Ranking the Four Skills: How Asia University Freshmen View ...

53

Ranking the Four Skills: How Asia University

Freshmen View Their English Ability

Matthew Ryczek, Asia University

Abstract

The following research study attempts to provide some insights into the way

students perceive the four English macro-skills: speaking, listening, reading,

and writing. I surveyed sixty-seven students from three Freshman English

classes in the first semester of the 2012 academic school year at Asia

University. The survey was administered at the end of the semester and

participation was voluntary. I asked students to rank the four skills in a

series of questions that covered a range of topics from student ability to level

of enjoyment in practicing the skill in class. The results of the study, though

only representative of the classes that participated, can hopefully give

Freshman English teachers a better understanding of the learning needs and

goals of their students so that they can provide them with more effective

methods of instruction.

Rationale

Too often students who are frustrated by an activity in an English

language classroom claim, “I can’t do it. I don’t know English.” This

explanation may be frustrating to teachers and demotivating for the student,

and demonstrates a limited or simplified view of the English language by the

student. This type of claim conveys an overall sense that the student has

already given up and that any help offered by the teacher will be of little use.

brought to you by COREView metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk

provided by Asia University Academic Repositories

https://core.ac.uk/display/72791525?utm_source=pdf&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=pdf-decoration-v1

54

Approaching the English language, or any second language, as a unified

dichotomy between “knowing” and “not knowing” may seem misguided

from the teacher’s perspective, but for many students this may seem a

natural and unchangeable feature of language learning. Indeed, because of

the multi-faceted nature of language learning, some skills may require more

practice than others, and students may struggle with one aspect of language

but be quite strong in another. Students need to be made aware of this idea

so that they can identify their strengths and, potentially, show a greater

willingness to improve their weaknesses. But without any input from the

students regarding their perceptions of the four skills, it is difficult to gauge

to what extent the skills play a role in the classroom. The goal of this action

research project is to shed some light on student perspectives of the four

skills in the English language classroom. With this knowledge, we as

teachers can more effectively teach students so that strengths are nurtured

and weaknesses are managed and hopefully improved upon.

Introduction

The Freshman English course at Asia University is

an integrated-skills, topic-based EFL course with an emphasis on

speaking and listening skills. Students will engage in reading and

writing activities to reinforce their oral/aural skills; however, the

primary course goal is developing students’ English conversation

ability. Though the primary course goals detailed below are the same

for all class levels, teachers address specific objectives according to

class level and students’ English proficiency. (CELE Handbook,

2010)

55

The CELE handbook outlines individual goals for Freshman English

students with regard to each of the four skills. For Speaking, under the

category “Attitudes and Awareness,” it is expected that students will “gain

confidence when speaking English.” For Listening, students in the Freshman

English course will “be aware that they can understand the general meaning

of a listening selection if they listen for key words and phrases.” Under the

Reading section, it states that students will “feel lowered anxiety when

approaching challenging readings.” With regard to Writing, the goal of the

Freshman English course is for students to “be aware that writing in English

will help to build oral fluency and vocabulary” (CELE Handbook, 2010).

An integrated-skills approach, whereby the four macro skills are

taught simultaneously, continues as a standard technique among teachers of

English to nonnative speakers. Rebecca Oxford refers to teaching English as

a foreign language as a “tapestry containing all the important characteristics

of learning, including the teacher, the students, the setting, and the four skills

of reading, writing, listening, and speaking” (2001). The four English skills

should not be taught in isolation but simultaneously in the classroom

through an integrated approach. For example, by practicing conversational

skills the learner can focus not only on speaking but also listening, in order

to react and ask appropriate follow-up questions. Mohan makes a point on

this thinking when he argues that the skills need to be integrated because

language skills are not used separately in real world communication (1986).

