English language grammatical competence and discourse competence of 3rd year college students of Thai nguyen university: Basis for intervention exercises

. Distribution of the Respondents of the Study 61 2. Level of Grammatical Competence of Students in Parts of Speech 68 3. Level of Grammatical Competence of Students in Morphology 69 4. Level of Grammatical Competence of Students in Syntax 71 5. Level of Grammatical Competence of Students in Vocabulary Meaning 72 6. Level of Discourse Competence of Students in Cohesive Devices 75 7. Level of Discourse Competence of Students in Transitional Phrases 76 8. Level of Discourse Competence of Students in Coherence 78 9. Level of Discourse Competence of Students in Connectors 79 10 Level of Discourse Competence of Students in Choice of Words 81 11. Validated Students’ Skills Employed in Teaching the Basic English Course 83 12. Students’ Skills and their Frequency of Use 85 13. Students’ Skills and their Degree of Importance 86 14. Students’ Level of Grammatical and Discourse Competencies and their Performance as Assessed by English Teachers 88 15. Bases in the Design of Integrative Learning Exercises on Morpho-Syntactic Competencies 91 CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM Introduction In Vietnam, students are required to learn English through compulsory programs and as a requirement in school and universities and in most countries in the world. Many students take English course because of its utility value as lingua franca or a world language. Most of them fail to learn the language successfully. This situation also applies to students in other countries where learning a foreign language is also compulsory. Students enrolled in the English courses have either high dropped out rates or failed students at the end of the term. This situation is true to countries like the United States and Australia where students literally drop out in their foreign language studies, while in countries like China, Japan and Vietnam students either mentally withdraw or look for strategies that will help them to learn the English language. In the last decade, the use of English as the main foreign language taught and employed in communication with foreigners, has dramatically increased in Vietnam. According to the Ministry of Education, the number of off-shore students exceeds 60,000 in Vietnam nowadays and Vietnamese students who want to work and study abroad are increasing. However, English language teaching in Vietnam still utilizes the traditional teaching model where students are taught English just for passing examination purposes only and teachers just give lecture mainly to help students achieve this goal. The result is that students do not have the ability to communicate effectively with others in English. This is referred to as dumb English or deaf English in Vietnam. Obviously students’ overall skills are not enhanced, especially for students at the college and university level. In order to improve the situation based on need analysis, Vietnam Ministry of Education states that the aims of Vietnam English Language Teaching (ELT) at general educational level expressed in the new curriculum are that at the end of the upper secondary level, students will be able to use English as means of communication at a certain level of proficiency in four macro skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing and to be able to read materials at the same level of their textbook, using a dictionary, to have a mastery of basic English phonetics and grammar, to have acquire the minimum of around 2,500 vocabulary items of English; to attain a certain level of understanding of English and American cultures, to become aware of cross cultural differences in order to become better communicators, to better inform the world of the Vietnamese people, their history and culture and to take pride in Vietnam, its language and culture (MOET 2007). To promote the English language teaching and learning at tertiary level in recent years, Vietnamese government has encouraged the private tertiary institutions to carry out advanced programs in which English is required to be the medium of instruction. They have also encouraged tertiary institutions to teach in English in fundamental science subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and some specialized subjects in the senior years. It is suggested that work start at the two national universities namely; Hanoi National University and Vietnam National University; three regional universities such as Thai Nguyen University, Hue University and Danang University and other pivotal universities in Vietnam with twenty percent of the students being involved in these advanced programs. This percentage will be increased and expanded so that finally all advanced programs will be applied throughout the tertiary educational system. In Vietnam, English is the most important foreign language since the implementation of the reform and opening up policy. One of the major goals for English teaching is to develop communicative competencies of the learners. It is the initial and ultimate goal of English teaching. Communication on the other hand is considered the essence of English teaching. In language teaching, the ability to communicate should be cultivated. Students should learn how to use a language in their daily communication in order to demonstrate their mastery of a language. Different language skills included under communicative competence are linguistic, socio-linguistic, discourse, strategic and pragmatic competencies. The expression, interpretation and negotiation of meaning between two interlocutors or between a text and its readers is referred to as language learning. It is believed that one of the main goals of both English language teaching and communicative English teaching in Vietnam nowadays is to develop students’ communicative competence, as more students will regard English as a communicating tool after graduation. If students can use the English knowledge, skills and cultural aspects they have learned to communicate with people of different cultural backgrounds in real language contexts, they are then using English as a communication tool. The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has set a target of boosting foreign language teaching in high schools. At the start of Academic Year 2011-2012, students at specific schools will have to study mathematics and information technology in English. Despite the significance of English language, majority of the Vietnamese students remain handicapped in the use of English. It was even reported by the MOET in 2011 that English language competence of Vietnamese students was rapidly deteriorating. This implies that the government, in particular the education sector can hardly address such perceived deterioration of English. It was also reported by the MOET of Vietnam and the AETS or the American Educational Testing Service that fifty one point seven percent (51.7%) of Vietnamese students who graduated from college in 2009 had substandard English skills. There are several reasons cited why English language teaching in Vietnam becomes a problem. Reasons include the deterioration in students’ English competence and less opportunities for students to practice English in the classroom. Most of the English classes are still adopting the traditional teaching in which teachers do the talking while students are merely listening and note taking so that the chance to speak diminished. Most college graduates in Vietnam have deteriorating English because during their college days, they spend only at least one and half year of English language studies. So that when they embark on a more complex academic work which demands the use of English as well as the language skills, they fail because of lack of knowledge. Another reason cited is the incompetency of Vietnamese students in the use of English. This problem leads to losing the most useful assets of Vietnamese people in contributing to national development and international communication. Many of the students in Thai Nguyen University (TNU) system struggle to keep up with the expectations of the school for them to communicate in good English. For decades the university system in Thai Nguyen worked to address the need of all students. But somehow, the expected outcome has a very slow progress. With this scenario, as college teacher teaching English subject in this institution, the researcher is interested to determine the English language grammatical and discourse competence of the Third year college students of Thai Nguyen with the end view of proposing intervention exercises that will enhance further their knowledge along the said competencies. Statement of the Problem This study is focused on determining English language grammatical competence and discourse competence of 3rd year college students of Thai Nguyen system. Specifically, it sought answers to the following questions. How may the grammatical competence of student respondents be described in terms of: parts of speech; morphology; syntax; and vocabulary? What is the discourse competence of student respondents relative to: cohesive devices; transitional phrases; coherence; connectors; and choice of words? How do English teacher assess the grammatical and discourse competencies of 3rd year college students? How do the respondents’ grammatical and discourse competencies compare with English teachers’ assessments? Are there significant relationships? What innovative English language teaching intervention exercises may be proposed to enhance students’ grammatical and discourse competencies? Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study The study determines the English language grammatical competence and discourse competence of 3rd year college students of Thai Nguyen system. This includes the grammatical competence of student respondents in parts of speech, morphology and syntax, and vocabulary meaning. Included also in the study is the discourse competence of student respondents relative to cohesive devices, transitional phrases, coherence, connectors and choice of words. Further, the study covers the assessment of the English teacher on the grammatical and discourse competencies of 3rd year college students, the comparison of the respondents’ grammatical and discourse competencies and English teachers’ responses, the significant differences on students’ grammatical and discourse competencies and teachers’ responses with the end view of proposing an innovative English language teaching strategies to enhance students’ grammatical and discourse competencies. The study covered the three (3) Thai Nguyen Universities in Thai Nguyen City and made used of the 40 teachers teaching English and 300 3rd Year College students who were enrolled in the Academic Year 2013-2014. This study is limited from the data gathered from the above mentioned respondents. Third year college students and English teachers from other Thai Nguyen University systems are excluded in the study. Significance of the Study The study is deemed beneficial to the Administrators of Thai Nguyen University, English teachers, Third Year College students, Parents and Future researchers. Administrators of Thai Nguyen. This study can guide them in the Curriculum development through evaluation of students’ English language grammatical competence and discourse competence. This study will serve as a guide for the realignment of the existing English curriculum to meet their institutional goals and objectives. English Teachers. This study will serve as a guide to the faculty teaching English as they may be aware of the student’s grammatical and discourse competencies. This study will provide them insights on what classroom learning activities will be appropriate to enhance the language proficiency of their students. Likewise, the teachers may propose some enrichment activities to improve the student’s grammar and discourse competencies. Third Year College Students. The findings of this study will make them aware of their present grammatical and discourse competencies. This would give them a challenge to improve their weak points and enhance their overall performance in English. Parents. Through this study, parents of the third year college students will become aware of the English performance of their children which will make them more supportive and cooperative in school activities specifically on the improvement of the English skills of their children. Future researchers. This study will serve as reference for other researchers.. CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE This chapter presents the relevant conceptual and research literature which have bearing to the present study. The literatures included are found substantial to the study and gives the necessary background to understand the present research. Further, this chapter also includes synthesis, theoretical and conceptual framework of the study, and definition of terms. Conceptual Literature The following concepts which focused on English language competencies, grammatical competence, discourse competence and intervention exercises were reviewed to substantiate the study. English Language Competencies. It is a broad term which includes linguistic or grammatical competence, discourse competence, socio linguistic or socio cultural competence and what might be called textual competence. The specific learning outcomes under language competence deal with knowledge of the language and the ability to use that knowledge to interpret and produce meaningful texts appropriate to the situation in which they are used. Language competence is best developed in the context of activities or tasks where the language is used for real purposes or in practical applications (www.educ.gov.nb.ca/K12cur/language). The basis for developing language competence should be the classroom activities which focus on meaningful uses of the language and on language in context. As for choosing tasks, students’ needs, interests, and experience should serve as bases. Vocabulary, grammatical structure, text forms and social conventions necessary to carry out this task will be taught, practiced and assessed as students are involved in various aspect of the task itself not in isolation. The system of linguistic knowledge possessed by native speakers of a language is called linguistic competence. The concept was first introduced by Chomsky (1965) as part of the foundation for his generative grammar. Linguists who are working in the generativist tradition adopted and developed generative grammar. Competence in the generativist tradition is the only level of language study that is studied because this level gives insights into the universal grammar. Underlying all human language system is universal grammar. Competence or skill is referred to as the ideal language system that makes it possible for speakers to produce and understand an infinite number of sentences in their language and to distinguish grammatical sentences from ungrammatical sentences. Competence is unaffected by grammatically irrelevant conditions like errors in speech. Competence as an idealized capacity is the ideal speaker-hearer knowledge of his/her language and it is the mental reality which is responsible for all those aspects of language use which can be characterized as linguistic. It was argued that only under an idealized situation, whereby the speaker-hearer is unaffected by grammatically irrelevant conditions such as memory limitation and distractions will performance be a direct reflections of competence. According to Evans et al (2006) competence is defined as grammar or set of language rules represented mentally and manifested based on a person’s own understanding of acceptable usage in a given linguistic idiom. Therefore, grammatical competence defines an innate knowledge of rules rather than knowledge of items or relation. Phillips (2010) stated that competence is regarded as innate knowledge because one does not have to be trained to develop it and will still be able to apply it in an infinite number of unheard examples. The following are included in the speakers linguistic competence namely: phonetics which deals with the physical production and perception of the inventory of sounds used in producing language; phonology which refers to the mental organization of physical sounds, the patterns formed by way sounds are combined in a language and the restrictions or permissible social combinations as well as morphology which deals with identification, analysis and description of units of meaning in a language. Knowledge in inflectional or derivational morphology which is present in the language consists of affixes of words. Syntax on the other hand, which pertains to structure and formation of sentences, enables a person to distinguish between grammatical sentences from ungrammatical sentences while in semantics, this refers to the understanding of the meaning of sentences. A user of the language is able to understand and interpret the non-literal meaning in a given utterance through these three distinctions namely; meaningful and non- meaningful sentences, some structure but different meanings, and different structure and still is able to relate the meanings. Belinchon et al (1994) explained that competence as the main goal in language learning is also referred to as linguistic competence, a set of organized knowledge which consists of several sub-competencies, the phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic and lexical components. Hymes (1972) on the other hand introduces the concept of communicative competence as the knowledge which enables us to use language as a communication device in a given social context. It is a dynamic concept based on the negotiation of meaning among interlocutors, which can be applied to written or spoken modes of communication. The four distinct elements identified in the model of communicative competence according to Munby (1978) include linguistic encoding, socio cultural orientation, socio semantic basis of linguistic knowledge and discourse level of operation. In addition, there are four aspects of competence. These are grammatical or linguistic which include knowledge of the lexicon, syntax and semantic; sociolinguistic competence concerned with the appropriateness of communication depending on the context including the participants and the rules of interaction, strategic competence which pertains to a set of strategies devised for effective communication and put into use when communication breaks down; and discourse competence which is concerned with cohesion and coherence of utterances or sentences. Six components of communicative competence were introduced by Van Ek (1977). Apart from linguistic, discourse, sociolinguistic and strategic competence, social and the socio-cultural competence were added. Bachman et al (1996) analyze the communicative ability into three components: language competence, strategic competence and psychological mechanism. Language competence is divided into organizational competence which include grammatical and textual competence and pragmatic competence which includes illocutionary and sociolinguistic competence. Socio linguistic competence is the ability to interpret the social meaning of the choice of linguistic varieties and to use language with the appropriate social meaning for the communication situation. (www.o1/silang.lingulink). According to Wardlaugh (2005), there are several possible relationships between language and society and one is social structure which may either influence or determine linguistic structure of behavior. A second possible relationship is directly opposed to the first. Linguistic structure, a third possible relationship viewed influence as bi-directional; that is language and society may influence each other. Every language as Hudson (2000) stated accommodates such differences as a non-discrete scale or continuum of recognizably different linguistic levels or style termed as registers and every socially native speaker, as part of learning the language, has learned to distinguished and choose among the plans on the scale of the register. Chun (1998) on the other hand pointed out that language and culture was closely tied up to one another and had a profound influence on verbal and non- verbal communication as well as in the significance of the length of pause or a change in tone. Other components of communication such as the degree of formality in one’s speech or one’s body language also hold different meanings depending on the culture with which a person identifies himself Cohen et al (1981). According to the American Immigration Law Foundation (2000) developing an understanding of general cultural context and their implication will enable someone who was not raised in a particular culture to fully comprehend speech or text in that cultures’ language and to use the language more easily. Celce et al (1995) pointed out that there are four components of socio-cultural competence namely: social contextual factors, stylistic appropriateness factors, cultural factors and non- verbal communication factors. Some of these components are often neglected