Exposure to English Linguistic Environment and Oral Proficiency of First Year College Students in Davao Del Norte LARCYNEIL P. PASCUAL, LPT, MAED Department of Teacher Education UM College, Mabini St., Tagum City (084) 655 - 9607 [email protected]

ABSTRACT communicative competence so as to interact with people in one’s The study evaluated the oral proficiency of students according to own field and with those from other countries. their level of exposure to English linguistic environment. The After years of learning, majority of the students in Taiwan are study further aimed to determine the significant relationship neither fluent nor confident English speakers. Some may attribute between exposure to English linguistic environment and oral this deficiency to the limited time for oral practice in classrooms proficiency of first year college students in selected Higher and the lack of conversational opportunities outside of them, Educational Institutions (HEIs) in the province of Davao del especially in English as a Foreign Language setting. However, it Norte. The study employed the descriptive – correlation method may, in fact, stem from the myths that students hold regarding in investigating the research problems. Using a two-part communication in a foreign language, such as the necessary questionnaire, this study found out that the level of exposure to possession of excellent pronunciation, a good accent, a large English linguistic environment of the first year college students is vocabulary size, and an in-depth knowledge of grammar. moderate and their level of oral proficiency in terms of Moreover, some learners who perform well in English classes still comprehension, fluency, grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary find themselves at a loss when interacting with native speakers in is low. Furthermore, there is no significant relationship between everyday life (Yang & Gai, 2010). This dichotomy arises from the English environment and oral proficiency among first year somewhat unreal and comparatively safe context of the students, and the students’ exposures in the context of this study classroom, since teacher-student and peer interactions are often do not significantly influence their oral proficiency. restricted to basic patterns and prefabricated situations or topics Keywords (Scarcella & Oxford, 2002). Exposure; linguistic environment; oral proficiency; Davao del In the , some parents use the English language with Norte; Philippines their children even before they go to school. Middle- to upper- class members of society use English when on the phone, when CCS → Computing methodologies → Artificial they e-mail, and when they chat. This only proves people’s need intelligence → Search methodologies→ Continuous space to become competent players not only in their own countries, but search 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 1. INTRODUCTION good as or better than their counterparts in neighboring countries. The gap between the English oral proficiency of students and the (Amurao, 2012). requirements of the industries has received increasing attention In the same vein, English language instructors of UM Tagum recently in business arena. Campus complained about their students’ proficiency in terms of In 2009, the Ministry of Education (MOE) urged technological using the English language as the primary language in universities to propose an English curriculum reform that communication. Very often students commit mistakes for not emphasizes the centrality of productive skills such as writing and being able to follow written directions, understand speaking to equip students with the qualifications industries announcements, guidelines, and the like. require, to have international perspectives plus good English In an attempt to find reinforcement for the said dilemma and to Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for help students develop English language proficiency, college personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are instructors employed different methodologies in teaching English; not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that however, the researcher observed that despite conscious effort copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights made to substantially minimize the problem on oral and written for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be communication, engaging students in different English language honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or activities that would maximize their oral proficiency, the issue republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior remained unsolved. specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]. The researcher, therefore, is driven to find out if English linguistic IC4E 2019, January 10–13, 2019, Waseda University, Japan environment could affect the student’s oral production skills. The © 2019 Association for Computing Machinery. researcher believed that it is necessary therefore to determine DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/12345.67890 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 The instrument utilized in data gathering of the study consists of programs of instruction to maximize students’ performance but two parts. The first part of the questionnaire was adopted from the would help English language mentors understand their students. questionnaire cited by Tagadiad from Atiagan’s master thesis (2006) which sought to determine the respondents’ exposure to 2. