Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM

Background of the Study

“Communication is the exchange and flow of information and

ideas from one person to another; it involves a sender transmitting an

idea, information, or feeling to a receiver.”

U.S. Army, 1983

According to M.S. Thirumalai (1976), English is an international

language, spoken in many countries both as a native and as a second

or foreign language. It is taught in the schools in almost every country

on Earth. It is a living and vibrant language spoken by over 300 million

people as their native language and an additional 100 million people

use it fluently as a foreign language. As a rough estimate, 1000 million

or one billion people around the world have some knowledge of

English, either as a native language, as a second language, or as a

foreign language.

Also English contributed a big part in communication. According

to the Interpersonal Communication, effective communication occurs

only if the receiver understands the exact information or idea that the

sender intended to transmit. Having solid English skills is a must and to

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communicate in clear, respectful and non-judgemental ways is

important. Communication is a two way process, so improving

communication involves both how we send and receive messages.

People use English to have an effective communication. And it was one

of the reasons why English language was called as the international

language.

Also, English language gives big impact on the process of how

Filipinos communicate. Philippines embraced this language from the

American colonizers. Based on the research of the website Wikipedia,

Philippines today was the fifth largest English-speaking country in the

world and second in the continent of Asia. Filipinos should be proud of

this because English is the “world language,” the lingua franca of the

modern era. It was taught in the school of Philippines as one of the

major subject. Many college students take courses that allow them to

study the language. Many of them end up as Education and Bachelor of

Arts students majoring in English. But the question is, are those

Education students taking up the major of English are really fluent in

using English language on their way of communicating with other

people?

This paper aimed to introduce the effectiveness on the process

of communication of Education students of Urdaneta City University

taking up the major of English. With this present scenario, the

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researchers were motivated to conduct this study to know the

communicative fluency of Urdaneta City University English major

students.

Statement of the Problem

This study aimed to determine the communicative fluency of

Urdaneta City University English major students.

This study sought to answer the following specific problems.

1. What is the respondents’ profile in terms of the following

variables:

A. age;

B. sex;

C. civil status;

D. year level; and

E. grades of respondent in their English subjects last

semester.

2. What are the respondents’ assessments on determining the

communicative fluency of Urdaneta City University English major

students?

A. ability of the student to speak clearly;

B. clarity of thought; and

C. ability to response to the question?

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3. Is there a significant difference between the respondents’

assessments on the determining the communicative fluency of

Urdaneta City University English major students?

4. Is there a significant relationship between the respondents’

assessments on the determining the communicative fluency of

Urdaneta City University English major students in terms of their

selected profile variables?

Hypotheses of the Study

Based on the above stated problems, the researchers formulated

the hypotheses of the study in their operational form as;

1. there is no significant difference between the respondents’

assessments on the determining the communicative fluency of

Urdaneta City University English major students, and

2. there is no significant relationship between the respondents’

assessments on the determining the communicative fluency of

Urdaneta City University English major students in terms of their

selected profile variables.

The hypotheses were analyzed at 0.05 level of significance.

Significance of the Study

This study presents the communicative fluency of Urdaneta City

University English major students and the benefits that will give to the

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following:

Urdaneta City University. Result of this study will be an entry

point to identify the specific need for the conduct of extension

programs of English department.

Teachers . The result of this study will primarily benefit the

teachers who will be more aware to the strengths and weaknesses of

their students.

Students. The result of this study could help the students to

have an overview and more effective understanding about their skill

and course.

Future Researchers. This study will provide baseline data for

further studies and verification. The conduct of this study will also

benefit other researchers who have the same or at least related topic.

Scope and Delimitations of the Study

This study was conducted at the selected forty (40) Bachelor in

Secondary Education Major in English students of Urdaneta City

University (UCU). The selected forty (40) students had undergone

some interview and exam in conducting this study. The subjects of the

study were grouped into two categories. First categories are the

selected twenty (20) second year education students major in English

of Urdaneta City University (UCU) while the second category refers to

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the twenty (20) third year education students major in English of

Urdaneta City University (UCU).

