chapter 1
TRANSCRIPT
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Chapter I
THE PROBLEM* please use Arial 12, pages which start a chapter are counted
but numbering should not be seen. Like this page, it’s counted
but number should not be seen.
1.1 Introduction
The world today sits on a knowledge-based economy where man
conscientiously seeks to become globally competitive. Since 21st
century knowledge and skills are more published in English
and the artificial intelligence of computerization is based on
the English language, English has turned out to be the “lingua
franca” of the world (rephrase this sentence in such a way that
the term English won’t be repeatedly mentioned in near
succession). Hence, communicative competence in English, the
ability to employ the target language in an appropriate manner, as well
as the capacity to suitably respond to various types of conversations
along with familiarity of speaking rules and detailed knowledge of
syntax and lexis (Ellis, 1985), is basic to survival today.
The Philippines acknowledges the fact that to be globally
competitive, the need to strengthen its educational system especially
in the aspect of communication and the strengthening(look for
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another term for strengthening) of the four macro skills as basic
components of the English language are urgent (ANY STUDY OR
DATA TO SUPPORT SUCH CLAIM? PLEASE INCLUDE IT). If the
country aims to level up with the global standard, it is imperative to
exert more effort in improving the quality of life of its people through
education.
At Capitol University, training students to become globally
competitive is translated into attaining higher levels of communicative
competence in English. This is evidenced by the “Speak English”
policy; well maintained and sustained related laboratories (i.e. Speech
Laboratories, Writing Laboratory, Computer Aided Language Learning
Laboratories); the use of English as medium of instruction in all
subjects, except Filipino; and support for the dynamic and continuous
faculty development.
Specifically, in teaching students at the College of Education,
teachers are concerned about how to accelerate the development of
the students’ English proficiency (You used communicative
competence in previous paragraph and at the start of this
chapter, what differentiates it with the term English
proficiency?) by focusing on each of the macro skills (listening,
reading, speaking and writing) of communication through specific
subjects. (reconcile the terms you are using from the first
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paragraph til this part, esp. communicative competence,
English proficiency, macro skills..make sure the right terms are
used)
Among the four macro skills in communication, listening is one
of the aspects of the subject, Interactive English: Listening, Speaking
and Grammar (otherwise known as English 3a in the College of
Education). It could be inferred that this course encourages teacher
trainees to develop a high level of listening skills especially with
the English language as the medium of instruction of the academe.
(listening, reception strategies are introduced in this part of
your chapter 1. Perhaps you can find a way to introduce it in
your earlier paragraphs but still maintaining the thought of
these paragraphs.)
In communication, listening is the dimension on receiving
messages. Received data undergo decoding which eventually make or
unmake the meaning that is attached to the original message. So, it is
more imperative that the source gives appropriate attention to how
messages are received as they are expressed and delivered to the
receiver/s. A number of reception strategies or external messages
(Frey, Botan, Friedman, & Kreps, 1991) are observable and recordable
(how is this last sentence relevant to the previous sentences in
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the paragraph and the paragraph that follows? Is it relevant in
this part of the paragraph?).
Reception is always linked to communication such that
communication is a two-way process, sending and receiving
(rephrase this sentence). This process makes communication an
active interaction among interlocutors not only because it transmits
internal messages but also because it is coupled with external
messages. Reception plays a significant role in the communication
process because it shows that the receiver is never passive. The
interlocutors cannot actually gauge the mind of the receiver as far as
how much information, understanding or learning he has received from
the sender. However, his gestures and manner of speaking will speak
for his ability to understand inputs.
The recipients of the message naturally exhibit reception
strategies and (is it reception strategies and external messages
or reception strategies or external messages?) external
messages that play an active role in building and expressing meaning
and delivering their message to others which in a way would indicate
their current level of understanding.
Exhibiting skills in expressing meaning and in the delivery of
message entails oral proficiency skills. Oral proficiency pertains to
individual competency in employing language to perform a specific
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communicative purpose. In this study, it refers to the degree or level
with which a student can speak English.
