Prototype lessons on developing textual skills of first year college students of thai nguyen university system

Số hóa bởi Trung tâm Học liệu – ĐHTN http://www.lrc.tnu.edu.vn PROTOTYPE LESSONS ON DEVELOPING TEXTUAL SKILLS OF FIRST YEAR COLLEGE STUDENTS OF THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SYSTEM A Disserta

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PROTOTYPE LESSONS ON DEVELOPING TEXTUAL SKILLS

OF FIRST YEAR COLLEGE STUDENTS OF THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SYSTEM

A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of Graduate School Batangas State University Batangas City, Philippines

In Partial Fulfillment

Of the Requirements for the Degree

Of Doctor of Philosophy Major in English

By:

HOANG HUONG LY

June 2015

APPROVAL SHEET

This dissertation entitled “PROTOTYPE LESSONS ON DEVELOPING TEXTUAL SKILLS OF FIRST YEAR COLLEGE STUDENTS OF THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SYSTEM” prepared and submitted by HOANG HUONG LY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of

Philosophy major in English has been examined and is recommended for Oral Examination

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ABSTRACT

Title : Prototype Lessons on Developing Textual Skill of First Year College Students of Thai Nguyen University System

Author : Hoang Huong Ly

Course : Doctor of Philosophy

Major : English

Year : 2015

Adviser : Dr Matilda H Dimaano

Summary

This study aimed to assess the textual skill of first year college students

of Thai Nguyen System with prototype lessons as output of the study to develop students‟ textual performance

This study made use of the descriptive method of research using survey questionnaire and teacher-made test Respondents of the study were the 326 first year Basic English language students from selected Universities in Thai Nguyen and 66 English teachers The students answered the teacher –made test on textual performance relative to combining sentences, constructing sentences, connecting ideas, using words effectively, and developing paragraph which served as the source of the quantitative data that were

analyzed statistically The students‟ demographic profiles in terms of gender; parents‟ educational attainment; students‟ exposure to English media; place of origin; and school graduated from were included in the study Further, the hypothesis that there are no significant differences between the students' textual performance in English and the teachers' assessment scores is tested The data gathered were analyzed using the following statistics: frequency distribution, percentage, weighted mean, standard deviation, and independent t-test

Findings of the study revealed that in the student respondents‟ demographic profiles in relation to gender, there were 55.83 percent males and 44.17 percent females in the group with the males exceeding the females by 11.66 percent This means that the population under study has an almost equal gender distribution and can be considered as gender-balanced As to parents‟ educational attainment, out of 326 respondents there are 303 or 92.94 percent whose parents have tertiary education, which means that majority of the student respondents have well-educated parents

With regards to exposure to English media more than half or 51.23 percent of the students had the least exposure to the English media, which means that majority of the students are not well exposed to the English media

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and are therefore foreign to it For place of origin, results showed that 188 out

of 326 student respondents or 57.67 percent originated from urban areas in Vietnam which means that most of the respondents came from urban areas where they grew up and obtained their early education in areas close to cities where advanced learning technologies are available Relative to school graduated majority of the student respondents or 98.77 percent had their high school education in public schools which means that most of the students pursued their secondary education in public schools availing of the standardized education program

In students‟ textual skills performance relative to combining sentences findings showed that the percent correct items of the students for combining sentences is 69.8 percent with a verbal equivalent of average which means that the student respondents have achieved a certain degree of skill in sentence combining For constructing sentences, the percent correct items of the students are 53.3 percent with a verbal equivalent of average which means that the student respondents find sentence construction as the most difficult component of textual performance and further implies that it doesn‟t mean that

if the skill is more basic, it would be easier for the students In connecting ideas, the percent correct items obtained by the students for connecting

sentences are 62.0 percent with a verbal equivalent of average which means that the student respondents find combining sentences as one of the less difficult components of the textual skills

Moreover, in using words effectively the percent correct items of the students for using words effectively is 54.3 percent with a verbal equivalent of average which means that it is one of the more difficult components of the textual skills for the student respondents In relation to developing paragraph, the percent correct items of the students for using developing paragraphs is 59.5 percent with a verbal equivalent of average which means that in general the students do not find this skill to be very difficult nor too easy and further means that the students have developed a certain degree of paragraph construction skills although not fully mature but enough to support their continuing growth in their tertiary years

