Luận án nghiên cứu khả năng sử dụng ngữ pháp và ngôn từ của sinh viên năm thứ 3 tại đại học thái nguyên, từ đó chuẩn bị các bài tập bổ trợ

In order to improve the situation based on need analysis, VietnamMinistry of Education states that the aims of Vietnam English LanguageTeaching ELT at general educational level expressed

A Dissertation Proposal Presented to The Faculty of Graduate School

Batangas State University

Batangas City, Philippines

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

TITLE PAGE

TABLE OF CONTENTS i

LIST OF TABLES III CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM 1

Introduction 1

Statement of the Problem 6

Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study 8

Significance of the Study 9

II REVIEW OF LITERATURE 11

Conceptual Literature 11

Research Literature 38

Synthesis 45

Theoretical Framework 49

Hypothesis 51

Definition of Terms 52

III RESEARCH METHOD AND PROCEDURE 55

Research Environment 55

Research Design 60

Subjects of the Study 60

Data Gathering Instrument 62

Data Gathering Procedure 64

Statistical Treatment of Data 65

IV PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

V SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATION 114

Summary 114

Conclusion 123

Recommendations 124

BIBLIOGRAPHY 125

APPENDICES 132

A Letter of Requests 133

B Questionnaires 139

C Documentations 148

CURRICULUM VITAE 154

LIST OF TABLES

1

Distribution of the Respondents of the Study

2 Level of Grammatical Competence of Students in Parts ofSpeech

3 Level of Grammatical Competence of Students in Morphology

4 Level of Grammatical Competence of Students in Syntax

5 Level of Grammatical Competence of Students in VocabularyMeaning

6 Level of Discourse Competence of Students in CohesiveDevices

7 Level of Discourse Competence of Students in TransitionalPhrases

8 Level of Discourse Competence of Students in Coherence

9 Level of Discourse Competence of Students in Connectors

10 Level of Discourse Competence of Students in Choice of Words

11 Validated Students’ Skills Employed in Teaching the BasicEnglish Course

12 Students’ Skills and their Frequency of Use

13 Students’ Skills and their Degree of Importance

14 Students’ Level of Grammatical and Discourse Competenciesand their Performance as Assessed by English Teachers

15 Bases in the Design of Integrative Learning Exercises onMorpho-Syntactic Competencies

CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM

Introduction

In Vietnam, students are required to learn English throughcompulsory 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 tolearn the language successfully This situation also applies to students inother countries where learning a foreign language is also compulsory.Students enrolled in the English courses have either high dropped outrates or failed students at the end of the term This situation is true tocountries like the United States and Australia where students literally dropout in their foreign language studies, while in countries like China, Japanand Vietnam students either mentally withdraw or look for strategies thatwill help them to learn the English language

In the last decade, the use of English as the main foreign languagetaught and employed in communication with foreigners, has dramaticallyincreased in Vietnam According to the Ministry of Education, the number

of off-shore students exceeds 60,000 in Vietnam nowadays andVietnamese students who want to work and study abroad are increasing

However, English language teaching in Vietnam still utilizes thetraditional teaching model where students are taught English just forpassing examination purposes only and teachers just give lecture mainly tohelp students achieve this goal The result is that students do not have theability to communicate effectively with others in English This is referred to

as dumb English or deaf English in Vietnam Obviously students’ overallskills are not enhanced, especially for students at the college anduniversity level

In order to improve the situation based on need analysis, VietnamMinistry of Education states that the aims of Vietnam English LanguageTeaching (ELT) at general educational level expressed in the newcurriculum are that at the end of the upper secondary level, students will beable to use English as means of communication at a certain level ofproficiency in four macro skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing and

to be able to read materials at the same level of their textbook, using adictionary, to have a mastery of basic English phonetics and grammar, tohave acquire the minimum of around 2,500 vocabulary items of English; toattain a certain level of understanding of English and American cultures, tobecome aware of cross cultural differences in order to become bettercommunicators, to better inform the world of the Vietnamese people, theirhistory and culture and to take pride in Vietnam, its language and culture(MOET 2007)

