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Grammatical Proficiency revised
Research Methods (RES 1)
University of Cebu
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GRAMMATICAL ABILITY OF THE SECOND YEAR EDUCATION
STUDENTS: BASIS FOR PROGRAM INTERVENTION
Lynie P. Mindajao lmindajao@gmail orcid/0000-0002-3067- University of Cebu-Banilad Cebu City, Cebu
Maritess T. Kho maritesstkho@gmail orcid/0000-0002-0389- University of Cebu-Banilad Cebu City, Cebu
Jovencio Guevarra Jove_guevs@yahoo orcid/0000-0002-3740- University of Cebu-Banilad Cebu City, Cebu
ABSTRACT
Globally, Filipinos were known to be English-speaking, as manifested by the ability of the majority of the people to speak this language with fluency. Hence, in the field of teacher education, competence in English grammar is considered very important. Therefore, this study assessed the grammar ability of the second-year education students of a University to determine their deficiency and eventually enhance instruction and the quality of students' learning. Utilizing the descriptive correlation method of research, the researchers assessed the students' grammatical ability using a modified questionnaire to identify their difficulties in English grammar. A 90-item multiple-choice test, which evaluated knowledge of the three areas, was explicitly used. With the use of the purposive sampling technique, there were 66 participants in this investigation. Data analysis applied percentage and Pearson R. The results revealed that the participants have difficulty in the three specific areas of grammar. Also, most students showed a deficiency in their grammatical ability. There is no significant relationship between the students' scores in verb-tenses and punctuation as well as in subject-verb agreement and tenses. However, there was a significant relationship between subject-verb agreement and punctuation. Moreover, sophomore teacher education students performed poorly in grammar. Hence, such low performance can be remedied by improving instruction quality and introducing grammar tutorials focusing on activities on grammar lessons to reinforce the students' learning. Hence, there should be an emphasis on teaching and learning grammar in all the succeeding English subjects. Furthermore, it is recommendeded that teachers of English language subjects should include activities like journal writing and reflection writing to enhance the
students' grammatical proficiency further. Finally, the school should strictly implement the English-only policy, especially in English, as an instruction medium.
KEYWORDS Education, English, students’ grammar ability, linguistic theory, correlation, Philippines
INTRODUCTION
Nowadays, communication has become the heart and soul of human life. The process of communication chiefly deals with speaking, listening, reading, and writing. No one learns grammar. It has become a natural phenomenon that people start speaking what everybody speaks around them. They gradually develop a better sense of understanding over time. They do not study the grammar of their mother tongue to use it for daily speaking, but when they need to polish their mother tongue or want to learn a foreign dialect, they have to study its grammar, and we usually do that. When they come to learn a new language like English language, they need to study its grammar; the importance of grammar cannot be ignored or neglected, and before they do that, they need to understand what grammar is (Debata, 2013). The Philippines is globally recognized as one of the largest English-speaking countries, with the majority of its population having at least some degree of fluency in the language. English has always been one of the official languages of the Philippines and is spoken by more than 14 million Filipinos. It is the language of commerce and law and the primary medium of instruction in education (Cabigon, n). Filipinos have stood apart from their contemporaries from other parts of the world because they read, write, listen and speak the lingua franca of the global arena. This may have been the scenario a long time ago, and sadly the same cannot be said for the present. Countries like China and Korea have been trying to establish themselves as global key players. Therefore, they have aggressively promoted bilingualism and invested heavily in their citizens’ grasp of the English language (Suarez et al., 2016). As a result, many Koreans and Chinese would come and visit the Philippines to study English in the various ESL centers in the country. In the Philippines, English has long been a part of the curricula of varied academic programs. Curriculum has changed drastically but the learning of English remains intact in the essentials of any curriculum. With K to 2 coming to fore, English is offered in both the Junior and the Senior High School curricula. It is also the medium of instruction in teaching other subjects such as Mathematics and Science, among others. Filipinos are regarded to be among the more fluent speakers of the English language. This is one of the reasons that fellow Asians from other ASEAN countries have chosen to study here in the Philippines or resort to learning English from Filipino mentors (Sioco & De Vera, 2018). According to Macasinag (2011) the Filipinos’ proficiency in English has suffered a massive decline. As a result, the Filipinos have lost the competitive edge that they have been known for worldwide. This deterioration is manifested in several ways- incorrect grammar, lack of fluency in the language, poor reading comprehension skills, and poor writing skills, among others. Thus, their claim that they are the third-largest English- speaking country in the world does not live up to its rank. However, the most alarming is the SWS survey commissioned by Promoting English Proficiency (PEP) in March 2006.