The respondents in the first category are chosen through their

grade in their Speech & Oral Communication subject last semester, it

must be 85 and above. And the second category are chosen through

their GPA in English last semester and it must be 85 and above. This

investigation was conducted to determine the ability of the education

students major in English of Urdaneta City University to communicate

with fluency in speaking English as their language.

The study used a questionnaire personally prepared by the

researchers. The questionnaire was complemented by personal and

interviews. The questionnaire has two parts. Part I was about the

profile of the two categories of respondents; the first and second

groups were the second year and third year education students major

in English of UCU in terms of their a) age; b) sex; c) civil status; d) year

level; and e) grades of respondent in their English subjects last

semester. By the given grades of the respondent which were the

second year (2nd year student and third year student (3rd year) the

researcher can able to get the GPA of their grades; Part II contains the

specific statements for the study. It was designed to measure the

communicative fluency of Urdaneta City University English major

students. The areas included were a) ability of the student to speak

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clearly; b) clarity of thought; and c) ability to response to the question.

The period of the study will last for the whole second semester of the

academic year 2014-2015.

Definition of Terms

In order to facilitate the understanding of the discussion the

following terms are defined according to the context used in the study.

Communicative fluency. This refers to the degree of skill of

the student to communicate with English as their language.

Urdaneta City University (UCU). It is a government owned

university located at San Vicente West, Urdaneta City, Philippines. In

2004, UCU became the first Character School in Region I, inculcating in

its students the need for academic excellence and, more importantly,

character transformation. It is the place where the study was

conducted.

Bachelor in Secondary Education Major in English. This is

one of the courses offered at Urdaneta City University (UCU).

Ability of student to speak clearly. It refers to capability of

the student to communicate clearly.

Clarity of thought. It refers to the ability of the student to

express his thought.

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Ability to response to the question. It refers to the capability

of the student to answer or response to the question.

Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter includes some related literatures and studies

conducted by both local and foreign researches, which have a

significant bearing or relevance on the study and which serves as a

spring board in conducting the present study. It also serves us guides

in the interpretation of its results.

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RELATED LITERATURE

Local Literature

According to Bisnar (2003), the pronunciation is a broad subject,

a very difficult one to act upon. A mispronounced word changes the

meaning of the sentence. According to the website, Using English.com

(2003) to begin with, the in-thing nowadays is unification and oneness.

The trend is to have one system of measurement, currency etc. This is

helping to bring people together and avoiding conflicts and wars

between nations. So far, ready and attempts to unify have had very

good results in recent years. But the change that is needed most

urgently has so far been neglected for rather selfish reasons. What is

needed most is better communication, and for this to happen there is

no better way than to have a common language for all. Everybody is

learning English all over the world. Flormata-Ballesteros (2003) states

that speech sounds in English are very important. They are the basis of

differences in defining a word or group of words. English sounds refer

to the sounds produced in oral communication. These sounds are

generally classified into segmental (vowels, consonants, diphthongs

and trip thongs), and supra-segmental (stress, pitch, and juncture).

Gelvanousky (2002), pronunciation has an important social

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value, which means that it is related to prestige, such as intelligence,

professional competence, persuasiveness, diligence, and social

privilege. Pronunciation can provide information about the speaker’s

geographical and social origin, and in most cases it is the most salient

characteristics of non-native speakers. Roja et.al. (1972), English well

cannot be learned in one day; it takes a good deal of time. Moreover,

the student has to master many things.

Foreign Literature

According to Nadeem Malik (2012), throughout the world and in

developing countries no one can deny the spread and success of

English language. For such purpose everyone is craving for the means

to get proper command over this language and to gain the ability to

use it properly just like its fluent native speakers. Hansen and Hanse

(2010), explain English as the universal language all over the world.

Everybody wants to learn to use the language in both its oral and

written form. Anyone who is proficient with it has a greater edge

compared to others who do not. She/he is easily more successful

career- wise. In fact, recent statistics show that proficiency and fluency

in English communication is the one skill mentioned most often by

employers that they require from the applicants they hire. In related

with that Baker and Westrup (2003) states that there is a need for

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people who speak English well not only throughout the world but also

in the developing countries as well. In regard of that many college

students take courses that allow them to study the language. Many of

them enrolled as Education and Bachelor of arts major in English.

