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EXPOSURE TO ENGLISH LINGUISTIC ENVIRONMENT AND ORAL PROFICIENCY
OF FIRST YEAR COLLEGE STUDENTS IN DAVAO DEL NORTE
LARCYNEIL P. PASCUAL
Department of Arts and Sciences
UM Tagum College, Tagum City
Abstract
The study evaluated the oral proficiency of students according to their
level of exposure to English linguistic environment. The study further
aimed to determine the significant relationship between exposure to
English linguistic environment and oral proficiency of first year
college students in selected Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) in
the province of Davao del Norte. The study employed the descriptive
– correlation method in investigating the research problems. Using a
two-part questionnaire, this study found out that the level of exposure
to English linguistic environment of the first year college students is
moderate and their level of oral proficiency in terms of
comprehension, fluency, grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary is
low. Furthermore, there is no significant relationship between English
environment and oral proficiency among first year students, and the
students’ exposures in the context of this study do not significantly
influence their oral proficiency.
Keywords : Exposure, linguistic environment, oral proficiency,
Davao del Norte, Philippines.
I INTRODUCTION
The gap between the English oral proficiency of
students and the requirements of the industries has received
increasing attention recently in business arena.
In 2009, the Ministry of Education (MOE) urged
technological universities to propose an English curriculum
reform that emphasizes the centrality of productive skills such
as writing and speaking to equip students with the qualifications
industries require, to have international perspectives plus good
English communicative competence so as to interact with
people in one’s own field and with those from other countries.
After years of learning, majority of the students in
Taiwan are neither fluent nor confident English speakers. Some
may attribute this deficiency to the limited time for oral practice
in classrooms and the lack of conversational opportunities
outside of them, especially in English as a Foreign Language
setting. However, it may, in fact, stem from the myths that
students hold regarding communication in a foreign language,
such as the necessary possession of excellent pronunciation, a
good accent, a large vocabulary size, and an in-depth
knowledge of grammar. Moreover, some learners who perform
well in English classes still find themselves at a loss when
interacting with native speakers in everyday life (Yang & Gai,
2010). This dichotomy arises from the somewhat unreal and
comparatively safe context of the classroom, since teacher-
student and peer interactions are often restricted to basic
patterns and prefabricated situations or topics (Scarcella &
Oxfored, 2002).
In the Philippines, some parents use the English
language with their children even before they go to school.
Middle- to upper-class members of society use English when
on the phone, when they e-mail, and when they chat. This only
proves people’s need to become competent players not only in
their own countries, but also within the region. With
competence closely tied to a workers’ communication skills,
non-native speakers of English are faced with questions
propelling them to reflect on whether they are as good as or
better than their counterparts in neighboring countries.
(Amurao, 2012).
In the same vein, English language instructors of UM
Tagum Campus complained about their students’ proficiency in
terms of using the English language as the primary language in
communication. Very often students commit mistakes for not
being able to follow written directions, understand
announcements and guidelines, and the like.
In an attempt to find reinforcement for the said
dilemma and to help students develop English language
proficiency, college instructors employed different
methodologies in teaching English; however, the researcher
observed that despite conscious effort made to substantially
minimize the problem on oral and written communication,
engaging students in different English language activities that
would maximize their oral proficiency, the issue remained
unsolved.
The researcher, therefore, is driven to find out if
English linguistic environment could affect the student’s oral
production skills. The researcher believed that it is necessary
therefore to determine students’ acquisition of the English
language based on their exposure; this study would not help the
English language teachers in their search for effective methods,
strategies, procedures and programs of instruction to maximize
students’ performance but would help English language
mentors understand their students.
II OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this study was to find out the
relationship between the exposure of English linguistic
environment and oral proficiency of first year college students
in the selected Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) in the
province of Davao del Norte.
III METHODOLOGY
This study utilized the descriptive – correlation
method in investigating the research problem. The purpose of
correlational research is to determine the relations among two
or more variables (Bursal & Paznokas, 2006).
It is descriptive because the study focused at the
International Journal of Advancements in Research & Technology, Volume 6, Issue 1, January-2017 ISSN 2278-7763
169
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present condition whose purpose is to find new truth that may
have different form in a new generation. Likewise, data would
be presented in qualitative and quantitative descriptions of the
English linguistic environment and the oral proficiency.
As to the research locale, Tagum City is the capital
province of Davao del Norte and was officially created into a
component city on March 7, 1998. Situated 55 kilometers north
of Davao City, it is one of the fastest growing cities in Region
XI. It has a total land area of 19,580 hectares.
This study was conducted within the two (2) cities of
Davao del Norte Province, namely, Tagum and Panabo. The
three (3) schools were chosen due to the student’s population
and the stable programs offered.
