NGO THI BICH NGOC SUGGESTED LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES FOR
IMPROVING THE LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE
OF FIRST YEAR STUDENTS
IN THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY

Speciallity: English Language and Literature Ph.D. E. DISSERTATIOM SUMMARY
THAI NGUYEN - 2014 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY
Socialist Republic of Vietnam Republic of the Philippines
The study was done at:
INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE STUDY PROGRAMS,
THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
and learning. It is one’s knowledge and a tool of expressing of
thoughts and perception. Thoughts and ideas can never be expressed
and can not be understood by one another without good language.
Because it enables people to communicate and express themselves, it
becomes an important part of any society.
Learning other languages besides national language is also of
vital importance since it helps to have additional knowledge of other
people and cultures.
Considered as the international language, English now is
chosen by many people and in learning it as the second language.
One of most difficulties of the students in learning English are related
to their problems of linguistics and words formation and in order to
have a good command of this language, students need to have
opportunities to improve their ability of these skills.
Thus, the theme “Language Activities for improving Linguistic
Competence of the First Year Students in Thai Nguyen University” is
chosen to study
The structure of dissertation includes 5 chapters 2
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1. THE PROBLEM
Language is considered important because it is the vehicle for
communication between countries, cultural groups, organization,
communities and friends. Language is used to give information to
people around us, expressing feelings, desires, and questions as well
as understanding the world.
In learning English as a foreign language, students most
common difficulties encountered are attributed to the interference of

performance. This prompted the researcher to conduct the study.
2. STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
This study attempts to determine the level of Linguistic
Competence of the First Year Students at Thai Nguyen University.
Specifically, it seeks to answer the following questions:
1. What is the level of linguistic competence of students in the
teacher - made test using the following:
1.1 . connotation
1.2 . denotation
1.3 . antonyms
1.4 . synonyms,
1.5 . ambiguities, and
1.6 . vocabulary 4
2. What is the level of understanding of students on word-formation
in terms of :
3.1. acronym
3.2. clipping
3.3. blending
3.4. compounding
3. Which among the items in the different cluster students find
most difficult?
4. How do the teachers assess the linguistic competence of the
students?
5. Is there a significant difference between teachers’
assessment and students’ competencies?
6. What English language activities may be suggested to
improve students’ understanding of English words and concepts?

Future Researchers. Future researchers may use this study to
broaden their knowledge in the field linguistic.
6
CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE
1. REVIEW OF RELATED STUDIES
This section presents of some literatures related to the topic
2. RESEARCH PARADIGM
INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT Figure 1. Research Paradigm
The research paradigm explains the relationship of the input-
process-output of the study. The input covers the level of linguistic
competence including connotation, denotation, antonyms, synonyms,
ambuigities and vocabulary. Also part of the input is the level of
understanding of students on word formation employing acronyms,
understanding of
students on word -
formation:
- acronym
- clipping
- blending
- Compounding
7
clipping, blening and compounding, The process bos involvesthe
assessment of the level of lingistic competence and word formation
of the students. These were assessed through survey questionnaire,
teacher-made test. Finally, form the relationship of the first two
boxes emerge the third box of the paradigm that illustrates the output
of the study, the suggested language activities.

CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHOD AND PROCEDURE
1. RESEARCH DESIGN
This study made used of descriptive method of research to
determine the level of Linguistic Competence of the First Year
Students at Thai Nguyen University.
According to Dr. Y.P. Aggarwal (2008) descriptive research is
devoted to the gathering of information about prevailing conditions
or situations for the purpose of description and interpretation. This
type of research method is not simply amassing and tabulating facts
but includes proper analyses, interpretation, comparisons,
identification of trends and relationships.
In this study, level of linguistic competence of first year

2200
98
22
22
University of
Telecommunication and
Information Technology
1300
58
16
16
University of Sciences
1400
63
10
10
University of Agriculture
and Forestry
2500
112
11
11
University of Medicine
and Pharmacy
1140
51
7
7
Total
8540

with the following scales 10
Table 2: Scale of values of frequency of language competency
assessment
Scale
Range Inteval
Verbal interpretation
5
4.50 – 5.00
Always
4
3.50 – 4-49
Very often
3
2.50 – 3.49
Often
2
1.50 – 2.49
Seldom
1
1.00 – 1.49
Not at all
Table 3: Scale of values of the degree of importance
Scale
Range Inteval
Verbal
interpretation
5

been defined as the process by which new lexical bases are formed as
well as the structure of complex lexical bases, particularly those
composed of more than one morphological element (Huddleston and
Pullum, 2002). It is a term in linguistics (particularly morphology)
which denotes of the ways in which new words are made on the basis
of other words or morphemes. Among the common types of word -
formation are: Acronym, Clipping, Blending and Compounding.
In constructing the Teacher Made Test for linguistic
competency and word formation, test questions were obtained and
modified from different books dealing with the topic and class notes.
Ten questions were formulated for each of the above listed
components of language competency and word formation.
4. DATA GETHERING PROCEDURE
Concepts and literatures were read to deepen knowledge and
understanding about the present study. Books, journals, other
reading references, published and unpublished researches and online
references were used to come up with the present research.
The study made used of two data gathering instruments
namely survey questionnaire for teacher respondents and teacher- 12
made test for student respondents. In the development of the
questionnaire and teacher made test, the first draft prepared was
submitted to the adviser for comments and suggestions. The two
instruments were reviewed and checked in line with their contents
and statement of the problem.
The survey questionnaire for teachers and test for students
were presented to the practitioners for content validation. The survey
questionnaire was submitted to English teachers for comments and

of homogeneity or heterogeneity of students’ performance.
Student’s t-test. This was used to test the significance of the
means score of teachers’ assessment versus the students’
performance in the linguistic test.
Weighted Mean. This was used to determine the students’
level of linguistic performance