To promote the English language teaching and learning at tertiarylevel in recent years, Vietnamese government has encouraged the privatetertiary institutions to carry out advanced programs in which English isrequired to be the medium of instruction They have also encouragedtertiary institutions to teach in English in fundamental science subjectssuch as mathematics, physics, chemistry and some specialized subjects inthe senior years

It is suggested that work start at the two national universitiesnamely; Hanoi National University and Vietnam National University; threeregional universities such as Thai Nguyen University, Hue University andDanang University and other pivotal universities in Vietnam with twentypercent of the students being involved in these advanced programs Thispercentage will be increased and expanded so that finally all advancedprograms will be applied throughout the tertiary educational system

In Vietnam, English is the most important foreign language since theimplementation of the reform and opening up policy One of the majorgoals for English teaching is to develop communicative competencies ofthe learners It is the initial and ultimate goal of English teaching.Communication on the other hand is considered the essence of Englishteaching

In language teaching, the ability to communicate should becultivated Students should learn how to use a language in their dailycommunication in order to demonstrate their mastery of a language.

Different language skills included under communicative competenceare linguistic, socio-linguistic, discourse, strategic and pragmaticcompetencies The expression, interpretation and negotiation of meaningbetween 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 languageteaching and communicative English teaching in Vietnam nowadays is todevelop students’ communicative competence, as more students willregard English as a communicating tool after graduation If students canuse the English knowledge, skills and cultural aspects they have learned tocommunicate with people of different cultural backgrounds in real languagecontexts, they are then using English as a communication tool

The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has set a target ofboosting foreign language teaching in high schools At the start ofAcademic Year 2011-2012, students at specific schools will have to studymathematics and information technology in English Despite thesignificance of English language, majority of the Vietnamese studentsremain handicapped in the use of English It was even reported by the

MOET in 2011 that English language competence of Vietnamese studentswas rapidly deteriorating.

This implies that the government, in particular the education sectorcan hardly address such perceived deterioration of English It was alsoreported by the MOET of Vietnam and the AETS or the AmericanEducational Testing Service that fifty one point seven percent (51.7%) ofVietnamese students who graduated from college in 2009 had substandardEnglish skills

There are several reasons cited why English language teaching inVietnam becomes a problem Reasons include the deterioration instudents’ English competence and less opportunities for students topractice English in the classroom Most of the English classes are stilladopting the traditional teaching in which teachers do the talking whilestudents are merely listening and note taking so that the chance to speakdiminished

Most college graduates in Vietnam have deteriorating Englishbecause during their college days, they spend only at least one and halfyear of English language studies So that when they embark on a morecomplex academic work which demands the use of English as well as thelanguage skills, they fail because of lack of knowledge

Another reason cited is the incompetency of Vietnamese students inthe use of English This problem leads to losing the most useful assets ofVietnamese people in contributing to national development andinternational communication.

Many of the students in Thai Nguyen University (TNU) systemstruggle to keep up with the expectations of the school for them tocommunicate in good English For decades the university system in ThaiNguyen worked to address the need of all students But somehow, theexpected outcome has a very slow progress

With this scenario, as college teacher teaching English subject in thisinstitution, the researcher is interested to determine the English languagegrammatical and discourse competence of the Third year college students

of Thai Nguyen with the end view of proposing intervention exercises thatwill 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 ThaiNguyen system

Specifically, it sought answers to the following questions

1 How may the grammatical competence of student respondents bedescribed in terms of:

5 What innovative English language teaching intervention exercisesmay be proposed to enhance students’ grammatical and discoursecompetencies?

Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study

The study determines the English language grammatical

competence and discourse competence of 3rd year college students of ThaiNguyen system This includes the grammatical competence of studentrespondents in parts of speech, morphology and syntax, and vocabularymeaning Included also in the study is the discourse competence of studentrespondents relative to cohesive devices, transitional phrases, coherence,connectors and choice of words

Further, the study covers the assessment of the English teacher onthe grammatical and discourse competencies of 3rd year college students,the comparison of the respondents’ grammatical and discoursecompetencies 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 languageteaching strategies to enhance students’ grammatical and discoursecompetencies

The study covered the three (3) Thai Nguyen Universities in ThaiNguyen City and made used of the 40 teachers teaching English and

300 3rd Year College students who were enrolled in the Academic Year2013-2014

This study is limited from the data gathered from the abovementioned respondents Third year college students and English teachersfrom other Thai Nguyen University systems are excluded in the study

Significance of the Study

The study is deemed beneficial to the Administrators of Thai NguyenUniversity, English teachers, Third Year College students, Parents andFuture researchers

Administrators of Thai Nguyen This study can guide them in the

Curriculum development through evaluation of students’ English languagegrammatical competence and discourse competence This study will serve

as a guide for the realignment of the existing English curriculum to meettheir 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 anddiscourse competencies This study will provide them insights on whatclassroom learning activities will be appropriate to enhance the languageproficiency of their students Likewise, the teachers may propose someenrichment activities to improve the student’s grammar and discoursecompetencies

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 andenhance 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 childrenwhich will make them more supportive and cooperative in school activitiesspecifically 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 literaturewhich have bearing to the present study The literatures included are foundsubstantial to the study and gives the necessary background to understandthe 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 languagecompetencies, grammatical competence, discourse competence andintervention 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 calledtextual competence The specific learning outcomes under languagecompetence deal with knowledge of the language and the ability to use thatknowledge to interpret and produce meaningful texts appropriate to thesituation in which they are used Language competence is best developed

in the context of activities or tasks where the language is used for real

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 firstintroduced by Chomsky (1965) as part of the foundation for his generativegrammar Linguists who are working in the generativist tradition adoptedand developed generative grammar Competence in the generativisttradition is the only level of language study that is studied because thislevel gives insights into the universal grammar Underlying all humanlanguage system is universal grammar Competence or skill is referred to

as the ideal language system that makes it possible for speakers toproduce and understand an infinite number of sentences in their languageand 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-hearerknowledge of his/her language and it is the mental reality which isresponsible for all those aspects of language use which can becharacterized as linguistic It was argued that only under an idealizedsituation, whereby the speaker-hearer is unaffected by grammaticallyirrelevant conditions such as memory limitation and distractions willperformance 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 aperson’s own understanding of acceptable usage in a given linguisticidiom Therefore, grammatical competence defines an innate knowledge

of rules rather than knowledge of items or relation Phillips (2010) statedthat competence is regarded as innate knowledge because one does nothave to be trained to develop it and will still be able to apply it in an infinitenumber of unheard examples

The following are included in the speakers linguistic competencenamely: phonetics which deals with the physical production and perception

of the inventory of sounds used in producing language; phonology whichrefers to the mental organization of physical sounds, the patterns formed

by way sounds are combined in a language and the restrictions orpermissible social combinations as well as morphology which deals withidentification, analysis and description of units of meaning in a language.Knowledge in inflectional or derivational morphology which is present in thelanguage consists of affixes of words

Syntax on the other hand, which pertains to structure and formation

of sentences, enables a person to distinguish between grammaticalsentences from ungrammatical sentences while in semantics, this refers tothe understanding of the meaning of sentences A user of the language isable to understand and interpret the non-literal meaning in a givenutterance through these three distinctions namely; meaningful and non-meaningful sentences, some structure but different meanings, and differentstructure 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 oforganized knowledge which consists of several sub-competencies, thephonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic and lexical components.Hymes (1972) on the other hand introduces the concept of communicativecompetence as the knowledge which enables us to use language as acommunication device in a given social context It is a dynamic concept

based on the negotiation of meaning among interlocutors, which can beapplied to written or spoken modes of communication.

