English Proficiency

This study aims to determine the relationship between English proficiency level and teaching performance of the West Visayas State University – Extension Campus at Himamaylan City BSEd – MAPEH pre – service teachers. Specifically, it will seek to answer the following questions. (1) ­ What is the English proficiency level on oral communication skills of BSEd – MAPEH Pre – Service Teachers in terms of: a. Pronunciation; b. fluency; and, c. grammatical range, when taken as a whole group. (2) What is the teaching performance of BSEd – MAPEH Pre – Service Teachers? (3) What is the relationship between English proficiency level and teaching performance of BSEd – MAPEH pre – service teachers? (4) Is there a significant difference between the level of English and teaching performance of the BSEd MAPEH Pre – Service teachers? The study will be descriptive in nature. This study includes the BSEd – MAPEH pre – service teachers who are having their Pre – Service training at Himamaylan National High School during the first semester of the Academic Year 2014 – 2015.

ENGLISH PROFICIENCY LEVEL OF BSEd – MAPEH PRE – SERVICE TEACHERS IN TEACHING

Chapter 1
The Problem
This chapter presents an overview of the study. It is divided into six parts: (1) Background of the Study, (2) Statement of the Problem; (3) Hypothesis; (4) Definition of Terms; (5) Significance of the Study: (6) Delimitation of the Study.

Part One, Background of the Study, describes the origin of the study, the conditions which pave the way for the conduct of the research and the reason for conducting the research.
Part Two, Statement of the Problem, presents the problem to be investigated and it describes the real purpose for conducting the study.
Part Three, Hypothesis, the null hypothesis to be tested.
Part Four, Significance of the Study, states the importance of conducting the study and its potential contribution to new knowledge.

Part Five, Definition of Terms, guides the conceptual and operational definitions of some important words used in the study.
Part Six, Delimitation of the Study, specifies the scope of the study, the respondents, the instrument used in data gathering and the boundaries of the study. Background of the Study
Today, human beings are living in a world of sophistication characterized by rapid advancement in science and technology. The age they live in may be defined as the communication age. Effective oral communication is considered one of the most important skills that individuals should have. Receptive and expressive language abilities constitute a significant aspect of effective communication in terms of language skills. In order to develop these habits, one needs to first acknowledge the fact that individuals need to improve communication skills from time to time. They need to take stock of the way they interact and the direction in which their work and personal relations are going.

Effective oral communication skills can benefit people in various fields and positions, but it cannot be taught as easily as most personal skills. It is important to keep in mind that practice is essential to acquiring these skills. Clearly, effective oral communication is important in all aspects of one’s career. The ability to speak confidently and communicate effectively is crucial to professional and personal success. Communication empowers individuals to remember the past, act in the present, and anticipate the future. Oral communication is the vehicle by which they manage relationships with others in contexts ranging from “one-to-one” to “one-to-many” using personal and public speaking skills.

When they can speak with integrity in a style that engages their listeners, they can accomplish just about anything. It is in this light that the researchers are interested to conduct a study on the level of English proficiency on oral communication skills of the West Visayas State University BSEd – MAPEH pre – service teachers. This study wills to elicit information as to what measures can MAPEH teachers and curriculum planners institute to help BSEd – MAPEH students enhance their oral exposition skills and be able to help them upgrade their communicative competence. Statement of the Problem

This study will assess the English proficiency level of the West Visayas State University – Extension Campus at Himamaylan City BSEd – MAPEH pre – service teachers. Specifically, it will seek to answer the following questions: 1. What is the English proficiency level on oral communication skills of BSEd – MAPEH Pre – Service Teachers in terms of:
a. Pronunciation;
b. fluency;
c. grammatical range, when taken as a whole group.
2. What is the teaching performance of BSEd – MAPEH Pre – Service Teachers? 3. What is the relationship between English proficiency level and teaching performance of BSEd – MAPEH pre – service teachers? 4. Is there a significant difference between the level of English and teaching performance of the BSEd MAPEH Pre – Service teachers? Hypothesis

There is no significant difference between the level of English proficiency and teaching performance of the BSEd – MAPEH Pre – Service teachers. Paradigm of the Study

Independent VariableDependent Variable

Figure 1. Schematic Diagram showing Oral Communication Skills of the BSEd – MAPEH Pre – Service teachers as Independent Variable and Teaching Performance as Dependent Variable.