In relationships between the students‟ textual skills performance and their profile variables results indicated that for gender, the p-value for three out

of five component skills is below 0.05 indicating that the performance of the male and the female students are significantly different which means that male students‟ performance in combining sentences, connecting ideas and developing paragraphs is different from the female students‟ performance

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Meanwhile, for the other two component skills pertaining to constructing sentences and using words effectively, the p-values are above 0.05 which means they are not significantly different For Parents‟ Education, it can be noted that in three out of five component skills were the p-value is below 0.05

or significantly different, specifically in secondary vs tertiary educated parents For the degree of exposure to the English media, a p-value less than 0.05 was obtained only in connecting ideas for means involving least and moderate exposure and least vs high exposure This indicates that it was only in connecting ideas did the media exposure significantly affect the students‟ performance

For place of origin, all the five component skills, the p-values were below 0.05 and are significantly different for urban and rural origin which means that demographic factor is important in the learning performance of the students In the case of the type of High School, only in using words effectively that the p-value was below 0.05 indicating that performance of the students in this area is significantly different which means that education in the public schools is generally not different from private schools

As for the teachers‟ assessment of the students‟ textual skills performance in English, findings revealed that all of the 11 items obtained an

“agree” score of >50 percent which means that the teacher respondents unanimously consider all the listed items as pertinent items to assess the performance skills of the freshman students According to frequency of use by the students, results showed that seven out of the 11 items got ratings of 3.5 to 3.9 or equivalent to Often and five items out of 11 had a rating of 2.8 to 3.3 or equivalent to Sometimes which means that in general, the teachers perceived that the students are performing their textual skills often

As regards degree of importance results showed 10 out of the 11 items had mean scores close to 4.0 or equivalent to moderately important, and one item had a score close to 5.0 or very important which indicates that the teacher respondents had a very high assessment of the degree of importance of the different items under the textual skills

In the relationship of teacher‟s assessment and the students‟ textual performance in English findings revealed that the textual performance of the students in three out of five areas is significantly different from the frequency ratings of the teachers which implies that the students‟ performance in the areas of combining sentence, constructing sentences and connecting ideas are not related to the teachers‟ assessment In contrast, the students‟ performance score in using words effectively and developing paragraphs are not significantly different from the teachers‟ assessment and are thus, related to each other

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The t-test results on the component skills pertaining to using words effectively and developing paragraphs demonstrate a linkage between the student‟s performance and the teacher assessment and thus could be predictable of each other Hence, interventions pertinent to these areas that would be done by the teachers can be expected to influence the students‟ performance along these areas

For the preparation of the proposed prototype lessons to develop students‟ textual skills performance, there are some elements considered for this particular group of Vietnamese teachers and students which include the following low performance score of the students in the component areas of the textual skills, meaningful relationship of the performance scores with the profile variables, and meaningful relationship of the performance scores with the teachers‟ assessment

From the findings and conclusions, the study recommended that the prototype lessons may be presented to school administrators for their review and suggestions; that improvement of the designed prototype lessons should

be made; and further studies may be conducted along this line in private universities

Dr Corazon C Cabrera, Dr Myrna G Sulit, Dr Amada G Banaag, Dr Maria Luisa A Valdez, and Dr Felix M Panopio, Panel Members, for their insights and valuable inputs;

Dr Remedios P Magnaye, Recording Secretary, for her dedication in encoding the minutes during the oral defense;

All the personnel of the International Training Center (ITC), Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry, for their assistance;

The English teachers and students from the four selected universities of Thai Nguyen University System, who were the respondents of the study for their cooperation; and

Pham Hong Thai, her husband and Pham Hoang Minh, her son, her parents and her parents in-law for all the support, love and encouragement

Hoang Huong Ly

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DEDICATION

This work is lovingly dedicated to my husband Pham Hong Thai, my son Pham Hoang Minh, and my mother for being my inspiration

Hoang Huong Ly

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TITLE PAGE i

APPROVAL SHEET ii

ABSTRACT iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENT x

DEDICATION xi

TABLE OF CONTENTS xii

LIST OF TABLES xv

LIST OF FIGURES xvii

CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM Introduction 1

Statement of the Problem 6

Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study 7

Significance of the Study 8

II REVIEW OF LITERATURE Conceptual Literature 11

Research Literature 46

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Synthesis 55

Theoretical Framework 58

Conceptual Framework 59

Hypothesis 62

Definition of Terms 62

III RESEARCH METHOD AND PROCEDURE Research Environment 65

Research Design 67

Subjects of the Study 68

Data Gathering Instrument 69

Data Gathering Procedure 72

Statistical Treatment of Data 73

IV PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA 74

V SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION Summary of Findings 126