The four distinct elements identified in the model of communicativecompetence according to Munby (1978) include linguistic encoding, sociocultural orientation, socio semantic basis of linguistic knowledge anddiscourse level of operation In addition, there are four aspects ofcompetence These are grammatical or linguistic which include knowledge

of the lexicon, syntax and semantic; sociolinguistic competence concernedwith the appropriateness of communication depending on the contextincluding the participants and the rules of interaction, strategic competencewhich pertains to a set of strategies devised for effective communicationand put into use when communication breaks down; and discoursecompetence which is concerned with cohesion and coherence ofutterances or sentences

Six components of communicative competence were introduced byVan Ek (1977) Apart from linguistic, discourse, sociolinguistic andstrategic competence, social and the socio-cultural competence wereadded Bachman et al (1996) analyze the communicative ability into threecomponents: language competence, strategic competence andpsychological mechanism Language competence is divided intoorganizational competence which include grammatical and textual

competence and pragmatic competence which includes illocutionary andsociolinguistic competence.

Socio linguistic competence is the ability to interpret the socialmeaning of the choice of linguistic varieties and to use language with theappropriate social meaning for the communication situation.(www.o1/silang.lingulink)

According to Wardlaugh (2005), there are several possiblerelationships between language and society and one is social structurewhich may either influence or determine linguistic structure of behavior Asecond possible relationship is directly opposed to the first Linguisticstructure, 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 suchdifferences as a non-discrete scale or continuum of recognizably differentlinguistic levels or style termed as registers and every socially nativespeaker, as part of learning the language, has learned to distinguished andchoose among the plans on the scale of the register Chun (1998) on theother hand pointed out that language and culture was closely tied up to oneanother and had a profound influence on verbal and non- verbalcommunication as well as in the significance of the length of pause or achange in tone Other components of communication such as the degree

of formality in one’s speech or one’s body language also hold differentmeanings depending on the culture with which a person identifies himselfCohen et al (1981) According to the American Immigration LawFoundation (2000) developing an understanding of general cultural contextand their implication will enable someone who was not raised in aparticular 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 ofsocio-cultural competence namely: social contextual factors, stylisticappropriateness factors, cultural factors and non- verbal communicationfactors Some of these components are often neglected in ESL education,thereby causing confusion or comprehension difficulties

Language and culture as Alptekin (1993) emphasized is interrelatedand studying language needs to be aware of the culture of that language

In addition, Guest (2002) explained that in culture, whether the language isfor interactive or instrumental purposes, it is better to be accompanied withthe detailed characteristics of its spoken community

Strategic competence on the other hand is one of the threecomponents necessary for successful communication through language Itrefers to the speaker’s ability to adapt their use of verbal and non- verballanguage to compensate for communication problems caused by the

speaker’s lack of understanding of proper grammar use and insufficientknowledge of social behavioral and communication norms Strategiccompetence along with grammatical competence, sociolinguisticcompetence and discourse competence constitute a framework fordetermining a language learner’s proficiency in communication Togetherwith the other competencies, they are considered mainstays of moderntheory on second language acquisition (Diaz, Rico and Weed, 2006).

Essentially, any speaker using techniques intended to preservecommunication, repair breakdowns in communication or preventmiscommunication can be considered to be demonstrating strategiccompetence Some behaviors demonstrating strategic competenceinclude using synonyms to substitute for words the speaker cannot recall orhas not yet learned, resorting to physical gestures to convey meaning,asking for clarification from the listener, raising one’s voice in order to beheard and feigning comprehension in order to listen for context clues

Maleki (2010) asserted that communication strategies help inconveying unknown language between communication partners and assist

in maintaining conversational flow The teaching of communicationstrategies is beneficial and leads to strategic competence in languagelearning 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 thetraditional top-to-bottom approach to language learning, however, it wassuggested that a bottom-up approach to language learning, which givesemphasis to writing is best suited for teaching strategic competence Thisprovides learners with time to process their ideas and language use, beforebeing asked to use it orally This is thought to increase learner’smotivation

Pragmatic competence on the other hand is concerned with theusers, learners knowledge of the principles according to which messagesare organized, structured and arranged Discourse competence on theother hand is used to perform communicative functions or functionalcompetence and sequenced according to interactive and transactionalschemata or design competence

