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Chapter 6
Communication for Academic Purposes
Learning Objectives
At the end of the chapter, you should be able to:
• Identify the different parts of a research paper.
• Appreciate the merits of doing research.
• Write correct citations and references in a research.

TOPIC 1: The Nature of Research

TOPIC 2: Parts of A Research Paper
TOPIC 3: Referencing
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TOPIC 1. The Nature of Research

The following are typical situations in a school. How do you think these people can solve these
concerns?
• A vice president in a state university wants to improve the teaching of the faculty members in a
flexible learning mode.
• The director of the student affairs would like to know what happens during a typical week in an
English class via a synchronous mode of learning

• An elementary school counselor wishes he could get more students to open up to him
about their worries and problems.
• A biology teacher wonders if discussions are more effective than lectures in motivating
students to learn biological concepts.
• A physical education teacher wonders if ability in one sport correlates with ability in
other sports.
• A seventh-grade student asks her counselor what she can do to improve her study
habits.
• The president of the local PTA wonders how he can get more parents involved in
school-related activities.

Each of the above examples, although fictional, represents a typical sort of question or
concern facing many of us in education today. Together, these examples suggest that teachers,
counselors, administrators, parents, and students continually need information to do their jobs.
How can educators, parents, and students obtain the information they need? Many ways of
obtaining information, of course, exist. One can consult experts, review books and articles, question or
observe colleagues with relevant experience, examine one’s own past experience, or even rely on
intuition. All these approaches suggest possible ways to proceed, but the answers they provide are not
always reliable. Experts may be mistaken; source documents may contain no insights of value;
colleagues may have no experience in the matter; and one’s own experience or intuition may be
irrelevant or misunderstood. This is why knowledge of scientific research methodology can be of
value. The scientific method provides us with another way of obtaining information—information that is
as accurate and reliable as we can get.
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Ways of Knowing

SENSORY EXPERIENCE

What are the concerns or problems that the sensory experience can be used to solve?

___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________

AGREEMENT WITH OTHERS

One such source is the opinions of others. Not only can we share our sensations with others, we can
also check on the accuracy and authenticity of these sensations: Does this soup taste salty to you? Isn’t that
John over there? Did you hear someone cry for help? Smells like mustard, doesn’t it?

Obviously, there is a great advantage to checking with others about whether they see or hear what
we do. It can help us discard what is untrue and manage our lives more intelligently by focusing on what is
true. If, while hiking, I do not hear the sound of an approaching automobile but several of my companions
do and alert me to it, I can proceed with caution. All of us frequently discount our own sensations
when others report that we are missing something or “seeing” things incorrectly.

The problem with such common knowledge is that it, too, can be wrong. A majority vote of a
committee is no guarantee of the truth. My friends might be wrong about the presence of an approaching
automobile, or the auto mobile they hear may be moving away from rather than toward us. Two groups of
eyewitnesses to an accident may disagree as to which driver was at fault. Hence, we need to consider some
additional ways to obtain reliable knowledge.

Can other people ask for your opinion about online classes? Why or why not? What are
other things that you can share your opinion with? What are some issues that you cannot
share your opinion? Why not?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
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EXPERT OPINION

Perhaps there are particular individuals we should consult—experts in their field, people
who know a great deal about what we are interested in finding out. We are likely to believe a
noted heart specialist, for example, if he says that Uncle Charlie has a bad heart. Surely, a person
with a PhD in economics knows more than most of us do about what makes the economy tick.
And shouldn’t we believe our family dentist if she tells us that back molar has to be pulled?

Well, maybe. It depends on the credentials of the experts and the nature of the question
about which they are being consulted. Experts, like all of us, can be mistaken. For all their study
and training, what experts know is still based primarily on what they have learned from
reading and thinking, from listening to and observing others, and from their own experience. No
expert, however, has studied or experienced all there is to know in a given field, and thus even an
expert can never be totally sure. All any expert can do is give us an opinion based on what he or
she knows, and no matter how much this is, it is never all there is to know. Let us consider, then,
another way of knowing: logic.

Who do you think are the experts in the following concerns?

1. COVID -19 disease
Expert: _________________________________________________________________
Reason why you think this person is an expert
________________________________________________________________________

2. Online Classes
Expert: __________________________________________________________________
Reason why you think this person is an expert
________________________________________________________________________
LOGIC

We also know things logically. Our intellect—our capability to reason things out—
allows us to use sensory data to develop a new kind of knowledge. Consider the famous
syllogism:

All human beings are mortal.

Sally is a human being.

Therefore, Sally is mortal.

To assert the first statement (called the major premise), we need only generalize
from our experience about the mortality of individuals. We have never experienced anyone
who was not mortal, so we state that all human beings are. The second statement (called
the minor premise) is based entirely on sensory experience. We come in contact with Sally
and classify her as a human being. We don’t have to rely on our senses, then, to know that
the third statement (called the conclusion) must be true. Logic tells us it is. As long as the
first two statements are true, the third statement must be true.

This is not all there is to logical reasoning, of course, but it is enough to give you an
idea of another way of knowing. There is a fundamental danger in logical reasoning,
however: It is only when the major and minor premises of a syllogism are both true that the
conclusion is guaranteed to be true. If either of the premises is false, the conclusion may or
may not be true.

There is still another way of knowing to consider: the method of science.

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THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

When many people hear the word science, they think of things like white lab coats, laboratories,
test tubes, or space exploration. Scientists are people who know a lot, and the term science suggests a
tremendous body of knowledge. What we are interested in here, however, is science as a method of
knowing. It is the scientific method that is important to researchers.

What is this method? Essentially it involves testing ideas in the public arena. Almost all of us
humans are capable of making connections—of seeing relationships and associations—among the
sensory information we experience. Most of us then identify these connections as “facts”—items of
knowledge about the world in which we live. We may speculate, for example, that our students may be
less attentive in class when we lecture than when we engage them in discussion. A physician may guess
that people who sleep between six and eight hours each night will be less anxious than those who sleep
more or less than that amount. A counselor may feel that students read less than they used to
because they spend most of their free time watching television. But in each of these cases, we do not
really know if our belief is true. What we are dealing with are only guesses or hunches, or as scientists
would say, hypotheses.

What we must do now is put each of these guesses or hunches to a rigorous test to see if it holds
up under more controlled conditions. To investigate our speculation on attentiveness scientifically, we
can observe carefully and systematically how attentive our students are when we lecture and when we
hold a class discussion. The physician can count the number of hours individuals sleep, then measure
and compare their anxiety levels. The counselor can compare the reading habits of students who watch
different amounts of television.

Such investigations, however, do not constitute science unless they are made public. This means
that all aspects of the investigation are described in sufficient detail so that the study can be repeated by
anyone who questions the results—provided, of course, that those interested possess the necessary
competence and resources. Private procedures, speculations, and conclusions are not scientific c until
they are made public.

There is nothing very mysterious, then, about how scientists work in their quest for reliable
knowledge. In reality, many of us proceed this way when we try to reach an intelligent decision about a
problem that is bothering us. These procedures can be boiled down to five distinct steps.

1. First, there is a problem of some sort—some disturbance in our lives that disrupts the normal or
desirable state of affairs. Something is bothering us. For most of us who are not scientists, it may be a
tension of some sort, a disruption in our normal routine. Examples would be if our students are not as
attentive as we wish or if we have difficulty making friends. To the professional scientist, it may be an
unexplained discrepancy in one’s field of knowledge, a gap to be closed. Or it could be that we want to
understand the practice of human sacrifice in terms of its historical significance.

2. Second, steps are taken to define more precisely the problem or the questions to be answered, to
become clearer about exactly what the purpose of the study is. For example, we must think through
what we mean by student attentiveness and why we consider it insufficient 3. Third, we attempt to
determine what kinds of information would solve the problem. Generally speaking, there are two
possibilities: study what is already known or carry out a piece of research. As you will see, the first is a
prerequisite for the second; the second is a major focus of this text. In preparation, we must be familiar
with a wide range of possibilities for obtaining information, so as to get first hand in formation on the
problem. For example, the teacher might consider giving a questionnaire to students or having someone
observe during class. Spelling out the details of information gathering is a major aspect of planning a
research study.
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4. Fourth, we must decide, as far as it is possible, how we will organize the information that we obtain.
It is not uncommon, in both daily life and research, to discover that we cannot make sense of all the
information we possess (sometimes referred to as information overload). Anyone attempting to
understand another society while living in it has probably experienced this phenomenon. Our scientist
will surely encounter this problem, but so will our teacher unless she has figured out how to handle the
questionnaire and/or observational information that is obtained.