how to set the parameters for the new language. Although UG has left untouched several areas central to speakers' understanding of the second language learning process, it has also explained and established some facts about second language acquisition (Brown, 2000). In Chomsky's view, the language faculty contains innate knowledge of various lin- guistic rules, constraints, and principles; this innate knowledge constitutes the language faculty's 'initial state.' In interaction with one's language experiences during childhood — that is, with one's exposure to what Chomsky calls the 'primary linguistic data. It gives rise to a new body of linguistic knowledge, namely, knowledge of a specific language (like Chinese or English). This 'attained' or 'final' state of the language faculty constitutes one's 'linguistic competence' and includes knowledge of the grammar of one's language. This knowledge, according to Chomsky, is essential to one's ability to speak and under- stand a language. Although, of course, it is not sufficient for this ability: much additional knowledge is brought to bear in 'linguistic performance, that is, actual language use (Adolphs, 1999). Moreover, Selinker's Interlanguage Theory explains that interlanguage is a term that describes the language learner's journey from his native language (L1) to the acquisition of the target language (L2). Larry Selinker, credited with first proposing the interlanguage theory, was inspired by Corder's error analysis, which attempted to examine and classify language learners' errors. Interlanguage theory tried to determine if there was a contin- uum in the internal grammar of learning additional languages, and through research, re- solve if learners acquired L2 in much of the same fashion as L1. Ultimately, there would be similarities, but not the same. Interlanguage viewed language development as a combi- nation of several factors, including nature of input, environment, internal processing of the learner, and influence between L1 and L2. Thus, began an explosion of research into understanding how language and the internal grammar in second language learners evolved (Tarone, 2006). There has been a wide range of research investigating interlanguage with various levels, ages, and languages. The results have led to understanding interlanguage as em- bodying systematic, dynamic, and variable characteristics. It is systematic in the sense that the learner forms an internal construct of grammatical rules and structures. These grammatical rules may or may not mirror the proper rules of the L2 being learned. Educa- tors can extrapolate what rules the learner has formed through analyzing errors and the correct usage of the language. In other words, the language learner does not use language haphazardly but uses a system of internal rules that can differ from the target language. The following characteristic is dynamic. Although the internal rules are systematic, the rules are not static and can be altered through various means. Then variable, the context may determine the language and rules the learner acquires. There are numerous factors involved with language and rule acquisition that vary from person to person, such as the nature of input (instruction, TV, among others), the environment (classroom), and expo- sure (foreign language, second language) to language (Selinker & Douglas,1985). The significance of interlanguage theory lies in the fact that it is the first attempt to consider the possibility of learner conscious attempts to control their learning. This view initiated an expansion of research into psychological processes in interlanguage develop- ment whose aim was to determine what learners do to help facilitate their learning, i., which learning strategies they employ (Griffiths & Parr, 2001).