CHAPTER IV: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
1. LEVEL OF LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE OF FIRST YEAR
STUDENTS
The levels of linguistic competence of First year students of
the six universities in TNU Vietnam was assessed along the areas of
connotation, denotation, antonyms, synonym, and ambiguities and
vocabulary.
In the area of connotation, result of 68 % of the correct answer
indicates that students have an average level when it comes to the 14
study of connotation. They were able to have an understanding of the
words even without the aid of dictionary. They are able to give the
meanings of words without encountering so much difficulty because
of their personal experiences.
As regard to denotation the result of 68% of the correct answer
shows that TNU students’ performed at an average level in this kind
of test. This indicates that students have developed skills and
sensitivity in recognizing literal meanings of English words far better
than their implied meanings, traits that are typical expected for
developing language learners.
As for antonyms, the score obtained of 64.4% correct answer

FORMATION
The students’ level of understanding with regards to word
formation was evaluated using four areas namely: acronym, clipping,
blending and compounding.
As for acronyms, the score suggests an average level of
knowledge with regards to the use of acronyms. Among the test areas
in word formation, this area has the lowest numerical value and could
indicate this as one of the more difficult areas under this topic. The
average performance of the student respondents in this case indicates
that they have substantially acquired word formation skills pertinent
to acronyms at par with their tertiary level. This further implies that
students do not understand how words are coined and they also lack
exposure to some common coined words.
This reflects on the familiarity of the students on the use of
acronyms possibly from the influence of media which makes them
aware of the common meanings and usage of certain English words. 16
Among the test areas in word formation, this area has the lowest
numerical value and could indicate this as one of the more difficult
areas under this topic.
With regards to clipping, the result indicates that the students
have an average level of understanding with regards to the use of
clipping in word formation. The student performance in clipping is
one of the high scores next to compounding.
The students’ test achievement in blending on the other hand
is implied that students did not find difficulty in finding the origins of
clipped words and can indicate the pattern used in this kind of word
formation.

In the case of Ambiguities, the most difficult item is item 44.
This item has a correct score of 56 percent. The framing of ideas in
the statement can be confusing to the learner. This can be from the
difference in sentence construction in Vietnamese
For the Vocabulary test, the most difficult item is item 55 with
59 percent of correct answer. This means that the students did not
find the vocabulary test to be extremely difficult. This could be
because these students are at the middle stages of English language
learning and they have already a certain degree of usable English
vocabularies.
It the word formation test, it can be observed that for acronym,
the most difficult item is item 69. This item has a correct score of 49
percent from a Spopulation of 376 students. It is the item with the 18
lowest correct score in all test areas including the linguistic test areas
and vocabulary. For clipping, the most difficult item is Item 74. The
correct score for this item is 67 percent which is the top among the
most difficult items in word formation. This means that among the
different test areas in word formation, it is this area that has the least
difficult items.
The most difficult item in the test area of blending is item 87.
This item has a correct score of 55 percent and is the next lowest
scoring item among the different test area of word formation. The
difficulty of this item in blending stems from the relative similarities
of the choices that creates confusion to the students.
For compounding, the most difficult item is item 93. This item
has a correct score of 62 percent. This indicates that among the
different test areas, this is the item with a moderate level of difficulty.

teaching linguistic skills based on their degree of importance is
reflective of the frequency of use and skills development of the
students. . The data suggest that in developing the linguistic skills of
students, they have to be aware that some of these skills can be
readily learned by the students while others would take longer time to
learn and need more motivation in order to be absorbed and
frequently practiced by the students.
5. RELATIONSHOP BETWEEN THE TEACHER’S
ASSESSMENT AND THE LEVEL OF STUDENTS’
LINGUISTIC COMPETENCES
In the relationship between the teachers’ assessment and the
level of students’ linguistic and word formation competencies, it can 20
be observed that there is no relationship exists between them. This
also indicates that for this population of respondents, the teachers’
perception was not predictive of the students’ performance in the
different areas of linguistic competence.
One of the reasons for this disparity is the tendency of the
teachers to downgrade the frequency rating of the students. It is
possible that the teachers were unable to properly observe and
estimate the frequency by which the student use their linguistic and
word formation skills. It is also possible that the students have
alternative learning mechanisms or venues like the media such as
broadcast or printed media or the internet, that promote the advanced
development of the students linguistic skills and not just classroom
based; that is why the student’s performance in the linguistic tests
were high and incongruent with the low frequency observations of
the teachers in class.

1.1. connotation,
1.2. denotation
1.3. antonyms
1.4. synonyms
1.5. ambiguities
1.6. vocabulary. 22
2) What is the level of understanding of students on word-
formation in terms of
2.1. acronym
2.2. clipping
2.3. blending
2.4. compounding.
3) Which among the items in the different cluster students
find most difficult?
4) How do the teachers assess the linguistic competence of
the students?
5) Is there a significant difference between teachers’
assessment and students’ competencies?
6) What English language activities may be suggested to
improve students’ understanding of English words and concepts?
2. FINDINGS
The research found out that the over-all linguistic performance
of the students is generally better, as the students were able to
demonstrate an average level of linguistic competence.
Students have average level of understanding in word
formation.
The items found most difficult under the cluster of linguistic