In the context of classroom learning, reception strategies or
external messages in communication enable students to productively
express meaning and deliver messages to others. Reception subsumes
listening in a face – to – face discussion, in which this study is focused
on. The specific reception strategies and external messages under
consideration, includes: global reprise, specific reprise, hypothesis
testing, and kinesics, uptaking and faking provide positive or negative
evidence of comprehension and thus serve to establish high and low
proficiency level among students. The term “reception” typically
denotes linguistic input in opposition to production or linguistic output.
Thus, this study took place in the context of the classroom
(English 3a); and focused on the various reception strategies or
external messages displayed by students in the class to pave the way
for a more student – centered learning process. The interpersonal
communication took place between the teacher (as the source) and
the students (as the receivers). It could be inferred that the receivers
in this study are non-native English speakers. These non-native English
receivers/listeners should be conscientious about learning the right
thing and getting the right information so that in return, they would be
able to give accurate, wholesome and quality information in English.
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Hence, two aspects are explored in this study: the aspect of message
comprehension (in listening or receiving; whilst exhibiting reception
strategies or external messages) and the validation of message
comprehension through message production (which in this case is in
the spoken form) that may be triggered through systematic soliciting
of disclosures through verbal interaction.
(there seems to be no coherence with the previous
paragraph and this next paragraph. Make sure to establish a
connection between them.
The teacher-student communication patterns in classes differ.
The difference is in accordance to the methods and approaches used.
It has been a common observation among college instructors that most
of the students who graduated high school from the barangays exhibit
more difficulty in expressing themselves orally in English (why is this
singled out? Is the school where they graduated in HS a
variable?).
Furthermore, these students (are all your respondents in
this study graduates of barangay high schools?) hardly take the
initiative to express their confusion about the topic by asking questions
or requesting for clarifications in class. Thus, oftentimes, teachers have
to resort to administering feedback through a written quiz or oral
recitation that merely fall under the simple recall level (referring to
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Benjamin Bloom’s Taxonomy of Comprehension). And when the graded
recitation moves to the higher levels of comprehension, the students
just withdraw with shyness or fall into silence. In effect, instructors find
that in employing this traditional method of teaching, students may
become enriched with jargons in the subject they are teaching but
without an authentic person to person interaction. The interpersonal
communication between student and teacher may just fall on the lower
levels of evaluating the contents of the text or course. This is a
scenario which is not considered favorable to total person
development.
The researcher, being one of the college instructors of Capitol
University, believes that there is a great need to look into the receptive
strategies employed by students in class. It is one way wherein a
teacher can have a better understanding of his students’ needs. It is
hoped that through this study, the students would be provided with a
special program that would develop their skills to elicit input or ask for
clarifications. In this sense, reception strategies in interactive listening
would enable them to: develop their communication skills in English
by actually communicating in interactive situations; facilitate
comprehension in any listening activity by soliciting input and
negotiating meaning in exhibiting higher level of listening proficiency
(which is considered highly desirable); and surmount the challenge of
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learning in the academe and as would-be teachers of tomorrow
(you’ve got to reestablish the fact that your respondents were
education students or at least just make it explicit again in this
paragraph coz the paragraph mentioning the respondents are
several pages before this). This study may extend, intend and
revolutionize approaches used in developing the listening skills of the
students in the subject, Interactive English: Listening, Speaking and
Grammar at the College of Education.
1.2 Statement of the Problem (this should be 1.4) THE
QUESTIONS BELOW COULD PROBABLY CHANGE AS I CONTINUE
READING YOUR STUDY.
This study aimed to identify and record all reception strategies
used by the Capitol University (CU) second year college Education
students to achieve comprehension or solicit further input in a
discussion during the second semester of the school year 2010-2011.
Specifically, it sought answers to the following questions:
1. What are the variables included in the testing of
respondents’ oral proficiency level through Texas Oral
Proficiency Test (TOPT)?
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2. What is the English oral proficiency level of the respondents
in terms of function, content, vocabulary, grammar,
comprehensibility and fluency?
