The Asian EFL Journal April 2019 Volume 22, Issue 1 Senior Editor: Paul Robertson Published by the English Language Education Publishing Asian EFL Journal A Division of TESOL Asia Group Part of SITE Ltd Australia http://www.asian-efl-journal.com ©Asian EFL Journal 2019 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of the Asian EFL Journal Press. No unauthorized photocopying All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the Asian EFL Journal. [email protected] Publisher: Dr. Paul Robertson Chief Editor: Dr. Paul Robertson Associate Production Editor: Ramon Medriano Jr. Assistant Copy Editor: Eva Guzman ISSN 1738-1460 Table of Contents Research Articles Boyet L. Batang, Lerma Egipto and Ramon S. Medriano, Jr.…………….……………….....………. 5 EFL Students’ Performance in the Analysis of Syntactic Structures Claire A. Madrazo ……..………………………...……...............................……………………………. 29 Linguistic ethnography in teacher training program: Evidence from onsite training FGD, online Facebook conversation and follow-up classroom observations Joel Mayo Torres and Ericson Olario Alieto……………..……………………………...……...…..… 51 English Learning Motivation and Self-Efficacy of Filipino Senior High School Students Junette Berenguer Buslon and Ericson Olario Alieto .…….…………………………….………....... 73 Lexical inferencing strategies and reading comprehension in English: A case of ESL third graders Arnel R. Madrazo ……............................................................................................................................ 95 Measuring degree of bilingualism and trilingualism and its interaction on executive control: Evidence from lexical, speaking, writing proficiencies and shape-matching task Mariden Ventura – Cauilan and Ria Arellano - Tamayo …………………………….......................... 124 Communication Strategies of Cagayan State University Professors: Basis for the Conduct of Common European Framework Reference (CEFR) Proficiency Test in Higher Institution Emily T. Astrero......................................................................................................................................... 145 The Pragmatics of Political Apology in the Philippines Maribel Fontiveros – Malana and Marie Claudette M. Calanoga........................................................ 178 Students’ Strategies and Competence in Writing Compositions Lorna G. Ilustrisimo and Allan O. de la Cruz ........................................................................................ 201 Attitude towards and Proficiency in Spelling among Pre-Service Teachers in one State University in the Philippines Filemon A. Pamittan.................................................................................................................................. 226 Investigating ESL Freshmen Students’ Writing Proficiency Eden G. Aquino and Arnel R. Madrazo.................................................................................................. 241 The prominent micro-conversational styles among Chabacano- speaking college students: An exploratory approach Antonio I. Tamayao .................................................................................................................................. 266 Language Utilization and Ethnocultural Identity in Ethnic Intermarriage Arnel R. Madrazo...................................................................................................................................... 284 Pluralizing Intelligence: Its Influence to Assessing Students’ Linguistic and Logical-Mathematical Proficiencies Engr. Ismael Guzman Taupan ................................................................................................................ 304 English Language Proficiency Level and Mathematics Performance among Marine Engineering Students of Zamboanga State College of Marine Sciences and Technology (ZSCMST) Asian EFL Journal Research Articles. Vol. 22 Issue No. 1 April 2019 EFL Students’ Performance in the Analysis of Syntactic Structures Prof. Boyet L. Batang, Ph. D. Isabela State University-Cabagan, Philippines [email protected] Lerma Egipto Cagayan State University – Andrews Campus Tuguegarao City, Cagayan Philippines Ramon S. Medriano, Jr. Pangasinan State University – School of Advanced Studies Urdaneta City, Philippines Bioprofile Boyet L. Batang, Ph.D. is currently the Dean and Full Professor 6, College of the Teacher Education, Isabela State University System. He obtained his PhD degree in English Language Studies at the University of Santo Tomas and his Master’s degree in English Language Arts at the Philippine Normal University, Manila. He teaches both in the undergraduate and graduate levels of Isabela State University and Cagayan State University, respectively. He is a national senior accreditor of AACCUP and member of the Regional Quality Assessment Team (RQAT) of the Commission on Higher Education, Region 02. [email protected] Lerma Egipto is an instructor of English subjects at the Cagayan State University with varied writing exposures along textbook, reports, researches, minutes and other technical submittals. She has been an administrative professional as a Document Controller, Executive Secretary and a Quality Assurance Coordinator and Management Information at Systems Coordinator. Ramon S. Medriano, Jr. is the Sales Executive and Training Manager of TESOL Asia. Concurrently, he is the Head Reviewer of the English Language Education (ELE) Journals and editor of the Asian EFL Journal, a Scopus-indexed journal. He delivers lectures on Teaching ESP (English for Specific Purposes) and Teaching Business English. He has been teaching English for 15 years and he is currently on his graduate studies in Communication Arts –English at Pangasinan State University – School of Advance Studies. [email protected] Abstract This study aimed to determine the performance of EFL graduate students in the analysis of form and function of syntactic structures. It also determined the respondents’ index of mastery and index of difficulty and to identify the scope of grammar which requires remediation. It also aimed to compare significant differences between the level of mastery and level of difficulty of the 2 groups of respondents in the analysis of syntactic structure as to form and function. The descriptive – comparative method was used to determine the group’s over-all performance in the analysis of syntactic structures. Results of the study show that the index of mastery of 2 groups in the analysis of form of syntactic structure was satisfactory; while their index of mastery in the analysis of function of syntactic structure was poor. The overall mean was fair. The index of difficulty of both groups in the analysis of form and function was moderately difficult. It was found out that there was no significant difference of the Index of Mastery of the 2 groups of respondents in the analysis of form of syntactic structures but there was significant difference in the analysis of function of syntactic structures. This means that batch 2 is better than batch 1. In the test of difference between 2 groups in the index of difficulty, there was a significant difference of the Index of Difficulty of the 2 groups of respondents in the analysis of form and function of syntactic structures. Keywords: form, function, performance, syntactic structure Introduction The globalization of English language is continuously gaining widespread acceptance all over the world. This is influenced by many fields like education, science and technology, trade and commerce, infrastructure, politics and culture, and other priority concerns of both public and private sectors. Many countries in Asia have already embraced English language teaching. As a proof that English has become official language in Asia, (Tang, 2007) the ASEAN Economic Community blueprint was written in English and was signed by 10 heads of member countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. Along the trends of international development, cooperation and globalization, these countries recognized the role of English language in the harmonization of countries in terms of implementing its security, economic, and socio-cultural community visions. On the other hand, Uchibori, et. al. (2006) study discussed ways to make the instruction of grammar more effective, especially for Japanese beginning level English students. In particular, they discussed what grammatical features and structures students should be aware of in order to both enhance their classroom learning and their ability to understand and respond to practical English expressions such those in the TOEIC test, which measure proficiency in international English communication. They (a) assessed both grammatical features and structures of three high school English textbook series widely used in high-schools in Japan and those of test questions in the TOEIC reading sections; (b) uncover discrepancies that exist between those textbooks and TOEIC; (c) make suggestions about how to approach the instruction of grammar; and (d) reported the results of their case study in which grammar instruction was given to beginning level university students in the suggested way. English language is now being