in ESL education, thereby causing confusion or comprehension difficulties. Language and culture as Alptekin (1993) emphasized is interrelated and studying language needs to be aware of the culture of that language. In addition, Guest (2002) explained that in culture, whether the language is for interactive or instrumental purposes, it is better to be accompanied with the detailed characteristics of its spoken community. Strategic competence on the other hand is one of the three components necessary for successful communication through language. It refers to the speaker’s ability to adapt their use of verbal and non- verbal language to compensate for communication problems caused by the speaker’s lack of understanding of proper grammar use and insufficient knowledge of social behavioral and communication norms. Strategic competence along with grammatical competence, sociolinguistic competence and discourse competence constitute a framework for determining a language learner’s proficiency in communication. Together with the other competencies, they are considered mainstays of modern theory on second language acquisition (Diaz, Rico and Weed, 2006). Essentially, any speaker using techniques intended to preserve communication, repair breakdowns in communication or prevent miscommunication can be considered to be demonstrating strategic competence. Some behaviors demonstrating strategic competence include using synonyms to substitute for words the speaker cannot recall or has not yet learned, resorting to physical gestures to convey meaning, asking for clarification from the listener, raising one’s voice in order to be heard and feigning comprehension in order to listen for context clues. Maleki (2010) asserted that communication strategies help in conveying unknown language between communication partners and assist in maintaining conversational flow. The teaching of communication strategies is beneficial and leads to strategic competence in language learning. Strategic competence is best gained through the use of games focusing on communication with or without visual support, jigsaws, monologues, and other activities that allow for language interaction. Moreover, the four aspects of language learning consist of listening, speaking, writing and reading. It is in this order that constitutes the traditional top-to-bottom approach to language learning, however, it was suggested that a bottom-up approach to language learning, which gives emphasis to writing is best suited for teaching strategic competence. This provides learners with time to process their ideas and language use, before being asked to use it orally. This is thought to increase learner’s motivation. Pragmatic competence on the other hand is concerned with the users, learners knowledge of the principles according to which messages are organized, structured and arranged. Discourse competence on the other hand is used to perform communicative functions or functional competence and sequenced according to interactive and transactional schemata or design competence. Grammatical Competence. It is the ability to recognize and produce the distinctive grammatical structures of a language and to use them effectively in communication. It promotes accuracy and fluency in second language production. Grammatical competence focuses on command of the language code including such things as the rules of word and sentence formation, meanings, spelling, and pronunciation. Its goal is to acquire knowledge of, and ability to use forms of expression that are grammatically correct and accurate. It is one of the four areas of the communicative competence theory (Gao, 2001). According to Diaz et al (2010) communicative competence is a feature of a language user’s knowledge of the language that allows the user to know when, where, and how to use language appropriately. Grammatical competence increases in importance as the learner advances in proficiency. Richard and Schmidt (1983) stated that since communicative competence focuses directly on the knowledge and skill required to understand and express accurately the literal meaning of utterances it becomes an important concern for any second language program. Further, features and rules of language, vocabulary, word formation, pronunciation, sentence formation to understand and express accurately the literal meaning of utterances comprised grammatical competence. It also referred to as the ability to recognize and produce the distinctive grammatical structure of a language and to use them (www. o1sil. Orglingualinks/ what grammatical competence html). It focuses on the necessary skills and knowledge in speaking and writing accurately. In more advanced stages of language proficiency grammatical competence becomes important to the English learner. Grammatical competence calls for curriculum and instruction that prepares students to incorporate and apply the language code (Herrera et al, 2005). English language and grammar are bounded together. As students travel through the stages of language proficiency, grammatical competence becomes more important that Freeman et al (2004) suggested that since grammar is a set of prescriptive rules taught to students in school, it will serve as glue that binds the English language together. Grammar as explained by Cruz et al (2001) deals with words, forms of words, word combination and the relationship between words. In order for students to reach higher levels of academic language proficiency, teachers need to realize that grammatical forms need to be explicitly taught. In the case of grammar, it should be taught in context. Larsen et al (2001) pointed out that there is a need to pay attention to the three dimensions of grammar: form, meaning and use and that simply teaching grammar rules or having student memorize verb conjugations will not help students acquire grammatical competence. The skills and knowledge necessary to speak and write accurately and input to English learner in more advanced stages of proficiency are the focused of grammatical competence. Kilfoil and Walt (1997) explained that grammatical competence is the correct application of rules of grammar but not explicit knowledge of rules. It is also referred to as linguistic competence, a term used to describe how language is defined within a community of speaker and covers the mastering of the combination of sounds, syntax and semantics. Fernandez et al (2011) pointed out that linguistic competence constitute knowledge but that knowledge is tacit and implicit and that people do not have conscious access to the principles and rules that govern the combination of sounds, words, and sentences, however, they do recognize when these rules and principles have been violated. According to Kac (1992) the grammatical or linguistic competence of a human being should be identified with that individual’s internalized program for production and recognition of performance. It delved on the unconscious knowledge of grammar that allows speaker to use and understand a language as well as the innate linguistic knowledge that allows a person to match sound and meaning. Moreover, Aguilar (2007) pointed out that the ability to understand and produce meaningful sentence that is designed on the rules of a specific language to convey meaning in a way that the native speakers of that language would use such sentences to express in the same meaningful way is grammatical or linguistic competence. It is also referred to as the potential ability of the speaker based on the knowledge of his language as well as the system of rules that governs on individual’s tacit understanding of what is acceptable and what is not acceptable in the language used (Tan.course.NUS.Edu.SG/course/ elljwpl). Pustejovsky (1998) stated that people’s knowledge of language use in real situation is referred to as grammatical or linguistic competence and further explained that competence is an aspect of a person’s mental capacity underlying language and that concepts of linguistics is purely syntactic. The assumption that people are equipped with a lexical component that holds linguistic intonation is the notion regarding linguistic competence (The New Oxford Dictionary of English, 1998). Linguistic competence ca be studied in isolation and be separated from the rest of competencies. It falls under the domains of communicative competence. According to Hymes (1994) there are four features where linguistic or grammatical competence is dependent. These are whether and to what degree something is visible in relation to the means available; whether and to what degree something is appropriate or adequate in relation to the context in which it is used and...y of metaphoric language has implications for several fields: cognitive linguistics, which relies on metaphoric language as its primary source of date on conceptual metaphor; natural language technologies which can improve computer recognition and comprehension of metaphoric language; construction grammar which can refine its understanding of constructional meaning; and cognitive sytlistics in which the intent and comprehension of literature metaphor can be more precisely interpreted. Nchare (2011) analyzes the grammar of Bantu language. The methodology and analytical approach adopted are essentially with the minimalist program. Findings of the study reveal that the language syntax contains a bipartite negation with a great diversity of negation patterns where surface depends on the status of tense, aspects and mood. The syntax suggests focus fields and body part expression with a particular reference to the Binding theory. Rodrigo (2009) described the language spoken by an indigenous community located in Mexico. Results of the study indicate that with regards to the verb, there is only one slot for person makers. The agreement is not in terms of grammatical relations but in terms of animacy and hierarchy. The language has inverse system that interacts with the person maker. In the noun phrase, the plural maker is restricted to a very small group of nouns, all of which refer to humans. Also the absence of plural marking does not entail singularity with respect to nominal number. Synthesis The following concepts and studies are found related to the present study. The concepts of linguistic competence as espoused by Chomsky which became the foundation of generative grammar, Evans et al’s notion regarding competence as grammar or set of language rules, Phillips idea of it as innate knowledge as well as Belinchon’s reference of competence as organized knowledge which consists of sub-competencies give substance in