Definition of Terms
The following terms are defined conceptually and operationally, for better comprehension of this study. Level. This refers to a position on a real or imaginary scale of amount, quantity, extent, or quality (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/level). As used in the study, refers to the capacity of the respondents in terms of English proficiency on Oral communication skills. English Proficiency. This refers to the ability of an individual to speak or perform in an acquired language (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_proficiency). As used in the study, this term refers to the ability of the respondents to speak an acquired language effectively.

Oral Communication. This refers to the process of expressing information or ideas by word of mouth (http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/oral-communication-definition-types-advantages.html#lesson). As used in the study, this refers to the process of passing the information or ideas of the respondents by using verbal gesture. Skill. an ability to do something well, especially because you have learned and practised it (http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/skill) As used in the study, this refers to the ability of the respondents in doing something well, as the result of long practical experience. Oral Communication Skill. This refers to the oral articulation of ideas (http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/). As used in the study, refers to ability of the respondents to Pre – Service. Relating to the period before a person takes a job that requires training, especially in teaching. As used in this study.

Teachers. In education, teachers are those who teach students or pupils, often a course of study or a practical skill (Word IQ, 2007) As used in this study,
Pre- Service teachers.
As used in this study, this refers to the respondents.
Teaching performance.

Significance of the Study
This study is significant to the following:
The WVSU – ECHC MAPEH Pre- Service teachers. . After graduating, they would undergo some interviews, and demo teaching; they will be facing one or a panel of interviews and demonstrating in a class, which would let their ability to communicate proficiently in speaking English.

Speech Teachers. Through this study, the Speech Teachers could get a profile of speech communication competence of the WVSU –ECHC BSEd MAPEH Pre – service Teachers and would eventually assist them in planning classroom activities that could enhance the speech competence of the Pre – service Teachers.

The University Administrator. One of the important priorities of the University Administration is the development of the communication proficiency of its students. In its continuing quest for excellence, the Administrators could find this study useful, for it could give them a profile of the kind of the students what they have. With this information, they could identify the specific needs of their clients and provide the support needed for intervention programs.

The Future Researchers. Through this study, future researchers can serve this as a starting point for other programs that they could come up with, and help in to the primary problem of the country which is the Oral Communication Skill.

Delimitation of the Study
This study includes the BSEd – MAPEH pre – service teachers who are having their Pre – Service training at Himamaylan National High School during the first semester of the Academic Year 2014 – 2015. This study will be focusing on the level of English proficiency on the oral communication skills of the BSEd – MAPEH Pre – Service Teachers in teaching performance. Their English proficiency level will be determined through video recordings and observation. Data recordings will be compiled and kept with confidentiality. The needed data on the teaching performance will be directly taken in their demo teaching grade on Principles of Teaching 2 subject.

Chapter 2
Review of Related Literature
Works of authorities and contributions of researches on subjects and topics related to the study that will enhance the understanding of the paper were reviewed. The nature of oral communication

Communication skills include the mix of verbal, interpersonal and physical strategies needed to interact confidently and effectively with a range of audiences. A skillful communicator draws on a number of different means (e.g., graphical, visual, statistical, audio-visual and technological) to get the point across. The speaking skill involves a communicative ability of producing and receiving information. Byrne (1986) states that: Oral communication is two-way process between speaker and listener (or listeners) and involves the productive skill of speaking and the receptive skill of understanding (or listening with understanding). Because oral communication involves the negotiation of meaning between two or more persons, it is always related to the context in which it occurs, including the participants themselves, their collective experience, the physical environment and the purpose for speaking.

Both speaker and listener have a role to play, because speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing, receiving and processing information. For Kramsch (1983) speaking involves Anticipating the listener’s response and possible misunderstanding, clarifying one’s own and the other’s intentions, and arriving at the closest possible match between intended, perceived and anticipated meaning. The interaction between speaker and listener is a complex process. The speaker has to encode the message he wishes to convey in appropriate language, while the listener (no less actively) has to decode (or interpret) the message. However, the listener’s interpretation does not necessarily correspond to the speaker’s intended meaning. The speaker’s message usually contains more information that is redundant.