3. What types of reception strategies are used by students
while engaged in group discussion?
4. What is the frequency of the students’ use of the different
types of reception strategies considering their English Oral
Proficiency Test?
5. Is there a significant difference between high oral proficiency
(HOP) and Low oral Proficiency (LOP) levels of students?
6. Is there a significant relationship between the respondents’
reception strategies used and their oral proficiency level?
7. What interactive listening program can be developed to
enhance the reception strategies of the students?
1.3 Hypotheses (this should be 1.5)
Ho1 There is no significant difference between students with
High Oral proficiency level and Low Oral proficiency Level.
Ho2 There is no significant relationship between the students’
Oral Proficiency and the reception strategies used by the students.
1.4 Significance of the Study (this should be 1.6)
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This study would benefit the following:
Commission on Higher Education (CHED). Being the
agency in-charge of the tertiary education in the country, the
Commission on Higher Education could employ the findings of this
endeavor for whatever innovations (perhaps you should improve
on the phrase “for whatever innovations”. Can this phrase
apply to changes, advancement in the teaching of English?)
they would take to strengthen the teaching of English in the
tertiary level of the Philippine educational system by giving attention
and focus on interactive communication particularly in the listening
skills of students. This skill, as part of the macro skills, should also be
given importance and should have its place in the curriculum.
Students. Primarily, they would benefit from this study in as
much as their reception strategies will be identified which would serve
as basis for the creation of an instructional design to enrich their
reception strategies. They would be guided clearly as to how they are
supposed to interact and deal with interactions (rephrase this
statement). The lesson guides will most benefit the students as it will
give them the idea on proper reception strategies which will eventually
result to a beautiful output or produc (rephrase this statement.
make the last two sentences more direct and concise).
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Instructors. The college instructors will also be helped in this
study because through the students’ skill in soliciting input or
clarifications, they will be able to receive the appropriate feedback that
could signal them to redirect or conduct their lectures and discussions
in a manner that would enhance effective communication between
them and their students (rephrase statement. Start with “Results
of this study would help them….).
Administrators. Through the findings of this study, the
administrators will be able to discover the students’ needs in
expressing their ideas, and therefore can support in the preparation of
an instructional design to address the specific needs of the students in
interactive activities.
Educational Researchers. Through the findings of this study,
educational researchers can gain insights and gather information
which may be valuable to their research endeavors.
1.5 Scope and Limitations of the Study (this should be 1.7)
This study focused mainly on the reception strategies of the
Second Year students in English 3A (Interactive English – Speaking,
Listening and Grammar) class in the College of Education, Capitol
University, Cagayan de Oro City during the second semester of school
year 2010-2011.
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The reception strategies were identified as students engaged in
interactive activities in group and individual discussion. This study
mainly looked into the oral proficiency level of the respondents in
terms of function, grammar, comprehensibility, vocabulary, fluency,
and content but this does not include the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) of
the respondents.
Further, this study is focused on the relationship of the
reception strategies used by respondents to their oral proficiency
level. The gender, family background, social status, and age of the
respondents do not have any bearing in the study (what do you
mean do not have any bearing? If it means that they were not
included then say, “Other variables such as gender, family
background, social status and age of respondents were not
included”).
1.6 Theoretical Framework (this should be after the
Introduction. This should be 1.2)
This study is anchored on the following theories: Interactionist
Theory of Ellis (1995), Krashen’s Comprehensible Input or Input
Hypothesis (1985) and Flowerdew and Miller’s Interactive Model
Theory of Rumelhart (2005) (is rumelhart”s theory on reading?
Have you not found any theory on reception or listening?).
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Ellis, in his Interactionists’ Learning Theory (how is this theory
applied in your study?), emphasizes the joint contribution of the
linguistic environment (did you look into the environment as one
of your variables? How is linguistic environment defined by
ellis?) and the learner’s internal mechanism in language development,
and that learning results from an interaction between the learner’s
mental abilities and the linguistic input. He substantiated this theory in
his Discourse Theory, which he posits that through communicating with
others, students accomplish actions in the world and develop the rules
of language structure and use (can you look further into his
discourse theory?).