the discussion of the topic about English language competence in the conceptual literature. These are further supported by Hymes concepts of communicative competence, Munby’s model of communicative competence, Van Ek’s components of communicative competence and Palmer’s discussion of communicative abilities. The ideas of Herrera et al on grammatical competence that prepares students to incorporate and apply the language code, Freeman et al ‘s idea of grammar as set of prescriptive rules taught in schools as well as Cruz et al ‘s explanation of grammar as word, forms of words and combination, and relationship of words and Larsen et al ‘s concepts about the three dimensions of grammar including Kilfoil and Walt’s notions about grammatical competence as the correct application of the rules of grammar provide rich information as to the explanation on the topic Grammatical competence. Moreover, the ideas of Bachman on coherence and cohesive texts in oral and written form, Canale’s components of discourse competence, Llobera’s discourse concepts which influenced innovations in foreign in foreign language enrich notions regarding discourse competence. Whereas, relative to the importance of instructional in teaching students to learn, O’ Neil ‘s suitability of materials to students’ needs, Skinner’s explanation regarding effectiveness and efficiency of interventions in improving language skills as well as Vaughn notions on selecting interventions in achieving goals give support in expounding the discussion relative to intervention exercises. As regard to the studies reviewed, the studies of Ayub et al and Liu et al found similarities in the present study as the former dealt with cohesion and coherence and the latter on multi- competence on discourse level which are all part of the present study. These studies differ to the present study in terms of focus. Ayub et al ‘s study focus on writing skills while Liu et al on persuasive essays. The present study on the other hand assessed the level of discourse competence of college students in terms of coherence and cohesive devices, transitional phrases, connectors and choice of words. Likewise, the studies of Reyes and Kim are also similar to the present study as discourse competency were their objects of the study. While Reyes study dealt on discourse competency of bilingual students and Kim study on interpreting focus on discourse, the present study determined the discourse competency of 3rd year college students. Moreover, Holtz’s study on lexico-grammatical properties and Phillipson’s verb morphology, find similarities to the present study as these are part of grammatical competency. These studies differ from the present study in terms of focus and other variables like research as a form scientific discourse of Holtz, and cross sectional data of adult learners of Phillipson. The present study though focused on grammatical competence of college students its sphere of coverage is along the areas of parts of speech, morphology, syntax, and vocabulary meaning. The studies of Francis on grammatical variation, Kallmeyer’s new grammar formalism, Suellivan’s role of grammatical construction, Nchare’s study of grammar which pertained to language syntax, Rodrigo’s reference genre find similarities to the present study as grammar were the objects of their study which was also one of the foci of the present study. The cited studies differ in their respective variables and subjects of the study. Francis investigated the problem of members having the same lexical category while Kallmeyer’s explored on three descriptions of grammar. Suellivan on the other hand, focused on metaphoric language while Nchare’s analyzed language syntax. Rodrigo’s study determined language spoken by indigenous community. The present study on the other hand though focusing on grammatical competence and discourse competence, the output is in the form of strategic and intervention exercises. Thus, despite of the similarities and differences of the cited studies to the present study, it can be stated that the present study is not a duplication of the studies cited and has a character of its own. Theoretical Framework This study is anchored to Simon Dick Functional Grammar theory and Dell Hyme’s Communicative Competence Theory. Simon Dick’s Functional Grammar theory states that in the functional paradigm a language is in the first place conceptualized as an instrument of social interaction among human beings, used with intention of establishing communicative relationships. Within this paradigm one attempt to reveal the instrumentality of language with respect to what people do and achieve with it in social interaction. A natural language in other words is seen as an integrated part of the communicative competence of the natural language as user. Functional grammar (FG) is a general theory of the organization of natural language. In this theory, functional notions play essential and fundamental roles at different level of grammatical organization. The theory is based on data and descriptions of many languages and therefore has a high degree of typological adequacy. FG offers a platform for both theoretical linguists interested in representation and formalism and descriptive linguist interested in data and analysis. Functional Grammar (FG) is a theory of grammar motivated by function. The notion of functions in FG generalizes the standard distinction of grammatical functions such as subject and object. Constituents of a linguistic utterance are assigned three types or levels of functions namely: semantic function, syntactic functions and pragmatic functions. Dell Hyme’s communicative competence theory states that a language user needs to use the language which is based on linguistic competence, but also appropriately based on communicative competence. Language user’s grammatical knowledge of syntax, morphology, phonology as well as social knowledge about how to use utterances appropriately is referred to as communicative competence. It refers not only to the learner’s ability to apply and use grammatical rules but also to form correct utterances as well as knowledge to use these utterances appropriately. The term also pertains to learning implicit in the communicative approach to language teaching. According to Leung (2005) ideas about communicative competence were originally research-based rather than pedagogical. It discussed the ethnographic-oriented exploration of communicative competence that included communicative form and function with integral relation to each other. These research-oriented ideas have undergone an epistemic transformation from empirically oriented questions to an idealized pedagogic doctrine. Through the influence of communicative language teaching, it has become widely accepted that communicative competence should be the goal of language education, central to good classroom practice. This is in contrast to previous views in which grammatical competence was commonly given top priority. The understanding of communicative competence has been influenced by the field of pragmatics. Hyme’s original idea of communicative competence was that speakers of language have to have more than grammatical competence in order to be able to communicate effectively in a language; they also need to know how language is used by members of a speech community to accomplish their purposes. These theories support the present study as these provide insights relative to English language grammatical and discourse competence which are the object of the study. Hypothesis This study will test the following hypothesis: There are no significant relationships between the students’ grammatical and discourse competencies and the English teachers’ assessments. Definition of Terms The following terms are defined conceptually and operationally to have a better understanding of the study. Competence. The term refers to the grammar or set of language rules represented mentally and manifested based on a person’s own understanding of acceptable usage in a given linguistic idiom (Evans et al, 2006). Communicative Competence. The term refers to the feature of a language user’s knowledge of the language that allows the user to know when, where, and how to use language appropriately (Diaz et al, 2010). Discourse Competence. It is the ability to use coherent and cohesive texts in an oral and written form (Bachman, 1990) as well as determines how utterances or sentences are organized to form texts. As used in the study, these refer to the levels of performance of 3rd year college students in terms of cohesive devices, transitional devices, coherence, connectors, and choice of words. Evaluation. The term refers to the systematic, rigorous, and meticulous application of scientific methods to assess the design, implementation, improvement, or outcomes of a program (Ross et al, 2004). Grammar. The term refers to words, forms of words, word combination and the relationship between words (Cruz et al, 200). Grammatical Competence. The term refers to the correct application of rules of grammar but not to the explicit knowledge of rules (Kilfoil and Walt ,1997). As used in the study, these refer to the level of performance of 3rd year college students in terms of parts of speech, morphology, syntax, and vocabulary meaning. Instructional Materials. The term refers anything which can be used to facilitate the learning of a language be it linguistic, visual, auditory or kinesthetic (Tolimson, 1998). Linguistic Competence. The term refers to the system of linguistic knowledge possessed by native speakers of a language (Chomsky ,1965). Morphology. The term refers to the patterns of word formation in a particular language including inflections, derivation, and composition (dictionary.reference.com.browse/morphological). Parts of Speech. The term refers to the names for words according to how they are used in sentence (www.csi.edu/ip/ADC /faulty/bbennett/ pso/exp.htm/). Syntax. The term refers to the study of the rules that govern the ways in which words are combined to form phrases, clauses, and sentences (Nordquist, Richard. grammar. about.com /od/or/g/syntax. htm). Textual Competence. The term refers to a form of discourse competence which is basically a measure of how well an individual can read different texts and understand them (www. wise geek. com/ what is /discourse competence/html). Transitional Phrases. The term refer to words and phrases that holds ideas together in writing as well as provide coherence by helping reader understand the relationship between ideas and act as sign posts that help the reader follow