It could be argued that not all skills are ever used at once in “real world

communication,” but I think Mohan’s point here is that the skills are never

used completely independently from each other. Nunan argues that skills

integration is an important feature of language learning, which appeals to

interaction, task continuity, real world focus, language and learning focus,

56

and task outcomes (1989). Integrating the four skills encourages the learner

to focus on natural language and can, therefore, lead to the learner’s broader

development of communicative competence in English (Jing, 2006). In the

Freshman English classroom, an integrated approach to English instruction

is intended to provide students with the necessary exposure to, and practice

with, all four skills in order to help them succeed in future English language

situations.

Understanding the learning needs and goals of our students is

necessary in order to make the integrated approach as effective as possible.

Knowing the learning needs and goals of a student is widely recognized in

ESL research as an important component of second language pedagogy

(Hinkel, 2006). The unique social, cultural, economic, and political settings

in the L2 classroom play an integral role in determining how L2 learning is

undertaken and how instruction is given. The role English will play in the

learner’s future, either by choice or by mandate, influences which skills

receive the most attention in the L2 classroom. In many places around the

world, English is seen as route to gaining access to technical, educational, or

professional opportunities (Canagarajah, 2002). This certainly holds true in

the case of Japan and is a motivating factor in English language classrooms.

The goal of the following action research project is to gain a better

understanding of the students’ attitude toward, as well as their awareness of,

the four skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking as they are taught

in the integrated-skills Freshman English classroom. I hope that getting

student feedback on the four skills will help the instructor to better meet the

learning needs of the students.

Method

57

Students were given a questionnaire (See Appendix A) at the end of

Semester 1 regarding the four skills and the Freshman English course. The

questionnaire was presented in English and Japanese, along with a requisite

bilingual consent form outlining the purpose of the questionnaire to the

students. I administered the questionnaire in class to ensure students had

sufficient time to complete it. In addition, I was not present in the room

during the questionnaire’s administration, which was carried out by the

students themselves. The questionnaire contained eleven questions of two

types: rank order questions and rating questions, in which respondents could

choose one answer from four possible choices. I chose rank order questions

in this research project specifically because they force the respondent to go

beyond choosing a single preferred answer by weighing the value of all the

choices. Rank order questions are considered cognitively more challenging

than rating questions, which may dissuade researchers from using them in

surveys due to the burden placed on the respondent. However, in the case of

this study the four choices to be ranked were consistent throughout all

questions (Speaking, Listening, Reading, Writing), reducing the mental

burden of ranking items based on personal preference. One major problem

with rank order questions is that the results only illustrate the order of

preference and not the distance between the ranked choices. For this reason,

unlike rating questions, results from rank order questions in a survey cannot

be aggregated using averages. Because of this, a Borda Count method was

employed for the rank order questions. In the Borda Count method of

analysis each choice is given a point value reflecting how it is ranked by the

respondent. For example, the first rank choice is given a score of “four,”

second a “three,” third rank a “two,” and fourth rank a “one.” This method

allows the researcher to gain an understanding of which choices are

58

preferred over others among multiple respondents in a group. The results

from each question can then be compared between groups in order to see

similarities and patterns.

Students

The students that participated in this research project came from three

separate required Freshman English classes at Asia University, all taught by

me. Sixty-seven students from the International Relations, Business, and

Economics departments completed the questionnaire. The International

Relations and Economics students met with me four times a week, for 45-

minute periods, throughout the entire semester. These students also took an

English class once a week with a Japanese teacher, as part of the

requirements for the Freshman English course. The Business students met

with me five times a week, for 45-minute periods, during the entire semester,

and did not have a fifth-day class with a Japanese teacher.

Students in Freshman English are placed within their departments

according to the results of the Freshman English Placement Test (FEPT),

administered by the CELE department at Asia University. The FEPT is a

written test which assesses students on listening and reading skills. Students

are placed into classes based on their score on the FEPT, with lower class

numbers corresponding to higher student scores. The levels of the classes

analyzed in this study were International Relations 6 (out of seven total

classes), Business 6 (out of 17 total classes), and Economics 10 (out of 13

total classes). Since the students in each major are ranked independently, and

because the students from each department have varying degrees of English

ability, it is not within the scope of this study to correlate the ability of

stud

clas

que

Bus

skil

com

“sco

und

clas

Q1:

stud

kno

how

to th

high

wea

dents betw

sses are at

The fol

estionnaire

siness, and

ll based on

mpleted the

ore” for ea

derstand fr

sses.

