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List of seven functions of the English language in reading and writing evaluated to be employed in teaching the Basic English course by the respondents.... List of seven functions of t

PURSUING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE FUNCTIONS

IN TEACHING THE BASIC ENGLISH COURSE AT THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY (TNU) SYSTEM

A DissertationPresented toThe Faculty of Graduate SchoolBatangas State UniversityBatangas City, Philippines

In Partial Fulfillment

Of the Requirements for the Degree

Doctor of PhilosophyMajor in English

By:

LUU THI HUONG (JULIA)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE

CHAPTER

I THE PROBLEM 6Introduction 6 ﾧﾧStatement of the Problem 13 ﾧﾧScope, Delimitation and Limitation 14 ﾧﾧSignificance of the Study 15 ﾧﾧ

II REVIEW OF LITERATURE 18Conceptual Literature 18 ﾧﾧResearch Literature 34 ﾧﾧSynthesis 39 ﾧﾧTheoretical Framework 42 ﾧﾧConceptual Framework 45 ﾧﾧHypothesis 48 ﾧﾧDefinition of Terms 48 ﾧﾧIII RESEARCH METHOD 51Research Design 51 ﾧﾧSubjects of the Study 52 ﾧﾧData Gathering Instrument 53 ﾧﾧData Gathering Procedure 54 ﾧﾧStatistical Treatment of Data 56 ﾧﾧ

IV PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA 57

V SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 88 Summary 88 ﾧﾧ Findings 90 ﾧﾧ Conclusion 99 ﾧﾧ Recommendations 101 ﾧﾧ

BIBLIOGRAPHY 102 APPENDICES 110

A Letters of Requests 110 ﾧﾧ

B Questionnaire 117 ﾧﾧ

C Documentation 145 ﾧﾧﾧ CURRICULUMN VITAE 158

LIST OF TABLES

1 ﾧ Distribution of Sample Respondents 52

2 Assessment of the teacher respondents' awareness of the seven functions ofthe English language 58

3 Assessment of the seven functions of the English language according to thedegree of importance as perceived by the teacher respondents 59

4 Application of the seven functions of the English language in Reading Error!Bookmark not defined.ﾧﾧ

5 Application of the seven functions of the English language in Writing Error!Bookmark not defined.ﾧﾧ

6 Level of students reading performance in the seven functions of language 67

7 Level of students writing performance in the seven functions of language 68

8 T-test comparison of the student's language performance in the sevenfunctions of language 70

9a List of seven functions of the English language in reading and

writing evaluated to be employed in teaching the Basic English

course by the respondents

9b List of seven functions of the English language in reading and writingevaluated to be employed in teaching the Basic English course by therespondents Error! Bookmark not defined

10a List of seven functions of the English language in reading and writing and theirfrequency of use according to the respondentsError! Bookmark notdefined.ﾧﾧ

10b.List of seven functions of the English language in reading and writing and theirfrequency of use according to the respondents 7511a.List of seven functions of the English language in reading and writing and theirdegree of importance according to the respondents Error! Bookmark notdefined.ﾧﾧ

11b.List of seven functions of the English language in reading and writing and theirdegree of importance according to the respondents Error! Bookmark notdefined.ﾧﾧ

12 T-test comparison of the student's language performance and teachersassessment in the seven functions of language in Reading and Writing Error!Bookmark not defined.ﾧﾧ

13 Parameters used as basis in the design of functional activities for students andteachers 80

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Title Page

1 Research Paradigm ﾧ 48

These points add to the complexity of the present day world situation, but they donot alter the fundamental point Because of the three pronged development of firstlanguage, second language, and foreign language speakers, it is inevitable that a globallanguage will eventually come to be used by more people than any other language.English has already reached this stage.

English is the dominant business language and it has become almost a necessityfor people to speak English if they are to enter a global workforce Research from all overthe world shows that cross-border business communication is most often conducted inEnglish Its importance in the global market place therefore cannot be understated,learning English really can change people’s life

During the last decades, the world has witnessed lots of cultural, social, political,economical and technological changes In this new, global world, people have had to meetthe needs brought about by these changes in order to keep up with them One of the mostimportant needs is language learning By the help of the developments in technology andscience, people all over the world have to communicate with people from other countries,which require the learning of different foreign languages The most commonly usedlanguage in the world is English In fact English is known as a key to open the door intobustling world of rapid changes and development Everyday an increasing number ofpeople are trying to learn English for different purposes with the hope that they can use iteffectively

One of the main goals of language teachers is to provide students with the tools to

be effective communicators in the teaching language Often when students are assignedprojects and assignments their lack of practical tools to produce the actual languagebecomes evident In these cases, students might very well have the necessary resources toaccomplish the task, but teachers might need to consider a communicative approach toteaching the language, focusing on the functions of language, to properly equip students

to complete assigned tasks Those functions are namely: Instrumental showing the way anindividual satisfies the need by asking for something like “May I use your phone?”;Regulatory stating controlling another’s behavior such as the teacher requests students

“stand up!”; Interactional used for maintaining interpersonal like wishing a friend a merryChristmas; Personal is considered as where one talks about oneself “I feel so happytoday”; Heuristic is used to find out the world in general, for example: “is there anysolution for environment pollution?”; Imaginative focuses on where one talks about one’s

imagination like telling stories and jokes; Representational refers to seeking and givingvaried types of information like “ How many survivors were there in the terrorism inFrance last week?”.