According to Jones (2002), it is obvious that creating a stronger link

between pronunciation and communication can help increase learners’

motivation by bringing pronunciation to a level of intelligibility and

encouraging learners’ awareness of its potential as a tool for making

their language not only easier to understand but more effective.

Andrew Little John and Diana Hicks(1998,p.133) in his book Cambridge

English for schools emphasized that developing fluency is important in

building up the students confidence and maintain a sense of

achievement in being able to say something meaningful.

RELATED STUDIES

Local Studies

Evangelista (2006) found out that speaking is the most common

form of communication. The purpose is to help the audience to

understand or appreciate what is being told. Though people may be

comfortable talking with their friend, talking to a group of people who

are not at all their friends is an entirely different matter. In his

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situation, it is therefore imperative that the teacher gives exercise in

oral presentation to develop the students’ ability to speak the target

language and that they may interpret what they wanted to tell their

listeners. Carpio (1999) claimed that the way persons speak serves as

a reflection of their personality. If the respondents are introverted who

are not comfortable in speaking in front, they may manifest

nervousness during their oral speech production.

Flores and Lopez (1998) stated that some people have voice

problems because of organic defects. It is connected with the voice

because during the speaking process, the organs of speech are

coordinately integrated and involved in breathing, phonation,

resonation and articulation. But Conception et.al. (1994) found out that

the Filipino college students face communication problems,

characteristic of learners to whom English is a second language.

Observe his speech closely and chances are his English rhythm and

intonation sound like Filipino, resulting in the so-called Filipino or

vernacular English. His words often have different meanings because

he substitutes Filipino for English sounds (wife becomes wipe or keys

becomes kiss) and he places the stress on the wrong syllable (dess’ert

becomes de’sert or can’ary becomes c’annery). After college, the

Filipino may still have communication problems in the workplace.

When he delivers a report at the small sales meeting, he may not be

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understood by the salesmen in the back row. In public communication,

his manner of speaking may be frequently dull and boring thus

dissipating audience attention. His speeches may be poorly organized

that listeners find it difficult to follow his ideas. Voice improvement,

stress and intonation, the critical vowel and consonant sounds, should

be given much attention because these are crucial problems of the

Filipino communication in English.

Foreign Studies

According to Varasarin (2007), in her action research of

pronunciation training, Language Learning Strategies (LLS) and

speaking confidence states that the outcomes indicate that both cycles

(Cycle One and Cycle Two) showed the implication of the importance of

pronunciation training in the Thai context and the usefulness of

dictionary usage to help learners improve their competence and to

have more confidence to speak English. The control of the content of

pronunciation training with direct LLs is crucial to the improvement of

the students and their confidence. The indirect LLS which they

reported they used in the training had great impact on their

improvement and confidence. Furthermore, in pronunciation training,

learners were taught how to pronounce correct English sound

phonetically and how native speakers use a high and low voice in a

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sentence that is, intonation, rhythm and pitch or in a more academic

sense, segmental and suprasegmentally aspects. Reflective reports

written by teachers and students in both cycles showed that their

pronunciation was improve after they had been trained and it was

evident that they had more confidence to speak English. The problem

makes them feel shy and lessens their confidence to speak. Moreover,

they do not understand what the speaker says to them. The responses

they make are nodding and smiling. Many of the sounds used in the

English Language are foreign to them. Some English sounds are

different from Thai and they are not familiar to Thai students.

Therefore, they do not know how or what to do to produce these

sounds. As a result, they had no confidence when communicating with

foreigners for fear that the listeners will not understand what they

were saying.

In related with that Barnard (2006) cited the study of Underhill

(2005) about “Learning and Teaching Pronunciation.” Underhill invites

the readers to experience for themselves how the sounds are formed

and combined. He does so by asking them to take part in reflective

activities- not merely to read about- but to listen to the sounds that are

made, and observe ( for example, by using a mirror or a willing

colleague) the way that the external speech organs move. These

activities are supported by reference to Underhill’s own version of the

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IPA (International Phonemic Alphabet) chart, and a cd. This CD is

extended as a study aid for teachers, and contains the instructions

narrated by the author and demonstrated by other speakers. According

to Varanasarin (2003), pronunciation is vocalized in communication

and can be consider as a kind of culture. In the process of talking or

speaking, the speaker’s expression, describing or explaining can build

up his/her individual cultural space modus vivendi which the cultural

space contains the system and hierarchy of values and the individual

worldview.

