Background of the Study
The use of language takes place in all circumstances of our daily lives. It has become a vital tool in interacting with other people to bond or link our interests, work, relationships, and other concerns we may have. It serves as a vehicle to convey idea or details in communicating with different groups of people.
“Because English is so widely spoken, it has often been referred to as a “world language”, the lingua franca of the modern era, and while it is not an official language in most countries, it is currently the language most often taught as a foreign language. English is widely spoken in the Philippines. It is used as the business language as well as the medium of instruction in schools and universities.
It is the language used by the people all over the world in order to communicate to anyone.” English is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world and, because it is the preferred language for international commerce, English as a Second Language (ESL) schools exist in most industrialized countries. Even though English grammar is part of the high school curriculum in many countries, many nonnative speakers need extra training to be able to communicate effectively. It is widely used most particularly in school, work, or business, and in different tasks depending on one’s profession.
English is dominant in business, government, the legal system, medicine, the sciences and as a medium of instruction. Filipinos prefer textbooks for subjects like calculus, physics, chemistry, biology, etc., written in English rather than Filipino. By way of contrast, native languages are often heard in colloquial and domestic settings, spoken mostly with family and friends.
The use of English may be thought to carry an air of formality, given its use in school, government and various ceremonies. A percentage of the media such as cable television and newspapers are also in English; major television networks such as ABS-CBN and GMA 7) and all AM radio stations broadcast primarily in Filipino.
English proficiency sustains a significant call center industry for American companies. English is the language most often studied as a foreign language in the European Union, by 89% of schoolchildren, ahead of French at 32%, while the perception of the usefulness of foreign languages among Europeans is 68% in favour of English ahead of 25% for French. Among some of the non-English-speaking EU countries, the following percentages of the adult population claim to be able to converse in English: 85% in Sweden, 83% in Denmark, 79% in the Netherlands, 66% in Luxembourg and over 50% in Finland, Slovenia, Austria, Belgium, and Germany.
In 2012, excluding native speakers, 38% of Europeans consider that they can speak English, but only 3% of Japanese people. Books, magazines, and newspapers written in English are available in many countries around the world, and English is the most commonly used language in the sciences with Science Citation Index reporting as early as 1997 that 95% of its articles were written in English, even though only half of them came from authors in English-speaking countries. English literature predominates considerably with 28% of all volumes published in the world [leclerc 2011] and 30% of web content in 2011 (from 50% in 2000).
Thus, the English language is very necessary to all forms of task and roles that makes it very important in Education that the use of the language be taught. Hence, people must study English to know its proper uses and application. “Without grammar, English—and all other languages—would be gibberish. Grammar—the art of writing and speaking correctly by adhering to usage standards and rules—allows people to communicate. Without common form and structure, and left to their own devices, people wouldn’t understand each other’s word order or sentence construction.
According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the prescriptive approach to grammar, in which rules had to be memorized and sentences parsed, has been replaced with a descriptive approach, in which analysis and observation are key concepts of language change and development. When learning a foreign language, it is imperative to study the grammar to understand how it is structured.”
Hence, English language being used as medium of interaction, instruction and output in work must be taken seriously when taught in school regardless of what major course a student is taking, for it is necessary to know how it is used and spoken to be able to be competitive and credible on their future profession. In this study, the researcher aims to ascertain the Level of English proficiency of UEP Criminology students.
Statement of the Problem
The study aims to find out the Level of English Proficiency of UEP Criminology students. Specifically, this study aims to answer the following questions:
- What is the level of English proficiency of the B.S. Criminology students?
- What are the teaching strategies used by the Criminology English teachers?
- What are the different learning exposures of the respondents outside school?
- Is there a significant relationship between the level of English proficiency of the respondents and the teaching strategies used by English teachers?
- Is there a significant relationship between the level of English proficiency and the different learning exposures of the respondents outside the school?
Objectives of the Study
The study aims to find out the level of English proficiency of UEP Criminology students. Generally, this study aims to:
- Ascertain the level of English proficiency of the B.S. Criminology students.
- Determine the teaching strategies used by the Criminology English teachers.
- Determine the different learning exposures of the respondents outside school.