the movement of discussion (Harris, Robert. www. virtual salt.com/transits.htm). Vocabulary. The term refers to all the language and words used or understand by a person or group of people (www.yourdictionary. com/ vocabulary). CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD AND PROCEDURE This chapter presents the research environment, research design, subjects of the study, data gathering instruments, data gathering procedures and the statistical treatment of data. Research Environment TUE was founded on July 18th 1966 and is located in the center of Thai Nguyen City, 80 km north of Hanoi, Vietnam. Over the past 45 years of development, TUE has trained over 45,000 lower and upper secondary school teachers. Besides, it has also had great achievements in scientific research and technology transference to mountainous provinces. The total number of staff is 596, including 437 lecturers (24 professors and associate professors, 79 doctors, 255 masters, 129 doctorate candidates). In terms of training scale and majors, TUE offers 7 doctoral majors, 19 master majors and 24 bachelor majors. Every year, TUE trains about 22,000 undergraduate students and 1.300 postgraduate students. TUE has enough modern facilities to meet the needs of training and high-qualified scientific research. With the above-mentioned strengths and achievements, TUE has become the greatest center of education and educational research in the Northern mountainous area of Vietnam. In recent years, TUE has attracted a growing number of international students, especially Lao students. We respectfully submit our proposal of offering financial aid for Lao students leaning in our university. After 10 years of development, on March 3rd 2011, the TNU- University of Information and Communication Technology was established by virtue of the Decision No. Q468/QĐ-TTg signed by the Prime Minister of Vietnam, based on the upgrading strategy of the Department of Technology – TNU. At present, the university has 1 main department and 5 affiliated departments. TNU- UICT is in charge of training human resources for research and international cooperation in the fields as Information Technology, Electronics and Communication, Automatic Technology in response to the industrialization and modernization in the Northern Midland and Mountainous Area of Vietnam in particular and the whole country in general. Since June 2013, TNU- UITC has continuously been providing education and training human resources, who are enrolled in various curricular programs, as follows: 13 bachelor’s, 01 master’s and 01 doctorate degrees. Each year, TNU- UICT admits a number of new students, from 1500 to 1900. So far, the university has successfully trained thousands of engineers, programmers, research and teaching staff with high competency level, professional ethics and great sense of disciplines. The university is now implementing the joint MBA program with Paris University of Administration – France with 318 students in total, 96 of which have already graduated. The university’s research has gained a number of achievements, both in quantity and quality. The Lecturers and students of TNU- UITC are completing research projects at different levels, as follows: 26 projects at Ministry level, 12 projects at University level, 291 projects at school level and 176 projects at student level. The university also has published 14 articles in the international magazines and thousands of publications in domestic and university’s magazines. The university is also implementing one scientific project at ministry level titled: “Developing an awards-managing software for the education sector”, and 02 projects in collaboration with Dien Bien province. At present, TNU- UITC is implementing 10 major academic programs in collaboration with Paris University of Administration – France, Polytechnic University of Manuel S.Enverga – Philippines and Hong He Academy – China. Since 2010, the university has signed 10 Memoranda of Agreement with partner universities, and implemented a number of international projects, particularly the VLIR project in collaboration with Belgium and Ministry of Education and Training. TNU University of Medicine and Pharmacy (TNU- UMP) was founded in 1968 as Bac Thai Medical University. Then in 1994, by virtue of the integration law of all universities and colleges in the province, it became an official member of Thai Nguyen University. Over 40 years of development with several changes in names, TNU- UMP has grown into a leading medical institution in Vietnam and has made a great impact on health and overall well-being of the people of Thai Nguyen and all of the Northern provinces. With enrollment scale/ year of 1500 undergraduate and 300 post-graduate students, TNU- UMP is currently offering 5 undergraduate disciplines, 2 doctorate disciplines, 4 master disciplines, 3 disciplines in Specialist doctor II, 13 disciplines in Specialist Doctor I, and 2 disciplines in resident doctor of medicine. In order to meet the demand for technicians, the university has also offered 3-year training program on food sanitation and school healthcare. To date, the university has trained over 15,000 general medical doctors, 400 pharmacists, 300 nurses with the degree of bachelor of nursing, thousands of 1st and 2nd degree health specialists, and over 200 PhD holders and Masters of Science in medicine. The university’s scientific research focused on the health status of the populations in the mountainous regions and the impacts of the environment on residents’ health. In 2012-2013 academic years, the school has implemented three Ministry-level projects, 6 provincial-level topics, 26 university-level topics and 128 school-level projects. The school also transfers technology with practical significance for Bac Kan, Yen Bai, Thai Nguyen provinces. The school's faculty members also had numerous articles published in research journals, including 15 international papers and 170 domestic articles. Up to now, the university has signed 12 memoranda and has maintained good relationships with many universities around the world such as Kunming Medical University (China), Burapha, Naresuan (Thailand), Zhusen (Taiwan), Maastricht (Netherlands) and the other schools in Japan, Australia, Canada and the U.S. to develop exchange programs, staff and students. At the same time the school has implemented 15 international projects aiming at improving the quality of education and health care for the people. Research Design A descriptive method of research design was adapted by the researcher following the approach of Aggarwal (2008) since it deals with information gathered regarding the present conditions or situations in order to provide a description and interpretation of the data. This approach is considered appropriate for this study to accomplish the desired outcome from the analysis and interpretation of the gathered data. The major goal of the study was to assess the English Micro skill needs of Thai Nguyen students, hence, its use of a descriptive survey research method. The objectives of the study were accomplished through a process of gathering the desired information from the respondents with the use data gathering instruments consisting of a survey questionnaire and a teacher made test. Subjects of the Study The subjects of the study were the selected 814 3rd year students taking up English courses in the Academic Year 2013-2014 and 41 English teachers from the three Thai Nguyen Universities, namely Thai Nguyen University of Education (TUE), Thai Nguyen University - University of Information and Communication Technology (TNU-UICT) and Thai Nguyen University - University of Medicine and Pharmacy (TNU- UMP). The summary of the subjects of the study is shown in Table 1. Table 1 Distribution of the Respondents of the Study Universities Students Teachers Population Proportionate allocation Population Proportionate allocation Thai Nguyen University of Education 2793 349 22 20 Thai Nguyen University of Telecommunication and Information Technology 352 187 16 15 Thai Nguyen University of Medicine and Pharmacy 915 278 7 6 Total 4060 814 45 41 Purposive sampling method was used in this study as this sampling method is a form of non-probability sampling in which decisions concerning the individuals included in the sample were taken based upon a variety of criteria which included specialist knowledge of the research issue, or capacity and willingness to participate in the research (Oliver, 2000). Some types of research design necessitate researchers taking a decision about the individual participants who contributed appropriate data, both in terms of relevance and depth.  As shown in the table, the total number of population of the three universities is 4,060 and the number of student respondents is determined to be 814. Data Gathering Instrument The data gathering instruments used in this study are the survey questionnaire and the teacher made test. To formulate the questionnaire, books, journals, magazines, online references and other materials were read, synthesized and utilized as bases. The survey questionnaire was a researcher made questionnaire to assess the students’ English language micro skills. The teacher made test was used to determine the level of English language proficiency of students in the micro skills of language performance. Standard methods were followed in gathering the responses such that the questions were designed to be more objective, certain and understandable to ensure ease in the collection of the desired information. Questionnaire validation was done with the help of three professors experts of the field to ensure that the instruments’ contents are correct. Suggestions and corrections were included in the final version of the questionnaire prior to a dry run testing for the instruments’ reliability. Survey Questionnaire for Teachers. This was designed to determine how the teacher respondents assess the grammatical and discourse competencies of 3rd year college students. The teacher respondents rated the student’s frequency of use according to the Likert scale as follows: Scale Range Verbal Interpretation 5 4.50-5.00 Always 4 3.50-4.49 Often 3 2.50-3.49 Sometimes 2 1.50-2.49 Rarely 1 1.00-1.49 Never Similarly, the teacher respondents rated the item’s degree of importance according to a Likert scale where the numerical values are assigned to corresponding degree of importance as follows: Scale Range Verbal Interpretation 5 4.50-5.00 Very important 4 3.50-4.49 Moderately important 3 2.50-3.49 Slightly important 2 1.50-2.49 Less important 1 1.00-1.49 Not important