Synthesis of the Reviewed Literature and Studies

The reviewed literature, local and foreign as well as foreign and

local related studies, gave the researchers knowledge, ideas and

different facts regarding levels of communicative fluency of UCU

English majors. The knowledge, ideas and facts gleaned from the

reviewed literature are deemed relevant to the present study, since

the objective of the study is to determine the communicative fluency

of UCU English majors.

Oral communication using English are very important. English

well cannot be learned in one day it takes a good deal of time .The

student should master many things. The proper pronunciation is the

most focused of this review literature the ability of the student to

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pronounce an English word is the first step to understand a foreign

language which in this case is English. Fluency in English

communication is the one skill mentioned most often by employers

that they require from the applicants they hire as stated in the foreign

literature. The study of Varasarin (2007), Evangelista (2006) and

Barnard (2006) cited the study of Underhill (2005) they all concluded

that listening is important in teaching pronunciation. There is a need to

demonstrate how the speech sound is made. Also in the study of

Varasarin (2007), Evangelista (2006), and Carpio (1999) concluded

that having a full knowledge in speaking English had a great impact on

improvement of the confidence of student.

But according to the study of Conception et.al. (1994) found out

that the Filipino college students face communication problems,

characteristic of learners to whom English is a second language. Voice

improvement, stress and intonation, the critical vowel and consonant

sounds, these are crucial problems of the Filipino communication in

English.

Theoretical Framework

Having effective oral communication is a key component as to

the reason why second language acquisition is becoming more and

more important. The teaching of language is important in an English

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course. If the students are unable to express themselves in their

second language, which in this case is English, then education will

degrade into schooling. Therefore, it is important that teachers are

capable of helping second language students. The theory that served

as baseline of the present study is the theory of Communicative

approach. The theory of communicative approach is an approach to

language teaching that emphasizes interaction as both the means and

the ultimate goal of study. From the above preceding discussion, the

present study is in line with the ability of the student to speak or

pronounce English correctly. Pronunciation was the prominent mode for

approaching second language teaching. When analyzing the effects of

a pronunciation, the researchers have observed that student do not

respond positively. The foreign language learning process can be

compared to the first language. Teacher should develop some activities

to help the student to develop their skill in speaking English language.

The communicative component is the most important aspect that must

be practiced most often; the best activities that the teacher can come

up with are group activities. The group setting is beneficial because it

allows the student with second language difficulty to practice with

students who are fluent in the language. Whether, the natural learning

environment, meaning surrounded by first language students, is a

better methodology than having an artificial learning environment is

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not an issue in this specific context. Also, the group setting allows the

students to practice their communicative techniques.

Also another activity that can help student to pronounce English

is by imitating the pronunciation of English-speaking persons according

to Prator (1956). But sometimes imitation does fail, however. Teacher

may pronounce a word many times, and students still may be unable

to say it exactly as he does. This may be because they are hearing and

reproducing well only a few of the most important sounds, which make

up the word. It will be of benefit to them if the teacher can write out

the word for them, sound by sound using symbols which are always

pronounced in the same way. The eye is more analytical than ear. We

can see separately all the symbols which make up a written word, but

we can hardly hear individually all the sounds which compose it as it is

normally spoken.

Conceptual Framework

This study determined the communicative fluency of UCU English

majors. As shown in the conceptual paradigm (Fig.1) on the proceeding

page the respondents, profile variables are the independent variables

in the study. The line segment in the figure means the communicative

fluency of UCU English majors is dependent on the profile of the

respondents.

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Conceptual Paradigm

Independent Variables Dependent

VariablesRespondents’ Profile in

terms of:

age

sex

civil status

school year,

grade in English last semester,

Respondents’

assessments on the

determining the

communicative fluency

of UCU English major

ability of student to speak clearly,

clarity of thought,

ability to response to the question,

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Figure 1: The conceptual paradigm showing the independent and

dependent variables used in the study.