St. Mary's College is situated along the national
highway of Tagum. UM Tagum College is located at Mabini
Street of Tagum City while the other school is the other branch
of UM located in the city of Panabo. The presence of these three
(3) schools gradually contributes in making Davao del Norte
another educational hub for college education.
In choosing the research participants of the study, the
researcher employed the stratified random sampling technique.
A stratified sample is a probability sampling technique in which
the researcher divided the entire target population into different
subgroups, or strata, and then randomly selects the final
subjects proportionally from the different strata. Furthermore,
this method of sampling is designed to ensure that the sample
has certain characteristics; usually the sample is representative
of the population on key variables. This is due to the method of
selecting respondents (Harding, 2006). See Table I below for
the distribution of research participants. TABLE I: DISTRIBUTION OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS
School
Number of First
year college
students
Percentage
Sample
UM Tagum
College
2, 202
68%
243
St. Mary’s
College
657
20%
72
UM Panabo
College
369
11%
41
Total 3, 228 100% 356
The instrument utilized in data gathering of the study
consists of two parts. The first part of the questionnaire was
adopted from the questionnaire cited by Tagadiad from
Atiagan’s master thesis (2006) which sought to determine the
respondents’ exposure to English linguistic environment
measuring the formal setting which includes the school and the
multimedia; the informal setting includes the home and the
multimedia. The second part of the instrument was a two (2)
minute telephone conversation activity; this was also adopted
from the published copy of Lozarita’s master thesis which
sought to determine the participants’ oral proficiency in terms
of fluency, comprehension, pronunciation, grammar, and
vocabulary. The validity and reliability of the instruments were
considered. In getting and weighing the student’s oral
proficiency in the test, the rating instrument on oral proficiency
in speaking and understanding English developed by Dr. David
P. Harris (as cited by Lozarita 2000) was adopted.
IV RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Shown in Table II is the summary of the level of
exposure to English linguistic environment of first year college
students.
As reflected in the table, the students’ formal exposure
has obtained an overall mean score of 3.54 with a verbal
description of high. This indicates that the respondents are
exposed to some English speaking environment with a little
code switching. On one hand, the first year college students’
informal exposure obtained an overall mean score of 3.43
having a verbal description of moderate. This means that the
respondents are exposed to the English speaking environment
but there is often code switching.
It is also interesting to note the disparity between the
exposures of the students in the formal and informal settings.
While the formal setting shows a mean of high, this is tempered
by the mean of the informal setting which is moderate. This in
totality results into a moderate exposure which means that the
students are exposed to a linguistic environment that allows
code switching.
TABLE II: SUMMARY SHOWING THE LEVEL OF EXPOSURE TO ENGLISH
LINGUISTIC ENVIRONMENT OF SELECTED FIRST YEAR COLLEGE STUDENTS
Indicators
Mean
Verbal
Description
Interpretation
Formal
School
3.67
High
The respondents are exposed to some English
speaking environment
with a little code switching.
Multimedia
3.41
Moderate
The respondents are
exposed to the English speaking environment but
there is often code
switching.
Mean
3.54
High
The respondents are exposed to some English
speaking environment
with a little code switching.
Informal
Home 3.21 Moderate The respondents are exposed to the English
speaking environment but there is often code
switching.
Multimedia 3.44 Moderate The respondents are
exposed to the English speaking environment but
there is often code
switching.
Mean 3.33 Moderate The respondents are
exposed to the English
speaking environment but there is often code
switching.
Overall Mean
3.43
Moderate
The respondents are
exposed to the English
speaking environment
but there is often code
switching.
Displayed in Table III is the level of oral proficiency
among first year college students.
It can be noted that among the five (5) identified
indicators for oral proficiency all got a low verbal
interpretation. Comprehension obtained 2.48; Fluency obtained
International Journal of Advancements in Research & Technology, Volume 6, Issue 1, January-2017 ISSN 2278-7763
170
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2.20; grammar obtained 2.48; pronunciation obtained 2.41; and
vocabulary obtained a mean score of 2.43. As reflected, the
overall result is 2.40 with a verbal description of low. This
shows that the students demonstrate fairly – well in the oral
performance. Insufficient exposure to language cannot
strengthen the acquisition of the second language as to the
constant practice. The result shows that students find it difficult
to produce the language as they try to interact with their peers
given a certain condition. This low performance is a result of
discontinuity in the practice of the L2 (Getmanee, 2005).
TABLE III: THE LEVEL OF ORAL PROFICIENCY AMONG SELECTED FIRST YEAR COLLEGE STUDENTS
Mean Verbal
Description
Interpretation
Comprehension
2.48
Low
The students
demonstrate fairly
well in the oral
performance.
Fluency
2.20
Low
The students
demonstrate fairly
well in the oral
performance.