Stephen Krashen's Theory of Second Language Acquisition. Krashen believes that there is no fundamental difference between the way we acquire our first language and our subsequent languages. He claims that humans have an innate ability that guides the lan- guage learning process. Infants learn their mother tongue simply by listening attentively to spoken language (made) meaningful to them. Foreign languages are acquired in the same way (Gass & Selinker, 2008). Krashen (1982) synthesized his second language learning theories in what is usually referred to as the Monitor Model. The Monitor Model has five components; the first com- ponent is the Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis. There are two ways of developing lan- guage ability: by acquisition and by learning. The acquisition is a subconscious process, as in a child learning its language or an adult 'picking up a second language simply by living and working in a foreign country. Learning is the conscious process of developing a foreign language through language lessons and focusing on the grammatical features of that language. According to Krashen, learned language cannot be turned into an acquisi- tion. It is pointless to spend a lot of time learning grammar rules since this will not help us become better language users in authentic situations. At most, the knowledge we gain about the language will help us in direct tests of that knowledge or situations when we have time to self-correct, such as editing a piece of writing. The second component is the Natural Order Hypothesis, which states that all learners acquire language in a predictable order. This order does not depend on the apparent simplicity or complexity of the gram- matical features involved. The natural order of acquisition cannot be influenced by direct teaching of features that the learner is not yet ready to acquire. Then comes the Monitor Hypothesis of Krashen, which states that it is often difficult to use the monitor correctly since the rules of a language can be extremely complex. Two examples from English are the rules about the articles (a/the) and the future "tense." Even assuming the learner has a good knowledge of the rule in question, it is diffi- cult to focus on grammar while simultaneously conveying meaning (and possibly feel- ing). The most normal conversation does not provide enough time to do so. The next component is the Input Hypothesis which claims that learners acquire language in one way only when they are exposed to input (written or spoken language) that is comprehen- sible to them. Comprehensible input is the necessary but also sufficient condition for lan- guage acquisition to take place. It requires no effort on the part of the learner. This theory has clear implications for language teachers, namely, that their language instruction should be full of rich input (both spoken and written language) that is roughly tuned at the appropriate level for the learners in the class. Lastly is the Affective Filter Hypothesis, which asserts that comprehensible input will not result in language acquisition if it is fil- tered out before reaching the brain's language processing faculties. The filtering may oc- cur because of anxiety, poor self-esteem, or low motivation (Krashen, 1982). The word grammar means different things to different people. To the ordinary citi- zen, it connotes to correctness or incorrectness of the language that he or she speaks. To a school student, it means an analytical and terminological study of sentences. Knowledge of grammar helps the student in the correction of mistakes and improvement of written work. A person cannot learn a foreign language accurately only through a process of un- conscious assimiliation. Grammar is a sure ground of reference when linguistic habits fails. So grammaer is indispensable for the student (Dabata, 2013).
toonah Private University of Jordan. The students enrolled in a paragraph writing course in the first semester of 2009-2010. These errors were first classified into six significant categories, and then the subcategories were divided. The division that included the most significant number of errors was of the prepositions, which comprised 26% of the total errors were observed. Furthermore, the following most problematic areas were respec- tively: morphological errors, articles, verbs, active and passive, and tenses. The re- searchers have included some pedagogical implications for teachers, syllabus designers, textbook writers, and text developers in identifying the students' results. Moreover, in the study by Ezhil Rajan (2011), he determined the English grammar proficiency of Secondary Level student teachers in the Puducherry region. Specifically, he wanted to find out English grammar proficiency based on the sub-variables gender, Medium studied, and parental education. An English grammar proficiency tool was cre- ated and standardized, covering various aspects of English grammar. The study was ad- ministered to 300 samples of Secondary Level student teachers randomly selected from various colleges using simple random sampling. The findings revealed that the English grammar proficiency of Secondary Level student teachers is low. It was also disclosed that there is no significant difference between the sexes of Secondary Level student teachers and parental education below and above high school in English grammar profi- ciency. It is also found that there is a significant difference between English and Tamil medium Secondary Level student teachers in English grammar proficiency. Another study was conducted by Barraquio (2015), which assessed the grammar proficiency of Colegio de San Juan de Letran Calamba college students to determine their difficulties and eventually improve teaching and the quality of