Again, Interactionist’s’ learning theory greatly capitalizes the
contribution of the linguistic environment, that is, the students’
classroom where communication sets in and language learning takes
place. The learner’s internal mechanism in language development,
which is referring to his stored language input, is maximized and is
being tested for use and once employed, interaction would set in
where interlocutors learn not only from each other but also from the
medium used. In relation to the study, this theory supports the idea
that learning results from an interaction between the learner’s mental
abilities (but one of your study’s limitations is that it does not
include your respondents’ IQ.)and the linguistic input. Linguistic
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input practically is denoted with the term “reception” (is linguistic
input here really denoting to “reception”?).
Furthermore, Krashen, in his Input Hypothesis or
Comprehensible Input, a part of his Comprehension Hypothesis Model
of L2 Learning (Five Hypotheses), posits that 'humans acquire
language in only one way - by understanding messages or by receiving
"comprehensible input"; (Krashen, 1985)
These and his other theories are very much significant to the
study such that it strengthens the argument that communication is a
two-way process, which is not a manipulation by the sender of the
message but that the receiver is also an active participant of the
process. There could never be interaction without the receiver, one
who gets the inputs after which, he gives his output. Reception
strategies are the styles by which the receiver employs on
communication, and in this particular study, in class discussion or
interaction, to deliver and express the students’ understanding of the
message/s received.
Vandergrift (1997) posits that reception is in juxtaposition with
listening. They stand side by side in communication as it allows
communicator to project what the listener has listened to via his
reception styles (reception strategies) by which he delivers or
expresses the message received.
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Block (1997) believes that the best listeners keep an open
mind, search for new ideas and integrate what they hear with what
they already know. They evaluate points of view and pose questions
that aid speakers to expand their ideas.
The most basic social interactions are asking questions from
which learners get closer to their intended meaning and this aids
comprehension. Asking questions for clarification, verification and
correction and cooperating with the interlocutor is therefore imperative
for language learners.
This study extends mainly two of the principles of language
teaching and learning. These are the Linguistic Principle on
communicative competence and the cognitive principle on strategic
investment. Foremost, communicative competence is the goal of a
language classroom, instruction needs to point toward all its
components: organizational, pragmatic, strategic, and psychomotor.
Communicative goals are best achieved by giving due attention to
language use and not just usage, to fluency and not just accuracy, to
authentic language and contexts, and to student’s eventual need to
apply classroom learning to previously unrehearsed contexts in the
real world (Brown, 2000).
Second, the cognitive principle on strategic investment provides
that successful mastery of the language will be due to a large extent to
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a learners’ own personal investment of time, effort, and attention to
the language in the form of an individualized battery of strategies for
comprehending and producing the language. (Brown, 2000).
Finally, the Interactive Model Theory of Rumelhart (1975)
provides the top-down and bottom up models of listening. He posits in
this model that language is processed simultaneously at different
levels. To have concrete understanding of the information being heard,
there is an interaction among phonological syntactic, semantic, and
pragmatic information in the parallel process of listening. The
hierarchical listening models - top-down and bottom-up models
substantiated such theory thereby encouraging language teachers to
incorporate those processes in the teaching of listening.
Top-down listening refers to the use of background knowledge in
understanding the meaning of the spoken message. Background
knowledge consists of context, that is, the situation and topic, and co-
text, what came before and after.
While in the bottom-up listening, the learner only understands
very few words from the incoming signal. Thus, the learner still gets
lost for he lacks focus even with the influence of his knowledge about
the context. It is deduced that listening skills should valuably be given
utmost consideration in the teaching process (Sinodlay, 2011).
1.7 Conceptual Framework (this should be 1.3)
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Effective listening-speaking interaction is a critical
communication skill wherein the listeners’ associate new information
with what is already known; they question the accuracy of what they
hear, they paraphrase or stop the speaker and request the message be
repeated or explained when it is not meaningful.