Many people believe it’s important to have knowledge on the functions oflanguage for specific purposes Whether they are apologizing, expressing a wish or askingpermission, they use language in order to fulfill that purpose Each purpose can be known

as a language function Savignon (1983) describes a language function as the use to

which language is put, the purpose of an utterance rather than the particular grammaticalform an utterance takes By using this idea to structure teaching, the instructional focusbecomes less about form and more about the meaning of an utterance In this way,students use the language in order to fulfill a specific purpose, therefore making theirspeech more meaningful

The basic communication goals can be expressed in terms of situations, functionsand topics It is up to the teacher to plan the situations within which students will be able

to use their language for a purpose in the classroom context By creating a situation theteacher is providing the necessary context students need to use the language for afunction

Language functions have two categories: micro functions which refer to thespecific individual use and macro functions which serve more overall aims according toFinch (1998) Micro functions consist of seven functions such as physiological function

in terms of releasing physical and nervous energy, phatic function for sociability,recording function, identifying function, reasoning function, communicating function,

and pleasure function Macro functions refer to the ideational function, interpersonalfunction, poetic function, and textual function.

In the study of language, it is of significant importance that students develop theirlanguage skills These language skills are vital tools for complete communication Theseare reading, writing, listening and speaking

Writing is one among the basic skills in learning a language It is both social andcognitive process Students view writing as a necessity They are aware that this canimprove thinking as well Students find writing as most difficult among the languageskills because of its complexity Their writing skill is one way to know their academicsuccess or performance and it is also a basic requirement to participate in any endeavor intheir personal life as well as in the global economy

The basic level of writing required by colleges or universities for incoming studentswho want to study is not met since there are large number of adolescent graduates fromhigh school who are not equipped with the basic literacy skills needed like lacking theability to write to meet the growing demands of the college curriculum Students whohave poor writing skills are also referred to as low performing writer They are thosestudents whose writing skills do not meet the adequate demands of the class

Writing difficulties like all other learning problems can be frustrating on the part ofthe students’ education and self -esteem A student who has problem in writing wouldexperience interference in his learning He is unmotivated and lacks enthusiasm to writebecause of his inadequacy of the skill

Problems that confront teachers regarding students’ problems in writing are focused

on what students will write and how to motivate them to write about interesting topic If

students do not have the proper or right perspective, writing for them becomes a boringact So that teachers look for a way to combine other skills in teaching for students tohave freedom to meaningfully express them.

Reading as a language skill helps students expand their knowledge in largemessages or paragraphs It is one of the most important skills that a person can acquire Ithelps the learner to understand the world by enabling them to learn about the past andplan for the future For academic success, reading is important since it is also considered

a critical skill In the educational system reading is well integrated that either educational

or academic success is considered synonymous to reading success

Reading is the key that unlocks the door in the world of enjoyment Reading isperhaps the most important language skill to develop in all learners, requiring a multi-faceted process Therefore, reading should become indispensable to learner because ifthey don’t learn reading especially from the beginning, they would surely find difficulty

in learning other skills

Students do not become good readers due to the following reasons: poor ability orfor making insufficient effort, unsuitable course books, which do not encourage them toread and do not raise their interest of reading, wrong attitude of the teachers and studentsabout the subject, inappropriate teaching methods and classroom techniques

Reading difficulties become most apparent when the reader is unable to grasp themeaning from a text passage Reading may be affected by the difficulties of the text, thevocabulary of the words used in the text, and the reader’s familiarity with the subjectmatter, among other factors Moreover, reading difficulties have been caused byinadequate instruction, insufficient exposure and practice, deficient word recognition

skills, deficient memory capacity and functioning, significant language deficiencies,inadequate comprehension monitoring and self-evaluation, unfamiliarity with textfeatures and task demands, undeveloped attentive strategies and inadequate cognitivedevelopment and reading experiences.

In the process of integration and development in internationaleconomic relations of Vietnam nowadays, one of the decisive factorsrelating to the society’s economic development of the Nation is to extentthe foreign economy, in which learning a foreign language is one of themost important contents to contribute that process It is really necessary forVietnamese people to learn foreign languages in general as well as English

in particular when Vietnam country enters to integrate the world economy,especially Vietnam becomes an official member of WTO Cited from theResolution adopted by the tenth Party Congress, Vietnam is planning to try

to become a country where its people could speak English as a secondlanguage like the Philippines today in 2020

In April 2009, the Ex - Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr Ly QuangDieu visited Vietnam and had a very sincere advice to Vietnamese thatVietnam should train English for unemployed people in order to reduce therate of the poor The demand of using English in universities, colleges,banks, restaurants and offices is quickly increasing, so teaching English as

a global language is very significant and effective

With this scenario, as an English Language teacher of Thai Nguyen Universityhandling Basic English course, the researcher become interested to look into the writingand reading performance of First Year College students in the seven functions of languageand come up with enrichment activities gearing towards enhancement of writing andreading performance.