5. Fifth, after the information has been collected and analyzed, it must be interpreted. While this step
may seem straightforward at first, this is seldom the case. As you will see, one of the most important
parts of research is to avoid kidding ourselves. The teacher may conclude that her students are
inattentive because they dislike lectures, but she may be misinterpreting the information. The scientist
may conclude that human sacrifice is or was a means of trying to control nature, but this also may be
incorrect.

In many studies, there are several possible explanations for a problem or phenomenon. These
are called hypotheses and may occur at any stage of an investigation. Some researchers state a
hypothesis (e.g., “Students are less attentive during lectures than during discussions”) right at the
beginning of a study. In other cases, hypotheses emerge as a study progresses, sometimes even when the
information that has been collected is being analyzed and interpreted. The scientist might find
that instances of sacrifice seemed to be more common after such societies made contact with other
cultures, suggesting a hypothesis such as: “Sacrifice is more likely when traditional practices are
threatened.”

We want to stress two crucial features of scientific research: freedom of thought and public
procedures. At every step, it is crucial that the researcher be as open as humanly possible to alternative
ways of focusing and clarifying the problem, collecting and analyzing information, and interpreting
results. Further, the process must be as public as possible. It is not a private game to be played by a
group of insiders. The value of scientific research is that it can be replicated (i.e., repeated) by anyone
interested in doing so.

The general order of the scientific method, then, is as follows:

• Identifying a problem or question

• Clarifying the problem
• Determining the information needed and how to obtain it
• Organizing the information
• Interpreting the results

In short, the essence of all research originates in curiosity—a desire to find out how and why
things.

*This is not to imply that replicating a study is a simple matter. It may require resources and
training—and it may be impossible to repeat any study in exactly the same way it was done originally.
The important principle, however, is that public evidence (as opposed to private experience) is the
criterion for belief.

A common misperception of science fosters the idea that there are fixed, once-and-for-all
answers to particular questions. This contributes to a common, but unfortunate, tendency to accept, and
rigidly adhere to, oversimplify solutions to very complex problems. While certainty is appealing, it is
contradictory to a fundamental premise of science: All conclusions are to be viewed as tentative
and subject to change, should new ideas and new evidence warrant revision. It is particularly important
for educational researchers to keep this in mind, since the demand for final answers from parents,
administrators, teachers, and politicians can often be intense.
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WHAT IS RESEARCH?

Research is by definition original work, a searching to answer a question. The

popular concept of research can involve, for example, just looking up some statistics in a
book. A more formal definition of research would be: Studious inquiry; usually, critical and
exhaustive investigation or experimentation having for its aim the revision of accepted
conclusions, in the light of newly discovered facts (Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary).

Research involves defining the topic, idea, or problem to be solved and forming a
specific question about that topic. The work of other people is examined to see if the
question has ever been researched, or if the work of others can contribute to the new
question. The methodology, or way the work will be done, is set out in steps. The data are
collected, and analyzed (or looked at in detail), and conclusions are reached. This is the
"studious," "critical," and "exhaustive" part of research. The data for research can be from
primary sources, where the researcher observes directly and records events or data. This
type of data has many advantages as to reliability. The researcher knows the kind of effort
put into collecting the data, how the participants in the study were chosen, and something
about the possible biases during the study. The disadvantage of this type of data is that the
process is time consuming and often expensive. With secondary sources, the researcher
uses data reported by others. This approach is less time consuming, but sometimes also
less reliable. For many research questions, both types of data are utilized and for some
questions there are no existing secondary sources of data.

Types of Research
The term research can mean any sort of “careful, systematic, patient study and investigation in
some field of knowledge.

a. Basic research is concerned with clarifying underlying processes, with the

hypothesis usually expressed as a theory. Researchers engaged in basic research studies are
not particularly interested in examining the effectiveness of specific educational practices.
An example of basic research might be an attempt to refine one or more stages of Erickson’s
psychological theory of development.

b. Applied research, on the other hand, is interested in examining the effectiveness of

particular educational practices. Researchers engaged in applied research studies may or may
not want to investigate the degree to which certain theories are useful in practical settings. An
example might be an attempt by a researcher to find out whether a particular theory of how
children learn to read can be applied to first graders who are non-readers. Many studies
combine the two types of research. An example would be a study that examines the effects of
particular teacher behaviors on students while also testing a theory of personality.
 114

Another distinction involves the difference between quantitative and qualitative research.
Quantitative and qualitative methods differ in their assumptions about the purpose of research itself,
methods utilized by researchers, kinds of studies undertaken, the role of the researcher, and the degree
to which generalization is possible.

a. Quantitative researchers usually base their work on the belief that facts and feelings can be
separated, that the world is a single reality made up of facts that can be discovered. Qualitative
researchers, on the other hand, assume that the world is made up of multiple realities, socially
constructed by different individual views of the same situation.

b. When it comes to the purpose of research, quantitative researchers seek to establish

relationships between variables and look for and sometimes explain the causes of such
relationships. Qualitative researchers, on the other hand, are more concerned with understanding
situations and events from the viewpoint of the participants. Accordingly, the participants often
tend to be directly involved in the research process itself.

c. Quantitative research has established widely agreed on general formulations of steps that guide
researchers in their work. Quantitative research designs tend to be pre-established. Qualitative
researchers have a much greater flexibility in both the strategies and techniques they use and the
overall research process itself. Their designs tend to emerge during the course of the research.

Below is an abstract found in the Mountain Journal of Science and Interdisciplinary Research.
Try to see the reason why a research has been made to solve the issue or the concern.

Luis, J. S., Perez, J. C., Backian, G. S., Bawayan, J. T., Kiswa, C. G., & Bodod, C. C. (2015). Quarantine and
Other Important Diseases Affecting Economic Crops in the Cordillera. Mountain Journal of Science and
Interdisciplinary Research (formerly Benguet State University Research Journal), 74, 50-61.

Abstract
The Cordillera Administrative Region provides the ideal environment for the production of planting
materials of semi-temperate vegetables, root crops, beverages, fruits and ornamentals. However, the
presence of degenerative diseases caused by viruses do not only reduce yield in time but also affects the
planting materials produced. Under the quarantine regulations, the movement of planting material from
country of origin to the destination country primarily requires the indexing of plant viruses before they
are transported and planted in the field. Hence, a survey was conducted in Abra, Apayao, Benguet,
Ifugao, Kalinga and Mountain Province to identify and assess the incidence and severity of diseases of
quarantine importance affecting high value [Link] virus diseases, 100% incidence of Tomato Mosaic
Virus (TMV) was recorded in one hectare tomato farm in Bokod, Benguet; Banana Bunchy Top Virus
(BBTV) with 40% incidence at Sablan, Benguet (0.20 ha); 20% in Balbalan, Kalinga (0.03 ha), 30% at
Conner, Apayao (2.5 ha) and 20% in Aguinaldo, Ifugao (1.5 ha); Turnip Yellow Mosaic Virus (TYMV)
in 80% of Chinese cabbage plants (0.20 ha) at Buguias, Benguet;15% incidence of Potato Aucuba
Mosaic Virus (PAMV) in potato at Bauko, Mountain Province (0.25 ha); and 12% incidence of
yellowing, little leaf and mosaic symptoms in coffee seedlings in nurseries in Tublay, Benguet. For
bacterial diseases, 10% incidence of mushroom bacterial blotch (Pseudomonas sp.) was noted in La
Trinidad and Ralstonia solanacearum Race 1 causing bacterial wilt was isolated from seed potatoes
collected in Atok, Benguet. Rose crown gall was known to be a serious problem in white rose in Alno,
La Trinidad, [Link] diseases documented were yam anthracnose, chrysanthemum white rust,
anthurium leaf spot, strawberry leaf spot and berry rot, coffee leaf spot and Fusarium wilt in banana
while those due by fungal-like organisms were potato late blight and taro leaf blight.
 115

What is the problem being addressed?

____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Identify if the following excerpts from abstracts are quantitative or qualitative research. Write
also your reasons. (3 pts per item)

This study examines toknang a locally shared expression of humor among young farmers.
Treated as a folk performance that happens during drinking sessions, it has become an alternative way of
“expressing the self” and for everyday sensing. There are, however, complex interactions and conditions
that happen during the verbal exchange that it becomes a “biting humor,” creating a scenario where
masculinity becomes the object of identity constructions. Using key informant interviews and focus
group discussions, the study aimed to sketch the norms on alcohol drinking and understand the locally
marked sense of humor called toknang among young farmers.