- Ascertain if there is a significant relationship between the level of English proficiency of the respondents and the teaching strategies used by English teachers.
- Ascertain if there is a significant relationship between the level of English proficiency and the different learning exposures of the respondents outside the school.
Significance of the Study
The findings of this study will yield valuable information and suggestions for the following groups of people:
- Students. The findings of this study will allow the students to realize the importance of English language proficiency on their course. This will also motivate the students to take English subjects seriously by providing them the evaluation result that will make them realize the need for improvement, which would later on result into English efficiency, which is inclined to credibility in any duty.
- English professors. This study would aid the teachers in a way that they will be able to understand the factors that affect students’ English proficiency. The result will give the teachers the idea and suggestions to improve the teaching strategies to enrich students’ eagerness in learning and encourage the students to perform well in their English subjects in order for them to be as credible and competitive in their tasks and future duties at work.
- College of Arts and Communication. The findings of the study would be helpful as it provides implications and further suggestions for the programs or teaching techniques to be implemented among the faculty in order to be able to produce more proficient students.
- Philippine National Police (PNP). This study would encourage the students to do their best in their subjects, particularly English. Hence, this study would help produce more efficient Criminology students that are competent in English proficiency, credible for making police reports and other task he/she may handle.
- Future researchers. This would provide them with more information about English proficiency of Criminology students and the factors that affect their learning. This will also serve as a reference material for those who will conduct a study related to this.
Scope and Limitation of the study
This study will be conducted at the University of Eastern Philippines, College of Arts and Communication, School year 2013-2014. This study will use complete enumeration for the respondents. The study will focus only of the variables and queries mentioned in the statement of the study. Specifically, the scope of this study was to evaluate the level of English proficiency of the UEP Criminology students, determine the factors that could affect their proficiency teaching strategies of professors, different learning exposures outside the school, and identify if there is a significant relationship between the level of English proficiency and the teaching strategies used, as well as the level of English proficiency and the different learning exposures of the respondents outside the school.
This will only be based on the questionnaires as the data gathering instrument that covers the standard test for English proficiency evaluation and survey questionnaires about the factors that affect learning English subjects. Qualitative methods and other complex measures of evaluating English proficiency are not used in this study as well as measuring the detailed causes or factors that affect the learning or performance on English subjects.
Some factors that are also considered as limitations and weakness of the study could be the limited time span of the respondents to answer the questionnaires, or the dishonesty in answering the English proficiency test that could result to inaccurate scores and interpretation. This study is also limited to its objectives. Thus, personal insights, course prejudice, and/or other factors that could affect the accuracy and inject bias to the result will not be included. Hence, this study is only limited to the variables involved.
Theoritical Framework
The study used the listed theories as bases of some facts presented by this research. This study recognizes the Nativist approach introduced by Noam Chomsky which holds that language acquisition is innately determined, and that we are born with a genetic capacity to acquire language. All human being has that capacity which predisposes us to a systematic perception of language around us, resulting in the construction of an internalized system of language. This explains the situation wherein a child acquires language even before their pre-school.
Hence, all human beings are genetically equipped with abilities that enable them to acquire the language being exposed or taught. A theory of Bandura is used in this study as the core theory in which it simplifies behavior of self-efficacy in learning as the people’s beliefs about their capabilities to produce designated levels of performance that exercise influence over events that affect their lives.
It focuses on how people feel, think, motivate themselves and behave. This theory emphasizes the power of a person to acquire learning through believing in his/her abilities by the psychological factors like motivation, concentration, or Self-encouragement. Similar to this belief, Carl Rogers put forward the following insight regarding the experiential theory.
The theory upholds that significant learning occurs in an environment where threat to the learner is reduced to a minimum, and that learning is most likely to occur and to last when it is self-initiated. This explains that interest in learning must be felt by the person and should not be forced so that the acquisition would be faster and that the learning be retained.
Another supporting theory is the Bandura’s social learning theory which states that “an individuals’ behavior is influenced by the environment and the characteristics of the person.” This means that the environment of a person consisting different factors or exposures and the traits or characters of the person could highly affect his/her behavior to learning. Again, Carl Rogers and others have developed the theory of facilitative learning.