Statement of the Problem

This study aimed to determine the reading and writing performance of first year college students taking up Basic English course in the seven functions of language at Thai Nguyen University (TNU) System during the Academic Year 2013-2014 with the end view of proposing functional enrichment activities

Specifically, it sought answers to the following questions:

1 How are the Basic English course in the seven language functions being carried out in the beginning College English course in terms of:

2.5 Heuristic

2.6 Imaginative

2.7 Representational

3 What is the level of students’ writing performance in the seven functions of language?

4 Are there significant differences between reading and writing performance ofstudents?

5 How do the teachers assess the reading and writing performance of students based onthe seven functions of language?

6 How do the assessment of teachers and performance of students in reading andwriting compare?

7 What functional enrichment activities in the English language may be proposed?

Scope, Delimitation and Limitation

This study focused on determining the first year college students’ reading andwriting performance in the seven functions of language in the Basic English Course atThai Nguyen University (TNU) System, Vietnam The study dealt about the student’swriting and reading performance in terms of instrumental, regulatory, interactional,personal, heuristic, imaginative and representational language functions as well as theteachers’ assessments on the said language functions The output of the study is in theform of functional enrichment activities to improve students’ weaknesses on BasicEnglish Course along these language functions

The study covered the four (4) Thai Nguyen Universities in Thai Nguyen City andused 53 teachers teaching Basic English course and 1,266 First Year College students who

were presently enrolled in the Academic Year 2013-2014 Students who were not enrolled

in the Basic English course as well as those in the higher levels were not included in thestudy Results of the study were limited on the information from the respondents in theAcademic year 2013-2014

Significance of the Study

The study was deemed beneficial to the Administrators of Thai NguyenUniversity, English teachers, First Year students, Parents and Future researchers

Administrators Results of the study will guide them in the curriculumdevelopment by evaluating the different English proficiency enhancing activities Thesewill also serve as a guide for the realignment of the existing curriculum of Basic English

to meet their institutional goals and objectives

Faculty of Basic English Results of this study will make the faculty, teachingBasic English aware of the student’s performance in writing and speaking These willprovide them insights on what classroom learning activities would be appropriate toenhance the language proficiency of their students Likewise, the teachers might proposesome enrichment activities to improve the student’s writing and reading performance

First Year Students Findings of this study will make them aware of their presentperformance in writing and reading These will give them a challenge to improve theirweak points and enhance their over-all performance in Basic English

Parents Through this study, parents of the first year 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 skills in the BasicEnglish of their children.

Future researchers Results of this study will serve as reference for theirundertaking

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

This chapter presents the review of conceptual and research literature whichprovides the right direction to complete the research study, synthesis, theoreticalframework, conceptual framework, hypothesis and definition of terms

Conceptual Literature

The concepts reviewed serves as the basis of the study It included the following:teaching the English language to beginners, English language functions, evaluation ofreading and writing performance, and English language enrichment activities

Teaching the English Language to Beginners English as an international languageand the most widely used in the world today is used in international meetings andconferences It is also the language used in education Many non-English speakers studythe language since learning the language would open doors to many opportunities andsuccess

Teaching the English language to beginners is not an easy task Numerousproblems are encountered from students ranging from mispronunciation of words, wrongspelling, incorrect grammar, and lack of confidence So, that there are suggestions or tips

on how teachers can teach English to beginners Myers (2014) shared her methodology

on teaching English to absolute beginners These include making sentences out of words

on cards and letting students memorize and repeat short dialogues In teaching students,vocabulary should be the focus instead of grammar especially for production It is

suggested that walls in the classroom should be covered with useful familiar language.Likewise, the teacher must use direct method of teaching using mime, gestures, visualaids and wall charts.

Bleyer (2012) on the other hand emphasized that in teaching Basic English tobeginners teacher must speak slowly and clearly and makes sure that beginner studentsunderstand her lessons Students’ names and nicknames must be remembered by teacherand students as well as the place where they live as these will serve as basis to practiceBasic English structures Basic things such as sounds of the alphabet, spelling, readingrules and Basic English grammar structures should be the starting point for teaching

In teaching English to beginners, teachers must remember not to overwhelmstudents with new materials; show students that lessons can be fun, they can participate inthe activities and perform well (busy teacher .org/3773 –how-to-teach-english-to-beginners.html) In designing the curriculum, teachers must bear in mind the following:for lesson material, it is important to go slowly in introducing information to studentsuntil they are comfortable with what they covered; for teacher talking in the classroom, itshould be slowed down as students will never understand if it is done rapidly and for drillexercises teacher must enunciate clearly and talk loudly for the entire class to hear As forpractice, teacher must choose practice that are simple, easy to understand and easy toexplain Demonstration is the best option as using lots of words may confuse students Asthey improve, more complex activities may be introduced For having fun, students must

be given opportunity to learn in a different way through language studies as the goal ofevery language teacher is to let students communicate with her and others in a positivecreative environment

Andrews (2005) on the other hand provided tips for teaching ESL beginners andpre-literate adults These are making sure personal connection comes first; useinterruptions as teaching moments that trump whatever lesson the teacher planned; try tominimize; feed students’ stomachs sometimes, not just their minds; try to meet studentshalf way; communicate slowly, clearly and directly; and avoid books that are too childish.