Batani, R. S. (2016). Toknang,“Humor that Bites” Understanding the Subculture of Young Farmers. Mountain
Journal of Science and Interdisciplinary Research (formerly Benguet State University Research Journal), 76, 67-
82.

Approach: ______________________________

Reasons:
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

To improve the performance on English grammar specifically on if-clause statements (unreal

conditionals), the researcher implemented Mobile Learning using an intranet set-up to overcome internet
connectivity problems. MOODLE server was installed on a laptop while students used their mobile
devices to access the interactive content. This study intended to find out whether Mobile Learning
improve the performance of students in appropriately using unreal conditionals. Quasi-experimental
quantitative design with focus groups for validation was utilized. Results confirmed the poor
performance of students on unreal conditionals based on pretest mean scores. Likewise, results revealed
that there is a significant difference between the posttest mean scores of the experimental group and
control group. Furthermore, the effect of Mobile Learning in improving the performance on unreal
conditionals of the experimental group was large. Grade 9 students have difficulty in appropriately using
unreal conditionals, but Mobile Learning can be used to overcome this difficulty.

Ambat, W. L., & Panolong, K. S. (2018). Mobile Learning: Its Effect on the Performance of Grade 9 Students on
Unreal Conditionals. Mountain Journal of Science and Interdisciplinary Research (formerly Benguet State
University Research Journal), 78(2), 137-148.

Approach: ______________________________

Reasons:
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

The study analyzed the five-year performance ratings of the Bachelor in Elementary
Education (BEE) and Bachelor in Secondary Education (BSE) graduates of Benguet State University –
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College of Teacher Education (BSU-CTE) in the Licensure Examinations for Teachers (LET). Using
descriptive research design involving document analysis, the results of nine LET examinations from
April 2010 to March 2015 were analyzed. Findings revealed that the accumulated performance ratings
of the BEE and BSE graduates were high. The general ratings were platykurtic and negatively skewed.
The performance ratings in the August/September schedules were significantly higher than in the
March/April examinations. Further, the college performance ratings surpassed the national passing rate.
In all nine examinations, the first-time takers and the fresh graduates had consistently outperformed the
repeaters and old graduate takers. The Early Childhood Education (BEE-ECED) and the Biological
Sciences (BSE-Bio. Sci.) graduates registered higher passing rates. Percentage passing rates were
highest in the Professional Education area and lowest in the field of specialization. Across all areas and
degrees, the performance ratings of BSU-CTE graduates appeared to be influenced by the number of
takes, time of examination, and specialization.

Botengan, D. F., Bansiong, A. J., & Kudan, R. B. (2018). Five-year Performance of the Teacher Education
Graduates in the Licensure Examination for Teachers. Mountain Journal of Science and Interdisciplinary
Research (formerly Benguet State University Research Journal), 78(1), 49-62.

Approach: ______________________________
Reasons:
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
Guided by the principles of Participatory Communication Theory (Bessette, 2006), this study was
conducted to review and understand the decision-making process of the Kabayan Indigenous Peoples
(IP) community on the proposed 20 Megawatts Kabayan 1 Hydroelectric Power Project (HEPP) of
Hydroelectric Development Corporation (Hedcor) Benguet Inc.. The proposed project was terminated
after the elders/leaders of Kabayan voted against the implementation of the project in a consensus
building held on November 18, 2016. The Hedcor Benguet Inc. has filed for a Motion for
Reconsideration but has consequently withdrawn this to explore other alternatives that maybe favorable
to the community. Further, the results showed that most of the community members through their
elders/leaders participated and joined in the activities in relation to the hydroelectric project initiated by
the NCIP and the community themselves. The participation of the elders/leaders in the said decision-
making was manifested in their active articulation of the community’s stand for their interests and
welfare. Also, external and internal factors affected the decision of the elder/leaders based on individual
understanding and stance on the issue. Several community values were identified in the decision-making
of the participants, which include collectivism, respect, trust, freedom of opinions, environmentalism,
unity, and volunteerism.

Approach: ______________________________
Reasons:
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
Recognizing varied and reallife community learning experiences of students are necessary as they are
continuously deployed by the College of Nursing of Benguet State University for immersion to different
placements. A case study was used as the research approach for this endeavor. Fifty-two reflective
journals were reviewed and twenty-two student nurses participated in the study. Participant reflective
journal reviews, observations, and focus group discussions were used as data collection methods. Using
thematic analysis, four themes emerged from the students’ descriptions of their learning experiences: (1)
unforgettable experiences: being with people; (2) facing challenges; (3) contributions to self and to the
community; and (4) impacts on their lives. Real community health experiences of students should be
treasured in nursing education. These can help identify better strategies in improving community
learning experiences. This study; thus, hopes to provide further evidence-based indications for policy
development to guide support networks working with and for grassroots community stakeholders.
 117

Approach: ______________________________
Reasons:
____________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________

Fraenkel, J. R., Wallen, N. E., & Hyun, H. H. (2015). The nature of research. How to design and evaluate
research in education, 1-26.
Guyette, S. (1983). Community-based research: A handbook for Native Americans (Vol. 1). Los Angeles:
American Indian Studies Center, University of California.

TOPIC 2: PARTS OF A RESEARCH PAPER

Recall the research that you have conducted in senior high school.

What was it all about?

How did you go about the research?
What significant findings can you remember?

Look at the parts of a research in the illustration below. Write on the blanks important points that
should be present in each part of the research.

__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

__________________________________

Now, review the parts of a research paper.

Parts of a Research Paper

Each research is unique but all share several common elements. The following is rather a general
outline.
A. The Preliminaries
Included in this category are the title page, the approval sheet, the acknowledgment page, the table of
contents, the list of tables and figures, and the abstract.
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1. Title Page. This should contain the title of the paper, which is arranged in the inverted pyramid
form; the statement of submission which include the author’s name and the date when the
degree will be earned. Each word of the title should be capitalized and be centered with a title
length which is no more than 12 words. ***All text on the title page is double spaced.
2. Acknowledgments. This part is included in the manuscript to thank the assistance given by the
adviser and the other persons or institutions. It contains the centered heading ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
typed about one or one and a half from the top of the page and the main text which is typed double-
spaced three spaces below the heading.

3. Table of Contents. This part follows the Acknowledgment Page. It includes the main heading in
full capitals and lists down on separate columns the headings and subheadings and their corresponding
pages.

4. List of Tables. The formal tables used in the manuscript are listed down on a separate page
under the main centered head LIST OF TABLES. The tables are listed consecutively with the titles
written on the left side and the pages on the right.

5. List of Figures. If the figures are few, they may be included in the list of tables. But if they are
many, they should be listed on a separate sheet.

6. Abstract. The abstract will provide concise summary of the research in approximately 250 words.
The word “ABSTRACT” should be centered in the paper. There will be no highlighting or underlining.
This is presented before the actual text. This is an interestingly written digest of the significant content
of the report. Is should state briefly the principal findings and the conclusions, and should indicate the
nature of the evidence on which these are based. The research topic, methods, data etc should be
included in the abstract and should be double spaced. At the end of the abstract are the keywords that
highlight words/phrases that are central to the work but are not reflected in the title. The words may be
the fields where your article may be situated (e.g., patient care, cancer, student performance, indigenous
education, etc). It should not be more than ten words/phrases.

Since these are preliminary pages, the pages must be in small Roman numerals written at the bottom
(center) of the page.

B. The Research Proper

The research proper is divided into the following parts: (1) Introduction, (2) Methodology, (3) Results
and Discussions (4) Conclusion and Recommendation, (5) Literature Cited , and (6) Appendix.

1. Introduction. The introduction gives adequate information on the nature/ background of the
problem of the study, the conceptual/theoretical framework, importance of the study, and objectives of
the study. This first chapter clearly states what the purpose of the study is and explains the study's
significance. The significance is addressed by discussing how the study adds to the theoretical body of
knowledge in the field and the study's practical significance for communication professionals in the field
being examined. Students also must explain how their research makes an original contribution to the
body of knowledge in their discipline. It is especially critical that this chapter be well developed.
Without a clearly defined purpose and strong theoretical grounding, the thesis is fundamentally flawed
from the outset.