Conclusions 137

Recommendation 139

BIBLIOGRAPHY 140

APPENDICES……… 146

A Questionnaires 147

B Letters of Request 163

C Documentations 169

D Psychrometric Conversion Table 175

CURRICULUM VITAE ……… 178

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LIST OF TABLES Table Title Page

1 Distribution of the Population and Sample 68

2 Gender Profile of the Student Respondents…… ………… 76

3 Parents‟ Education Profile of the Student Respondents 77

4 Profile of Students‟ Exposure to English Media 79

5 Types of English Media Exposure 80

6 Place of Origin of the Student Respondents 81

7 Type of High School of the Student Respondents 82

8 Students‟ Performance in the Different Textual Skills 85

9 T-test Comparison of the Students‟ Performance in the Textual Skills Tests Stratified According to the Students‟ Profile Variables 94

10 Textual Skills Performance of the Students as Assessed by the Teachers 98

11 Students‟ English Language Textual Skills and their Frequency of Use 99

12 Students‟ English Language Textual Skills and their Degree of Importance 101

13 Students‟ Performance and Teachers‟ Assessment on the Students‟ Textual Skills 102

14 Bases in the Design of Prototype Lessons to Develop Students‟ Textual Skills Performance 104

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Title Page

1 Conceptual Paradigm of the Study ……… 61

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CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM Introduction

The English language is one of the foreign languages taught in various stages of the educational system, especially in countries that have adopted it

as their second language A number of reasons justify this grand educational decision as the English language has risen to a global status and has fast become the lingua franca of the entire world

Although English is only the third in rank among the world languages, the first of which is Chinese Mandarin and the second is Spanish, the wide adoption and acceptance of modern English in business communication drive its continuous success In fact, countries in Africa and Asia for example who are multi-lingual and multi-dialect have made English as their common language bridging the communication gap among their regional constituents Therefore, English has risen from its former status as the language of the colonialists to a language of democracy and progress

Globalization has created a demand for proficiency in the English language Important business transactions in the world‟s biggest economies

are crafted in the English language The movement of people either for tourism, business, education or migration to a foreign country requires a minimum level of English language proficiency These are some of the several reasons why English language schools have proliferated, that is to cater to the increasing need of the wider speaking public While the teaching of the English language has taken a full and formalistic engagement like the programs for English as the Second Language (ESL) or English as a Foreign Language (EFL) assumed by designated language teaching institutions, deficiencies have been and continuously being identified The ESL and EFL pedagogical styles were seen to follow the scholastic or traditional approaches of teaching English

With traditional approaches, it is meant that the English language is taught in the way that it is taught in schools, like building vocabularies and putting heavy emphasis on grammar This approach has been challenged as evaluations of the non-native speakers in various foreign educational institutions that showed preponderance of ineffective English communication skills In fact, the ESL program was primarily geared towards developing written English proficiency, not spoken English proficiency Thus, the trend of

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focusing on spoken English proficiency is gaining ground among the different language learning institutions in the recent time

However, people cannot use only spoken language to communicate because written language plays very important role in every field As can be seen in four skills, writing or textual skill is the most creative and difficult skill that learners at different levels of English especially elementary encounter because they need to gain basic knowledge of English in general as well as writing in particular If they are taught textual skill thoroughly and often practice writing, they are able to use words and compound or complex sentences exactly and effectively to express their ideas logically

Language learning proceeds in a longitudinal and sequential fashion and several researches have provided evidence to this effect In fact, there were 5 stages identified in communicative development that L1 learners need to undergo ESL/EFL learners were also found to undergo communicative development in a similar process, suggesting the universality of the language learning process And following L1 learners‟ pattern in acquiring linguistic skills

of their native language that occur in stages, macro and micro skills are acquired as well

The four macro language skills that occur in sequential process include listening first, then speaking, followed by reading, and finally writing These macro skills as indicated are related to each other in two ways, and these are the direction of communication - the in or out, and the method of communication the spoken or written The micro-skills acquired would include grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and spelling