In addition, the following are suggested in teaching English for beginners: smilinghelps as it is something that can be understood on a universal level especially in buildingrapport with the students and support capacity; finding an assistant as it creates a greatatmosphere in the class where students help each other in the learning process and makesthings easier; use of realia such as flash cards and other visuals; knowing of few basicwords and phrases in the students’ language; speaking slowly; teaching of all four skills;repeating commands; and chill, relax, be calm, and avoiding stress as well as building astrong rapport with students (busy teacher, org/ 4793-top -8- tips –on- teaching- absolute-beginners html)

English Language Functions Language is a system of arbitrary symbols used bymembers of a society to communicate with one another as defined by Clifford Praetor,head of the Second Language Teaching Department of the University of California It is asystem of rules, unconsciously present in the mind, that enables humans to relate soundsand meanings (Delahunty et al, 1994) Language is a means by which sounds andmeanings are related There is some sound symbolism in language, that is , there arewords whose pronunciation suggests the meaning (Fromkin et al, 1974) If one has theknowledge about language words to form phrases, phrases to form sentences can becombined This is because knowing a language means being able to produce new

sentences never spoken before and to understand sentences never heard before Thisability according to Chomsky (1972) is referred to as the creative aspect of language Halliday (1975) stated that language is systemic because it is paradigmaticallyorganized which means any piece of language on any scale can be described as the output

of a system of choices and that as the child moves into the mother tongue, languagefunctions give way to the generalized meta-functions of language In this process, inbetween the two levels of the proto language system, an additional content is inserted.Instead of one level of content, there are now two: the lexico-grammar and semantics Function refers to systemic and non- systemic linguistics There are three particulartypes of functions in systemic linguistics and these are micro-function which makes use

of constituents like subject, actor, or theme; macro-function which deals with thelanguage used in early child-language such as functions of imagination, discovery,interaction and others and meta-function which is the generalized functional principle oflinguistic organization Meta-functions comprised of three types namely: the ideational,the interpersonal and the textual

According to Blor et al (1995) these three functions operate simultaneously in theexpression of meaning In ideational function leaner’s experience is expressed whereelements of the external word and that of consciousness are expressed The two sub-functions in the field of parameters of register which are reflected in ideational functionare the experienced and the logical The experiential functions concern with content orideas with the system of transitivity as the outcome The following are the six processtypes of transitivity systems: material, mental, relational, behavioral, verbal andexistential Logical function is concerned with the relationships between ideas

Functions are expressions of feeling and attitude that do not typically correspond togrammatical categories Wilkins (1976 ) pointed out that these categories could provide aclear rationale, from the standpoint of learner requirements, for selecting the language towhich the learner will be exposed and which the learner will be supposed to acquire.Functions of language promotes the constructive interaction between linguistics and suchneighboring disciplines as sociology, cultural studies, psychology, ethnology,communication studies, translation theory and educational linguistics (Mackenzie, 2008).

According to Halliday (1978) the seven functions of language is referred to as thefunctional view of language where the interest lies on what the language can do, or inwhat the speaker, child or adult can do with it These language functions are instrumental,regulatory, interactional, personal, imaginative, heuristic, and presentational Thisfunctional account of language used support the communicative language teachinglinguistic theory

The language used by children to satisfy needs and desires, and to make requests,

or the language used by older children to persuade is referred to as instrumental function

of language which is transmitted when the buying and ordering situations is dramatized

by students and is being captured in letters of order and invitation of students

Furthermore, Christodoulou (2009) stated that instrumental function of language

is language used to fulfill a need on the part of the speaker which is directly concernedwith obtaining food, drink and comfort Instrumental function of language can also beunderstood by using language to get things However, regulatory function of language, isused to control the behavior of others to do what one wants such as instructing anddemonstrating and when writing list of directions or memos and classroom rules

Interactional language function on the other hand is used to establish and definesocial relationship Mohr et al (2007) explained that interactional language is thelanguage used to build and maintain relationship It can be compared to transactionallanguage, which normally carries a message and is the language used to get things done.Learners in a multi-lingual group, chatting together before a class begins are usinginteractional language Teachers can present elements of interactional language, and raiselearners’ awareness of interaction language by exposure to video and authenticconversation Learner can learn to use paralinguistic features such as gesture, eye contact,and body language, and linguistic features to maintain an interactional conversationincluding functions such as expressing interest and asking for clarification.

The language used to express feelings, opinions, and individuality is covered inpersonal language Sharing personal background and in talking about one’s stance on anissue are some areas where this language is manifested and this can best be reflected inthe students’ autobiographical essay Creating a world of one’s own, and expressingfantasy through drama, poetry and stories are avenues where imaginative language can beused

The ability to use and appreciate language as a creative medium is reflected inimaginative language It is based on a model where an environment is created to a childthrough sounds, stories, make-believe, poetry and creative writing The rubric of thislanguage function allows learner to play with the target language the use of puns, rhyme,alliteration, and other poetic and literary devices Creating and considering possibilitiesare the principal purpose of imaginative function

Use of language in exploring the environment, in investigating and acquiringknowledge as well as understanding are the functions of heuristic language Thislanguage of inquiry is utilized in History questions In transmitting this certain languagefunction effectively the letters of invitation and order are written Using the language tolearn and discover is the heuristic function of language Learners using heuristic languagelearn through question and answer and by exploring the environment.