To provide enough authoritative background on the study, and to show a link between the present
study and all other previous studies on the same or related subject, a review of literature is necessary.
This however, should not merely string together what other researchers have found. Rather, it should
discuss and analyze the body of knowledge with the ultimate goal of determining what is known and is
not known about the topic.
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2. Methodology. This chapter describes and justifies the data gathering method used. It outlines
how data is analyzed. It starts with a description of the method the researcher chose and why this
method was the most appropriate. Next are the detailed steps of the data gathering and analysis process.
Although this section varies depending on method and analysis technique chosen, many of the following
areas typically are addressed: description of research design, description of population and description of
and justification for type of sample used or method for selecting units of observation, development of
instrument or method for making observations, administration of instrument or method for making
observations (e.g., interviews, observation, content analysis), and statistical analysis and tests performed.

The parts of the methodology are: Research Design, Population and Locale of the Study, Data Gathering
Tools, Data Gathering Procedure, and Treatment of Data.

3. Results and Discussions. This chapter discusses a detailed description of the actual findings and
a discussion of the author’s interpretations of the data. The implications of the data analysis should also
be mentioned and corroborated with the theoretical framework introduced in the literature review. In
some cases, you may need to introduce new literature.

4. Conclusion and Recommendation. This part follows the discussion of the results. It includes
the conclusions arrived at and some suggestions for further investigation in some or related fields. Areas
for future research then are proposed.

5. Literature Cited. Literature Cited should begin on a new page separate from the text of the
research; label this page "LITERATURE CITED" centered at the top of the page. This lists down the
references used in the study. It provides the information necessary for a reader to locate and retrieve any
source you cite in the body of the paper. Each source you cite in the paper must appear in your reference
list; likewise, each entry in the reference list must be cited in your text. Entries in this part are arranged
alphabetically.

6. Appendix. This part contains the long tables, complicated figures, and other supplementary
materials which are necessary but cannot be included in the body.

Read the research below and take note of the different parts of the research.

FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS’ SPEAKING PERFORMANCE AT LE

THANH HIEN HIGH SCHOOL

Nguyen Hoang Tuan Tran Ngoc Mai

University of Thu Dau Mot University of Thu Dau Mot
VIETNAM VIETNAM

ABSTRACT

Spoken language production is often considered one of the most difficult aspects of language
learning (Brown & Yule, 1983). In reality, many language learners find it difficult to express
themselves in spoken language in the target language. Each student has their own problems. The
purpose of this study was to investigate the speaking problems of the students at Le Thanh Hien
High School and the factors affecting their speaking performance. The subjects of the study
were two hundred and three grade 11 students and ten teachers of English. The research
instruments used in this study were questionnaires and class observation. Based on the research
findings some recommendations were made. The study was expected to help students improve
their performance in speaking classes.

Keywords: Communicative competence, speaking performance, speaking problems.

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INTRODUCTION

Speaking seems to be the most important skills of all the four skills (listening, speaking, reading
and writing) because people who know a language are usually referred to as speakers of that
language (Ur, 1996). The major goal of all English language teaching should be to give learners
the ability to use English effectively, accurately in communication (Davies & Pearse, 1998).
However, not all language learners after many years studying English can communicate fluently
and accurately because they lack necessary knowledge.

At Le Thanh Hien High School, the students are not good at English. They can pass exams
easily but they find it difficult to use English to communicate. To help the students improve
their speaking skills, it is necessary to find ways to help them overcome their problems.
Moreover, the teachers need to know the factors that affect their students’ speaking performance
so that they can deal with these factors to help the students improve their speaking performance.
However, until now, there is no research conducted at this school about these areas.

The current study addresses two issues:

1. What are the problems that the students at Le Thanh Hien High School encounter when
they learn to speak English?
2. What are the factors that affect their speaking performance?

LITERATURE REVIEW

Communicative competence

We need linguistic competence, an adequate vocabulary and mastery of syntax to speak in

another language (Nunan, 1999). However, linguistic competence is not sufficient for someone
who wants to communicate competently in another language. According to Nunan (1999), the
speaker needs communicative competence which includes not only linguistic competence but
also a range of other sociolinguistic and conversational skills which help him/ her know how to
say what to whom and when. Johnson (1995) claims that the second language students need
communicative competence to participate in and learn from their classroom experience.

At first, communicative competence was categorized into three components including

grammatical competence, sociolinguistic competence and strategic competence by Canale and
Swain in 1980. Then, in 1983 Canale and Swain add the fourth component named discourse
competence (Kumaravadivelu, 2006). In the Common European Framework (2001),
communicative competence is said to have only three components including linguistic
competence, sociolinguistic competence and pragmatic competence. In this study,
communicative competence is described with four components including linguistic competence,
sociolinguistic competence, pragmatic competence and strategic competence.

Factors affecting speaking performance

In order to help students overcome problems in learning speaking, it is necessary for the
teachers to figure out factors that affect their speaking performance. Students’ speaking
performance can be affected by the factors that come from performance conditions (time
pressure, planning, standard of performance and amount of support), affective factors (such as
motivation, confidence and anxiety), listening ability and feedback during speaking activities.

Performance conditions
Students perform a speaking task under a variety of conditions. Nation & Newton (2009) believe
 121

that performance conditions can affect speaking performance. The four types of performance
conditions that Nation & Newton (2009) suggest include time pressure, planning, the standard of
performance and the amount of support.

Affective factors
One of the most important influences on language learning success or failure is probably the
affective side of the learner (Oxford, 1990). Krashen (1982) states that a variety of affective
variables has been confirmed to be related to success in second language acquisition in research
over the last decade but most of those studies examined the three categories: motivation, self-
confidence and anxiety.

Listening ability
Speaking skills cannot be developed unless we develop listening skills (Doff, 1998). Students
must understand what is said to them to have a successful conversation. Shumin (1997) shares
the ideas of Doff (1998) by stating that when one person speaks, the other responds through
attending by means of the listening process. In fact, every speaker plays the role of both a
listener and a speaker. Therefore, one is certainly unable to respond if he/ she cannot understand
what is said. It means speaking is closely related to listening.

Topical knowledge
Topical knowledge is defined as knowledge structures in long-term memory (Bachman &
Palmer, 1996). In other words, topical knowledge is the speakers’ knowledge of relevant topical
information. The information that topical knowledge provides enables learners to use language
with reference to the world in which they live. Bachman & Palmer (1996) state certain test tasks
may be easier for those who possess the relevant topical knowledge and more difficult for those
who do not. Bachman & Palmer (1996) believe that topical knowledge has effects on speaking
performance.

Feedback during speaking activities

Most students want and expect their teachers to give them feedback on their performance.
However, all speaking production should not be dealt with in the same way. Harmer (1991)
asserts that the decisions that the teachers make about how to react to students’ performance will
depend upon the stages of the lesson, the activities, the types of mistake made and the particular
student who is making that mistake. If the teachers correct whenever there is a problem, the
conversational flow as well as the purpose of the speaking activity will be destroyed (Harmer,
1991). If the students are corrected all the time, they can find this very demotivating and become
afraid to speak. They suggest that the teachers should always correct the students’ mistakes
positively and with encouragement (Baker & Westrup, 2003).

Speaking problems

For Ur (1996), there are some speaking problems that teachers can come across in getting
students to talk in the classroom. These are: inhibition, lack of topical knowledge, low or uneven
participation and mother-tongue use.

The first problem that the students often encounter is inhibition. When students try to say things
in a foreign language in the classroom they are often inhibited. They are worried about making
mistakes, fearful of criticism or losing face. They are shy of the attention that their speech
attracts. Littlewood (2007) asserts that a foreign language classroom to can create inhibitions
and anxiety easily.

Secondly, learners often complain that they cannot think of anything to say and they have no
motivation to express themselves. Rivers (1968) believes that the learners have nothing to
express maybe because the teacher had chosen a topic which is not suitable for him or about
which he knows very little. It is difficult for many students to respond when the teachers ask
them to say something in a foreign language because they might have little ideas about what to
say, which vocabulary to use, or how to use the grammar correctly (Baker & Westrup, 2003).
 122

Another problem in speaking class is that participation is low or uneven. In a large group, each
student will have very little talking time because only one participant can talk at a time so that
the others can hear him/her. There is a tendency of some learners to dominate while others speak
very little or not at all.

Finally, when all or a number of learners share the same mother-tongue, they tend to use it
because it is easier for them. Harmer (1991) suggests some reasons why students use mother-
tongue in class. Firstly, when the students are asked to have a discussion about a topic that they
are incapable of, if they want to say anything about the topic, they will use their own language.
Another reason is that the use of mother- tongue is a natural thing to do. In addition, using the
first language to explain something to another if there is no encouragement from the teachers.
Finally, if teachers frequently use the students’ language, the students will feel comfortable to do
it.