: Which d

From t

dents think

ow exactly

w they rank

he other th

her than S

akest of th

0

20

40

60

80

100

ween classe

the Begin

llowing fig

e provided

d Economi

n the Bord

e survey w

ach skill h

rom the fig

do you fee

this questio

k are their

y how stron

k their abi

hree skills

Speaking a

he four skil

IR

es. Despite

nner or Fal

Quest

gures cont

d by the stu

ics classes

da count m

was differe

has been om

gures is the

el are your

on we can

strongest

ng student

ility in eac

. In all cla

and Writin

lls in all cl

59

e some va

lse Beginn

tionnaire

tain the re

udents in t

s. The grap

method. Sin

ent for eac

mitted (Se

e ranking

r stronges

n gain som

. Of cours

ts think the

ch skill fro

asses Liste

g. Further

lasses. It m

Bus

ariety betw

ner level o

Results

sults from

the Interna

phs reflect

nce the num

ch class, th

ee Append

order of th

st English

me insight i

e, from th

ey are at a

om stronge

ening and R

rmore, Wri

may be of

Ec

ween classe

of English

m each que

ational Rel

t the rankin

mber of st

he specific

dix). What

he skills am

h skills?

into which

his data it i

any given

est to weak

Reading w

iting was r

interest to

con

es, all thre

ability.

stion in th

lations,

ng of each

tudents wh

c number o

is importa

mong the

h English s

is impossib

skill, but o

kest in rela

were ranke

ranked the

o notice th

ee

he

h

ho

of the

ant to

three

skills

ble to

only

ation

ed

e

at

Speaking

Listening

Reading

Writing

stud

prod

this

Eng

Q2:

Wri

and

in e

diff

Wri

and

Q3:

dents felt t

ductive sk

s is likely t

glish class

: Which s

Here w

iting and S

d Reading.

establishin

ficulty of a

iting are v

d the weak

: Which s

0

20

40

60

80

100

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

that the rec

kills of Spe

the result o

es, which

skills do y

we can see

Speaking a

The resul

ng, in gene

a skill and

viewed as t

kest skills i

skills do y

IR

IR

ceptive sk

eaking and

of the stud

focuses on

ou find m

that stude

are more d

lts of this q

eral, a nega

student's

the most d

in English

ou find th

60

kills of Rea

d Writing

dents’ exp

n Reading

most diffic

ents genera

difficult th

question c

ative relati

perceived

difficult sk

h practice.

he most en

Bus

Bus

ading and

across all

eriences in

g and Liste

ult?

ally feel th

han the rec

coincide w

ionship be

d ability in

kills for stu

njoyable t

Ec

Ec

Listening

classes. O

n secondar

ening skill

he product

ceptive ski

with the res

etween per

that skill.

udents in t

to study in

con

con

outranked

One reason

ry school

ls.

tive skills

ills of Liste

sults from

rceived

Speaking

these class

n class?

d the

n for

of

ening

Q1

g and

ses

Speaking

Listening

Reading

Writing

Speaking

Listening

Reading

Writing

actu

diff

was

to n

the

enjo

to e

app

som

part

clas

mus

dete

rank

Q4:

wan

high

Eco

The int

ually enjoy

ficulty of t

s ranked a

note that d

most, diff

oyable ski

experience

peared unm

mewhat sur

ticipating

ss, speakin

st be taken

ermine the

king amon

: Which s

From t

nt to make

hest, with

onomics cl

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

tention of

y practicin

the skill. F

s the most

espite bein

ficult skill

ill to study

es in classe

motivated w

rprising co

in this stu

ng is rated

n with cau

e degree to

ng the four

skills do y

this questio

e improvem

Listening

lass, in wh

IR

this quest

ng in class

From the re

t enjoyable

ng ranked

in Q2, Sp

y in class. M

es where s

when spea

onsidering

udy, in whi

the most

ution since

o which stu

r skills.