Moreover, the uses of language to communicate information, to report facts,synthesize material, and inferences and conclusions are the informational functions oflanguage The students can convey the informative language through giving ofinformation on current events, general information, and scientific data This describes thesharing of information to enhance knowledge Thompson (1994) stated that variouskinds of information sharing, whether about one's personal feelings, or about somethingobserved in the real world, may be combined for second language learner Thus, theinformational function, which includes both ideas and feelings, is one of exchangingknowledge

Learning the language is both a social and cultural phenomenon

Becoming literate is a language function as it is tool for literacy and represents thinking

Evaluation of Reading and Writing Performance One that requires students todemonstrate that they have mastered specific skills and competencies by performing orproducing something is termed as performance assessment or evaluation (https:/ /www./learner.org./ workshops / social studies/ pdf/session7/7 ﾧ Performance Assessment.pdf)

It calls for the assessments of the following: designing and carrying out experiments;writing essays which requires rethinking of students, to integrate, or to apply information;

working with other students to accomplish tasks; demonstrating proficiency in using apiece of equipment or a technique of building models; developing, interpreting, and usingmaps; making collections; writing papers, critiques, poems, or short stories; givingspeeches; playing musical instruments; participating in oral examinations, developingportfolios; developing athletic skill or routine.

According to Ark (2013) performance assessment refers to the list in which thetest taker actually demonstrates the skills the test is intended to measure by doing real-world tasks that require those skills, rather than by answering questions asking how to dothem Meyer (1992) on the other hand pointed out that performance is authentic when it isbased on challenging and engaging tasks which resemble the context in which adults dotheir work and further stated that an authentic task or assessment is one which studentsare allowed adequate time to plan, to complete the work to self- assess, to revise, and toconsult with others Same criteria must be used in judging authentic assessments

One which requires the student to use knowledge or skills to produce a product orcomplete a performance is known as authentic tasks Wiggins (1990) suggested that task,context, and evaluation criteria are the three factors to determine authenticity ofassessment In performance assessment, it is maintained that there should be performancecriteria for every task This is because criteria defines the type of behavior or attributes of

a product which are expected for students and others as well as a well- defined scoringsystem which allows the teacher, the students and others to evaluate a performance orproduct as objectively as possible It is always a relative concept and that it is unrealistic

to expect that an assessment will be authentic Fortier (1993) noted that authenticity is

always a relative concept and that it is unrealistic to expect that an assessment will becompletely authentic.

In the evaluation of reading performance, students must meet standards or criteria.The following are the features of students who exceed standards: a strong comprehension

of texts beyond their grade level is demonstrated; word meanings and shades of meaningusing contextual support are identified by students; knowledge of synonyms andantonyms to make meanings are applied consistently by students; explicit and implicitmain ideas and key details and consistently are identified by students; and connectionsbetween information found in several points in a passage ca be made

Further, predictions about outcomes based on information in a passage andunderstanding when an opinion is used by an author can be made by students;conclusions about characters’ motivations and intended purpose of author’s can be drawnalso by students Literary genres including story, poem fairy tale, tell tale and literaryelements including plot, character, setting can be distinguished by students Information

in illustrations, charts and graphs are applied by students to determine meaning and list ofinstructions can be followed by them

According to Garcia et al (1994) successful and appropriate use of performanceassessment requires considerable teacher knowledge and expertise much more than thatwhich is required with standardize test or commercially developed assessment system.Teachers used to plan instruction for individual students even though the description ofperformance from a rubric may be richer than that provided by a standard score orpercentile rank

The following are the rubrics for student with an exemplary reading performance.Meaning in a text is constructed and reflected by the reader Sensitivity to linguistic,structural, cultural and psychological nuances and complexities is also manifested Gaps

in text are filled in, warranted and responsible assumptions about unstated causes ormotivation are made as well as meaning from subtle cues are drawn Literal andfigurative meanings, as well as real or contradictions are recognized; possibilities for theirresolutions are explored and ambiguities are tolerated Understanding of the whole work

is demonstrated

For writing performance, the criteria used are the qualities of good writing whichinclude ideas, organization, word choice, sentence fluency and voice (www imschool.org/ images/ files/ menufiles/ overview 6 traits pdf) Understanding the nature ofoccasion is considered the first and most important requirement for a successful writingperformance In writing, alertness, fears and desires will help

In evaluation, Go et al (2010) explained that it is culminating act of interpretingthe information gathered for the purpose of making decisions or judgments aboutstudents’ learning and needs, often at reporting time Teachers need several types oflearning assessments as guide posts for instruction when teaching students These includeinitial assessment to determine the beginning level of instruction, interim assessments topace instruction and to provide feedback to the learners, and terminal assessment todetermine the ultimate achievement of the learners (Green, 1975) Classified as formativeevaluation are initial and interim assessments and their major objective is to help theleaner Through this evaluation, the learner is provided with feedback on his errors, his

rate of progress, and his level of achievement related to the acceptable level ofcompetence

English Language Enrichment Activities A positive biological response to acontrasting environment, in which measurably, synergistic and global changes haveoccurred within the brain is termed enrichment (www education Com/ reference/ article/enrichment/).Enrichment as educational policy refers to the revisit of curriculum,assessment, environment, and instruction

Enrichment is the many things that students choose to do beyond their academicpursuits Teachers create and develop varied enrichment schemes that involved students

to the many recognized activities (file store aqa org uk/ AQA- BACC ENRICH).Teachers should decide which activities are important and best fit to students as itbroadens their horizons, as well as develop their personal and social development