At the same time, the listener is helped by prosodic features, such as stress and intonation as well as by facial and bodily movements such as gestures. However, speech is often characterized by incomplete and sometimes ungrammatical utterances and by frequent false starts and repetitions. Inside the classroom, speaking and listening are the most commonly used skills. They are recognized as critical for functioning in an English language context by teachers and learners. Thus, speaking in a classroom entails interacting with the teacher and peers, depending on how classroom activities are organized. It follows that teachers who do more oral interaction activities in the classroom will have more opportunities to develop students‟ oral fluency. Activities should involve spontaneous practice of the target language.

Brown and Yule (1983) draw a useful distinction between two basic language functions. These are the transactional function and interactional function. The former is concerned with the transfer of information, is message oriented since the speaker assumes that less information is shared with the listener. On the other hand, the interactional function, in which the primary purpose of speech is the maintenance of social relationships and is listener oriented. The knowledge is shared between the speaker and the listener. Another basic distinction we can make when considering the development of the speaking skill is between monologues and dialogue. The ability to give an uninterrupted oral presentation is quite distinct from interacting with one or more speakers from transactional and interactional purposes.

While all native speakers can and do use language internationally, not all native speakers have the ability to extemporize on a given subject to a group of listeners. This is a skill which extensively has to be learned and practiced. “Good oral communication skills aid students in finding new information sources, and expressing ideas and opinions for feedback and clarification.” (Griffith, 2004) Alwright (1994) considers it “learn by doing approach” in teaching where teacher and students both are involved. Speaking takes place in the presence of listener because listener responds to the speaker’s communication. It is considered to be helpful in improving learning as Staab (1992) states, “I believe that oral language is important not only as a vital communication tool that empowers us in our daily lives but also as a valuable way to learn”. He considers listening and speaking as oral communication skills. The Skill of Speaking

Speaking in a foreign language has been considered the most challenging and complex of the four language skills (Zhang, 2009). That is because the speaking process occurs in real time, dynamic interrelation between speaker and hearer should arise under time constraints. Then in this process, the speaker has to make decisions about why, how and when to communicate in accordance with the hearers cultural and social context (Soler, 2006).

Additionally, the speaker should master in both micro skills concerning speech elements such as the pronunciation of phonemes, correct placement of stress and intonation, use of formal and informal expressions (Zhang, 2009) and non-linguistic elements such as gestures and body language, facial expression and their tremendous variation of interpretations cross culturally (Shumin, 1997). However, the speaker should be prepared to speak affectively, especially in public and with native speakers. This is because speaking is often an anxiety provoking issue. The accuracy and fluency in oral communication

Verhoewen and De Jong (1992) believed that fluency is the ease and smoothness of speech. Ease and smoothness of speech are acquired by “automization of the integrated knowledge through recurrent exposure and use”.

Teaching speaking methodology has undergone prominent changes since the late 1950s from traditional teacher centred methods (e.g. the Audio-Lingual Method) to more student-centred ones (e.g. Communicative Language Learning). In this concept, there are two different teaching approaches in speaking which are related to teaching methods. The former one is the accuracy-oriented approach which accepts that grammatical errors cannot be neglected, that is because they can result in fossilization. Instant error-correction is strictly needed to avoid fossilization. This approach focuses on repetition of newly introduced forms and grammatical structures in speaking (Willerman, 2011).

The latter is the fluency-oriented approach which believes that grammatical or pronunciation errors are insignificant, especially in the early stages. Correction can hinder learner’s development in speaking. This approach stems from the Natural approach and regards errors as tolerable and probable and they are signs of natural language development. All approaches are not adequate separately in education and being eclectic and combining approaches is more feasible than being strictly bound to one approach.

Then, the necessity of combining these two approaches in English speaking classes and using them separately or together according to student’s needs, English levels, activity types, lessons purpose, etc. will be a more plausible answer to how to foster English speaking skills and to gain authenticity in oral communication. Lastly, it should not be forgotten that accuracy and fluency are not contradictory, because they affect each other. Accuracy brings fluency and fluency brings further accuracy (Willerman, 2011). Communicative competence

Hymes (1972) proposed the term “communicative competence” in contradistinction to Chomsky’s notion of linguistic competence. The latter emphasizes the abilities of speakers to produce grammatically correct sentences, and the former includes linguistic competence and sociocultural dimensions. For Hymes, communicative competence enables learners to “convey and interpret messages and to negotiate meanings interpersonally within specific contexts” (Brown, 2000).