In social interaction, the listener uses different sets of
observable strategies to clarify meaning and to further interaction.
Littlewood, as cited by Villamin (1996) stresses that for a person to be
communicatively competent he must develop skills and strategies for
using language to communicate meaning as effectively as possible in
concrete situations. In addition, Vandergrift (1997) avers that the roles
of the speaker and listener pass back and forth and occasionally
overlap. Interlocutors use two kinds of strategies: (a) production
strategies to resolve a communication problem caused by lack of
linguistic knowledge or to further communications through
clarifications, repetitions, or modifications; and (b) reception strategies
to clarify meaning or to further conversation by moves that signal
comprehension to the interlocutor.
Reception strategies (Ellis, 1995), are strategies used by
listeners to clarify meaning, signal understanding or advance
conversation. In this study, Vandergrifts’(1997) adaptation of Rost and
Ross’(1991) formulation of reception strategies used in interactive
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listening will be used in the analysis of the CU College of Education
Second Year Students’ performance in interactive listening activities.
Table 1 below shows such strategies.
Table 1. Reception Strategies in Interactive Listening (Vandegrift 1997, adapted from Rost and Ross, 1991)
Reception Strategies
Definitions/Explanations Examples
Global reprise
Listener asks for outright repetition, rephrasing, or simplification of preceding utterance. This may be a statement that nothing was understood.
What was the question? I’m not sure what you mean. Pardon?
Specific reprise
Listener asks a question referring to a specific word, term or fragment that was not understood in the previous utterance.
Where? Is that dinner?
Hypothesis testing
Listener asks specific questions about facts in the preceding utterance to verify that he or she has understood and/or what he or she is expected to do.
… the last book?
Kinesics Listener indicates a need for clarification by means of kinesics and/or para-linguistics.
Throws arm in the air, look up, chuckle, shake head, confused looks, blank looks, squint eyes, Furrowed eyebrows, intense looks, shake head, etc.
Uptaking Listener uses kinesics and verbal or other nonverbal signals to indicate to the interlocutor to continue, that he or she understands.
Nods, ‘mmmmmmm’ ‘ah’, ‘oh’ Laughing at the appropriate time
Faking Listener sends uptaking signals or noncommittal responses in order to
Agreeing to a “What” question
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avoid seeking clarification, and admitting to the interlocutor that he or she has not understood.
Comprehension itself is not externally observable. Mentors
cannot peer into a learner’s brain through a little window of some kind
and empirically observe what is exactly stored there after someone
else has said something. One can only infer that certain things have
been comprehended or not through student’s overt responses (verbal
or nonverbal) to speech. It is therefore significant for teachers to
design techniques in such a way that students’ responses indicate
whether or not comprehension has taken place.
Given the importance of interactive listening in ordinary social
discourse, teachers need to look into its significance in second
language classrooms. Regular classroom practice that equips students
with useful strategies would facilitate the development of interactive
listening skills and further enhance second language learning and
acquisition.
In situation where target language is seldom used outside the
classroom, the students’ exposure to the target language is therefore
mainly in the classroom, the kind of input and interaction that is made
available is particularly important (Tsui, 1995). In the language
classroom, be it first, second or foreign language, interactions are even
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more significant because language is at once the subject of study as
well as the medium for learning. When students listen to the teacher’s
instruction and explanations, when they express their views, answer
questions and carry out tasks and activities, they are not only learning
about the language but also putting the language that they are
learning to use.
Guided by the aforementioned theories and ideas and through
an interaction analysis, the students will be given interactive activity
through an interview to draw out their oral proficiency levels as well as
analyze the reception strategies displayed by students in group
discussions. Through that undertaking, an appropriate interactive
listening program can be created. Through this program, the students
are hoped to eventually develop their reception strategies in order to
actively participate in interactions to enhance comprehension and
language learning.