ou want t

on we can

ments in m

g ranked th

hich it was

61

tion was to

s, regardles

esults we c

e skill to s

as a weak

peaking wa

Many univ

students re

aking. The

g that even

ich studen

enjoyable

, as mentio

udents "en

to improv

n ascertain

most. In all

he second h

s tied with

Bus

o find out w

ss of their

can see th

study in cla

ker skill in

as conside

versity En

efused to s

e results of

n in lower-

nts are ofte

of the fou

oned earli

njoy" spea

ve most?

which ski

l classes, S

highest (w

h Writing).

Ec

which skil

ability or

at in all cl

ass. It may

n Q1 and a

ered to be t

nglish teac

peak in cl

f this ques

-level clas

en reluctan

ur skills. T

ier, there is

aking base

ills studen

Speaking w

with the ex

Despite S

con

lls student

the percei

lasses Spea

y be of int

a more, if n

the most

hers may p

ass or

stion are

ses like th

nt to speak

These findi

s no way t

d on its

nts feel the

was ranke

xception of

Speaking b

ts

ived

aking

terest

not

point

hose

k in

ings

to

ey

d the

f the

being

Speaking

Listening

Reading

Writing

rank

imp

stud

imp

as w

Q5:

clas

dist

find

dem

Spe

List

que

resu

clas

diff

time

ked as a w

prove their

dents unde

provement

well as its

: Which s

ss?

The go

tinguish be

d most enj

monstrate,

eaking as t

tening, Re

estion was

ults of this

sses in Asi

ferent depa

e in the En

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

weaker skil

r speaking

erstanding

t, or it cou

perceived

skills do y

oal of this

etween the

oyable to

this distin

the skill th

eading, and

the simila

s questionn

ia Univers

artments a

nglish clas

IR

ll (Q1) and

g ability m

g their wea

ld relate to

d utility in

ou want t

survey qu

e skills the

practice in

nction was

hey want to

d, finally,

arity of the

naire are n

sity, it is in

and class le

ssroom sho

62

d a more d

ore than a

aknesses an

o the enjoy

the future

to spend t

estion was

ey want to

n class (Q3

s not obser

o practice

Writing. O

e results ac

not represe

nteresting

evels resp

ould be us

Bus

difficult sk

any other s

nd recogn

yment of t

(Q6).

the most t

s to see if

improve (

3). As the

rved. Stude

the most i

One intere

cross all th

entative of

how unifo

onded to a

sed.

Ec

kill (Q2) st

skill. This

izing a ne

the skill di

time pract

students w

(Q4) and t

results in

ents unifo

in class, fo

esting aspe

hree classe

f all Freshm

ormly stud

a question

con

tudents wa

may be du

ed for

iscussed in

ticing in

would

the skills t

the graph

rmly rank

ollowed by

ect of this

es. Though

man Engli

dents from

on how c

ant to

ue to

n Q3,

they

hs

ked

y

h the

ish

m

lass

Speaking

Listening

Reading

Writing

Q6:

Eng

con

in th

Spe

Wri

clea

sign

mig

opp

thro

Q7:

: Which s

The int

glish classr

nsidering w

he respons

eaking bein

iting, thou

ar from the

nificantly

ght be surm

portunities

ough face-

: Which s

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

0

20

40

60

80

100

skills do y

tention of

room they

which skill

ses to this

ng ranked

ugh Writin

e data is th

less usefu

mised from

for using

-to-face co

skills do y

IR

IR

ou think w

this quest

y are curre

ls may be

question w

the highe

ng tied with

hat student

l in their f

m these res

English in

ommunicat

ou spend

63

will be th

tion was fo

ently in and

more usef

was very s

est, followe

h Reading

ts conside

futures tha

sults that s

n the futur

tion.