Grammatical Competence It is the ability to recognize and produce

the distinctive grammatical structures of a language and to use themeffectively in communication It promotes accuracy and fluency in secondlanguage production Grammatical competence focuses on command ofthe language code including such things as the rules of word and sentence

formation, meanings, spelling, and pronunciation Its goal is to acquireknowledge of, and ability to use forms of expression that are grammaticallycorrect and accurate It is one of the four areas of the communicativecompetence theory (Gao, 2001)

According to Diaz et al (2010) communicative competence is afeature of a language user’s knowledge of the language that allows theuser 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 communicativecompetence focuses directly on the knowledge and skill required tounderstand and express accurately the literal meaning of utterances itbecomes an important concern for any second language program

Further, features and rules of language, vocabulary, word formation,pronunciation, sentence formation to understand and express accuratelythe literal meaning of utterances comprised grammatical competence Italso referred to as the ability to recognize and produce the distinctivegrammatical structure of a language and to use them (www o1sil.Orglingualinks/ what grammatical competence html) It focuses on thenecessary skills and knowledge in speaking and writing accurately In moreadvanced stages of language proficiency grammatical competencebecomes important to the English learner

Grammatical competence calls for curriculum and instruction thatprepares students to incorporate and apply the language code (Herrera et

al, 2005) English language and grammar are bounded together Asstudents travel through the stages of language proficiency, grammaticalcompetence becomes more important that Freeman et al (2004) suggestedthat since grammar is a set of prescriptive rules taught to students inschool, 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 orderfor students to reach higher levels of academic language proficiency,teachers need to realize that grammatical forms need to be explicitlytaught 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 threedimensions of grammar: form, meaning and use and that simply teachinggrammar rules or having student memorize verb conjugations will not helpstudents acquire grammatical competence

The skills and knowledge necessary to speak and write accuratelyand input to English learner in more advanced stages of proficiency are thefocused of grammatical competence Kilfoil and Walt (1997) explained thatgrammatical competence is the correct application of rules of grammar butnot explicit knowledge of rules It is also referred to as linguistic

competence, a term used to describe how language is defined within acommunity of speaker and covers the mastering of the combination ofsounds, syntax and semantics Fernandez et al (2011) pointed out thatlinguistic competence constitute knowledge but that knowledge is tacit andimplicit and that people do not have conscious access to the principles andrules that govern the combination of sounds, words, and sentences,however, they do recognize when these rules and principles have beenviolated

According to Kac (1992) the grammatical or linguistic competence of

a human being should be identified with that individual’s internalizedprogram for production and recognition of performance It delved on theunconscious knowledge of grammar that allows speaker to use andunderstand a language as well as the innate linguistic knowledge thatallows a person to match sound and meaning

Moreover, Aguilar (2007) pointed out that the ability to understandand produce meaningful sentence that is designed on the rules of aspecific language to convey meaning in a way that the native speakers ofthat language would use such sentences to express in the samemeaningful way is grammatical or linguistic competence It is also referred

to as the potential ability of the speaker based on the knowledge of hislanguage as well as the system of rules that governs on individual’s tacit

understanding of what is acceptable and what is not acceptable in thelanguage 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 andfurther explained that competence is an aspect of a person’s mentalcapacity underlying language and that concepts of linguistics is purelysyntactic The assumption that people are equipped with a lexicalcomponent that holds linguistic intonation is the notion regarding linguisticcompetence (The New Oxford Dictionary of English, 1998)

Linguistic competence ca be studied in isolation and be separatedfrom the rest of competencies It falls under the domains of communicativecompetence According to Hymes (1994) there are four features wherelinguistic 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 inrelation to the context in which it is used and whether and to what degreesomething is performed or actually done and what the doing entails Allthese indicate that linguistic competence is largely a part of communicativecompetence

Fromkin et al (2003) associated grammatical or linguisticcompetence with language activity which supported the creative aspect of

language Sentences that have never been said before are creativeaspects that enable the speakers to produce and understand them Thesedistinctive features differentiate the native speakers from the learners of acertain language It is expected from language learners to have recalledthe knowledge they have already learned and activate them before anyproduction or reception of the language The speed that native speakersrespond to an utterance can’t be noticed in compared to the speakers whowould normally take time to respond

