meanings through context clues
1. The student is able to recognize correctly the word
meanings through context clues. 3.8 13 O
Summary statements
2. The student is able to correctly arrange the
summary statements from the given list of sentences. 3.9 8.5 O
Fact and Inference
3. The student is able to correctly distinguish fact and
Inference in sample sentences. 4.1 2.5 O
Topic sentence and main idea
4. The student is able to correctly find the topic
sentence and main idea in a given paragraph. 4.0 5 O
Subtotal mean 3.9 8.5 O
WRITING MICRO SKILLS
Writing correct spelling
5. The student is able to identify the misspelled
words in a sentence and provide the correct spelling. 4.0 5 O
Use of correct words
6. The student is able to identify a wrong word and
use the correct word in sentences. 4.2 1 O
Use of Punctuation
7. The student is able to identify a wrong punctuation in a sentence and replace it with the correct
punctuation.
3.8 13 O
Misplaced modifiers
8. The student is able to identify a misplaced modifier
in a sentence and replace it with the correct modifier 3.9 8.5 O
Adjective and Adverb Form of Modifiers
9. The student is able to correctly identify the adjective from the adverb form of modifier in a sentence.
3.7 16.5 O
Subtotal mean 3.9 8.5 O
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Table 11 (continuation)
Performance of Students in the Four Modes of English Language and their Frequency of Use
Student Skills Mean
Score Rank Rating
MICRO SKILL IN LISTENING
Topic sentence
10. The student is able to correctly identify the topic sentence from the heard selection.
4.0 5 O
Meaning of words and context
11. The student is able to correctly
deduce the meaning of words and context from a heard selection.
3.7 16.5 O
Sentence constituents
12. The student is able to correctly detect
sentence constituents. 3.8 13 O
Grammatical word class
13. The student is able to correctly
recognize the grammatical word class in a sentence.
3.8 13 O
Subtotal mean 3.8 13.0 O
MICRO SKILL IN SPEAKING
Pronunciation
14. The student is able to correctly
pronounce a distinctive sound. 3.9 8.5 O
Word stress
15. The student is able to correctly say the stress in the given word (s) in a sentence.
3.9 8.5 O
Form of words
16. The student is able to use the correct
form of words in a sentence. 4.1 2.5 O
Word order
17. The student is able to put words in a
sentence in a correct order. 3.8 13 O
Subtotal mean 3.9 8.5 O
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This is seen for example in the writing micro-skill item pertaining to the use of correct words which got the highest frequency and the item onadjective and adverb form of modifiers, another writing micro-skill which got the lowest frequency score. Also, the other top scoring items were spread across the different modes of language like the item on the use of correct words, a writing micro-skill item, the item on fact and inference, a reading micro-skill, and the item on form of words, a speaking micro-skill. The same is true for the low frequency items of adjective and adverb form of modifiers, a writing micro-skill and the item on meaning of words and context, a listening micro-skill.
Looking at the average frequency scores and ranks of the micro-skills clustered according to their mode of language, it can be noted that the average frequency score of reading, writing and speaking is 3.9, corresponding to a rank of 8.5 while that of listening is 3.8, corresponding to a rank of 13.0. This indicates that the three modes of language such as reading, writing and speaking are generally equivalent in frequency while listening slightly lags behind. While this pattern seem to contrast with the pattern suggested in the difficulty assessment of the micro-skill areas of the students, where listening was indicated to be the least difficult, this lower frequency score of listening could arise from the lower incidence of observation by the teachers or the
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uneven observation rate of teachers for the practice of the different modes of language since some of them like the receptive modes of listening and reading are more tedious and keen to detect as practiced in comparison with the productive modes like writing and speaking.
5.2 Degree of Importance. The teacher respondents also rate the 17 micro-skill items according to their degree of importance. The result is shown in Table 12.
It can be noted from the table that all of the items had ratings >4.3 which means that the items could range from moderate to very important. This indicates that the teacher respondents perceived all these language-mode specific micro-skills to be of high degree of importance and are necessary to be included as part of the teaching scheme and competency assessment of students. It can also be noted that the order of the micro-skills from that of highest to lowest importance is Speaking>Reading/Listening>Writing.
Thus, while these micro-skills numerically vary in perceived importance, these differences are insignificant. Among the 17 micro-skills, word meanings through context clues in reading and word stress in speaking are deemed to be the most important while adjective and adverb form of modifiers in writing is the least important.
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Table 12
Performance of Students’ in the Four Modes of English Language and their Degree of Importance
Student Skills Mean
Score Rank Rating
READING MICRO SKILLS
Word meanings through context clues
1. The student is able to recognize correctly the
word meanings through context clues. 4.8 1.5 VI
Summary statements
2. The student is able to correctly arrange the summary statements from the given list of sentences.
4.5 12.5 VI
Fact and Inference
3. The student is able to correctly distinguish fact
and Inference in sample sentences. 4.4 15.5 MI
Topic sentence and main idea
4. The student is able to correctly find the topic
sentence and main idea in a given paragraph. 4.6 7.5 VI
Subtotal mean 4.6 7.5 VI
WRITING MICRO SKILLS
Writing correct spelling
5. The student is able to identify the misspelled
words in a sentence and provide the correct spelling. 4.5 12.5 VI Use of correct words
6. The student is able to identify a wrong word and
use the correct word in sentences. 4.6 7.5 VI
Use of Punctuation
7. The student is able to identify a wrong punctuation in a sentence and replace it with the correct
punctuation.
4.5 12.5 VI
Misplaced modifiers
8. The student is able to identify a misplaced
modifier in a sentence and replace it with the correct modifier
4.4 15.5 MI
Adjective and Adverb Form of Modifiers 9. The student is able to correctly identify the adjective from the adverb form of modifier in a sentence.
4.3 17.0 MI
Subtotal mean 4.5 12.5 VI
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Table 12 (continuation)
Performance of Students’ in the Four Modes of English Language and their Degree of Importance
Student Skills Mean
Score Rank Rating
MICRO SKILL IN LISTENING
Topic sentence
10. The student is able to correctly identify the topic
sentence from the heard selection. 4.6 7.5 VI
Meaning of words and context
11. The student is able to correctly deduce the meaning of words and context from a heard selection.
4.6 7.5 VI
Sentence constituents
12. The student is able to correctly detect sentence
constituents. 4.5 12.5 VI
Grammatical word class
13. The student is able to correctly recognize the
grammatical word class in a sentence. 4.6 7.5 VI
Subtotal mean 4.6 7.5 VI
MICRO SKILL IN SPEAKING
Pronunciation
14. The student is able to correctly pronounce a
distinctive sound. 4.7 3.5 VI
Word stress
15. The student is able to correctly say the stress in
the given word (s) in a sentence. 4.8 1.5 VI
Form of words
16. The student is able to use the correct form of
words in a sentence. 4.7 3.5 VI
Word order
17. The student is able to put words in a sentence in
a correct order. 4.6 7.5 VI
Subtotal mean 4.7 3.5 VI