learning of students. The study utilized a descriptive method of research. To assess the college students' grammar proficiency, the researcher used a teacher-made questionnaire to identify the specific grammar difficulties. A 50-item multiple-choice test, which evaluated knowledge of the ten areas of grammar, was explicitly used. The demographic profile of students and their perceptions on the importance of grammar to the use of correct English were considered. Proportional stratified random sampling was also used. Results showed that the college students received fair ratings in speech, possessive nouns, and verb mood and tense. Ar- eas of plural nouns, pronoun usage, adjective, adverb usage, and pronoun-antecedent agreement needed improvement. The students failed in the areas of sentence structure, subject-verb agreement, and sentence construction. Furthermore, the respondents per- ceived grammar as essential to the correct use of English. However, no significant rela- tionship was established between the overall perceived importance of the study of gram- mar to the correct use of English and student's overall grammar proficiency. Moreover, grammar was essential in writing and speaking, as perceived by the respondents. The re- search findings showed that grammar was crucial in developing identified English com- petencies among Letran Calamba college students. Hence, the researcher recommended that schools consider making all freshmen students enroll in English 101 or Remedial English. Also, Suarez et al. (2016), conducted a study that sought to determine the factors that primarily affect students' grammar proficiency in order for educators to take those in- dicators into consideration in designing strategies for use in the English classroom. The study used the descriptive research design utilizing indicators used to describe the level of the respondents' grammar proficiency, depending on their choice of reading materials
and language transfer skills from native to the target language. Results revealed that the said factors have no significant influence on the level of grammar proficiency among the respondents. Therefore, the researchers recommended that teachers of English language subjects clarify to their students the differences of sentence structure in the English lan- guage with that of commonly spoken languages or dialects in order for their students to take this knowledge into account when they are transferring their thoughts and ideas from their mother tongue to English.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
This study aims to determine the grammatical ability of second-year education students in terms of subject-verb agreement, tenses, and punctuation as a basis for devising a proposed English Grammar Tutorial Program to enhance the students' grammar competence.
METHODOLOGY
This study utilized the descriptive correlational design in determining the grammatical ability of the second-year education students using a modified test questionnaire as the main instrument in gathering data. It assessed the grammatical competence of the second-year education students of UC-Banilad regarding the subject- verb agreement, verb tenses, and punctuation. This study was conducted at the College of Teacher Education (CTE) of the University of Cebu- Banilad Campus, which offers both the Bachelor of Elementary Education (BEED) and Bachelor of Secondary Education (BSED) program. UC is one of the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the country that provides a broad range and differentiated instruction that caters to varied interests and ability of 21st- century learning. At the time of the study, the total population of CTE was four hundred thirty (430) based on the enrolment record. Moreover, using the purposive sampling technique, the research participants of this study were the sixty-six (66) second-year education students who enrolled in the school year 2016- The researchers utilized a modified test questionnaire to gather information about grammatical ability. The test was objective type consisting of ninety (90) items with three (3) parts. The first portion of the text pertains to the subject-verb agreement that contains thirty (30) items. The second portion of the test pertains to verb tenses comprising thirty (30) items, and the third one relates the punctuation, which consists of thirty (30) items. A dry run procedure was conducted to test the reliability of the modified questionnaire at Camp Lapu-Lapu National High School with thirty-seven (37) participants. The participants were asked to to answer their questionnaire to measure their grammatical ability in the aspects of subject0verb agreement, verb tense, and punctuation. The Kuder-Richardson computed value of 0 indicates that the modified questionnaire was excellent and showed high degree of consistency. It further signifies that there was accuracy, stability and precision of the contents therein. Before the conduct of the study, permission from the authorities of the university was sought. This investigation ensures that the research participants will benefit from the
implies that their performance on the said test was fair. Moreover, the results also disclosed that thirty-nine (39) or 62% failed in the test whose performance can be categorized as poor to very poor. Morover, 40% passed the test while the remaining 59% failed. This resut signifies that most of the research participants had very low grammar ability in verb tenses. Widianingsih and Gulo (2016) explained that grammatical rule is among other difficulties found in learning other languages. This truth also applies to those who are studying English at different levels of education. For example, second language learners usually make mistakes in specific grammatical rules.