Considered useful for supporting career choices is by garnering relevantexperience in a particular area Enrichment activities are also means of realizingpotentials (www Sirius- academy Org uk/? Page ID –enrichment- activities) Likewise,participation of students in group situations and as individuals are encouraged

Extracurricular activities and experiences that students enjoy and do outside ofschool or college are part of enrichment It should be flexible and should fit easily toschedules It should be offered internally or externally through enrichment providers Toensure a broad mix of activities, eligible enrichment activities have been divided intothree core areas: work-related learning, community participation, and personaldevelopment (www.aga ﾧ org uk./ programmes /aqa- baccalaureate/ enrichmentactivities ) Through participation of varied activities, skills such as commitment, good

citizenship initiative, leadership, team spirit, are gained and developed by students Out ofthis enrichment students gained the most important assessment through reflection andcommunication.

Enhancing oral communication is also part of enhancement activities wherestudents are given opportunities to interact with other students, and conduct film showingand video presentation ( www dwcc.edu ph/?q=cll enrichment) They were also allowed

to have a trip to fast food chains, public market, tribal communities, and conduct culturalprograms In most school programs, there are primary types of activities whereenrichment activity is one among them Enrichment activities expand students’ learning inways that differ from the methods used during the school day and often they areinteractive and project- focused, as well as enhance a students’ education by bringing newconcepts to light or by using old concepts in new ways ( www learning pt org promisingpractices of what is htm) Activities which students participate must be enjoyable andcould have impact knowledge for them to use in real life situations

Another type is tutoring and homework help Direct assistance relative toclassroom work are provided by these kinds of activities During the school days, studentscomplete their assignment, prepare for test, and work on concepts with the help of theirteachers or tutors As regards to recreation, it gives students relaxation or playing This isnot academic in nature, and it includes sports, games, and clubbing Students learn todevelop their social skills, teamwork, leadership, competition and discipline throughengaging these kinds of activities High degree of interaction, and project-focus are some

of the characteristics of these enrichments activities Academic concepts are learned bystudent through enjoyable and engaging activities

Enrichment activities are terrific teaching and learning tool (w/ teacher wordpress com/2011/12/13/ enrichment-activities- in –the-foreign language-classroom-aka-games) To motivate students’ participation to activities, students must be provided withopportunities to practice speaking in the target language Likewise, students must also begiven time to play games as these are found useful in teaching and learning process.Relaxed content for risk-taking is provided by games In the classroom community isbuilt and students can better engage language interaction in an authentic situation Gamescan also serve as ways to review and practice structures.

A process in which learners develop their receptive and expressive language skills

is called language enrichment It provides learners with strong foundational skills thatbenefit the acquisition of higher level literacy skills (www speech and language wherehouse Com/ what –is-htm) Hands-on active learning is an opportunity that is offered byenrichment activities in the classroom It goes beyond paper and pencil instruction andincreases students’ interests in new subject areas and foster a love of learning (www.ehow Com/ info 8640862 benefits-classroom enrichment-activities.html) The followingare some of the features of enrichment activities: these can be simple as teacher’s time or

as resources allow; do not have to be in the classroom and give learners a chance toexperiment with occupations and think about future paths

Research Literature

The following studies are reviewed and found relevant to the present study

Pinnel (1977) conducted a research on how children use language and theirimplications in the classroom The research discusses young children’s focus on meaning

in language, teacher’s tendency to examine language in terms of form rather thanmeaning and the importance of the student/teacher interaction process It also identifiesthe seven language functions described by M.A.K Halliday at al tells how childrendevelop ideas and about the ways language should be used in the classroom First gradechildren engaged in classroom activities are the respondents of the study Findings revealthat teacher’s awareness, listening skills and interactions with children make the criticaldifference in the development of a child’s full range of language functions Youngchildren have awareness of both languages The study concluded in advising that teachersmust provide situations in which children focus on meaning and use language for theirown purposes.

Rabab’ah (2001) study focused on the communication problems of Arab learners

in English where the notions of communicative competence and strategic competencewere discussed Results of the study reveal that Arab learners face many problems in alllanguage skills: listening, reading, speaking and writing The great number of numerousutterance that Arab learners of English produce in oral performance and their recourse

to communication strategies are indication of the seriousness of the problem as well as ofthe non- achievement of the objectives of the English Department in the Arab world

Recommendations of the study include: raising foreign learners’ awareness of thepotential of communicative strategies (CS), providing definition of communicativestrategies and performing the tasks required in using CS; utilization of electronic media inperforming classroom tasks, and assessment of their performance frequently The studyconcluded that teachers and learners are not only a matter of developing grammatical,

sociolinguistic and semantic competence, but also strategic competence which involvesthe use of CS’s to transmit comprehensive input.