The linguistic skills development and maturity of the second language learners can be evaluated cross-sectionally through a sampling assessment of their macro skills as well as their micro skills Such is particularly important especially among freshman students of the University, where a linguistic performance assessment would be critical in making a decision for English language remedial programs Aware of the academic tasks of a tertiary education, a minimum skill and proficiency in the English language is required for them to successfully tackle the requirements of their courses

In the spectrum of the macro-linguistic skills of the first year college students, writing or textual skill will be evaluated One reason for this choice is the apparent expectation that these students are in fact mature EFL learners and their years of exposure and use of the English language have gained their

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competence to tackle the advanced task of writing According to Omaggio (1993) writing is a continuous activity that range from the more mechanical or formal aspects of writing down on the one end, to the more complex act of composing on the other end Through experience writing skills can be learned and practice

Composing as one among attributes of writing centers on telling or retelling pieces of information It can be in the form of narrative or description

or transforming information into new texts Writing is learned through formal instructional environment and not in a naturally acquired skill It needs conscious effort and practice Students are taught the importance of stating assumptions through writing as well as creating texts and building relationships among words, sentences and paragraphs based from their experiences

In the aspect of macro- skills, there is no other fitting choice but to examine the students‟ writing skills as these also mirror the kind of performance they have along this language component There are identified writing problems which the students encountered These include inconsistencies in spelling, punctuations and capitalizations, unnecessary

shifting in the use of simple tenses, and wordiness Students also have problems in sentence and paragraph coherence as well as word order and sentence structure

These difficulties can be attributed to students‟ weaknesses in their prior learning experiences as well as lack of exposures and practice in writing The researcher being an English teacher handling Basic English Course, observed these scenario among her Vietnamese students taking up this course That prompted her to conduct this study to probe the textual skills of the Vietnamese first year Basic English students in comparison to the assessments of the responses of their respective English teachers

Statement of the Problem

This study assessed textual skill of first year college students of Thai Nguyen University System, Vietnam

Specifically, it sought answers to the following questions:

1 What is the demographic profile of students in terms of:

1.1 gender;

1.2 parents‟ educational attainment;

1.3 students‟ exposure to English media;

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1.4 place of origin; and 1.5 school graduated from?

2 What is the respondents' textual skills performance in terms of:

2.1 combining sentences;

2.2 constructing sentences ; 2.3 connecting ideas;

2.4 using words effectively; and 2.5 developing paragraph?

3 Are there significant relationships between the students' textual skills performance and their profile variables?

4 How do teachers assess the textual skills performance of students in English?

5 Are there significant differences on students‟ textual skills performance and teachers‟ assessment on the same areas?

6 What prototype lessons may be proposed to develop students‟ skills textual skills performance?

Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study

This study determined the textual skills of first year college students of Thai Nguyen System, Vietnam This study was limited to the responses of

379 first year Basic English language students from selected Universities in Thai Nguyen and their respective English teachers The students answered the teacher–made test on textual performance relative to combining sentences; constructing sentences; connecting ideas; using words effectively; and developing paragraph which served as the source of the quantitative data that were analyzed statistically The students‟ demographic profiles such as gender; parents‟ educational attainment; students‟ exposure

to English media; place of origin; and school graduated from were included in this study The student respondents were enrolled in the Basic English course in the University The teacher respondents were the respective teachers of the evaluated students and the teacher‟s assessment of the student and the students‟ scores in questionnaire were compared Comparison of means and t-test were done as well as correlation analysis but not limited to these statistical parameters Demographic data were

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presented as graphical figures The study was limited only to first year college students enrolled in the four Thai Nguyen University Systems Those students who were not enrolled in the Basic English Course as well

as those who were in the upper year levels were excluded in the study

Significance of the Study

This study is believed to have profound significance to the administrators, teachers of English and first year college students in Thai Nguyen University, and future researchers

Administrators Results of the study will provide them information

regarding the textual performance of their students for them to make the decision to establish an English language remedial program for the affected student population or make an evaluation as to whether the teacher‟s strategic intervention and the prototype lessons which are the output of this study would suffice to supplement the deficiency needs of the students

Policy-Makers Results of the study will provide them with the latest

textual performance of the first year college English students which will serve

as basis for national policy formulation This will also substantiate the status of the primary and secondary education whether they have successfully prepared the students to this tertiary level