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RECEPTION STRATEGIES
Global RepriseSpecific Reprise
Hypothesis TestingKinesicsUptaking
FakingCommunication
Strategies
INTERACTIVE ACTIVITIES
WITH TEXAS ORAL PROFICIENCY TEST
ORAL PROFICIENCY
LEVEL OF STUDENTS
FunctionContent
VocabularyGrammar
ComprehensibilityFluency
INTERACTIVE LISTENING PROGRAM
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Figure 1The Schematic Diagram of the Study
1.9 Definitions of Terms (this should be 1.8)
To facilitate better comprehension of the concepts and
important ideas in this work, the following terms are conceptually and /
or operationally defined:
Communicative competence – This term refers to the
respondents’ ability to employ the target language in an appropriate
manner, as well as the capacity for suitably responding to various
types of conversations operating different registers along with
familiarity with the rules of speaking (turn-taking patterns), and
detailed knowledge of syntax and lexis (Ellis, 1985).
Communication strategies. These refer to strategies used by
listeners to clarify meaning, and signal understanding to advance
conversation which the researcher lumped as one reception strategy
and included in the reception strategies interactional checklist.
Comprehensibility. This term refers to the respondents’ skills
in pronunciation, expression and sentence structure in the process of
measurement using Texas Oral Proficiency Test in the interactive
activities.
Content. This refers to the adequacy and organization of
information by the respondents which is also included in the
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performance proficiency feature to be measured by the researcher
using Texas Oral Proficiency Test.
Fluency. This pertains to the ease and speed of the flow of
speech of the respondents at the time of conducting the study as
measured by the researcher using the Texas Oral Proficiency Test.
.
Function. Refers to the respondents’ communicative purpose in
conveying their ideas in the interactive activities.
Grammar. This refers to the respondents’ skill in the use and
structure of sentence as they give their ideas where Texas Oral
Proficiency Test measures their number of errors in syntax, meaning
and use.
Interaction. It refers to a co-operative effort among
participants doing something collectively (Tsui, 1995).
Interaction Analysis. It is a research procedure used to
investigate classroom communication. It involves a system of
categories to record and analyze the different ways in which teachers
and students use language (Ellis, 1995).
Interactive Listening. A listening situation plays an active role
in cooperation with the interlocutor to fulfill the goals of the interaction
(Vandergrift, 1997).
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Linguistic Competence. It is the basic knowledge of linguistic
forms such as specific sounds, grammar patterns and vocabulary
terms in the traditional skills of listening, reading, writing, and
speaking (Savignon, 1983). In this study, it simply means the
knowledge of grammar such as the use of correct verb
forms/tenses/subject-verb concordance, pronouns, genders, modifiers,
as well as voice of verbs.
Listening. It is a complex skill that requires attention and
energy. It involves recognition, short-term memory, and inference. The
listener recognizes the sounds and the words he engages in a process
of selection on two levels –selecting sounds and words and grouping
them into meaningful units as well as selecting the information
relevant to his purpose in listening (Villamin, et al. 1996).
Oral Proficiency. This pertains to an individual competency in
employing language to perform a specific communicative purpose. In
this study, it refers to the degree or level with which a student can
speak English. This is gauged using Texas Oral Proficiency Test through
the oral interview designed to determine one’s oral expression or
verbal skills in terms of fluency, content, vocabulary, grammar,
function and comprehensibility.
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Organization of Ideas. This refers to the expression of ideas in
a smooth, clear and logical sequence with a clear beginning;
substantial body and logical ending (Prejoles, 1997).
Proficiency. It consists of the learner’s knowledge of the target
language; it can be considered synonymous with ‘competence’.
‘Proficiency’ can be viewed as linguistic competence or communicative
competence. Second language proficiency is usually measured in
relation to native speaker proficiency (Ellis, 1995).
Reception Strategies. These refer to the strategies used by
respondents who listened to instructions and questions given to clarify
meaning, signal understanding or advance conversation (Vandergrift,
1997).
Vocabulary. Refers to the respondents’ appropriateness of
word choice for the level. This is also measured using Texas Oral
Proficiency Test.
.