Grammar
2.48
Low
The students
demonstrate fairly
well in the oral
performance.
Pronunciation
2.41
Low
The students
demonstrate fairly
well in the oral
performance.
Vocabulary
2.43
Low
The students
demonstrate fairly
well in the oral
performance.
Overall Mean
2.40
Low
The students
demonstrate fairly
well in the oral
performance.
Shown in Table IV is the test for the significant
relationship between exposure to English linguistic
environment and oral proficiency of first year college students.
It can be noted that student’s pronunciation differ in
the school where they are exposed since the p – value (0.043) is
lesser than the alpha level of 0.05 resulted into the rejection of
the null hypothesis. Thus, there is a significant relationship
between English linguistic environment and oral proficiency
among first year college students specifically in the student’s
pronunciation. However, data revealed that the overall p-value
(0.235) is greater than alpha level of 0.05 which means that the
null hypothesis of no significant relationship between the
exposure to linguistic environment and oral proficiency is not
rejected. Thus, there is no significant relationship between
exposure to English linguistic environment and oral proficiency
of the research participants.
This result leads the researcher into thinking that there
might be other significant factors affecting first year college
students’ oral proficiency. The possible factor could be personal
motivation or high interest of the students.
This result further exemplified that second language
(L2) acquisition in oral skill is also a result from lifelong
learning which requires time and constant effort for individual
success. It must be noted that the exposure of the student
respondent to the linguistic environment is only moderate;
hence, it can be inferred as one reason for the non-significance
of the relationship.
In addition, Andersen (2004) affirmed this result upon
saying that in order to acquire the second language (L2) one
must not cease to find opportunity to use it, and this cannot be
easily acquired for there are several factors to be considered one
of it is the so - called construct of learning style preference. He
said that learners have individual attributes relating to the intake
of new information regardless of their environment; he added
that they are likely to have preference on some methods of
learning to the others. Learning styles are multidimensional and
can be categorized into several aspects, some of which include
independent, dependent, verbal, analytical, impulsive,
reflective, participatory, avoidant, competitive, collaborative,
and so on.
This is supported by Arias as cited by Batiao, 2010 that
the other factor contributing learner’s acquisition of the second
language is the learner’s intense motivation and high interest.
Interest and motivation coupled with high aspiration and other
positive behaviors provide positive reinforcements for learners
to achieve high in any scholastic performance.
In the same vein, proficiency of the language is an
added bonus since grammar is not only a system in which words
are put together to have a meaningful whole but the meaning of
these words should be understood beyond the printed symbols
that learners have to be proficient in the skills of
communication especially in taking examinations whether in
oral or in written form (Johnson, 2010).
TABLE IV: THE TEST OF SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EXPOSURE
TO ENGLISH LINGUISTIC ENVIRONMENT AND ORAL PROFICIENCY
Independent and Dependent
Variables
r-values
p-
values
@0.05
Decision on
Ho
Linguistic
Environment
(x)
Oral Proficiency
(y)
School
(Formal)
Comprehension 0.060 0.257 Not Rejected
Fluency 0.040 0.454 Not Rejected
Grammar 0.004 0.945 Not Rejected
Pronunciation 0.107 0.043* Rejected
Vocabulary 0.004 0.938 Not Rejected
Multimedia
(Formal)
Comprehension 0.029 0.579 Not Rejected
Fluency 0.039 0.465 Not Rejected
Grammar 0.040 0.449 Not Rejected
Pronunciation 0.015 0.777 Not Rejected
Vocabulary 0.024 0.648 Not Rejected
Home
(Informal)
Comprehension 0.100 0.057 Not Rejected
Fluency 0.079 0.134 Not Rejected
Grammar 0.067 0.201 Not Rejected
Pronunciation 0.071 0.175 Not Rejected
Vocabulary 0.102 0.052 Not Rejected
Multimedia
(Informal)
Comprehension 0.042 0.431 Not Rejected
Fluency 0.025 0.640 Not Rejected
Grammar 0.009 0.865 Not Rejected
Pronunciation 0.020 0.707 Not Rejected
Vocabulary 0.009 0.346 Not Rejected
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Overall Mean
Comprehension 0.074 0.162 Not Rejected
Fluency 0.058 0.275 Not Rejected
Grammar 0.016 0.766 Not Rejected
Pronunciation 0.053 0.316 Not Rejected
Vocabulary 0.064 0.227 Not Rejected
Overall Mean 0.063 0.235 Not rejected
Table V shows the test for the significant influence
between exposures to English linguistic environment to oral
proficiency of selected first year college students. Data revealed
that the formal exposure to linguistic environment obtained the
p – value of 0.541 where the null hypothesis is not rejected. On
the other hand, informal exposure obtained a p – value of 0.166
where the null hypothesis is also not rejected and the overall p
– value is 0.331, null hypothesis not rejected. Thus, the
students’ exposures to English linguistic environment do not
significantly influence their oral proficiency.