The basic premise of this theory is that learning will occur by the educator acting as a facilitator, that is by establishing an atmosphere in which learners feel comfortable to consider new ideas and are not threatened by external factors. The theory connotes that learning will be effective if it is not forced. Instead, the learner should feel comfortable in seeking guidance and instructions in the learning process through the educator who serves as facilitator.
Next theory is the sensory stimulation theory. Its basic premise is that “effective learning occurs when the senses are stimulated.” By stimulating the senses, especially the visual sense, learning can be enhanced. However, this theory says that if multi-senses are stimulated, greater learning takes place. Stimulation through the senses is achieved through a greater variety of colors, volume levels, strong statements, facts presented visually, use of a variety of techniques and media.
Hence, learning is most effective with the aid of facilities and other strategies that stimulate senses. The last theory cited is the Reinforcement theory developed by B.F. Skinner. The theory states that behavior is a function of its consequences. The learner will repeat the desired behavior if positive reinforcement (a pleasant consequence) follows the behavior.
Positive reinforcement, or ‘rewards’ can include verbal reinforcement such as ‘That’s great’ or ‘You’re certainly on the right track’ through to more tangible rewards such as a certificate at the end of the course or promotion to a higher level in an organization. Negative reinforcement also strengthens behavior and refers to a situation when a negative condition is stopped or avoided as a consequence of the behavior.
Punishment, on the other hand, weakens behavior because a negative condition is introduced or experienced as a consequence of the behaviour and teaches the individual not to repeat the behaviour which was negatively reinforced. A set of conditions is created which are designed to eliminate behaviour.
Conceptual Framework
On the basis of the previous discussion, this study conceptualizes that Chomsky’s Nativist theory relates that the students of B.S. Criminology has the innate or genetic capacity of acquiring English language regardless of their course or major, since the theory emphasizes that all human beings are capable of language acquisition. However, learning is acquired effectively if a person believes in his/her abilities. This was the concept from the Self-efficacy theory, which emphasizes the role of self-motivation and confidence to oneself in order to attain the desired learning effectiveness.
Meanwhile, Carl Rogers’ experiential theory believes that the students, in order to be efficient in learning language, interest and initiation must take place among them. Criminology students study English to avoid failures in their grades. But learning is forced, which means that the students are learning just for the mere sake of passing the subject. Hence, these students will not be as proficient as they can possibly be. Learning should include interest and self-initiation in order to attain proficiency.
The study also used the social learning theory of Bandura to conceptualize that learning is affected by the environment and the characteristics of the person or learner. In the case of Criminology students, learning process could be hindered by their environment, for instance, the room is too noisy, peers who surround them neglect English, or classrooms have some sort of distractions like interrupting students, gadgets, publicly exposed rooms, etc.
Characteristics can also affect one’s learning behavior, for instance, a person has a talking difficulty, problem in sight, or is too lazy in reading. Age, sex, economic status, and other personal status can also be considered as factors that affect learning. Hence, the study wants to determine the respondents’ profile.
Theory of facilitative learning conceptualizes that the English proficiency of the respondents is also affected by the teachers since the theory emphasizes the role of educators in the learning process of a student. Facilities and strategies of teaching will also be determined in this study since it recognizes the sensory stimulation theory which emphasizes the importance of stimulating the senses of the students through different strategies, activities or facilities in order to attain effective learning particularly in English subjects.
The reinforcement theory of Skinner conceptualizes that the students’ stimuli or performance should be reinforced by either positive or negative, in order for them to know what practice they should maintain.
In the case of Criminology students, the teacher should punish the students when they practice inappropriate behavior or failure to perform assigned tasks. In this practice, the students will recognize what’s good or bad, right from wrong, and by punishing them with doing the wrong things, they will get used to refrain what’s not advised to do.
In connection with this concept, the findings of this study will provide either positive or negative result that would reflect on student’s level of English proficiency as well as the effectiveness of teaching strategies of English professors. Hence, if the result is positive or rewarding, the respondents will be encouraged to maintain their level of proficiency. On the other hand, if the result of this study is negative or punishing, the respondents will be encouraged to improve their learning as well as the teachers to enrich their strategies to help their students improve the level of their English Proficiency.