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY English linguistic environment measuring the formal setting The purpose of this study was to find out the relationship between which includes the school and the multimedia; the informal the exposure of English linguistic environment and oral setting includes the home and the multimedia. The second part of proficiency of first year college students in the selected Higher the instrument was a two (2) minute telephone conversation Educational Institutions (HEIs) in the province of Davao del activity; this was also adopted from the published copy of Norte. Lozarita’s master thesis which sought to determine the participants’ oral proficiency in terms of fluency, comprehension, 3. METHODOLOGY pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. The validity and This study utilized the descriptive – correlation method in reliability of the instruments were considered. In getting and investigating the research problem. The purpose of correlational weighing the student’s oral proficiency in the test, the rating research is to determine the relations among two or more instrument on oral proficiency in speaking and understanding variables (Bursal & Paznokas, 2006). English developed by Dr. David P. Harris (as cited by Lozarita It is descriptive because the study focused at the present condition 2000) was adopted. whose purpose is to find new truth that may have different form in a new generation. Likewise, data would be presented in 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS qualitative and quantitative descriptions of the English linguistic Shown in Table 2 is the summary of the level of exposure to environment and the oral proficiency. English linguistic environment of first year college students. As to the research locale, Tagum City is the capital province of As reflected in the table, the students’ formal exposure has Davao del Norte and was officially created into a component city obtained an overall mean score of 3.54 with a verbal description on March 7, 1998. Situated 55 kilometers north of , it of high. This indicates that the respondents are exposed to some is one of the fastest growing cities in Region XI. It has a total land English-speaking environment with a little code switching. On area of 19,580 hectares. one hand, the first-year college students’ informal exposure obtained an overall mean score of 3.43 having a verbal This study was conducted within the two (2) cities of Davao del description of moderate. This means that the respondents are Norte Province, namely, Tagum and . The three (3) exposed to the English-speaking environment but there is often schools were chosen due to the student’s population and the stable code switching. programs offered. It is also interesting to note the disparity between the exposures of St. Mary's College is situated along the national highway of the students in the formal and informal settings. While the formal Tagum. UM Tagum College is located at Mabini Street of Tagum setting shows a mean of high, this is tempered by the mean of the City while the other school is the other branch of UM located in informal setting which is moderate. This in totality results into a the city of Panabo. The presence of these three (3) schools moderate exposure which means that the students are exposed to a gradually contributes in making Davao del Norte another linguistic environment that allows code switching. educational hub for college education. Table 2. Summary showing the level of exposure to english In choosing the research participants of the study, the researcher linguistic environment of selected first year college students employed the stratified random sampling technique. A stratified Verbal sample is a probability sampling technique in which the Indicators Mean Description Interpretation researcher divided the entire target population into different Formal subgroups, or strata, and then randomly selects the final subjects The respondents are proportionally from the different strata. Furthermore, this method School 3.67 High exposed to some English of sampling is designed to ensure that the sample has certain speaking environment characteristics; usually the sample is representative of the with a little code population on key variables. This is due to the method of selecting switching. respondents (Harding, 2006). See Table 1 below for the The respondents are distribution of research participants. Multimedia 3.41 Moderate exposed to the English speaking environment but Table 1. Distribution of research participants there is often code switching. Number of First The respondents are School year college Percentage Sample Mean 3.54 High exposed to some English students speaking environment with a little code UM Tagum switching. College 2, 202 68% 243 Informal St. Mary’s Home 3.21 Moderate The respondents are College 657 20% 72 exposed to the English speaking environment UM Panabo but College 369 11% 41 there is often code switching. Total 3, 228 100% 356 Multimedia 3.44 Moderate The respondents are exposed to the English speaking environment Shown in Table 4 is the