Previous studies

In this part of the study, some previous studies relating to this study will be reviewed. These
studies were carried out to identify the factors affecting students’ speaking performance and
students’ speaking problems.

Park & Lee (2005) examine the relationships between second language learners’ anxiety, self-
confidence and speaking performance. The participants of their study were one hundred and
thirty two Korean college students who enrolled the English conversation classes. The results of
their study indicated that learners’ anxiety level was negatively related to their oral performance.
Tanveer (2007) investigates the factors that cause language anxiety for twenty language learners
in learning speaking skills and the influence of anxiety on communication in the target language
and his result is similar to what Park & Lee (2005) figure out. The findings suggested that
students’ feeling of stress, anxiety or nervousness may impede their language learning and
performance abilities. He cites that “the higher the anxiety, the lower the performance”.

MacIntyre, Clément, Dörnyei, & Noels (1998) studied the effects of self-confidence on oral
performance. The results of their study showed that the learners’ willingness to communicate
was determined partly by their self-confidence. Park & Lee (2005) also examined the
relationships between L2 learners’ anxiety, self-confidence and oral performance. They reached
a conclusion that self-confidence affected significantly on L2 learners’ oral performance. They
stated that if the learners were more confident, they would have better oral performance.

Feyten (1991) conducted a study to examine whether there is a relationship between listening
ability and foreign language proficiency, between listening ability and foreign language
listening comprehension skills, and between listening ability and foreign language oral
proficiency skills. The results show that there is a significant relationship between listening
ability and foreign language proficiency; between listening ability and foreign language
listening comprehension skills; and between listening ability and foreign language oral
proficiency skills. Bozorgian (2012) carried out a study to examine the relationship of listening
skill with other language skills. The results of his study indicate a close correlation between
listening comprehension and language proficiency. He states that the higher the listening score,
the better the speaking score.

Lukitasari (2008) conducted a study focusing on the students’ strategies in overcoming speaking
problems in speaking class. The population of her study was the first semester students of
Muhammadiyah University of Malang in Indonesia. The results of her study suggest that in
speaking class, the students faced some speaking problems including inhibition, nothing to say,
low or uneven participation and mother tongue use. The findings of the study also reveal that the
students’ speaking performance was not good because they did not master the three elements of
speaking namely vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation.

METHODOLOGY
Participants of the study
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The participants of the study are the grade 11 students and 10 teachers of English at Le Thanh
Hien High School. There were ten grade 11 classes at Le Thanh Hien High School, from 11B1
to 11B10. In order to get data for the study, two hundred and three students of five grade 11
classes were chosen to answer the questionnaires.

Instrument

The research instruments employed to collect data for this study were questionnaires and class
observation. The questionnaires were delivered to both the ten teachers of English and the grade
11 students. The teachers’ questionnaires consisted of 10 closed-questions designed in English
(see appendix A). The students’ questions consisted of 10 closed-questions designed in English
(see appendix B).

Together with questionnaires, the researcher used class observation to see how the teachers
carried out speaking lessons, how the students performed and what problems the students really
encountered in speaking lessons. The researcher observed two classes, 2 periods for each class.
Everything observed, heard, and experienced during class observation was recorded carefully in
detail in the following observation sheet.

Time Content Teacher’s activities Students’ activities

1. Warm up
2. Pre-speaking
3. While-speaking
4. Post- speaking
5. Homework

Procedure for conducting the questionnaire survey

The questionnaires were designed, and then the students’ questionnaire was translated into
Vietnamese. The researcher asked Doctor Nguyen Hoang Tuan for his comments on the
questionnaire to validate it. Then the questionnaire was revised. On the first of August, two
hundred and three sheets of questionnaire were delivered to the grade 11 students of five classes
at Le Thanh Hien High School fifteen minutes before the classes began. The researcher
explained clearly the purposes of administering the questionnaire which were to find the
students’ speaking problems, the factors affecting their performance and to find ways to improve
the students’ speaking skills. Then the teachers instructed the students to complete it. On the
same day, ten sheets of teachers’ questionnaire were distributed to ten teachers of English in
their twenty- minute break at the staff room. Oral instructions and explanations were given in
detail to the teachers by the researcher before they answered the questionnaire to avoid any
misunderstandings. Then, completed questionnaires were collected.

Procedure for conducting the class observation

The researcher first designed the classroom observation sheet. Class observation took place
three weeks after the questionnaire survey had been administered. The researcher observed two
out of five classes which had been distributed the questionnaire by writing the names of these
five classes into five small pieces of paper and chose randomly two pieces of paper from five.
Then, the researcher observed these two classes. After asking for permission from the teachers
who were in charge of these two classes, the researcher observed each class in two periods (90
minutes).

Data analysis procedure

The quantitative data derived from the questionnaires were analyzed using Excel program. In
order to answer the two research questions, the descriptive statistics of frequencies and
percentages were used. The qualitative data were derived from the class observation. What
happened in every class observed were described in detail. The researcher also discussed the
strong and weak points of these classes.
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RESULTS
Questionnaire results

What are the factors that affect their speaking performance?

Factors affecting students’ speaking performance

Feedback during speaking activities 7

8
Listening ability
9
Topical knowledge
5

Anxiety 7
8
Confidence

Motivation to 5
4
speak Listeners’

support
2
4
Pressure to perform well 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time for

preparation

Time allowed to perform a speaking

The majority of the teachers
task (90%) agreed that topical knowledge affected students’ speaking
performance. 80% of the teachers thought that listening ability had influences on students’
speaking performance. The same number of teachers (eight out of ten) viewed motivation to
speak as important factors that influenced students’ speaking performance. 70% of the teachers
referred feedback during speaking activities and confidence as factors that affected speaking
performance. 40% of the teachers thought that time for preparation and pressure to perform well
also affected their students’ speaking performance. Only two teachers believed that their
students’ speaking performance was affected by time allowed to perform a speaking task.

Factors affecting students' speaking performance

93
Feedback during speaking activities
151
Listening ability

Topical knowledge
164

Anxiety

Confidence
80
Motivation to speak

Listeners’ support
126
Pressure to perform well

Time for preparation

84
Time allowed to perform a speaking task

83

When the students were asked to choose the factors affecting their speaking performance among
96

54
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the factors listed, nearly half of them (47%) viewed the pressure to perform well as the most
influential factor. 40% of the students thought that anxiety could affect their speaking
performance. 38% of them agreed that time allowed to perform a speaking task could affect the
results. Topical knowledge was thought to be an affecting factor by 81% of the students. 41% of
them thought that motivation to speak could influence their speaking performance. 62% of the
students said that confidence affected their speaking performance. Only a small number of the
students (27%) thought that time for preparation could affect their performance.

In summary, the results indicated that there were a variety of factors that affect the students’
speaking performance. A majority of the teachers said that the students’ speaking performance
was affected by topical knowledge. The next two important factors mentioned were listening
ability and motivation to speak. Besides, the teachers’ feedback during speaking activities also
was also reported to affect the students’ speaking performance. Finally, confidence was
considered to be a factor that had influence on students’ performance.

The results from student questionnaire were quite similar to those of the teachers, most of the
students thought that their speaking performance was affected by topical knowledge. The next
important factor was listening ability. In addition, the students thought that they needed to be
confident to perform well. Last but not least, the students reported that their performance was
also affected by feedback during speaking activities and the pressure to perform well.

What are the problems that the students at Le Thanh Hien High School encounter when
they learn speaking?

Students' speaking problems

They are shy. 5

Theyuse Vietnamese. 8
10
They speak very little or not at all. 8
They have no motivation to express 9
themselves. They cannot think of anything to 7
say. 6

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
They are fearfulof criticismor losing face.

They are worried about making mistakes.

The teachers were asked to choose the speaking problems that their students encountered. There
were seven problems provided for the teachers to choose from. All the teachers agreed that their
students spoke very little or not at all in speaking class. 90% of the teachers thought that their
students could not think of anything to say. 80% of the teachers stated that their students often
used Vietnamese instead of English in English lessons. The same number of teachers (eight out
of ten) believed that the students had no motivation to express themselves in English. For seven
teachers, the students were fearful of criticism or losing face. 60% of the teachers claimed that
the students were worried about making mistakes. Half of the teachers said that in speaking
class, the students were shy.
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Speaking problems

98
You are shy. You
143
useVietnamese.

You speak verylittleor not at all. You 150

123
have no motivation to express yourselves. You
145
cannot think of anything to say.