The aim of Alibakhshi et al (2011) research study is to investigate the effect ofexplicit teaching of some of the communicative strategies (CS’s) in language performance

of Iranian Language learners of English Respondents of the study comprised of 60 maleand female language learners Results of the study indicate that there was significantdifference between the control group and experimental group in the use of CS’s; therewas also a significant difference between the group in the use of seven out of the ninestrategies The study concluded that the effect of teaching CS’s was stable after alanguage material

Goro (2007) investigates the acquisition of language specific constraints on scopeinterpretation by Japanese pre- school children The main goal of the study is todetermine how Japanese children learn these constraints on scope interpretations.Findings of the study show that Japanese children productively generate scopeinterpretations that are never exemplified in the input Children do not acquire thesescope constraints through conservative learning and raise the question of how they learn

to purge their on-adult interpretation

Foucart, (2008) investigates grammatical gender processing in French as a firstand second language It focuses mainly on whether non-native speakers can achievenative-like presentation and processing of grades and whether the native language (L1)influences the acquisition of the second language (L2) Findings of the study reveal thatlike native speakers English-French bilinguals are sensitive to gender agreementviolations The performance of the German speakers tested suggests that the presence of

a competing gender system in the native language may hamper gender acquisition in L2.The influence of the native language may vary and that the gender system of twolanguages may be autonomous in highly proficient bilinguals The study concluded thathighly proficient bilinguals can reach native-like-representation and processing of gender

in their L2 and that such is not constrained by either the age of onset of learning or thegrammar of the learners (L1)

Mourtaga (2010) determine why Palestinians EFL learners are weak writers.Respondents of the study include 30 male and female instructors from Gaza Results ofthe study reveal that learners do not practice enough writing in English It isrecommended in the study to use pedagogical suggestions that will develop EFL writing

in Gaza such as using innovative classroom, techniques within the process approach andteach lessons in a human fashion

Obery (2012) conducted a study to examine the influence of the 2011 OregonWriting Project (OWP) Summer Institute (SI) on the professional development of sixteachers Findings of the study reveal that teachers reported a neglect of writingeducation in their teacher preparation programs, as well as in the professionaldevelopment programs offered by K-12 schools Participants tended to report changes intheir professional and personal practices, attitudes and beliefs related to writing followingthe Summer Institute Participants unanimously identified the characteristics of time andsafe learning environment as significant in their professional development experiences

Recommendations of the study include: need for more inclusion of writinginstructional methods in pre service and professional development programs Pre- studyalso reinforces pre-existing research that supports professional development models that

are designed to be teacher and context centered within a collaborative community Thepresent context highlights the need to consider factors of time and participant’s feelings ofsafety when designing professional development program The study concluded thateffective professional development may offer the important teacher learning andconfidence needed in K-12 schools.

Mader (2008) introduced speech recognition software to share adolescents withlearning disabilities The process may help students with learning disabilities especially

in the area of written expression, circumvent the frustrations of paper-pencil writing andempower them to express their ideas in written form Findings of the study reveal thequality of written composition improved when using DNS: the effect on attitude and self-perception were tentative and the accuracy rate for all participants was similar The studyconcluded that students may have hoped to face problem with written expression on adaily basis in public school classrooms across the nation

Quitadamo’s et al (2007) study compared critical thinking performance ofstudents who experienced a laboratory writing treatment with those who experiencedtraditional quiz-based laboratory in a general education biology course The effects ofwriting were determined within the context of multiple co variables Results of the studyindicate that the writing group significantly improved critical thinking skills whereas thenon- writing group did not Analysis and inference skills increase significantly in thewriting group but not the non- writing group Writing students also showed greater gains

in evaluation skills; however, those were not significant In addition to writing, priorcritical thinking skills and instructors significantly affected critical thinking performance,whereas other co variables such as gender, ethnicity, and age were not significant The

study concluded that with improved critical thinking skills, general education biologystudents will be better prepared to solve problems as enjoyed and productive citizens.

Cromley (2005) compared the construction Integration (CI), Verbal Efficiency(VE) and Inferential Mediation (IM) models of reading comprehension in her researchstudy It tested the fit of four variations on the IM model Results of the study indicatedthat vocabulary and background knowledge made the greatest total contribution tocomprehension There were large significant differences between low and highcomprehending participants on all of the predictor variables, except for word readingaccuracy, where these were small but significant differences Both the direct and indirecteffects of the components are important for comprehension It is recommended in thestudy that vocabulary and background knowledge of 9th grade students who struggle forcomprehension be first targeted for intervention

Synthesis

The conceptual and research literature reviewed find relevant to the present study The concepts of Meyers regarding methodology in teaching English to absolutebeginners, Bleyer’s teaching Basic English to beginners and Andrews’ tips for teachingESL beginners and pre-literate adults provide rich background in the discussion of thetopic the teaching of English language to beginners As regards the topic on Englishlanguage functions, insights of Delahunty on language as system of rules, Praetor’sEnglish as a system of arbitrary symbols, Chomsky’s creative aspect of language as well

as Halliday’s language as systemic are found to provide very rich information Thesefind support from the concepts of Blor on functions of language, Halliday et al’s seven

functions of language or functional view of language, as well as Christodoulou’sinstrumental function of language and Mohr et al’s interactional language

Ideas of Ark on the other hand regarding performance assessment as list of testtaker who actually demonstrated the skills the test is intended to measure, Meyer’sauthenticity of performance, Wiggen’s evaluation criteria, Fortier’s expectation ofassessment and Garcia et al’s appropriate use of performance give enrich insightsregarding the topic on Evaluation of reading and writing performance Concepts of Go onevaluation as culminating act and Green’s formative evaluation provide support on thistopic

Further, on the topic English language enrichment activities, the following conceptsfrom varied electronic sources contributed much for better understanding and discussion

of the topic: many things to do beyond students’ academic pursuit; enhancingcommunication as part of enrichment activities; language activities as process to helplearners develop their receptive and experience language skills