Teacher-Made Test. This was designed to evaluate the grammatical and discourse competencies of the 3rd year college students at Thai Nguyen University. In this questionnaire, the test items on reading include 18 items consisting of five items each for Context clues, Summary statements, Fact and inference and three items on Topic sentence and main idea. The writing test items include 25 items consisting of five items each for Spelling, Words in sentences, Punctuation, Modifier placement and Adjectives and Adverbs Accuracy. The speaking test items include 20 items consisting of five items each for Pronunciation, Use of Stress, Form of Words, and Word Order. The listening test items include four items consisting of one item each for Topic Sentence, Meaning of Words, Sentence Constituents, and Grammatical Word Class. The survey and test questionnaires are shown in the Appendix. Data Gathering Procedure The researcher gathered the information required in the study by reading books and other relevant materials and references containing concepts and related literature as well as unpublished theses and journals including online references. The questionnaire for teachers and teacher made test for students were validated by experts and approved by the adviser. The survey questionnaire for teacher respondents was delivered to English teachers for comments and suggestions for further improvement. Likewise, the teacher-made test for student respondents were dry ran to other students not the respondents of the study to determine the strength and weaknesses of the instrument. The score of each item was given a corresponding weight value with one as the lowest and five as the highest. Descriptive equivalents or verbal descriptions were also provided for the interpretation of results. Prior to the administration of the questionnaire, a permit to conduct to administer it to the students from the three Thai Nguyen Universities will be secured from Thai Nguyen University administrators. Upon granted approval, questionnaires were distributed to the respondents. As soon as the questionnaire and test were collected, they were retrieved. Then items in the questionnaire and test were checked and then tallied for analyses. Statistical Treatment of Data The data gathered were analyzed using the following: Frequency Distribution and Percentage. This were used to provide meaningful description of the respondents’ level of English proficiency in the four modes of language performance. Weighted Mean. This was used to quantify the student’s four modes of language performance and their English language micro-skills. Standard Deviation. This was utilized to determine the level of students’ four modes of language performance and the English language micro skills. Independent t-test. This was used to test the significant difference between students’ language proficiency performance and faculty assessments of students’ performance in English language micro-skills. CHAPTER IV PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA This chapter presents the summary of the responses gathered from the participants of the study, the data analysis and its interpretation. 1. Grammatical Competence of the 3rd Year College Students Competency in grammar is one major area of skill requirements of students, particularly 3rd year college students. It is often presumed that linguistic competency improves proportional to the advancement in the tertiary level of education. As the students acquire more English courses in the University and together with their mounting experiences, it is expected that the students would demonstrate maturity in linguistic skills including grammar. Thus, an assessment in grammatical skills can reveal the level of competency of 3rd year college students. This assessment in grammatical competency can be done through a battery of test along the different grammatical components, which can also reveal areas of weaknesses in grammatical learning. This test was administered to 814 3rd year college students of three Thai Nguyen Universities (i.e., TUE, UICT and UMP). The grammatical competency assessment included tests in Parts of speech, Morphology, Syntax and Vocabulary meaning. 1.1 Parts of speech. This component aims to explore the competency of the students in different parts of speech like nouns, pronouns, verbs adverbs, adjective, preposition etc. and how these are correctly used in the sentence. While the same lessons are given to freshman and sophomore students, the 3rd year students are given lessons that are examples of advanced uses of these elements, thus, in this test, five item questions were included. The result of this assessment is shown in Table 2. Table 2 Level of Grammatical Competence of Students in Parts of Speech Test Group Frequency of Correct Item Percent of Correct Items Verbal Interpretation 1.1 Parts of Speech Item 1.1.1 560 68.80 Average Item 1.1.2 589 72.36 Average Item 1.1.3 704 86.49 High Average Item 1.1.4 435 53.44 Average Item 1.1.5 515 63.27 Average Mean 561 68.87 Average Number of student respondents: 814 From the table, it can be observed that the % correct items of the students were above 50 percent in the five items. The lowest item (no. 1.1.4) obtained a score of 53.44 percent while the highest item (no 1.1.3) garnered a score of 86.49 percent. This implies that the students’ performance in this grammatical area is average with that the students’ demonstrated a reasonable degree of competence. This can be expected with the 3rd year students as they are now more adept and sensitive in the correct use of the different parts of speech. 1.2 Morphology. This component deals with the identification, analysis, and description of the structure of morphemes and other linguistic units, such as root words, affixes, parts of speech, intonations and stresses, or implied context. While lessons can run from basic to more advanced topics in word analysis, expectation from 3rd year students would be adeptness on the basic aspects and familiarity with the advanced lessons. In this assessment, five item questions were included and the result is shown in Table 3. Table 3 Level of Grammatical Competence of Students in Morphology Test Group Frequency of Correct Item Percent of Correct Items Verbal Interpretation 1.2. Morphology Item 1.2.1 782 96.07 Superior Item 1.2.2 787 96.68 Superior Item 1.2.3 782 96.07 Superior Item 1.2.4 595 73.10 Ave...of the study showed that seven of nine items obtained an “Agree” score of 100 percent. These items pertain to the grammatical skills involving parts of speech and vocabulary; and the discourse skills involving cohesive devices, transitional phrases, coherence, connectors and choice of words. The two items that had agree score of below 50% are grammatical skills involving morphology and syntax. The pattern of the assessment was surprising since the two items rejected are established grammatical skills. According to the frequency by which the students apply these skills in their various encounters in class, results showed that six out of nine items had mean scores close to 4.0 or equivalent to “Often” and three had mean scores close to 5.0 or equivalent to “Always”. These high frequency scores mean that the teachers observed the students practice and use these skills more often in the class. Moreover, the items on vocabulary, cohesive devices and transitional phrases are observed to be always used. The teacher respondents rated the nine items according to their degree of importance results showed that six out of nine items had mean scores close to 5.0 or equivalent to “Very Important” and three had mean scores close to 4.0 or equivalent to “Moderately Important”. These mean that the teachers had high regards and valuation for the nine items as important skills to be developed by the students and as pedagogic topics at this teaching level. The three items with moderate importance pertains to parts of speech, morphology and syntax, all items being grammatical skills. 4. Relationship of teacher’s assessment and students’ grammatical and discourse competencies. Findings of the study indicated that only seven out of nine items showed a p-value that is below 0.05 which means that the teacher’s assessment and students’ grammatical and discourse competencies along these areas are significantly different. This indicates that no relationship exist between the means being compared and further suggests that they are independent of each other. This could also imply that the assessment of the teachers regarding the student’s skills has not captures the actual performance of the students. Only two items showed a p-value of greater than 0.05 which indicates that the teacher’s assessment and students’ grammatical competencies along these two areas (i.e. morphology and syntax) are not significantly different. This indicates that a relationship exist between the compared means and also suggests that these are dependent of each other. This also indicates that the teachers’ assessment has accurately captured the students’ performance and are could also mean that the teachers can influence students along these areas. 5. Proposed innovative English language teaching strategies Based on the findings of the study, students’ performance scores were not really inferior and were all above 50 percent, thus, the English language teaching strategies, the output of the study will focus on the low-scoring items that are below 70%. This would include: two items on grammatical skills which are: Parts of Speech and Syntax, and two discourse skills which are: Coherence and Connectors. These items included in the list had no relationship between the student’s rating and the teachers’ assessment. Conclusion Based from the findings of the study, the following are the conclusions: 1. The grammatical competence of 3rd year college students in terms of parts of speech morphology, syntax, and vocabulary are above 50 percent which means that the students’ demonstrated a reasonable degree of competence. 2. The discourse competence of the 3rd year College students in terms of cohesive devices, transitional phrases, coherence, connectors, choice of words are above 50 percent. 3. Teachers observed the students practice and use of grammatical skills more often in the class in the items on vocabulary, cohesive devices and transitional phrases. 4. The teacher’s assessment and students’ grammatical and discourse competencies along these areas are significantly different. This indicates that no relationship exist between the means being compared and further suggests that they are independent of each other. 