56
You are fearful of criticism or losing face.
148
You are worried about making mistakes.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150

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When being asked about which problems they encountered in speaking classes, a
majority of the students (74%) highly agreed on the fact that they spoke very little or not
at all. 73% of the students were worried about making mistakes when speaking English.
71% of them reported that they could not think of anything to say. 70 % of the students
said that they often used Vietnamese in speaking classes. 61 % of the students claimed
that they had no motivation to express themselves in speaking class. When taking part in
speaking activities, 48% of the students were shy of the attention that their speech
attracted. 28 % of them agreed that they were fearful of criticism or losing face.

In brief, the findings from the questionnaires delivered to both the teachers and the
students showed that when the students learn speaking, they encountered many problems.
According to the teachers, the most common speaking problem was that the students
spoke very little or nothing in speaking classes. Most of the teachers said that the students
could not think of anything to say. Moreover, they often used Vietnamese and they had
no motivation to express themselves. The results from student questionnaire were nearly
the same as from the teacher questionnaire. The students reported that they spoke very
little or nothing in speaking class. Most of the time, they could not think of anything to
say so they used Vietnamese. A significant number of students also claimed that they
were fearful of criticism or losing face. They had no motivation to use English to express
themselves.

Observation results

Class observations were carried out to see how students really performed and what
problems they had in speaking classes. The following problems are the most common
ones in the classes observed:

(1) The students were not given enough time to prepare for a speaking task before the
task was performed and to perform their task.
(2) When the students were asked to work in groups, not all of them were eager to
contribute their opinions in English. Some of them participated actively but the
others spoke very little or not at all.
(3) They tended to use Vietnamese when they discussed in groups.
(4) While the students were making performances, the other students in class did
not listen attentively. They even chatted with the people next to them when their
classmates were speaking.
(5) The students looked very nervous when they spoke in front of the class.
Sometimes, they did not know what to say and kept silent.
(6) They read what they had written on a piece of paper. They did not remember the
structures and vocabulary to speak naturally.
(7) Whenever the students made mistakes, the teacher stopped them and corrected the
mistakes.
(8) The students had to do a lot of things in a forty-five-minute period. They were
always in a hurry because they were given limited time for every task.
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DISCUSSION

Generally speaking, there was a consistent among data from teachers’ questionnaire,
students’ questionnaire and class observation.

The factors that affect students’ speaking performance

With regard to the first research question, the results indicated that there were a variety of
factors that affect the students’ speaking performance. A majority of the teachers said that
the students’ speaking performance was affected by topical knowledge. The next two
important factors mentioned were listening ability and motivation to speak. Besides, the
teachers’ feedback during speaking activities also was also reported to affect the students’
speaking performance. Finally, confidence was considered to be a factor that had
influence on students’ performance.

The results from student questionnaire were quite similar to those of the teachers, most of
the students thought that their speaking performance was affected by topical knowledge.
The next important factor was listening ability. In addition, the students thought that they
needed to be confident to perform well. Last but not least, the students reported that their
performance was also affected by feedback during speaking activities and the pressure to
perform well.

The data from class observations revealed that the students’ speaking performance is also
affected by time for preparation. In all the four lessons observed, the students were given
little time to prepare so their performance was not good

The problems that the students at Le Thanh Hien High School encounter when they
learn speaking

In the current study, the findings from the questionnaires delivered to both the teachers
and the students showed that when the students learn speaking, they encountered many
problems. According to the teachers, the most common speaking problem was that the
students spoke very little or nothing in speaking classes. Most of the teachers said that the
students could not think of anything to say. Moreover, they often used Vietnamese and
they had no motivation to express themselves. The results from student questionnaire
were nearly the same as from the teachers’ questionnaire. The students reported that they
spoke very little or nothing in speaking class. Most of the time, they could not think of
anything to say so they used Vietnamese. A significant number of students also claimed
that they were fearful of criticism or losing face. They had no motivation to use English
to express themselves.

Some more speaking problems that the students encountered in the classrooms observed
were also recorded. The first problem was that the students often translated the
information in the textbook into Vietnamese before they did the tasks. The second
problem was that most of the students’ speaking performance sounded unnatural because
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they did not remember the structures and vocabulary when they spoke. They just looked
at their book and read. Furthermore, uneven participation in all the lessons observed was
also considered to be another problem. Some students participated in the classroom
activities actively while the others did it unwillingly.

In general, from the results of the investigation, it was evident that the students
encountered many problems in the speaking class. Moreover, there were many factors
that contributed to their success and failure in performing speaking tasks. On the whole,
the current teaching and learning of speaking skills at Le Thanh Hien High School
needed to be improved.

CONCLUSIONS
As mentioned earlier, this study aimed to investigate the problems that the students at Le
Thanh Hien High School experienced in speaking lessons and the factors affecting their
speaking performance. The results of the study indicate that the students faced many
problems such as (1) they spoke very little or not at all; (2) they could not think of
anything to say; (3) they used Vietnamese instead of English when they discuss in
groups or in pairs;
(4) their participation was low or uneven; (5) they did not have motivation to express
themselves; (6) they were fearful of criticism or losing face; (7) they had a habit of
translate the information in the textbook into Vietnamese before they speak; (8) they
looked at their textbook when they speak. The results also show that there were many
factors affecting students speaking performance as follow: (1) topical knowledge; (2)
listening ability; (3) motivation to speak; (4) teachers’ feedback during speaking
activities; (5) confidence; (6) pressure to perform well and (7) time for preparation.

Basing on the results of the study, some recommendations were made for both the
teachers and the students at Le Thanh Hien High School. As for the teachers, they should
first improve the performance conditions by giving their students time to prepare for a
speaking task, teaching the students how to use mind map to generate ideas and giving
students enough time to perform their tasks. Secondly, they should help their students
overcome inhibition and shyness by having friendly, helpful and cooperative behaviors to
make students feel comfortable when speaking in the class, reminding students not to
worry about making mistakes and giving them clear instructions and sufficient guidance.
Thirdly, the teacher should personalize and simplify the topics in the textbook to make
them easier, more interesting and relevant to their lives. Moreover, speaking skills should
be included in tests and exams because the students will be more motivated to learn
speaking skills because they are tested. Another suggestion is that the teachers should
give students more opportunities to speak English in class by using some speaking
activities that require students to speak. Furthermore, the teachers should decide carefully
when and how to correct the students’ mistakes so that the students are not fearful of
making mistakes and the flow of the students’ conversation is not destroyed. In addition,
the teacher should encourage students to participate in speaking activities. Finally, the
teachers should create an English speaking environment by encouraging the students to
use English in the classroom to make it a habit, letting them watching films or videos in
 130

English and the teachers should also use English in the classroom frequently so that the
students have more exposure to the language.

As for the students, they should first understand the importance of speaking skills. Their
awareness of their studies may result in their motivation for learning. Secondly, they
should practice speaking English outside the classroom more often by doing the speaking
tasks in the textbook at home with their classmates, joining speaking club where they can
use English to communicate and speaking on their own in front of a mirror. Finally, they
should use English in the class instead of Vietnamese to make it a habit.

Hopefully, the study can contribute to the improvement of English teaching and learning
at Le Thanh Hien High School.

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Based on your reading of the research, provide answers to the questions

asked.

Collaborate with a classmate to discuss your answer.

1. INTRODUCTION
What is the purpose of the study?

What problem has not been solved or not

thought about in previous researches that
led to this study?
What is the research
question/objective?
Are there underlying theories that ground
the research? If so, what are these?
2. METHODOLOGY
Name the research design.

Who are the respondents in the study?

What are the criteria to be participants?
How were the data gathered? What
instrument/s was/were used?
What is the procedure in the conduct of
the research?
Are there statistical treatments used?
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
What are the results of the study? Answer
per problem?

What theory/concepts support the

findings?
4. CONCLUSIONS and RECOMMENDATIONS
What conclusions are derived from the
study?
Are there recommendations?
Are there implications in the learning
process?
5. LITERATURE CITED
Is it properly referenced? Explain.
 133

The abstract is a summative statement of a research. It composes of about 100 –

150 words and preferably one paragraph to contain the gist of the research.
According to Brown (1988), it contains the following:

A. Statement of the topic

B. Purpose of the article
C. Description of the participants
D. List of materials and explanation
E. Statistical analyses
F. Summary of result
G. Implications for the field

In the following research abstracts, identify the numbered lines according to contents
identified by Brown (1988). Use the letter as answers. The first one is done for you. (Graded)

Research 1: Tagalog or Taglish: the Lingua Franca of Filipino Urban Factory Workers

1. The present study aims to investigate the preferred medium of communication among
Filipino factory labor workers. 2. A total of 28 labor workers (22 male and 6 female) were
observed for three months dating from November 2011 to January 2012. 3. Additionally,
five of them were informally interviewed. 4. An audio -recorder was further used after the
aforementioned duration of the study so as to make the findings more consistent, valid,
and reliable. 5. The results found that they favor the use of Tagalog as their primary
medium of communication when conversing among themselves, their peers, and their
respective families. 6. The results would also reveal that their main reason for using the
aforementioned language when communicating with others is that they would like to be
socially accepted within their social group.