As for similarities and differences of the studies reviewed in relation to the presentstudy, the study of Pinnel and Goro find similarity to the present study as the two studiesdeal about language which is also the focus of the present study The two studies differ insuch a way that Pinnel study describes the seven function of language and tell howchildren develop ideas about the ways language should be used in the classroom, Goro’sstudy deals on language acquisition of the Japanese pre-school children The presentstudy focus on the seven functions of language of Halliday in the reading and writingperformance of college students The study of Mourtaga, Obery, Mader, Quitadamo find

similarities to the present study as they all refer to writing which is also one of thevariables of the present study

The above studies differ from the present study in terms of focus, procedure andrespondents Mourtaga deals on poor English writing of Palestinian EFL learners, Oberydeals with examining Oregon Writing Project, Mader’s on speech recognition software’seffect on writing skills and Quitadamo’s using writing to increase student’s criticalperformance while the present study focus on writing and reading performance in theseven functions of language

The study of Rabab’ah deals on problem in language skills of Arab learners which issimilar to the present study since the latter deals also with language skills of Vietnamesestudents The present study is different to the cited study as it determines the reading andwriting performance of Vietnamese colleges’ students

The study of Alibakhshi is similar to the present study as it deals with languageperformance of EFL learners; Foucart study deals with the processing of the first andsecond language of native speakers while Cromley deals with reading comprehension.The present study differs in the above cited study as it deals with the assessment ofstudents’ in reading and writing performance of the students in the seven functions oflanguage identified by Halliday as well as it differs in terms of output in the form ofenrichment activities

Thus, despite of the similarities on the above mentioned studies, the present study

is not a duplication of the above studies and has a character of its own

Theoretical Framework

This study is anchored on Vgotsky’ Theory of Cognitive Development and Flavell’sMetacognition Theory.

Vgotsky believed that learner’s thinking is affected by their social knowledge which

is communicated by either psychological or technical means Language is suggested to

be the most important tool for gaining the social language, the learner can be taught frominstruction which emphasizes the fact there is a requirement for a more knowledgeableother person Vgotsky referred to them as just that: the more knowledgeable other(MKO) MKO’s can be parents, adults, teachers, coaches, experts, professionals but alsothings teachers might not first expect, such as children, friends and computers

Vgotsky described something known as the zone of proximal development (ZPD)which is a key feature of his theory The two levels of attainment for the ZPD level 1, thepresent level of development where this describes what the child is capable of doingwithout any help from others and level 2 the potential level of development where thisdescribes what the child could potentially be capable of with help from other people orteacher

The gap between level 1 and level 2 is what Vgotsky described as this zone ofproximal development Being believed that through the help from other, moreknowledgeable people, the learner can potentially gain knowledge already held by them.The learner’s level of comprehension must be appropriate to his knowledge Anythingthat is too complicated for the learner to learn that isn’t in their ZPD cannot be learned atall until there is a shift in the ZPD When the potential is already attained by the learner,the shift occurs and the learner can continue learning more complex, higher levelmaterial Scaffolding is another important feature of this theory when an adult provides

support for a child; they will adjust the amount of help they give depending on theirprogress.

Flavell (1971) used the term metamemory in regard to an individual’s ability tomanage and monitor the input, storage, search and retrieval of the content of his ownmemory Being implied with the statements that metacognition is intentional, conscious,foresighted, purposeful, and directed at accomplishing a goal or outcome

Hacker (1998) define metacognition to include all knowledge of one’s own cognitiveand affective processes and states as well as the ability to consciously and deliberatelymonitor and regulate those processes and states

Flavell recognized that metacognition comprised of both monitoring and regulationaspects Metacognition is any kind of cognitive transaction with the human or non-human environment; a variety of information processing activities may go on It refers tothe active monitoring and consequent regulation and orchestration of these processes inrelation to the cognitive objectives of data of which they bear, usually is service of someconcrete goal or objective

Flavell (1976) also identified three “metas” that learners gradually acquire in thecontext of information storage and retrieval These include: the learner learns to identifysituations in which intentional, conscious storage of certain information may be useful atsome time in the future; the learner learns to keep current any information which may berelated to active problem solving, and have it ready to retrieve as needed, and the learnerlearns how to make deliberate systematic searches on information which may be helpful

in solving problem even when the need for it has not been foreseen

These two theories contributed much in providing the framework of the study aswell as insights relative to the learning performance of college students in their readingand writing

Conceptual Framework

Along these concerns, the study made use of the systems approach to present theflow of the study The concepts were classified as input, process and output These werepresented in Figure 1

Part of the input box was the description of student’s writing and readingperformance in terms of 7 functions of language like instrumental, regulatory,interactional, personal, heuristic, imaginative and representational, the comparison ofstudent’s writing and reading performance and the teacher’s assessment on the writingand reading performance of students

The process box involved the assessment of the writing and reading skills of thestudents through survey questionnaire and teacher – made – test Finally, from therelationship of the first two boxes emerged the third box of the paradigm that illustratedthe output of this study, the proposed functional enrichment activities

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

Figure 1

Functional Enrichment Activities

Survey

- Questionnaire Teacher – made - Test

A

SA Students’ writing

and reading performance