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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 another

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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 the paragraph and
the paragraph that follows? Is it relevant in this part of the paragraph?).

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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
communicative purpose. In this study, it refers to the degree or level with
which a student can speak English.

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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. Hence, two aspects are
explored in this study: the aspect of message comprehension (in listening

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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 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

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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 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

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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)?
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?

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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)
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

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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).
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….).

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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.
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

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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?).
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?).

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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 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

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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.
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

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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 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

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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)
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

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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 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 Definitions/Explanations Examples
Strategies
Global Listener asks for outright repetition,What was the question?
reprise rephrasing, or simplification of preceding
I’m not sure what you
utterance. This may be a statement that
mean.
nothing was understood.
Pardon?

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Specific Listener asks a question referring to aWhere?
reprise specific word, term or fragment that was
Is that dinner?
not understood in the previous utterance.
Hypothesis Listener asks specific questions about facts… the last book?
testing in the preceding utterance to verify that he
or she has understood and/or what he or
she is expected to do.
Kinesics Listener indicates a need for clarification byThrows arm in the air, look
means of kinesics and/or para-linguistics. up, chuckle, shake head,
confused looks, blank
looks, squint eyes,
Furrowed eyebrows,
intense looks, shake
head, etc.
Uptaking Listener uses kinesics and verbal or otherNods, ‘mmmmmmm’
nonverbal signals to indicate to the‘ah’, ‘oh’
interlocutor to continue, that he or she
Laughing at the
understands.
appropriate time
Faking Listener sends uptaking signals orAgreeing to a “What”
noncommittal responses in order to avoidquestion
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

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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 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

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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.
INTERACTIVE ACTIVITIES
WITH TEXAS ORAL
PROFICIENCY TEST

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ORAL RECEPTION
PROFICIENCY STRATEGIES
LEVEL OF
STUDENTS Global Reprise INTERACTIVE
Specific Reprise
Function Hypothesis Testing LISTENING
Content Kinesics PROGRAM
Vocabulary Uptaking
Grammar Faking
Comprehensibility Communication
Fluency Strategies
Figure 1
The 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

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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 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.

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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).
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

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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.
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

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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.
.