5. The proposed English language teaching strategies will give focus on the low-scoring items of students that are below 70 percent on grammatical skills such as parts of speech and syntax, and discourse skills on coherence and connectors. Recommendations From the findings and conclusions, the following recommendations are offered: The proposed English language activities may be reviewed by administrators and suggestions maybe adopted before utilization. Teachers must be given seminar and trainings along textual competence to enhance students’ writing skills. A similar study may be conducted in other higher educational institutions. BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS Allwright. Language Policy and Language Education in EmergingNations. USA; Greenwood Publishing Corp. 1990. Aguilar, M.J.C. Dealing with Intercultural Communicative Competence in the Foreign Language Classroom. The Netherlands: Springer.2007. Bachman, L.F. “Constructing Measures and Meaning Constructs”, New York: Cambridge University Press.1990 Bachman, L. and A. Palmer. Language Testing in Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1996. Belinchon, M. Igoa,J.M. & Riviere, A. Psychology of Language: Investigation and Theory. Madrid, Trotta. 1994. 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New York: Cambridge University Press. 1990. Tolimson. Research for Materials Development in Language Learning. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group. 1998. Vaughn, S. Card, D.J. Pedrotty, Bryant, D.P. Coleman, M. Fluency and Interventions for Third – Grade Students. Remedial and Special Education. (2000) Van Ek The threshold Level of Modern Language Learning in Schools. London: Longman. 1977. Wardlaugh, R. Introduction to Linguistics. New York. Mc Graw Hill Book. 2005. Wodak, Ruth. Critical Linguistics and Critical Discourse Analysis.Handbook of Pragmatics Manual. John Benjamins Publishing Company 1997 PUBLISHED MATERIALS Chung, Yoo-Ree. “ A Test of Productive English Grammatical Ability in Academic Writing: Development and Validation”, Dissertation. Iowa State University, 2014 Holtz, Monica. “Lexico-Grammatical Properties of Abstracts and Research Articles: A Corpus-Based Study of Scientific Discourse from Multiple Discipline” Dissertation. Technische Universtitat Darmstadt, 2011. Francis, J. “Variation within Lexical Categories”, Dissertation. University of Chicago, 1999 Kallmeyer, L. “Tree Description Grammar and Underspecified Representation.” Dissertation. Universitat Tubingen, 1999. Kim, Christina. “Generating Alternatives: Interpreting Focus on Discourse”, Dissertation University of Rochester, 2012. Nchare, A. “The Grammar of Shupamen.” Dissertation. New York University, 2011. Phillipson, A. “Interrogative Clauses and Verb Morphology in L2 : Effects of Different Elicitation Techniques”, Dissertation. Stockholms University, 2007. Rodrigo, R. “A Reference Grammar of Ayutia Mixe”, Dissertation. State University of New York, Buffalo, 2009. Suellivan, K. “Grammar in Metaphor: A Construction Grammar Account of Metaphoric Language”, Dissertation. University of California Berkely, 2007. JOURNALS AND PUBLICATION Alptekin, C. Towards Intercultural Communicative Competence in ELT, EFL Journal 56. 2002. Ayub, Seken and K. Suarnajaya., W. An Analysis of the Cohesion and Coherence of Students’ English Writings at the Second Grade of SMANI LABU API WEST LOMBOK. ejournal program pascasarjana Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha. 2013. Daly, Lentz and Boyer. The Instructional Heirarchy: A Conceptual Model for understanding the effective components of reading interventions, School Psychology Journal. 1996. Fernandez, et al. Physician Language Ability and Cultural Competence. Journal of General Internal Medicine. 2011. Guest, M. A Critical Checkbook for Culture Teaching and Learning. ELT Journal, 56. 2002. Leung, C. Convivial Communication Recontextualizing Communicative Competence. International Journal of Applied Linguistics. 2005. Liu, Yingin and William Carney. Multi- Competence at the Discourse Level: A Comparison of Persuasive Essays by Chines College and High School EFL Students. Journal of Language Teaching and Research Vol 3. No. 6.2010. Maleki , A, Treachniques to Teach Communication Strategies.Journal of Language Teaching and Research. 2010 Skinner, C.H., Belfiore, P.J. and Watson, T.S. Assessing the Relative Effects of Interventions in Students with Mild Disabilities: Assessing Instructional Time. Journal of Psycho-educational Assessment. 2002. Widdowson, H. G. The Ownership of English. TESOL Quarterly.1994. ELECTRONIC REFERENCES Acquisition-of-Discourse- Competence. pdf dictionary.reference.com.browse/morphological elearning.la.psu.edu.ap/ng802 Elinor Ochs, www. sschnet. ucla. edu./ anthro/ faculty/ ochs/ articles/ Fernando/trujilo.es/w.p-content Kitao,ites/j.org.article/kitao-materials Harris, Robert. www. virtual salt.com/transits.htm Nordquist, Richard. grammar. about.com /od/or/g/syntax. Htm Schroeder, Erika K. F10 Slaencyclopedia / Discourse Competence. Tan.course.NUS.Edu.SG/course/ elljwpl The New Oxford Dictionary of English, 1998 Van Dijk. Critical Discourse Analysis. http :// www. hum.uva.nl/ teun/ cda.htm.1998. www.csi.edu/ip/ADC /faulty/bbennett/ pso/exp.htm/ www.educ.gov.nb.ca/K12cur/language www.neola.com/miamidade_fl/search. www.professor jack Richards.com www.o1/silang.lingulink www.sil.org /lingualinks/ language, 2009 www.sbd.org.pl/content www. o1sil. Orglingualinks/ what grammatical competence html www. wise geek. com/ what is /discourse competence/html www.yourdictionary.com/ vocabulary DOCUMENTS MOET 2007 American Immigration Law Foundation, 2000 APPENDICES Appendix A. Letter of Requests Appendix B. Questionnaire Appendix A. Questionnaire on English Language Grammatical and Discourse Competence of 3rd Year College Students of TNU: Basis for ELT Strategies and Intervention Exercises Guide in answering the questionnaire. Welcome! You are currently participating in a descriptive research on English Language Grammatical and Discourse Competence of 3rd Year College Students of TNU: Basis for ELT Strategies and Intervention Exercises. Below you will find a list of questions that will test your skill on Language Grammatical and Discourse Competence. Follow carefully the instructions for each test section. Do not forget to fill in your personal data. Do not leave any questions unanswered as this will invalidate your answer sheet. If you need further clarification, do not hesitate to ask your examiner. Thank you! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. Personal Data Respondents Name:____________________________________________________________________________ Age:___________ Gender:____________Parent’s Educational Attainment:____________________ Place of origin:___________________Type of High School:_________________________________ Exposure to English media: (Please put a check mark corresponding to the rating of your choice.) Rating Least exposed (1) Moderately exposed (2) Highly exposed (3) Extent of exposure Type of media Television Radio Internet Newspaper Magazines Books Pamphlets Others, specify II. Assessment of Grammatical Competence Grammatical Competence Parts of Speech In the spaces provided before each number, write N if the underlined word is used as a noun, P if it is used as a pronoun, A if it is used as an adjective, ADV for adverb, V for verb, C for conjunction, P for preposition, I if it is used as interjection. _______ ______1. Hiromi entered medical school last fall. _______ ______2. Don’t walk under the bridge. _______ ______3. We frequently arrive before the door is unlocked. _______ ______4. That is a prize composition. _______ ______5. Oh, what a surprise this is! Morphology Underline the roots in the following words and write the letter of their correct meanings from the given options on the space provided before each number. ______________1. Symphony A. form B. sound C. hold ______________2. Hydrant A. water B. over C. light ______________3. Synonym A. far B. across C. together ______________4. Bibliophile A. friend B. well C. lead ______________5. Rupture A. all B. drive C. break Syntax Give the syntax of the underlined nouns. Write S if the underlined noun is used as subject, PN for predicate nominative, NA for nominative in apposition, NE for nominative of exclamation, DO for direct object, IO for indirect object, OA for objective in apposition, OP for object of the preposition, RO for retained object, OC for objective complement, CO for cognate object. Write all the answers on the spaces provided before each number. _______ ______1. The child laughed a merry laugh. _______ ______2. The school choose Anthony leader. _______ ______3. Helen showed her brother her new game. _______ ______4. Father met Dorothy, my friend, at the station. _______ ______5. Prayer! It is a ladder that reaches to God. 1.4.Vocabulary Meaning Match the underlined word in Column A with their meanings in Column B. Write your answer on the space provided before each number. A B _____1. We should all start the day without dallying. A. outburst of an activity _____2. In all its majesty, the mountain loomed in the distance. B. humiliating _____3. This summer my friends and I will go on a holiday spree. C. ordinary _____4. He had become a banker of middling rank. D. greatness _____5. The army suffered an ignominious defeat. E. comfortable F. any delay 2. DISCOURSE COMPETENCE 2.1. Cohesive Devices Read the paragraph and identify the cohesive devices which the writer used to achieve coherence. Write all your answer on the spaces provided below. A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the luster of the firmament of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his thought because it is his. In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts; they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty. A. Synonym: a gleam of light: ____________ B. Reference (personal pronouns): man: ________________ C. Reference (personal pronoun): thought: ______________ D. Reference (personal pronoun): we: ___________________ E. Reference (personal pronoun): thoughts: ______________ F. Synonym: rejected : ______________ 2.2. Transitional Phrases In the paragraph below underline the letter of the correct transitional expressions to create a smooth and logical flow from the given options. The surest way to give yourself insomnia is to take a major problem to bed with you. (1.) (Consequently, At first, In back of), you lie there, staring up at the ceiling, trying to figure out a solution. Then you toss and turn. (2.) (In the end, For instance, After a while), you tell yourself that you can’t solve the problem tonight, but you keep on trying anyway. (3.) (Meanwhile, Alongside, Later), the clock keeps tickling. You begin to think about how tired you’re going to be tomorrow if you don’t get to sleep. (4.) (For instance, Soon, However), that only makes you more tense. (5.) (Eventually, On the contrary, At once) you doze off- only to awaken a few hours later wondering why you’re sleeping so poorly. 