Students Results of the study will help them understand their textual

performance This will also serve as basis for improvement on the areas they find most difficult The output developed in the study in the form of prototype lessons in English language will reinforce them in the deficiencies encountered

Teachers The results of study will benefit the teachers because they

can inject their impressions on their students Similarly, they would benefit from the results that will be cascaded to them at the end of the study so that they will understand why their students perform accordingly They will also

be benefited by the prototype lessons developed as these serve as pedagogical aids in their students‟ learning

Researcher Herself Results of the study will help her design more

writing exercises to improve students‟ textual performance

Future Researchers Results of the study will provide them information

which they could utilize in the conduct of similar study in another setting

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CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE

This chapter presents the relevant conceptual and research literature which are found relevant to the present study, synthesis, theoretical and conceptual frameworks and definition of terms The literatures included are found substantial to the study and give the necessary background to understand the present research

Conceptual Literature

The following concepts which focus on Basic College English, grammatical and textual skills performance of students, and writing English composition and prototype lessons in English are reviewed to substantiate the study

Basic College English An English-based controlled language which is

also called simple English is referred to as Basic English It is an international auxiliary language intended to serve as a means of communication between people whose native languages differed (www 5 minuteenglish.com/ basic-english-lang.htm) This was created by British writer and linguist Charles Kay Ogden as an aid for teaching English as a second language Basic English is a simplified subset of regular English which Ogden believes that with a controlled English learning experience would be easier to achieve

In learning English, there is a need to have knowledge of some basic rules of the language Developing a solid foundation in English grammar will help students create sentences correctly and easier to improve communication skills in both spoken and written English The requirements in the offering of Basic College English vary depending on the college or university the student has chosen A good rule thumbs for anyone interested in knowing exactly what those site specific pre-requisites are to check with the college However, if a student is uncertain as to which college to attend, there is a method to determine and be prepared for some of the most basic college English

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requirements (every-day life global pointt.com/ basic-college-English requirements 6092, html)

In College English classes reading is dominant.These can be a mixture

of classical literature, contemporary poetry, social commentary, opinion pieces, academic articles and or drama According to Harvard report for reading, for students to absorb these works properly, they must develop a habit of reading with purpose They must know what they want to get out from the reading assignment and be able to look for those points

Same is true with writing It is heavily dealt on and one of the mos difficult aspects considered along this area is grammar It is expected by everybody that students will be able to show an understanding of the basic rules of grammar For students to have better understanding of grammar, they need to seek and purchase the latest edition of a writer's handbook which contains all the rules of grammar, syntax, citation, formatting and vocabulary Students can easily use and refer to these books every time needed as these guides come with online resources of writers

College students should have a strong vocabulary through reading as institution wants to have students who possess strong lexicon Students can

effectively communicate if they have many ideas Since words represent ideas, it is believed that the students who possess more words the better they could express themselves For that reason students should continuously learn and add new words to their vocabulary

There are seven secrets to succeed in taking Basic College English (grammar about.com/od/ your writing/a fresh.com tips / htm).These include: knowing the writing handbook and be able to use this; reading twice where the first reading if for pleasure and the second is for facts; using the college writing center and reviewing the basic grammatical structures and terms; preparing to move beyond; using online resources wisely as well as avoiding plagiarism

It can be daunting to combine words together to form phrases and phrases to form complete sentences and communicate in the English language Once the basics of English communication is mastered, the next step is to advance the speaking, reading and writing skills (Ideboen, Alyssa, www com/ how- 7489732 -learn -basic-college english.html)

To improve English language education the following are the study tips and tricks to follow to master the basics of College English: review the basic by

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grabbing an English grammar book with the help of a tutor or an English speaking friend and make some understanding of the basic English grammar since college level English involve a bigger vocabulary and more complex structures; use of English daily through practicing listening skills such as watching television or listening to radio or communicating with people by talking to friends In addition, have practice with TOEFL example questions to get idea of advance English test-questions, and work through practice exams

as well as get corrected by having a tutor or close friend to help hone skills by listening and adjusting pronunciation

