English Grammar Proficiency

Language is very important to man’s life. Without this, it would be impossible for men to live economically, academically, and socially. English is basically man’s tool for learning and communication. Academically, he needs English as an instrument to learn new knowledge from different subjects, to pass the entrance examination in college and to pass the board and licensure examination. Economically, he needs English to run business and to transact with possible investors. Social transactions and social gathering will be impossible if not for the use of English in communication which only proves that English is a social phenomenon. And more importantly, English proficiency is the quickest way to get a good job. Language is a means by which man develops himself and helps other develop them. Therefore, the fulfilment of man’s aims and aspirations as an individual and of his role on his immediate and wider community depends greatly upon his ability to communicate. English is considered as the dominant international language in the present times. Different countries in the world have been including English in their education because of its relevance and importance.

This is an evidence that English language really plays a vital role in our daily living not only here in our country, but also of the entire whole world. English proficiency among Filipinos became a distinct advantage of the Philippines over other Asian counterparts. It plays an important role among Filipinos. Its wide use in classroom, business, politics, government, as well as employment led to recognition. In terms of education, as years passed, the Filipino quality of English was observed to decline and deteriorate. Problems started to arise. Educators were alarmed by the continuous failure of bar and licensure examiners. The poor command of English was said to be the reason behind. Many factors could be cited for this deterioration of English in the country jointing the blame to the school. De Leon (2009), found out that some causes of this alarming deterioration in the quality of English were lack of basic instructional materials, lack of supervision, inadequacy of the preparation and training of teachers in English.

If the teacher is proficient and competent enough to teach students, then he is more likely to produce students of the same proficiency. The hope of producing better English speakers lies in the hands of proficient teachers. If the adequate academic preparation is the cause and an equally proficient is the effect, then, this program must always be practice to create a strong foundation of English proficiency. This study about the proficiency in English Grammar of Fourth-Year students in the Public Secondary schools at West District, Tanauan Division SY 2013-2014 is made for the purpose of assessing the students and eventually improving and correcting some of their weaknesses. The findings of this undertaking provided information and improvement of English instruction. Theoretical Framework

As cited by Bough (2009), the importance of English is naturally very great. English is the mother tongue of nations whose combined political influence, economic soundness, commercial activity, social well-being and scientific and cultural contributions to civilization give impressive support to its numerical precedence. Maminta (2010), cited that English language had been primarily designed to develop the learners’ ability not only to constructs well-formed and grammatically correct sentences but also to use English to perform and act as communication. According to Healton (2010), proficiency in English refers to a person’s ability to express facts, ideas, feelings, and attitudes clearly and with ease, in speech or in writing and his ability to understand what he hears or read.

The conceptual paradigm of this study is hereby formulated.
Personal administration of students’ profile and questionnaire Use of checklist as an instrument in the treatment of data
Statistical treatment employed
Profile of the students in terms of:
1.1Age
1.2Gender
1.3Educational attainment of parents
1.4Monthly income of parents
1.5Reading materials at home
English Grammar Proficiency level of Fourth-Year students at the Public
Secondary schools of West District Tanauan Division for the SY 2013-2014 Factors that lead to poor level of English Grammar Proficiency of Fourth-year students at the Public Secondary schools of West District, Tanauan Division, SY 2013-2014. Implication of the study to the English Instruction of fourth-year students in the Public Secondary Schools in West District, Tanauan Division SY 2013-2014 InputProcessOutput

Figure 1
Feedback

Figure 1
Reseach Paradigm
The research paradigm showed the relationship of the variables considered in the study. The first box was the profile of the students that include the age, gender, educational attainment of their parents, monthly income, and reading materials at home; English Grammar Proficiency level of Fourth-Year students at the Public Secondary schools of West District Tanauan Division for the SY 2013-2014; Factors that lead to poor level of English Grammar Proficiency of Fourth-year students at the Public Secondary schools of West District, Tanauan Division, SY 2013-2014. These represented the independent variables or the input.

After knowing the input, arrow symbol was discussing the dependent variables or the process represent by the English proficiency level of fourth-year students at the public secondary schools at West District, Tanauan Division for the SY 2013-2014 to identify the student’s proficiency, the researchers used questionnaire and checklist, and statistical treatment dealing with different subject areas in English. The last box is the implication of the identified level of English proficiency to the English Instruction of the fourth-year students in the Public Secondary Schools in West District, Tanauan Division SY 2013-2014. Statement of the Problem

The major thrust of this study is to determine the English Grammar Proficiency of fourth-year students in the public secondary schools at West District, Tanauan Division for the SY 2013-2014.