Discourse Competence It is the ability to use coherent and

cohesive texts in an oral and written form (Bachman, 1990) as well asdetermines how utterances or sentences are organized to form texts It isalso used to refer to two related but distinct abilities which include textualdiscourse competence which refers to the ability to understand andconstruct monologues or written texts of different genres such asnarratives, procedural texts, expository texts, persuasive texts, descriptionsand others These discourse genres have different characteristics.Learning a language involves relating these different types of discourse insuch a way that hearers or readers can understand what is going on andsee what is important Likewise, it involves being able to relate information

in a way that is coherent to the readers and hearers(elearning.la.psu.edu.ap/ng802)

According to Canale (1983) discourse competence is anindependent component next to sociolinguistics competence andcomprises rules of cohesion and coherence Cohesion refers to how ideasare linked linguistically while coherence refers to how meanings ofsentences or utterances are linked in written or spoken texts Discoursecompetence also comprises mastery of how to combine grammatical formsand meanings to achieve a unified spoken and written text in differentgenres Further, Schachter (1990) stated that the unity of text involvesappropriateness and depends on contextual factors such as status of theparticipants, purpose of interactions, and norms or conventions ofinteractions Thus, discourse competence could still interfere with theconception of sociolinguistic competence as both components involveinteraction in specific, politeness modes

Moreover, the ability to understand and produce the range ofspoken, written and visual texts that are characteristics of a language isreferred to as discourse competence (Schroeder, Erika K F10Slaencyclopedia / Discourse Competence) These texts are to be wellformed and clear In addition, discourse competence also includes theability to convey information appropriately and coherently to those who arelistening to or viewing one’s texts It also pertains to knowing how tointerpret the larger content and how to construct longer stretches of

language, so that the parts together make up a whole coherent unit.Speakers’ knowledge of the rules governing a language compriseddiscourse competence and this term was coined because the combination

of utterances and communicative functions are discourse, and this is acomponent of communicative competence

Communicative competence has the basic framework that includegrammatical competence which refers to the knowledge of lexical itemsand rules of morphology, syntax, semantics and phonology; sociolinguisticcompetence where the focus is on the knowledge of sociocultural rules andthe use of rules of discourse, coherence and cohesion and strategiccompetence which is the knowledge of both verbal and non- verbalcommunication strategies (www.sil.org /lingualinks/ language, 2009).These three other competencies combined with discourse competencework together to complete the cohesive theory of communicativecompetence

The ability in understanding and expressing oneself in a givenlanguage is termed discourse competence which comprised differentvarieties that measure different aspects of communication A discoursecompetence analysis shows how well an individual can communicate in agiven context Conversations and other kinds of communication involvingmultiple practices are covered in the word discourse

Textual competence is a form of discourse competence which isbasically a measure of how well an individual can read different texts andunderstand them (www wise geek com/ what is /discoursecompetence/html) Fiction and non -fiction, narrative instructional guides,and other types of a written communications like transcriptions of recordedconversation or technical materials are the varied types of texts Betterunderstanding of these texts by readers will develop in them more textualdiscourse competence

Rhetorical or effective competence on the other hand is another verycommon type of discourse competence and defined as how well anindividual can contribute to a conversation This kind of discourse ability orcompetence also includes multiple components such as how well theindividual can understand what is being said by a range of speakers; howwell the individual can interject his or her own opinions, and how well thatperson can express his ideas to an audience within a general scenario

Discourse competence refers to knowing how to interpret the largercontext and how to construct longer stretches of language so that the partsmake up a coherent whole (www.sbd.org.pl/content) Component ofdiscourse competence which is common to all is the element of timeliness

in assessing discourse skill or competence levels There are ways to helplinguists and other experts to study how people build language skills

overtime or to assess the progress of a certain student or other individual.Those at the top of the spectrum of ability are those people who are able toexpress themselves quickly and effectively which help them to inject theirown ideas into a continuing discourse while others might struggle withthese tasks and be placed lower on a scale of conversational discoursecompetence