As a flexible major, English offers many opportunities to students to take electives within the major area of study A solid grounding in undergraduate studies can prepare one to pursue an advance degree English requirements differ from university to university, but there are some general requirement.Most universities require all students to take a composition class, while a writing-focused class may be required to graduate from college (education/ seattle pi com/ic – college –english- requirements-1224 html) Some universities require a survey course in English literature, a class that covers a breath of literature overtime Other universities require two or three

courses focusing an older works, such as phrase by Shakespeare, Chaucer, or other pre-1800's writers

Grammatical and Textual Skills Performance of Students The

science which deals with words, forms of words, word combination and the relationship between words and the system of rules for the use of a language

or the study of what is preferred and what is to be avoided in effective speech and writing is grammar (Cruz et al., 2007) It tells what words do in sentences and how they combine to convey meaning It refers to the appropriate use of words in a language as it is spoken and written

As the basic backbone of any language, grammar is also referred to as the set of structural rules governing the composition of clauses, phrases and words in any given natural language which include morphology, syntax, and phonology, and often complemented by phonetics, semantics, and pragmatic

is referred to as grammar Rules for usage of proper tenses and proper sentence construction, punctuation as well as correct usage of words are also covered in grammar Language without grammar is totally coarse and completely intelligible and no sense

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There are five reasons why grammar is important in a language These include: to be able to maintain uniformity where the use of language according

to one‟s own whims and fancies would result to a preponderance of language variations which results to ambiguity and vagueness, miscommunications and communication problems; to be legible where language which doesn‟t make sense will be useless in communication like an improperly constructed sentence Miscommunication is caused by the use of wrong words or not

be able to relay intended information to the listener or re-punctuation of which the entire meaning of the sentence is changed To insure the correct communication of thoughts and ideas through language is the ultimate purpose of grammar

Another reason is to sound good and interesting like a grammatically sound piece of prose or verse A person will become disinterested if one talks

or writes something without proper grammar For language to have smooth flow and interesting sound, it must abide by the rules of grammar in constructing the sentences Professionalism is another reason why grammar is important It is a must that in business and professional speaking and documents language used must be free from any grammatical error The last

reason is to break it and make it The value of correct grammar is realized by Individuals who are into literary careers

A set of rules that help guide the use of correct written and spoken English comprised English grammar A person understands the structure of a language from a single word to a collection of sentences in a paragraph as well as the function of words and their relation to one another through his knowledge of grammar Readers are distracted from grammatical errors committed by speakers It creates misunderstanding and hampers communication

The analytical study of grammar includes the study of syntax, or sentence structure, and morphology, or word structure Syntax in particular delves with linguistic structure above the word level, morphology, concerns with structure at and below the word level, and does not involve the level of individual sounds, in the same way with intonation, which is in the domain of phonology (Carlos and Haike, 2005)

Grammar can be classified in different varieties - that is, depending on the way the structures and functions of language are described and analyzed (Nordquist, 2013) One of these basic distinctions is that between descriptive

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grammar and prescriptive grammar also called usage While both concern with rules-, these are employed in different ways In descriptive grammar, the practitioners would examine the rules or patterns underlying the use of words, phrases, clauses, and sentences Meanwhile in prescriptive grammar, the practitioners would be concerned with the implementation of the rules specifically on what they believe to be the correct usage of the language

The rules of usage are more arbitrary in comparison with those of grammar in a way that the core conventions constituting the grammar of a language are established by the vast majority of users while the canons of acceptable usage are derived from the authority of a relative few While the rules of grammar result from humanity's intrinsically social nature; those of usage appears to result from social hierarchy Authorities of English language usage follow at least three kinds of rational consideration in their decision-making process; these considerations are lucidity, simplicity, directness; character; and aesthetics (http: www writing guide.geneseo.edu/? pg=topics/grammar usage.html)

Other varieties of grammar have emerged as an offshoot of specialization and conceptual evolution These are: comparative grammar, generative grammar, mental grammar, pedagogical grammar, performance

grammar, reference grammar, theoretical grammar, traditional grammar, transformational grammar and universal grammar

Grammar as a micro-skill in language learning is a far-reaching concept with wide application Grammatical performance and grammatical competency are concepts developed for the assessment of the learner‟s grammatical skills Grammatical performance also referred to as grammatical ability is a quantifiable skill that can be measured through a grammar-test Thus, grammar-test are developed in order to obtain information about how well a student knows grammar to be able to correctly convey the desired meaning in situations where the target language is used