Specifically, this research sought answers to the following questions: What are the profile of the student respondents in terms of: 1.1Age;
Gender;
Educational attainment of parents;
Monthly income of the parents;
Reading materials at home?
What is the English Grammar proficiency level of fourth-year students based on the test given? Is there a significant relationship between the profile and the level of English grammar proficiency of the student respondents? How do the following factors lead to poor level of English grammar of the student respondents as assessed by the teachers and students themselves? 4.1 Teacher Factor

4.2 Home Factor
What possible implications to the English instruction of the fourth-year students can be derived based on the results of the study? Hypothesis
There is no significant relationship between profile and the level of English proficiency of fourth-year students in the West District, Tanauan Division. Scope and Delimitation
This study covered the English grammar proficiency of fourth-year students in the public secondary schools at West District, Tanauan Division for the SY 2013-2014. Respondents were fourth-year students from West District, Tanauan Division 104 total students from Luyos National High School (LNHS), 77 total students from Malaking Pulo National High School (MPNHS), and 80 total students from J.P.Laurel National High School (J.P.LNHS); and 10 total English teachers from the three schools. Significance of the Study

The results of this study were of great help to the following persons: Fourth-year Students. They will be made aware of their English grammar proficiency. This will give them definite goal to achieve and furnish them motivation to perform better. English Teachers. The findings of this study will provide them with sufficient information about the level of proficiency in English grammar of the students. These will help them identify the students’ strengths and weaknesses and will be an eye-opener so that they can improve their instruction and choose the methods and strategies that
will effectively enhance proficiency in English grammar among the students, Principal. This study will identify the status of the English grammar proficiency of that will lead to the teachers’ participation in different training programs to be initiated by the department, Parents. This study will help to identify the strength and weaknesses of their child and to motivate them to study harder. Future Researchers. The outcome of this study could be used as a reference material for future studies. Definition of Terms

For clarity and better understanding of this study, the following terms are defined operationally. Education. It involves teaching with various subjects.
Educators. These refer to people who are specialized in the theories and methods of education. English Language . It is considered to be one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, used as either a primary or secondary language in many countries. Grammar Proficiency. In this study, it is defined as the skill or degree of mastery of command of English language for the purpose of school instruction assessed particularly along the arc of reading comprehension, sentence construction, vocabulary, grammar and usage. Method. This term refers to mean procedure or a way of doing lesson plan. Proficiency. It is being skilled or an expert in using the English language in oral communication. In this study the result of the test will determined whether the respondents are highly proficient, proficient, slightly proficient, and not proficient. Profile. It pertains to the description of the respondents particularly the age, sex, educational attainment of parents, and type of school graduated from. Respondents. These are fourth-year students who answer the questionnaire.

Review of Related Literature and Studies
This chapter presented the description and review of some literature and research studies that provided the researchers with insights to the essential points of the study. Foreign Literature
According to Ho Mei Lin (2011), the basic knowledge of grammar is acknowledge by some to underlie the ability to use language to express meaning and to communicate effectively. Mastery of the grammar is generally equated with language proficiency. In many language courses and programs grammar teaching and testing remains one of the key areas of language learning, and it’s often considered critical to developing fluency and accuracy in language use. In the same view, Bryan Farha (2012), cited that linguistic accuracy plays an important role in the quality of written text; however, the explicit teaching of linguistic form – particularly grammar- for the purpose of improving learners’ writing has generated an ongoing debate in the fields of first language composition and second language writing studies.

As suggested by the expert, some theorists consider grammar teaching ineffective whereas others believe that grammar or language is a resource for making meanings, and thus students need to be taught how to utilize this resource effectively even though the explicit teaching of grammar does not always lead to writing improvement. According to Solaiman(2009), errors can characterize the linguistic competence of learners. This in turn argues for the value of investigating characteristics of learner language that explicitly describe developmental progress. Since errors provide information on the current state of learners’ language development, it remains essential for language teachers to understand learners’ errors. The better language teachers understand about how much learners have learned- and what problems learners’ face- the more effective teachers can become in providing targeted instruction and feedback. The ability to recognize what types of errors occur frequently at a given point in language development may enable teachers to create better teaching materials and language tests- that is, materials and tests that target common learner errors.