Keywords: Language and society, bilingual communities, code switching, lexical

borrowing, Taglish
Sentence 1. ____A__________________ Sentence 4. _______D____________
Sentence 2. ____C__________________ Sentence 5. _______F____________
Sentence 3. ____C_________________ Sentence 6. _______F____________

Research 2: The Expression of Emotions in 20th Century Books

1. We report here trends in the usage of ‘‘mood’’ words, that is, words carrying
emotional content, in 20th century English language books, using the data set
provided by Google that includes word frequencies in roughly 4% of all books
published up to the year 2008.

2. We find evidence for distinct historical periods of positive and negative moods,
underlain by a general decrease in the use of emotion-related words through time. 3.
Finally, we show that, in books, American English has become decidedly more
 134

‘‘emotional’’ than British English in the last half-century, as a part of a more general
increase of the stylistic
divergence between the two variants of English language

Sentence 1. ______________________ Sentence 3. ______________________

Sentence 2. ______________________

Research 3: The Kalamazoo Promise and Perceived Changes in Teacher Beliefs,

Expectations, and Behaviors

1. High teacher expectations are an essential component of quality education and are
known to lead to positive outcomes for students. 2. The authors examined perceived
changes in teacher beliefs, expectations, and behaviors that result from the
introduction of the Kalamazoo Promise, a universal postsecondary scholarship
program. 3. These perceptions were accessed through interpretive interviews with
principals, counselors, teachers, and through interviews and surveys with students in
the school district. 4. Educators and students reported marked improvements in
teacher attitudes and behaviors since the announcement of the Kalamazoo Promise. 5.
The authors discuss the implications of research findings and the potential of this
scholarship program as a catalyst for systemic change in the district.

Sentence 1. ______________________ Sentence 4. ______________________

Sentence 2. ______________________ Sentence 5. ______________________
Sentence 3. ______________________

Research 4: Examining the Usage of “actually” and “in fact” in Philippine English
through a Corpus-based Analysis

1. The objective of this study is to give further evidence regarding the meaning and
function of actually and in fact by identifying their usage in Philippine English to
extend the deployment of signifying in bilingual/multilingual contexts. 2. The data
analyzed in this study are taken from ICE-PHI corpus. [Link] study is helpful for
Philippine-ESL teachers and learners in understanding how linguistic markers, such as
actually and in fact, are applied in their own English variety when processing different
types of discourses in view of effective communication. 4. All occurrences of actually
and in fact were identified and counted using Wordsmith Tools. 5. These tokens were
further classified according to their position within an utterance. 6. One hundred
tokens each of actually and in fact were randomly selected and analyzed, taking into
account the full context in which each token appears, in order to find out consistent
patterns concerning the distribution and/or usage of actually and in fact in discourse.
7. The findings were compared to the American corpora (AmC) analyzed by Oh
(2000). 8. The results show that there are both parallelisms and variations between
ICE-PHI and AmC.
 135

Keywords: Outer-circle English variety, utterance position, discourse marker, usage,

genre

Sentence 1. ______________________ Sentence 5. ______________________

Sentence 2. ______________________ Sentence 6. ______________________
Sentence 3. ______________________ Sentence 7. ______________________
Sentence 4. ______________________ Sentence 8. ______________________

Research 5: CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE USED IN NAVAL

ARCHITECTURE ADVERTISING

1. Nowadays advertising in naval architecture is meant to persuade a client to purchase

products, ideas, services etc. 2. The main function of advertisements is to create
desires, emotions, feelings, values, attitudes towards the products in its viewers
(possible customers). 3. This paper gives an overall analysis of the advertisement in
naval architecture from the aspects of language levels (graphological, lexical,
syntactic, grammatical, and semantic) and textual analysis (the layout and the
paragraph).4. This paper can help readers better understand and appreciate the
language of naval architecture advertisements.

Keywords: advertising, naval architecture; lexical, syntactic, grammatical, semantic

features

Sentence 1. ______________________ Sentence 3. ______________________

Sentence 2. ______________________ Sentence 4. ______________________

Research 6: Ano ba talaga ang “ano”?: Exploring the meanings of “ano” in conversations

By Irish C. Sioson De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines St. Scholastica‟s College,

Manila, Philippines

Abstract
1. The study explores the different functions of the Tagalog word “ano” in
conversations. 2. Results show that “ano”, though conventionally means the
interrogative pronoun “what” in English, serves other functions, which further
supports the multifunctionality view of any language behavior (Condon, 2001). 3.
The study found out that “ano” functions frequently as a gap filler in
conversations, followed by the use of the interrogative pronoun “what”, then by
substitution, expression of hesitation, tag questions and , finally, expression of
irritation. 4. The gap-filling function of “ano” may provide insights on the
different factors involved in conversations and could be seen as an effect of the
speaker’s effort to make the message clearer. 5. Implications for language teaching
and learning and second language research have then been drawn.
 136

Keywords: conversational context, Philippine English, co-operative principle,

conversational implicature, semantic primitives
Sentence 1. ______________________ Sentence 4. ______________________
Sentence 2. ______________________ Sentence 5. ______________________
Sentence 3. ______________________

TOPIC 3: REFERENCING

So many times, your teacher might have reminded you to avoid the
“copy –and-paste” method. This means that when you are going to write
which is not your original idea or you read it from a source then you have
to cite it properly.
In your curriculum in the senior high school, you were introduced to the concepts
of research either in the qualitative or quantitative approach. Do you remember your
research undertaking experience? How was it? What were the sources of information of
your research? Take a look at your research paper and look for the statements that were
not originally from you and check whether you have placed in the reference page.

WHY REFERENCING IS IMPORTANT

• Citations give credit to the person whose ideas or words we are using. Whenever we use
sources such as books, journals, web sites, or images in our research, we must give credit to
the original author by citing the source.
• Citations also add strength and authority to our work. By citing our sources we are placing
our work in a specific context to show where the sources “fit” within the larger conversation.
• Citations also give our readers the information they need to find that source again,
providing an important guide to our research and writing process.

Although many people think citing sources is only needed in school papers, projects, and
presentations, it is possible that we may have future jobs which require research. We may need to
research a topic for a boss and provide a presentation they can use at an upcoming meeting. Or
we may have a job that requires us to do research and publish our results. Proper citations are
necessary to provide our boss or readers with information about which resources we used and
where they can find them, if needed.
 137

APA Citations Explained

When we're writing a paper, giving a speech, or preparing a presentation, we must make it
clear what information is our own idea and what information comes from other sources. We
use citations for this purpose.
There are two places citations are used: in the text of the paper or presentation and in a
References page at then end of the paper or presentation. (Note: In a speech, we verbally state our
source in brief format, and then we include a References list with the outline submitted to the
instructor.)
The in-text citation (also called a parenthetical citation) is a short visual cue in the paper
or presentation that lets the reader know they will find a fuller citation in the References page at
the end. The in-text citation includes the author(s) and the year the information was produced. If
we use a direct quotation, we also include the page number(s) if page numbers are available.
(Web pages do not have page numbers so we can either not include a page number at all or use a
paragraph number.)
The longer citation in the References page is called a bibliographic citation and it tells us
all of the necessary information to find that source, should we want to. Bibliographic citations in
APA style always start with an author's (or creator's) last name, unless there is no author and then
the citation starts with the title of the work we're citing. The References page goes at the end of
our research paper, project, or presentation, and it includes a detailed list of sources we used in
our paper.
The example below shows what an APA in-text citation looks like, and what the
corresponding References page bibliographic citation looks like. Notice that the in-text citation
must include the same author information as the longer bibliographic citation in the References
list so that our reader can easily find it.
 138

HOW TO CREATE AN IN-TEXT CITATION

One critical step to follow is to make sure that our in-text citations match the author
name(s), or title when no author is listed, of the corresponding bibliographic citation that will go
in the Reference list. Therefore, it's easiest to create the bibliographic citation first, so we know
what name or title we should use in the in-text citation.
Sample bibliographic citation for the References list:
Howard, J. (2009). Anger over style guide's errors prompts publisher to offer
replacements. Chronicle of Higher Education, 56(11), A10.
Once we have the bibliographic citation, we can create our in-text citation. We can either
incorporate the author's last name into the sentence itself, or place the author's name in the
parentheses with the date, and page number for a direct quote. You can see examples of each of
these options below. Note that these examples have the in-text citations bolded to show us what
they look like as part of a sentence, but in our own papers, we would not bold our in-text
citations.
In-text citation example for a quotation:

• According to Howard (2009), "There was disquiet about the number of errors in the
book" (p. A10).
 139

• She stated, "There was disquiet about the number of errors in the book," but she did not
offer an explanation as to why they occurred (Howard, 2009, p. A10).