Canale and Swain (1980) further develop this notion, identifying four dimensions of communicative competence: grammatical competence (knowledge of what is grammatically correct in a language), sociolinguistic competence (knowledge of what is socially acceptable in a language), discourse competence (knowledge of inter – sentential relationships), and strategic competence (the knowledge of verbal and nonverbal communication strategies). In a word, communicative competence includes both the use of the linguistic system itself and the functional aspects of communication. It is a dynamic, interpersonal construct; it is relative and depends on the cooperation of all the involved participants (Savignon ,1983). Self-perceived English oral proficiency

Bacon & Finnemann (1990) indicate that speaking is problematic for very deep-seated reasons related to self-concept. A positive view of self can affect the progress of an individual learning. Baker and MacIntyre (2000) argue that “It is not the individual’s actual skill that counts; rather it is how they perceive their communication competence that will determine”. Both the willingness to communicate and perceived competence have an impact on the frequency of communication.

However, Cheng (2007) reveals that the communication strategies used and the self-report of oral proficiency did not have a statistical relationship. She points out that “effective communication takes more than the ability to talk. It also involves the use of one’s mental faculties in the choice of words, the ability to make other person understand what one is saying and vice versa” (Cheng, 2007).

Oral fluency is a measure of how well and how easily you can communicate your ideas clearly and accurately in speech. Of course, correct pronunciation of individual sounds and words is very important for fluency, for your listener has to be able to hear and distinguish the words you are saying. However, stress, rhythm, and intonation can be even more important, for they help make both single words and combinations of words, like phrases, clauses, and whole sentences, understandable to your listener. Grammar is the structure of the language and vocabulary holds the individual building blocks, so both are also essential to fluency.

In conversation, you also have to be able to understand what the other person is saying, so good listening skills are also needed in oral fluency. Combining listening and reading with oral skills is a great way to improve your fluency. Read a newspaper or magazine article and then talk about it with friends. Watch a TV show or a movie or watch or listen to the news, and talk about it. Writing about a topic first is useful way to get ready for talking or for discussion. John Keith Communications: Developing Oral Fluency. (n.d.)

Chapter 3
Design of the Study
This chapter contains the: (1) Respondents of the Study; (2) Methodology; (3) Instrument and (4) The Data Analysis. Respondents of the Study
The population of interest in this study will be the BSEd – MAPEH Pre – Service teachers who are having their Pre-service training at Himamaylan National High School during the first semester of the Academic Year 2014 – 2015. They will be composing of fifth teen (15) BSEd – MAPEH pre – service teachers. Methodology

This study aims to determine the English proficiency level on the oral communication skill of the BSEd – MAPEH pre – service teachers in teaching performance, using the descriptive design. Descriptive research defined as an investigation which is concerned with gathering information about condition, attitudes or characteristics of individuals or group of individuals. Its purpose is to describe the meaning of existing phenomena at a specific time and to explore the meaning of among phenomena (Fain, 2004). Instrument

The video recorders will be used in the observations of MAPEH classes to gather the data. Rubrics will be used to determine the English proficiency level of BSEd – MAPEH pre-service teachers and observation will be made to analyse the data and come up with results, and findings. Procedure

The researchers will ask permission from the campus administrator, research coordinator and panel members of WVSU – Extension Campus at Himamaylan City. The researchers will also send a letter of permission to the Himamaylan National High School principal to gather data from BSEd – MAPEH pre –
service teachers’ classes.

After the approval of the request, permission letter will be send to the cooperating teachers. Thereafter, participants will be receiving a letter explaining the purpose of the study asking them to participate after the approval of the letters. Data Analysis

Data will be gathered through the use of video recording. Fifteen (15) MAPEH classes will be recorded. These recordings will be compiled and carefully handled with confidentiality. Rubrics will be used to determine the English proficiency level of the pre – service teachers and will be observed and analysed by an English expert.