Based from the study of Ryder (2011), educators prove that vocabulary instruction can improve the students. If someone desires to learn a word everyday in a year, that is, learn about 350 words. Then he has a wider chance to become a better educated, more intelligent and more successful person. According to Pascasio (2008), research studies on the language behaviour profile of the Filipino learner, however, had shown that such goal– English Proficiency – had almost failed. Even after five years of English instruction; high school graduates came ill prepared for college work; they had rarely attained a level of proficiency in English necessary to facilitate their college academic studies. Teachers also affect the proficiency of the students. As Harsen (2004), believed that the teachers’ self-image affect their perceptions and to he teaching and learning. He also shown that the visible status of minority educators negatively affect their students perceptions of ”authenticity” as educators. Furthermore, the notion that the label is problematic in that it does not capture the range of language learning experiences of minority. Local Literature

To help improve English instruction in Indonesian school, Sulaiman (2010), made an assessment of student’s proficiency. Her finding showed that the majority of the students were unable to read any of the textbooks prescribed at the university. The students could not read English magazines even after several years of study. They could produce English words but they could not understand what they were saying. The job of learning English was extremely uninteresting to them because they did not see it to produce a result. In the same view from (Salaverria 2011), with a strong foundation of the English language, students would begetter equipped to learn more skills. Since people of today live and compete in the fast-moving information technology age and English is the language technology. English language must be embraced. According to Adolfo Ermetes (2011), Philippines is lagging behind in terms of English Language, both in oral and written communications as compared to other Asian and European countries. Before, it was highly regarded as the best country as far as oral and written communications are concerned; although, English is only the second language, aside from Filipino language spoken nationally by the entire region.

There is a deteriorating factor that affects so much in the interest in learning a particular language’ “and that is English”. Some reasons are, perhaps, overloaded with subject offerings within the educational system of DepEd. Well, the answer lies as Filipinos who are stagnant about the intellectual skills and linguistic developments’ “both verbal and non-verbal. In view of Yumul-Florendo (2012), in most universities in the Philippines, courses are generally taught in English. Most reading materials either by local or foreign authors are generally written in English. Therefore, a college student cannot pass these courses without being functional, in the very least, or competent in English. In the University of the Philippines Baguio, instructors are given the academic freedom to teach courses (even specialized and major course) in Filipino. The idea behind this is that exhibiting competence and proficiency in English is only secondary to the ideals of fully understanding the contents of the courses taken by students.

According to Macasinag (2011), providing high quality textbooks, instructional materials, reading materials for libraries and training for educators are things that the government can do. Media can do its part by stopping the corruption of English in its television shows. Parents should also try to encourage their children to read more English books rather than watch mushy television shows. She also believe that the school and the home are the best places where Filipinos can develop good English communication skills. Foreign Studies

In the study of Heath (2011), he presents a compelling ethnographic account of how children’s linguistic development differs between working-class white and working-class black communities, and compares academic outcomes of these children to their middle-class counterparts. Examples of important contextual variables include: (a) amount of time dedicated to reading to and interacting with the child; (b) availability of toys and books in the home; (c) learning by modelling versus direct instruction; and (d) opportunities to answer and receive feedback on questions. In particular, children from the black working-class communities failed early on their academic careers, and children from the white-working class communities had success for several years first before eventually failing. In the study of Prayne (2011), a grammatical description is an essential component of any program of language documentation and preservation. With over half the languages in the word currently in danger of extinction within a century, the need for descriptive grammars is more critical than ever.

Potential grammar writers often find themselves paralyzed by the massive prospect of describing a language. Additionally, grammar writing is a long term task, and more immediate. A concern often preclude the expenditure of time and energy necessary to accomplish and an adequate grammatical description. According to Mithun (2010), the audience for a grammatical description is an important consideration for anyone involved in descriptive linguistics. Potential grammar users include linguists, the interested public and members of the communities in which the language is spoken. An awareness of target audiences is necessary in shaping the grammar to meet varying needs. It might, for example, affect the choice of topics to be discussed, the organization and style of the presentation, the depth of detail to include, the use of technical terminology, and the nature of exemplification. As cited by Cattle (2009) said that parents who were better educated tended to be more democratic or permissive than those whose education was limited.