In-text citation example for a paraphrase or summary:

• Howard (2009) compared the updated style guide ...

• In a recent study of style guide updates (Howard, 2009), ...

It may seem like busy work to cite all of our sources for a research project, but it's absolutely
necessary for several reasons:

• to give credit to the original author or creator

• to add strength and authority to our work
• to place our work in a specific research context
• to leave a trail for others in case they want to follow our research.

• There are two places citations are used:

▪ The in-text citation goes in the text of the paper or presentation

▪ The bibliographic citation goes in a References page at then end of the paper or
presentation.

• In-text citations in APA style include the author's last name(s), the publication year, and
the page number for direct quotations.
• We should integrate quotations, paraphrases, and summaries into our writing using signal
phrases. Depending on how we do this, the in-text citation might also be integrated into a
sentence, or it might appear at the end of the sentence.
• Reference pages include all of our sources with the following formatting:

▪ Each bibliographic citation starts with the author's last name, or title if there is no
author
▪ Each bibliographic citation is indented using a hanging indent
▪ The entire References page is organized alphabetically and double-spaced.

In the next pages, the format as to bibliographic referencing is presented. As there are
many resources that we can use, there are also different formats for each source.
140
141
142
 143

Practice your skills in referencing.

A. Put the following in alphabetical order.

ULEAC (1991). Certificate of attainment in English: General information. University of London

Examinations and Assessment Council.

Wong, R., Glendinning, E. & Mantell, H. (1994). Becoming a writer. Longman.

University of Hertfordshire (1 September, 1996). University policies and regulations:

Applications and admissions, number 14.1: Appendix II. University of Hertfordshire.

University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (1995). English as a Foreign

Language examination, certificates and diplomas: Regulations 1995. UCLES.

Walker, T. (1992). English for academic purposes - computer science. Prentice Hall.

Yates, C. St. J. (1992). English for academic purposes - Agriculture. Prentice Hall.

Zimmerman, F. (1989). English for science. Prentice Hall.

Carol, B. J. & West, R. (1989). ESU framework: Performance scales for English language
examinations. Longman.

Chafe, W. (1982). Integration and involvement in speaking, writing, and oral literature. In D.
Tannen (Ed.), Spoken and written language: Exploring orality and literacy (pp. 35-53).
Ablex Publishing Corporation.

Educational Testing Service (1992). TOEFL test and score manual. Educational Testing
Service.

Cookson, L. (1984). Writing. Hutchinson.

B. There is one mistake in every entry. Correct them and check your answers.

Brett, P. 1994. A genre analysis of the results sections of sociology articles. English for
Specific Purposes, 13, 47-59.

Bridgeman, B., & Carlson, S. B. Survey of academic writing tasks. Written

Communication, 1, 247-280.
 144

Horowitz, D. (1986). What professors actually want: Academic tasks for the ESL
classroom. TESOL Quarterly, 20, 445-462.

C. Write a reference from the information given below.

• Someone called Andy Gillett wrote this web page, which is very useful, and he
worked at the University of Hertfordshire. It was published on May 6th this year.
The title is: Using English for Academic purposes. The URL is
[Link] and I copied some information from it for this exercise on
Sunday November 7th at 11.00 at night.

D. Write a reference for the journal article shown below.

 145

Check your answers below:

A.

Carol, B. J. & West, R. (1989). ESU framework: Performance scales for English language
examinations. Longman.

Chafe, W. (1982). Integration and involvement in speaking, writing, and oral literature. In D.
Tannen (Ed.), Spoken and written language: Exploring orality and literacy (pp. 35-53).
Ablex Publishing Corporation.

Cookson, L. (1984). Writing. Hutchinson.

Educational Testing Service (1992). TOEFL test and score manual. Educational Testing
Service.

ULEAC (1991). Certificate of attainment in English: General information. University of London

Examinations and Assessment Council.

University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (1995). English as a Foreign

Language examination, certificates and diplomas: Regulations 1995. UCLES.

University of Hertfordshire (1 September, 1996). University policies and regulations:

Applications and admissions, number 14.1: Appendix II. University of Hertfordshire.

Walker, T. (1992). English for academic purposes - computer science. Prentice Hall.

Wong, R., Glendinning, E. & Mantell, H. (1994). Becoming a writer. Longman.

Yates, C. St. J. (1992). English for academic purposes - Agriculture. Prentice Hall.

Zimmerman, F. (1989). English for science. Prentice Hall.

B.

Brett, P. (1994). A genre analysis of the results sections of sociology articles. English for
Specific Purposes, 13, 47-59.

Bridgeman, B., & Carlson, S. B. (1984). Survey of academic writing tasks. Written
Communication, 1, 247-280.

Horowitz, D. (1986). What professors actually want: Academic tasks for the ESL
classroom. TESOL Quarterly, 20, 445-462.

C.
 146

Gillett, A. (2005, May 6th). Using English for academic purposes.

[Link]

D.

Ivanic, R. & Camps, D. (2001). I am how I sound: Voice as self-representation in

L2 writing. Journal of Second Language Writing, 10, 3-33.

Make a reference for the following: (2 points each)

1. This was published in 1991 in Oxford and is a book by Professor John Sinclair.
The title of the book is: Corpus, concordance and collocation and the publisher
was Oxford University press.

2. This small book is called: learning purpose and language use. It was written by
Henry George Widdowson and published in 1983. Like all his books it was
published in Oxford by Oxford University Press.

3. This book, like many dictionaries, does not say who wrote it. The title is: Collins
COBUILD English language dictionary and it was published in 1987 by
HarperCollins in London.

4. An article in the journal: Applied linguistics. It was written in 1985 by E Bialystock

and M Sharwood-Smith. The title of the article is: Interlanguage is not a state of
mind: An evaluation of the construct for second-language acquisition. It was
published in volume 6 and it is from page 101 to page 117.

5. An article in a collection of articles edited by John Lyons. The title of the article is:
the study of language acquisition, and it was written by Robin Campbell and
Roger Wales. It was on pages 242 to 260. The book of articles was called: new
horizons in linguistics and it was published in 1970 by Penguin in London.
 147

***The next information are from journals.

6.

6.
 148

7.

8.
 149

9.

10.
 150

References:

Acerbi1, A., Lampos, V., Garnett, P., & Bentley, A. (2013). The Expression of Emotions in
20th Century Books. PLoS ONE, 8 (3). Pp 1-8.

Fraenkel, J. R., Wallen, N. E., & Hyun, H. H. (2015). The nature of research. How to design
and evaluate research in education, 1-26.

Go, A. & Gustilo, L. (2013). Tagalog or Taglish: the Lingua Franca of Filipino Urban Factory
Workers. Philippine ESL Journal, 10. Pp. 57-87

Guyette, S. (1983). Community-based research: A handbook for Native Americans (Vol. 1).
Los Angeles: American Indian Studies Center, University of California.

Jones, J., Miron, G. & Kelaher-Young, A. (2011). The Kalamazoo Promise and Perceived
Changes in Teacher Beliefs, Expectations, and Behaviors. The Journal of Educational
Research, 105 (1). Pp. 36-51.

Morales, M. Examining the Usage of “actually” and “in fact” in Philippine English through
a Corpus-based Analysis. Retrieved from [Link]

Sioson, I. (2011). Ano ba talaga ang “ano”?: Exploring the meanings of “ano” in
conversations. Philippine ESL Journal, 6.

Tuan, N.H. & Mai, T. N. (2015). Factors affecting student’s speaking performance at Le Thanh
Hien High School. Asian Journal of Educational Research, 3 (2).

Anca, T., & Elena, C. (2013). Characteristics of the Language Used in Naval Architecture
Advertising. Analele Universitatii Maritime Constanta , 14 (19). Pp. 247-250.

[Link]

[Link]
explained?module_item_id=36582714