First Languages and Its´ Impact on the (English) Language Competency of Students. A Statistical Analysis (eBook)

Academic Paper from the year 2019 in the subject Communications - Specialized communication, grade: 7, , language: English, abstract: This study examines the influence linguistic competence has in learning a second language. Language use, be it in reading, writing, speaking, and comprehension, requires knowledge of linguistic competence. This knowledge should be tacit and implicit especially among the second language learners. This means that students should have conscious access to the principles and rules that govern the principles used on this particular language. Such idea is akin to the current study. Hence, the purpose of this study was to find out the First Language Influence on the Linguistic Competence of the respondents. This was carried out among the one hundred sixty three (163) Grade 10 students. The linguistic competence, acculturation, and cognitive academic language proficiency theories served as the theoretical backbone. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Using the purposive sampling procedure, data was collected via an adopted survey questionnaire on first language influence and an IELTS-based test. Mean and standard deviation were observed. These were carried out further using the Spearman - Rho Correlation to measure the strength of association or correlation between the cited variables. Likewise, this test was used to measure the influence of the first language to the linguistic competence in relation to the sampling population as described by the correlation coefficients. Results revealed that the respondents' linguistic competence was slightly correlated to the influence of first language. To address the gap, an instructional module was proposed in order to improve the linguistic competence of the respondents.

Edgar Rendon Eslit, Ph.D. is currently the Dean of Student Affairs of St. Michael's College, Iligan City. He holds a degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Language Studies from MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology and a Master of Arts in English Language Studies from the same university. He completed his Bachelor of Arts (with honors) from Christ the King College, Calbayog City. He was the former Program Head of the Bachelor of Arts in English Language from 2014-2018 in SMC. His skills in designing a challenging, enriching and innovative activities that address the diverse interests and needs of students made him publish the following books: 1) Study and Thinking Skills (College English 1 Workbook) in 5 Editions; 2) Bansayon Nato and Binisaya (MTB-MLE Work and Textbook Para sa Unang Ang-ang sa Elementarya); 3) Legacy Lingers (SMC Coffee Table Book 2015); 4) Automotive Servicing NC- ll; and, 5) Français de base (Basic French). As an active team player, Edgar is also associated with the following local and international organizations: 1) English Language & Literature Teachers' Association, Reg. 10; 2) Arts and Sciences Educators Association (ASEA-10); 3) Philippine Association for Graduate Education (PAGE-10); and, 4) International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL), University of Kent, United Kingdom. Edgar is also a Writing fellow of the 20th Iligan National Writers Workshop (INWW), MSU-IIT. Recently, he was conferred the Best Paper Award during the 6th International Conference on Humanities, Interdisciplinary Studies, Hospitality and Tourism Management (HISHTM-2017) in Singapore