Table 3. Grammatical Ability of the Students on Punctuation (n=66) Scores Remarks Frequency Percent 7-10 Very poor 1 1. 11-20 Poor 58 87. 21 Passing 1 1. 22 Fair 1 1. 23-26 Good 5 7.
Table 3 shows the grammatical ability of the participants in the area of punctuation. The data contained in the table signifies that fifty-eight (58) or equivalent to 87 % failed in the test on proper punctuation since their performance can be categorized from poor to very poor. On the other hand, seven (7) or 10% passed the test, with a passing rating to good. This result indicates that most of the participants performed poorly in test on grammar in the area of punctuation. This further signified that they had low ability in using punctuations properly. These results contradicted Daffern et al. (2017), who said that writing provides a means for personal reflection, thinking, creativity, meaning-making, and sharing, as well as complementing other modes of communication in a world of multimodal texts. Their study about the predictors of writing success and its importance to spelling, grammar, and punction revealed that spelling, grammar, and punctuation jointly predict written composition achievement with spelling as the primary predictor.
Table 4. Overall Grammatical Ability of the Participants (n= 66) Scores Percent/Equivalent Remarks Frequency Percent 0-72 65-74 [4-3] Poor 52 100.
Table 4 shows the data relating to the overall grammatical ability of the participants. In this study, there were sixty-six (66) sophomore participants who took the 90 item test in the areas of subject-verb agreement, tenses, and punctuation. The result indicates that most of the participants were performing homogenously in the grammar ability test. However, their performance is poor. Meaning most of them had low grammatical ability. This finding relates to Macasinag's (2011) claim that the state of English in the Philippines is not what it was in the past. However, since grammar is only one of the aspects of language proficiency, this finding still supports that the English proficiency of the respondents was low. This warrants further studies to look at the students' overall proficiency to see if all aspects of proficiency will yield the same result as the finding of
this study. This part shows the results of the test of significant relationship of the participants’ scores on grammatical ability, using the Pearson’s R.
Table 5. Results on the Test of Significant Relationship of the Participants’ Scores on Grammatical Ability Pearson R Paired Competencies
Computed Value P-values Decision on Hø Interpretation Subject-Verb Agreement & Tenses 0 0 Accept Hø
No Significant Relationship Subject-Verb Agreement & Punctuation 0 0 Reject Hø
Significant Relationship Tenses & Punctuation 0 0 Accept Hø
No Significant Relationship
The findings showed that most of the second-year education students were lacking in their grammar competence in the areas of subject-verb agreement, verb tenses, and punctuation. In determining each term of competency, the results show that students experienced difficulty in the test because most of them do not get a passing score. In addition, students are unfamiliar with the grammar rules, especially in subject-verb agreement, verb tenses, and punctuation. The results revealed that the student's level of competency in the subject-verb agreement has a significant relationship with their punctuation competency. This data signifies that learners' language would be reduced to blurred sentences, miscommunications, and incomprehensible ideas without mechanics. The meaning of a text is greatly affected by the mechanics required to format writing. Mechanics are commonly referred to as grammar, which is the system of structuring a language to optimize comprehension. Within the field of grammar, syntax focuses on how words and phrases are arranged to create sentences, and punctuation, which is the system of marks used to separate sentences or clauses from clarifying meaning. The findings further revealed no significant relationship between the scores of the students on tenses and punctuation and subject-verb agreement and tenses where the null hypotheses were accepted. Further, there is a significant relationship between the scores of the students on subject-verb agreement and punctuation. Hence, the null hypothesis is rejected. This result relates to Krashen's (1982) Input Hypothesis, which claims that learners acquire language in one way only when they are exposed to input, either written or spoken language, that is comprehensible to them. Comprehensible input is necessary but also a sufficient condition for language acquisition to take place. It requires no effort on the part of the learner. This theory has clear implications for language teachers, namely, that their language instruction should be full of rich input (both spoken and written language) that is roughly tuned at the appropriate level for the learners in the class.
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Grammatical Proficiency revised
Course: Research Methods (RES 1)
University: University of Cebu
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