Discourse competence is defined as the ability of a user or learner toarrange sentences in sequence so as to produce coherent stretches oflanguage and this includes knowledge of and ability to control the ordering

of sentences in terms of topics/focus, given/new, natural sequencing liketemporal, cause/effect, ability to structure and manage discourse in terms

of thematic organization, coherence and cohesion, logical ordering, styleand registrar and rhetorical effectiveness(Fernando/trujilo.es/w.p-content)

The knowledge of the design conventions in the communityconcerning how information is structured in realizing the various macrofunctions like description, narrative, exposition, how stories, anecdotes,jokes are told, how case is built up ,how written texts such as essays,formal letters are laid out, sign posted and sequenced is covered in textdesign Thus, discourse competence can be seen as the ability tounderstand, create and develop forms of the language that are longer than

sentences such as stories, conversation, letters with the appropriatecohesion, coherence and rhetorical organization to combine ideas.

A set of norms, preferences, expectations, relationship of language

to context which language users draw on and modify in producing andmaking sense out of language in context are dealt in discoursecompetence while discourse knowledge allows language users to produceand interpret discourse structures such as verbal acts conversationalsequences, activities, and communicative styles ( Elinor Ochs, www.sschnet ucla edu./ anthro/ faculty/ ochs/ articles/ Acquisition-of-Discourse-Competence pdf) The formal characteristics of these structures, thealternative ways of forming particular structures, and the contexts in whichparticular discourse structures are preferred and expected are known bycompetent language users

In addition, the ability to build contexts through linguistic structures werechildren and other acquirers come to understand that a single structure or a set

of structures may in the same moment of use, build a multitude of contexts such

as a type of affect, a social act, and a social identity is involved in discoursecompetence That contexts are built sequentially and develop the competence tocreate and interpret language activities through ordered acts and expressedinstances is understood by acquirers

Discourse competence evaluation is one of the most challengingaspects of language teaching According to Ross et al (2004) evaluation is

a systematic, rigorous, and meticulous application of scientific methods toassess the design, implementation, improvement, or outcomes of aprogram Evaluation requires from the teacher the global perspective of thelearner’s communicative use of the language Thus, traditionalpredominance of grammar in the classroom which is reinforced bygrammatical pedagogical objectives, grammatical interpretation oftextbooks, grammar teaching in the classroom and grammar assessment isconfronted by the change in the perspective of discourse competence

Llobera (1996) stated that discourse concepts influenced innovations

in foreign language teaching based on a model of language

Furthermore, assessment of the discourse competence may be the factorteachers need to implement a real evaluation of the four skills through theuse of texts The evaluation of the discourse competence requires adevice for continuous assessment using a variety of text types and skills.The tool can be a selection of some of the learners task outcomes so as todocument and illustrate their progress and achievement

Discourse competence as a linguistic unit that comprises more thanone sentence is also a language production built up of a minimum twostretches of speech and can be analyzed in three dimensions namely;

social practice produced, circulated, distributed, and consumed in society(Bloomaert, 2005) The focal point of this approach is the intertextuality oflanguage production as realized in the relation of a given text to non-linguistic representation of the society’s schematic concepts in whichdiscourse operates in relation outside of the text to the text itself(Fairclough, 2003) The sources where discourse are realized include:people deploy in relating to one another, keeping separate from oneanother, cooperating, competing, dominating, and in seeking to change theways in which they relate to one another In this dimension, on a morepsycholinguistic level, discourse is then constructed with individual choicesundertaken to establish or maintain social relations,

Discourse as a social practice and discourse analysis as products ofspecific routines are realized through the use of concrete linguistic objects,specific texts or text types, which represent the common ideological,professional or institutional interest of a given micro-world of discoursemakers as well as participants These discourses may include politicaldiscourse, ideological discourse of Van Dijk, (1998) economic discourse ofChouliarak et al (1999), medical discourse including representationcommon in media as well as institutional discourse representing life doctor-patient interaction of Wodak (1997),and individualized rhetoric of thespeaker

Intervention Exercises Materials control teaching and learning.