High school graduate parents usually felt that a college degree is necessary and they encourage their children to continue education through college or motivates them to go to graduate school. As stated in Philippine Daily Inquirer (2012), Asian countries like Japan and China promulgated policies to upgrade English proficiency among their businessmen to compete in the world market. To become highly competitive is the main purpose of these policies. Home is another factor which affects the level proficieny of students. Morrow (2008) believed, in order to help the children and adolescents develop reading skills ia a responsibility shared by the family and the school. Students’ exposure to various reading materials at home and family support for students school and literacy efforts can play a critical role in students growth as readers that may improve also their grammar proficiency. Local Studies

As cited by Ruiz (2011), the poor performance has been linked to poor English among teachers. In a self-assessment test conducted by the Department of Education 2010, only one out of public school teachers is proficient in the English language. To determine the factors affecting the oral English proficiency of would be- teachers, Chaves (2011), likewise interpreted 240 education freshmen enrolled in the private schools of Cagayan De Oro City. The oral interview scores following the formula adopted from the piece corps training manual and the results were categorized into four levels: highly proficient, proficient, slight proficient, and not proficient. The score revealed that the education’s freshmen’s oral English proficiency was only slight proficient, In addition, his study disclosed a significant relationship between the respondents oral English proficiency and following independent variables; attitudes towards oral English proficiency, teacher traits, and teacher methodology.

According to Gonzales et.al (2010), Filipinos of different generations have learned representative phonological and grammatical structures of English as a second language is its spoken and written phase, Filipinos of different ages, who went through different teaching and learning conditions as well as sociological and political environments. If teacher themselves are not conscious of their ownmistake and those of their pupils and are not in a position to make corrections of teach English properly. Solutions are as follow: resume the use of application exercise for internalizing grammar rules, determine ways of rewarding the use of English outside the English classroom as a means of positive reinforcement and in lieu of sanctions which are no longer liable,; in grammar, add to the existing syllabus more explicit through simplified rules of article usage, tense and tense sequence, and collocations as well a sub categorization and selectional restrictions of the lexicon. The results of the study of Tabula (2010) on the oral exposition skills of Mass communication students in the University of Northern Philippines stated that the respondents’ level of oral exposition skills is “Competent” in all areas of purpose, language, content, organization, and delivery.

He also found out that there is a significant relationship between the student-related variables on type of school graduated from, parent’s educational attainment, language used at home, and exposure to mass media and their level of oral expositions skills. He then recommended that a research looking into the practices of teachers I teaching speaking and language as a whole be pursued to figure out the cause of the low oral exposition skills proficiency of the students. When Torricer (2009), explore the English language proficiency of the Second Year college students of Ilocos Sur Community College, she discovered that the speaking ability of her respondents are significantly related with their sex, father’s occupation and educational attainment, availability of English newspapers and encyclopaedia, exposure to radio programs in English and Filipino. Synthesis

The researchers believe that each and every literature and studies stated in this research is similar on the present study. The researchers relate and differentiate the research based on the flow of their analysis from the proposed study. Lin and Farha give the researchers a perception in knowing grammar as the ability to use language, to express meaning, and to communicate effectively. The mastery of grammar is generally equated with language proficiency that is the same meaning as stated in the present study. Cattle shows the relationship of educational background of parents and the way how they motivate their child whish is merely related to the present study. Philippine Daily Inquirer challenges the researchers of the present study because they had read news that most of the Filipino students didn’t qualify for a job because of poor proficiency in English so they strive to prove of having better solution for this problem. The assessment made by Sulaiman revealed that out of most Indonesian students were unable to read, they know how to produce but they did not know what they were saying.

The present study likewise made some investigation to find the solution to the problem. The research study by Pascasio challenge the works of the researchers of the present study, to contrast the result made by Pascasio the present study tries to find out weakness of the student to make some recommendation to stop this problem. The study made by Yumul-Florendo has similarity to the present study in the sense that they dealt both in the proficiency of English language but differ in the location because present study will be confined only in Public High Schools at West Ditrict, Tanauan Division. The present study has similarity in the study made by Prayne and Mithun, in the sense that they both focuses on grammar. The study of Chaves and Tabula and the present study utilized the same variables, they focused on the English Proficiency of the students but differed in the location because the current study will be only confine in Public Schools at West District, Tanauan Division, while the earlier study was done at Cagayan de Oro City.

The study of Torricer and Gonzales et.al utilized the same factors affects the proficiency just like the factors to be consider on the present study. The beliefs of Harsen and Morrow agreed that the home and teachers could affect the level of profiency of the learners and these two factors must support the needs of the learners. The researchers agree to Macasinag that the English Proficiency of the Filipino may improve if the there are better facilities or materials that develop the skills of the students. If also the school informs the standing of the learners to their parents, chances are the parents will monitor what their child should do, because home and school is the best places where child develops his English skills. Finally, the findings of these studies are significant to the present study because the procedure by which some of these studies will be similar to the one followed by this study.