test for the significant relationship but between exposure to English linguistic environment and oral there is often code proficiency of first year college students. switching. Mean 3.33 Moderate The respondents are It can be noted that student’s pronunciation differs in the school exposed to the English where they are exposed since the p – value (0.043) is lesser than speaking environment the alpha level of 0.05 resulted into the rejection of the null but hypothesis. Thus, there is a significant relationship between there is often code English linguistic environment and oral proficiency among first switching. year college students specifically in the student’s pronunciation. Overall Mean 3.43 Moderate The respondents are However, data revealed that the overall p-value (0.235) is greater exposed to the English than alpha level of 0.05 which means that the null hypothesis of speaking environment but there is often code no significant relationship between the exposure to linguistic switching. environment and oral proficiency is not rejected. Thus, there is no significant relationship between exposure to English linguistic Displayed in Table 3 is the level of oral proficiency among first environment and oral proficiency of the research participants. year college students. This result leads the researcher into thinking that there might be It can be noted that among the five (5) identified indicators for other significant factors affecting first year college students’ oral oral proficiency all got a low verbal interpretation. proficiency. The possible factor could be personal motivation or Comprehension obtained 2.48; Fluency obtained 2.20; grammar high interest of the students. obtained 2.48; pronunciation obtained 2.41; and vocabulary This result further exemplified that second language (L2) obtained a mean score of 2.43. As reflected, the overall result is acquisition in oral skill is also a result from lifelong learning 2.40 with a verbal description of low. This shows that the students which requires time and constant effort for individual success. It demonstrate fairly – well in the oral performance. Insufficient must be noted that the exposure of the student respondent to the exposure to language cannot strengthen the acquisition of the linguistic environment is only moderate; hence, it can be inferred second language as to the constant practice. The result shows that as one reason for the non-significance of the relationship. students find it difficult to produce the language as they try to interact with their peers given a certain condition. This low In addition, Andersen (2004) affirmed this result upon saying that performance is a result of discontinuity in the practice of the L2 in order to acquire the second language (L2) one must not cease to (Getmanee, 2005). 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 - Table 3. The level of oral proficiency among selected first-year called construct of learning style preference. He said that learners college students have individual attributes relating to the intake of new Mean Verbal Interpretation information regardless of their environment; he added that they Description are likely to have preference on some methods of learning to the others. Learning styles are multidimensional and can be The students categorized into several aspects, some of which include Comprehension 2.48 Low demonstrate fairly independent, dependent, verbal, analytical, impulsive, reflective, well in the oral participatory, avoidant, competitive, collaborative, and so on. performance. This is supported by Arias as cited by Batiao (2010) that the other The students factor contributing learner’s acquisition of the second language is Fluency 2.20 Low demonstrate fairly the learner’s intense motivation and high interest. Interest and well in the oral motivation coupled with high aspiration and other positive performance. behaviors provide positive reinforcements for learners to achieve The students high in any scholastic performance. Grammar 2.48 Low demonstrate fairly In the same vein, proficiency of the language is an added bonus well in the oral since grammar is not only a system in which words are put performance. together to have a meaningful whole but the meaning of these The students words should be understood beyond the printed symbols that learners have to be proficient in the skills of communication Pronunciation 2.41 Low demonstrate fairly especially in taking examinations whether in oral or in written well in the oral form (Johnson, 2010). performance. Table 4. The test of significant relationship between exposure The students to english linguistic environment and oral proficiency Vocabulary 2.43 Low demonstrate fairly well in the oral Independent and Dependent performance. Variables Overall Mean 2.40 Low The students Linguistic Oral p- demonstrate fairly Environment Proficiency r- values Decision on well in the oral (x) (y) values @0.05 Ho performance. Comprehension 0.060 0.257 Not Rejected School Fluency 0.040 0.454 Not Rejected (Formal) Grammar 0.004 0.945 Not Rejected Pronunciation 0.107 0.043* Rejected devise a particular learning strategy, programs of instruction and Vocabulary 0.004 0.938 Not Rejected learning intervention to maximize students’ performance. Furthermore, this study suggests that those identified higher