Teachers who are using instructional materials in class cover more lessonsand facts at short span of time rather than one who only make use oflectures in the class Allwright (1990) stated that materials should teachstudents to learn, and that these should give teachers rationales for whatthey do This indicates that all the tools use in the classroom of which theteacher employs to make learning more conceptual, concrete, factual andillustrative are covered in instructional materials

On the use of instructional materials, it is asserted that it helps theteacher make teaching easy and for the learners learn effectively It helpsmake ideas clear, learning more vivid when properly used Further, withthe use of instructional materials, students conceptualized better what isbeing taught in compared to those where nothing is used in learning

O’ Neil (1990) pointed out that materials maybe suitable for students’needs, even if they are not designed specifically for them and furtheremphasized that instructional materials help teaching and learning Thus,one of the most important influences on what goes in the classroom is thematerials which are the center of instruction

Instructional materials facilitate teaching and learning activities aswell as the attainment of course objectives of the lesson but it depends onthe selection of the materials, its adequacy and appropriateness This

means that instructional materials utilized for teaching lessons as learningresources must not be haphazardly done It should be carefully selected

by the teacher depending on the needs of the students Students who aretaught with the use of instructional materials tend to understand what theteacher is saying and have the ability to explain what has been said withunderstanding During learning activity, if materials are used it helpsprovide the students with greater acquisition and higher retention of factualknowledge The use of instructional materials aid teacher to vividlyillustrate meaning to the students and this also makes teacher’s teachingwith quality In language instruction, there are five important componentsand these are the students, the teacher, the instructional material, teachingmethods and evaluation (Kitao,ites/j.org.article/kitao-materials)

Instructional materials play a significant role in student’s life as theycome face-to-face with the real object or thing It is emphasized also thatinstructional materials, teaching methods and evaluation should be alldesigned for learners and their needs According to Littlejohn et al (1989)instructional materials have a hidden curriculum that includes attitudestoward knowledge, attitudes toward teaching and learning, attitudes towardthe role and relationship of the teacher and student and values andattitudes related to gender and society

Those things which are intended to help the teacher to teach moreeffectively or better are called instructional materials These includetextbooks, educational media such as library media point, non- print andelectronic resources; computer software, videotapes, films and DVD’s.Instructional television programs represent fundamental resources forschools for enhancing instruction as well as furthering the pursuit ofknowledge and providing experiences of educational significance for classgroups or for individual students (www.neola.com/miamidade_fl/search).These are also referred to as teacher employed resources or materials tomake teaching as learning effective and productive Instructional materialscan also serve as a means of instruction which must be selected in thebasis of its objective The problems of interference and translation inEnglish are reduced because of the use of instructional materials.

In language teaching, effective instructional materials are shaped bymany considerations of a number of factors including teacher, learner andcontextual variables (www.professor jack Richards.com) Teachers’language, training and experience, cultural background and preferredteaching style are included in the teacher factors Learners’ learning stylepreferences, their language learning needs, interests and motivations areincluded in the learner factors As for contextual factors, school culture,classroom conditions, class size and availability of teaching resources in

situations where the materials will used are included In determining whatmaterials will look like and how they will work there are two other factorsthat play a crucial role These include: the theory of language andlanguage reflected in the materials and the other is the theory of learning

on which the materials are used The necessary links between theory andpractice are provided by these two sources of input

Clark et al (1977) stated that in classroom activities the real worldshould be closely parallel to them Methods and materials shouldconcentrate on the message not on the medium since language is a toolfor communication The purposes in using the instructional material inclass should be a replica in real life Understanding of language andlanguage used by writers has a major impact in instructional materialdesign most especially in developing materials for any aspect of languagelearning because it is a skill based course in listening, speaking, readingand writing or in an integrated skills based series In determining thegoals, the writers set for the materials as well as the focus of the materialsthemselves and the activities within them

Tolimson (1998) on the other hand stated that instructional materialsmay mean anything which can be used to facilitate the learning of alanguage be it linguistic, visual, auditory or kinesthetic These materialscan be presented in print, live performances, on cassettes, CD-ROM-DVD,