The information gathered from this assessment more often than not forms the basis for decision-making Bachman and Palmer (1996) identified those situations in which language is used either for instruction or testing and referred to them as target language use (TLU) situations Grammatical ability is contextual in nature and depending on the test purposes, the target language

se domain, and the target language use tasks with a specification of test tasks can be defined There is a requisite to identify the grammatical constructs and consider the types of evidence and how much of it the examinees would need

to provide in order to demonstrate that they possess grammatical ability A

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grammatical test task then can be defined as any activity designed to elicit scorable grammatical performance within a TLU domain where without the requisite knowledge or ability the test-taker would not be able to complete the task successfully (Purpura, 2004)

In grammatical performance, it is important for students to have linguistic outputs for them to experience the use of English language as medium of communication either oral or written Performance in grammar plays a vital role as it helps students understand and form sentences that are grammatically correct Carroll (1985) pointed out that performance grammar a description of syntax of English is actually used by the speakers in dialogues Its attention on the language production is the focus of grammar performance and its product is the actual utterances and dialogues utilized by learners every day

Writing or textual performance while recognized to be a macro linguistic skill of importance is a concept of variability in point of view Writing was traditionally identified as a form of transcribed speech and is a reflection of linguistic mastery as it assumes that the students' ability to write is only possible after he has developed a minimum level of spoken language proficiency Another view of writing is that writing is considered to be

decontextualized (Ellis, 1994) as the written communication is assumed to have taken place in the absence of the writer and the reader

Grabe and Kaplan (1996) and Matsuda (1997), however argued against this view and asserted that writing is far from decontextualized because every writing task is situated in a rhetorical context, involving complex interrelationships among various elements of writing: the writer, the reader, the text and reality In Canale and Swain (1980), writing is defined as a manifestation of, as well as the process of manifesting, sociolinguistic, strategic and grammatical competences mediated by the use of orthographic systems Candlin and Hyland (1999) on the other hand considers writing as a social process and states that, writing is therefore an engagement in a social process, where the production of texts reflects methodologies, arguments and rhetorical strategies constructed to engage colleagues and persuade them of the claims that are made”

Language teachers, however, views writing as a language skill which is difficult to acquire and normally requires some form of instruction and is not a skill that is readily picked up by exposure Tribble, (1996) Consequently, writing is considered to be a process that occurs over a period of time,

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particularly if one takes into account the sometimes extended periods of thinking that precede creating an initial draft (Phung, 2004)

Writing in ESL and EFL scenario often requires students to write primarily for their teachers, or perhaps for an examiner, both acting in the role

of evaluator Thus, in the point of view of Grant (1987) it is asserted that, although transferring real-life writing directly to the classroom is problematic, what one should be aiming at is at least the creation of plausible contexts (McDonough & Shaw, 1993)

A number of different approaches to the practice of writing skills of second language writing have been advocated by different second language writing professionals These approaches are controlled composition and the paragraph pattern approaches appeared to be the most prominent and widely practiced in a series of new English textbooks for Vietnamese secondary school students In spite of that, there were dissatisfactions with controlled composition and the paragraph pattern approach which led to adoption of the process approach, an „expressive approach‟ that became popular in English-speaking composition classrooms during the 1980s, undertaken as a kind of

„process movement‟ involving a major focus on personal writing, student creativity, and fluency (Reid, 2001)

The writing process is an evolving concept from the time it was conceived as a pedagogical approach It has moved from a non-directional model of instruction in the early years (Hillocks, 1984) to the process approach model in the formative years (Pritchard & Honeycutt, 2005) and later to an improved version of the process approach where procedural knowledge and many other kinds of strategies are directly taught This includes teachings on activating schemata to access prior knowledge, self-regulation strategies, helping students understand genre constraints, guiding students in revising and in editing surface errors, providing structured feedback from teachers and peers, teaching the differences between reader- and writer-based prose, developing audience awareness and effects of audience on style, content, and tone, and dealing with emotional barriers (Chau, n.d.)

Becoming popular among teachers and L2 students in school-based writing classes is the development of multiple drafts to achieve meaningful communication – as well as focus on the problem – solving aspects of identifying and practicing discourse conventions In this context, teachers design their curricula based on the balance of institutional, program and student needs rather than around dogmatic theories or approaches and calls for provision and