Comprehension 0.029 0.579 Not Rejected educational institutions should provide the English learners Multimedia Fluency 0.039 0.465 Not Rejected diverse communicative practices for the development of the (Formal) Grammar 0.040 0.449 Not Rejected English language proficiency as evident in the findings that the Pronunciation 0.015 0.777 Not Rejected oral proficiency is low. They may employ an experiment where Vocabulary 0.024 0.648 Not Rejected they have to expose the students in an intensive exposure of the English language. Secondly, they can also consider employing Comprehension 0.100 0.057 Not Rejected other variables to serve as moderator to determine other correlates Home Fluency 0.079 0.134 Not Rejected to the oral proficiency of the students. (Informal) Grammar 0.067 0.201 Not Rejected Pronunciation 0.071 0.175 Not Rejected 6. ACKNOWLEDGMENT Vocabulary 0.102 0.052 Not Rejected The author would like to extend his heartfelt gratitude to the people who in one way or another have contributed much for the Comprehension 0.042 0.431 Not Rejected success of this research endeavor. Multimedia Fluency 0.025 0.640 Not Rejected (Informal) Grammar 0.009 0.865 Not Rejected 7. REFERENCES

Pronunciation 0.020 0.707 Not Rejected [1] Amurao, A. (2012). The Phil. model for learning English. Vocabulary 0.009 0.346 Not Rejected Retrieved on September 12, 2012 from Comprehension 0.074 0.162 Not Rejected http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/contributions/14852-the- Fluency 0.058 0.275 Not Rejected ph-model-for-learning-english Overall Grammar 0.016 0.766 Not Rejected [2] Andersen, R. (2004). Focused learning in a linguistic environment. Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh: USA. Mean Pronunciation 0.053 0.316 Not Rejected [3] Atiagan, M. (2004). Determinant of the level of English Vocabulary 0.064 0.227 Not Rejected proficiency among high school students in Tagum City. Overall Mean 0.063 0.235 Not rejected Unpublished Master’s thesis, University of , Davao City. Table 5 shows the test for the significant influence between [4] Bursal, M., and Paznokas, L. (2006). Mathematics anxiety exposures to English linguistic environment to oral proficiency of and pre-service teachers' confidence to teach mathematics selected first year college students. Data revealed that the formal and Science. School Science & Mathematics, 106, 173–180. exposure to linguistic environment obtained the p – value of 0.541 [5] Getmanee, B. (2005). Components Contributing to English where the null hypothesis is not rejected. On the other hand, Oral Proficiency: A Case Study of the Undergraduates of informal exposure obtained a p – value of 0.166 where the null King Mongkut's Institute of Technology North Bangkok: hypothesis is also not rejected and the overall p – value is 0.331, The Journal of Industrial Technology. Vol. 1, Issue 1, null hypothesis not rejected. Thus, the students’ exposures to February – July 2005. English linguistic environment do not significantly influence their [6] Harris, D. (1969). Testing English as a second language. oral proficiency. McGraw Hill, United States of America. The result can be attributed to the assertion of Getmanee (2005) [7] Johnson, A. (2009). The rise of English: the language of who said that acquisition of the second language (L2) specifically globalization in China and the European Union. Retrieved in the oral proficiency does not happen if there is an insufficient from digital commons.macalester.edu on January 02, 2013. exposure to the English linguistic environment. One can just go [8] Lozarita, M.T. (2003). Linguistic diversity and English back to the summary in Table II which shows the over-all mean of preference and the level of English acquisition among moderate exposure. This proves that the students did not have college students in Davao City. An Unpublished sufficient exposure to the linguistic environment. dissertation. UM, Davao City. This therefore suggests that anyone who desires to improve his or [9] Lozarita, M.T. (2000). Classroom interactions and oral her oral performance, there is a need to intensify the linguistic proficiency in English of the University of Mindanao college environment. Both the formal setting and the informal setting freshmen. Unpublished Master’s Thesis. University of must provide a comprehensive use of the target language. Southeastern Philippines, Davao City. [10] Scarcella, R. C. & Oxford, R. L. (2002). The tapestry of Table 5. Test for the significant influence between exposures language learning: The individual in the communicative to english linguistic environment to oral proficiency classroom. Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers. Variables r2 F – value P-value Decision on Ho [11] Yang, D. & Gai, F. P. (2010). Chinese learners’ @0.05 communication strategies research. Case study at Shandong Jiao Tong University. Cross-Cultural Communication. Formal 0.001 0.374 0.541 Not rejected [12] Tagadiad, C.L. (2006). English environment and English Informal 0.005 0.193 0.166 Not rejected language proficiency among freshmen college students. Overall 0.006 0.994 0.331 Not rejected Unpublished Thesis, University of Mindanao, Davao City.

5. CONCLUSION The researcher underscored the importance of students’ exposures both in formal and informal setting. This study is of great help to