2.3. Coherence The order of the sentences below is not logical .In the space provided, write the sentence letters in the order in which they should be arranged to form a coherent paragraph. Order of sentences should be: (1.) ______ (2.) ______ (3.) ______ (4.) ______ (5.) ______ These record album covers have become a form of pop art and are often collected for themselves. An eye-catching album cover can lead to instant fame for an album which otherwise might not have been a big seller. Before you know it, the fad has caught on. When more than a million albums are sold, public relations firms begin printing posters of the cover. Buttons and bumper stickers, based on the design of the posters, contribute to the growing fad. 2.4. Connectors Choose the correct conjunctions from the given options in the following sentences. Write your answer on the space provided before each number. _________1. The dog barked (A. for B. and C. so) wagged his tail. _________2. I go to the museum (A. though B. although C. whenever) I get a chance. _________3. I arrived late; (furthermore, finally, indeed) I forgot my books. _________4. (So that, Wherever, Until) yesterday, Jim didn’t even know my name. _________5. She wore a simple (or, yet, nor) elegant dress. 2.5. Choice of Words The paragraph below contains errors in the choice of words. Underline the incorrect word and write the correct word in the space provided below. The new job offer was attractive. Mary didn’t know whether to except it. Consequently, she sought the advise of her parents. They adviced her to except the job if her working wouldn’t effect her studies. She was all together pleased with their advise , for she had real wanted to work. Now, she would be able to save the necessary capitol with which to open a small dress shop latter on. The sight of the new shop had all ready been fixed. Mary felt that the coarse of events was working real well for her. Her personnel worries were being solved in an awfully satisfactory way. 1.__________ 2.__________ 3.__________ 4.__________ 5.__________ Questionnaire on Teacher’s Assessment of the English Language Grammatical and Discourse Competence of 3rd Year College Students of TNU: Basis for ELT Strategies and Intervention Exercises I. Demographic profile of the teachers. Respondents Name:____________________________________________ Age:_________ Gender:__________ Place of origin:__________________ Civil Status:_________ Educational qualification:______________________ Years of teaching experience:_____________________________________ II. Assessment of the English Language Grammatical and Discourse Competence of 3rd Year College Students (Validation). Please indicate whether the following student skills are examples of Grammatical and Discourse Competence skills. Place a check-mark on the space corresponding to the rating of your choice. Student Skills Do you agree or disagree that the following skills are Strategic competence skills? Agree (1) Disagree (2) Grammatical Competence Parts of Speech 1. The student is able to identify the different parts of speech in a sentence correctly. 1a. The student is able to recognize that the underlined words in the sentence: 1. Hiromi entered medical school last fall; are Adjective and Noun respectively. Morphology 2. The student is able to correctly recognize the application of morphology in a sentence. 2a. The student is able to recognize that the correct meaning of the word symphony from the given choices: A. form, B. sound, and C. hold; is letter B. Syntax 3. The student is able to recognize the correct syntax in a sentence. 3a. The student is able to recognize syntax of the underlined words in a sentence: The child laughed a merry laugh; as subject and predicate nominative respectively. Vocabulary Meaning 4. The student is able to recognize the correct meaning of a word in a sentence. 4a. The student is able to recognize the meaning of the underlined word in a sentence: We should all start the day without dallying; as any delay. Discourse Competence Cohesive Devices 5. The student is able to recognize the correct application of cohesive devices in a sentence. 5a. The student is able to recognize the synonym of the underlined phrase in the sentence: A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the luster of the firmament of bards and sages; as luster. Transitional Phrases 6. The student is able to recognize the correct application of transitional phrases in a paragraph. 6a. The student is able to identify the correct transitional expressions to create a smooth and logical flow in the paragraph: The surest way to give yourself insomnia is to take a major problem to bed with you. (1.) (Consequently, At first, In back of), you lie there, staring up at the ceiling, trying to figure out a solution; as At first. Coherence 7. The student is able to recognize the correct order of sentences in a paragraph. 7a. The student is able to identify the correct order of the sentences in the paragraph: a. These record album covers have become a form of pop art and are often collected for themselves. b. An eye-catching album cover can lead to instant fame for an album which otherwise might not have been a big seller. c. Before you know it, the fad has caught on. d. When more than a million albums are sold, public relations firms begin printing posters of the cover. e. Buttons and bumper stickers, based on the design of the posters, contribute to the growing fad; as : (1.) b (2.) a (3.) d (4.) e (5.) c. Connectors 8. The student is able to recognize the correct use of conjunction in a sentence. 8a. The student is able to identify the correct conjunction in the sentence: The dog barked (A. for B. but C. so) wagged his tail; as but. Choice of Words 9. The student is able to recognize the correct choice of words in a sentence. 9a. The student is able to identify the correct choice of words in the sentence: Now, she would be able to save the necessary capitol with which to open a small dress shop latter on.; as capital and later respectively. III. Assessment of the English Language Grammatical and Discourse Competence of 3rd Year College Students. (Frequency of use). Rate the frequency by which you think the students’ use their grammatical and discourse competencies based on the following skills. Place a check-mark on the space corresponding to the rating of your choice. Student Skills Frequency of Assessment Always (5) Often (4) Sometimes (3) Rarely (2) Not at all (1) Grammatical Competence Parts of Speech 1. The student is able to identify the different parts of speech in a sentence correctly. Morphology 2. The student is able to correctly recognize the application of morphology in a sentence. Syntax 3. The student is able to recognize the correct syntax in a sentence. Vocabulary Meaning 4. The student is able to recognize the correct meaning of a word in a sentence. Discourse Competence Cohesive Devices 5. The student is able to recognize the correct application of cohesive devices in a sentence. Transitional Phrases 6. The student is able to recognize the correct application of transitional phrases in a paragraph. Coherence 7. The student is able to recognize the correct order of sentences in a paragraph. Connectors 8. The student is able to recognize the correct use of conjunction in a sentence. Choice of Words 9. The student is able to recognize the correct choice of words in a sentence. IV. Assessment of the English Language Grammatical and Discourse Competence of 3rd Year College Students. (Degree of importance). Rank the following students skills in terms of degree of importance . Place a check-mark on the box corresponding to the rating of your choice. Student Skills Degree of Importance Very Important (5) Moderately Important (4) Slightly Important (3) Less Important (2) Not Important (1) Grammatical Competence Parts of Speech 1. The student is able to identify the different parts of speech in a sentence correctly. Morphology 2. The student is able to correctly recognize the application of morphology in a sentence. Syntax 3. The student is able to recognize the correct syntax in a sentence. Vocabulary Meaning 4. The student is able to recognize the correct meaning of a word in a sentence. Discourse Competence Cohesive Devices 5. The student is able to recognize the correct application of cohesive devices in a sentence. Transitional Phrases 6. The student is able to recognize the correct application of transitional phrases in a paragraph. Coherence 7. The student is able to recognize the correct order of sentences in a paragraph. Connectors 8. The student is able to recognize the correct use of conjunction in a sentence. Choice of Words 9. The student is able to recognize the correct choice of words in a sentence. Appendix C . Documentations Study sites Thai Nguyen University of Education TN University of Medicine and Pharmacy TN University of Information and Communication Technology Photographs for Administration of Questionaires to students University of Telecommunication and Information Technology Thai Nguyen University of Education TN University of Medicine and Pharmacy Photograph for asking permission to conduct the Study Thai Nguyen University of Education University of Telecommunication and Information Technology TN University of Medicine and Pharmacy Photographs for Teachers Assessment Thai Nguyen University of Education University of Telecommunication and Information Technology TN University of Medicine and Pharmacy CURRICULUM VITAE Name: NGUYEN THI HONG CHUYEN (JENNY) Address: Phan Dinh Phung Ward, Thai Nguyen city Mobile no. 0913067879 E-mail add: maihong812003@yahoo.com PERSONAL INFORMATION Date of Birth Place of Birth Age Nationality Religion Sex Civil Status Spouse Children’ names : September 15th , 1981 : Thai Nguyen Province, Viet Nam : 34 : Vietnamese : No : Female : Married : Cao Quy Duong : Cao Tuan Long Cao Tuong Vi EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND 2003-2005 Master of Arts Major in English Latrobe University, 1999-2003 Bachelor of Arts Major in English Thai Nguyen University WORK EXPERIENCE Lecturer Thai Nguyen University of Education. 2003 - present