The result can be attributed to the assertion of
Getmanee (2005) who said that acquisition of the second
language (L2) specifically in the oral proficiency does not
happen if there is an insufficient exposure to the English
linguistic environment. One can just go back to the summary in
Table II which shows the over-all mean of moderate exposure.
This proves that the students did not have sufficient exposure to
the linguistic environment.
This therefore suggests that anyone who desires to
improve his or her oral performance, there is a need to intensify
the linguistic environment. Both the formal setting and the
informal setting must provide a comprehensive use of the target
language.
TABLE V: TEST FOR THE SIGNIFICANT INFLUENCE BETWEEN EXPOSURES TO
ENGLISH LINGUISTIC ENVIRONMENT TO ORAL PROFICIENCY
Variables r2 F – value P-value
@0.05
Decision on Ho
Formal 0.001 0.374 0.541 Not rejected
Informal 0.005 0.193 0.166 Not rejected
Overall 0.006 0.994 0.331 Not rejected
CONCLUSION
The researcher underscored the importance of
students’ exposures both in formal and informal setting. This
study is of great help to devise a particular learning strategy,
programs of instruction and learning intervention to maximize
students’ performance. Furthermore, this study suggests that
those identified higher educational institutions should provide
the English learners diverse communicative practices for the
development of the English language proficiency as evident in
the findings that the oral proficiency is low. They may employ
an experiment where they have to expose the students in an
intensive exposure of the English language. Secondly, they can
also consider employing other variables to serve as moderator
to determine other correlates to the oral proficiency of the
students.
V ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author would like to extend his heartfelt gratitude
to the people who in one way or another have contributed much
for the success of this research endeavor.
VI REFERENCES
[1] Amurao, A. (2012). The Phil. model for learning English. Retrieved
on September 12, 2012 from http://www.rappler.com/move-
ph/contributions/14852-the-ph-model-for-learning-english
[2] Andersen, R. (2004). Focused learning in a linguistic environment.
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh: USA.
[3] Atiagan, M. (2004). Determinant of the level of English proficiency
among high school students in Tagum City. Unpublished Master’s thesis, University of Mindanao, Davao City.
[4] Bursal, M., and Paznokas, L. (2006). Mathematics anxiety and pre-
service teachers' confidence to teach mathematics and Science. School Science & Mathematics, 106, 173–180.
[4] Getmanee, B. (2005). Components Contributing to English Oral Proficiency: A Case Study of the Undergraduates of King
Mongkut's Institute of Technology North Bangkok: The Journal of
Industrial Technology. Vol. 1, Issue 1, February – July, 2005.
[5] Harris, D. (1969). Testing English as a second language. McGraw
Hill, United States of America.
[6] Johnson, A. (2009). The rise of English: the language of
globalization in China and the European Union. Retrieved from
digital commons.macalester.edu on January 02, 2013.
[7] Lozarita, M.T. (2003). Linguistic diversity and English preference and
the level of English acquisition among college students in Davao
City. An Unpublished dissertation. UM, Davao City.
[8] Lozarita, M.T. (2000). Classroom interactions and oral proficiency in
English of the University of Mindanao college freshmen.
Unpublished Master’s Thesis. University of Southeastern Philippines, Davao City.
[9] Scarcella, R. C. & Oxford, R. L. (2002). The tapestry of language
learning: The individual in the communicative classroom. Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers.
[10] Yang, D. & Gai, F. P. (2010). Chinese learners’ communication strategies research. Case study at Shandong Jiao Tong University.
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[11] Tagadiad, C.L. (2006). English environment and English language proficiency among freshmen college students. Unpublished
Thesis, University of Mindanao, Davao City.
LARCYNEIL PONDOC PASCUAL, is
currently an associate professor of English
at the College of Arts and Sciences
Education Department in the University of
Mindanao – Tagum campus (UMTC)
where he teaches language and literature
subjects. He is a research consultant in the
undergraduate program as a panel of
examiner, mentor, data analyst and
grammarian. He holds a bachelor’s degree in education and a Licensed
Professional Teacher (LPT). Likewise, he obtained his master’s degree
in English language at the University of the Immaculate Conception
(UIC) Davao city. He is actively involved in series of reviews for the
Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) and Licensure
Examination for Criminologists conducted by the University of
Mindanao. As an educator, he is also an active member of the
following professional organizations: Philippine Association for
Teacher Education (PAFTE) – Region XI, Conflict Sensitive
Journalism (CSJ), and Linguistic Society of Mindanao (LSM).
International Journal of Advancements in Research & Technology, Volume 6, Issue 1, January-2017 ISSN 2278-7763
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