the most

Bus

Bus

e most us

or students

d toward t

ful than ot

similar to

ed by List

g in the Ec

er Reading

an Speakin

students be

re will occ

class time

Ec

Ec

eful in yo

s to look b

their future

thers. The

that in Q5

tening, Rea

conomics c

g and Writi

ng and List

elieve that

cur predom

e practici

con

con

our future

beyond the

e by

pattern fo

5 with

ading, and

class. Wha

ing to be

tening. It

t their

minantly

ing?

e?

e

ound

d then

at is

Speaking

Listening

Reading

Writing

Speaking

Listening

Reading

Writing

64

From this question one can get a sense of how students think class

time is actually being used during a class. This question is unique in this

survey, in that it does not ask students for personal preferences among the

four skills, but rather to report their observations on what skills are being

practiced most in the classroom. This question is useful when compared with

the results from previous survey questions (Q4 and Q5) as a measure for the

teacher to see if they are meeting the needs of the students. From the survey

results we can see that, for the most part, students are spending the most

time practicing Speaking and Listening, which is congruent with their

preferences.

One aspect of this question's results that needs to be addressed is that

in the International Relations class Listening was ranked higher than

Speaking for actual class time, which is the opposite of their preference as

illustrated in previous questions. This result is most likely due to the

required TOEIC preparation component of the International Relations

Freshman English class, which requires fifty percent of class time (two days

per week) be devoted to TOEIC practice. Business and Economics classes

did not have this requirement. TOEIC practice typically consisted of practice

TOEIC listening questions. The International Relations students made it

apparent over the course of the semester that they disliked TOEIC practice

and preferred speaking activities. Since such a large amount of time was

devoted to listening activities, it is understandable that the students in this

class ranked Listening higher than Speaking.

In questions 8 through 11, students were asked to indicate their

agreement or disagreement with a series of statements regarding the four

skills. Students were given four choices: Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree,

and

“Str

“Di

the

(Se

Q8:

Q9:

Q10

d Strongly

rongly Ag

isagree,” w

students i

e Appendi

: Because

: Because

0: Becaus

0

20

40

60

80

100

I

100

0

50

10090

0

20

40

60

80

IR

62

Disagree.

gree” and “

were remo

n each cla

ix B for sp

e of this cl

e of this cl

se of this c

R

0

0

IR

0

10

B

7

38

For the sa

“Agree,” a

ved. The d

ass who eit

pecific dat

ass, my sp

ass, my li

class, my r

Bus

95

5

Bus

80

20

Bus

0

30

65

ake of clar

as well as “

data in the

ther agree

ta.)

peaking a

istening ab

reading a

Econ

100

0

Econ

95

5

Econ

77

23

rity, distin

“Strongly

e figures b

d or disag

ability has

bility has

ability has

%

%

%

%

% A

% D

nctions bet

Disagree”

elow is in

greed with

s improve

improved

s improve

% Agree

%Disagree

% Agree

%Disagree

Agree

Disagree

tween

” and

percentag

the statem

d.

d.

d.

ges of

ment.

Q11

whi

liste

felt

clas

wer

imp

look

resu

we

of th

pos

abil

spea

agre

(IR)

Wri

as w

part

stud

1: Becaus

Questio

ich they fe

ening, read

overwhel

ss. From th

re fairly co

proved bec

k at the co

ults from Q

can get a

he student

itively as

lity since a

aking prac

eement tha

) received

iting, there

well. Durin

ticipated in

dents were

0

20

40

60

80

IR

52

se of this c

ons 8 thro

eel this cla

ding, and w

lmingly th

hese four q

onsistent in

cause of th

onsecutive

Q8 to Q11

sense of h

ts. It shoul

to whethe

all the clas

ctice time.

at their ab

d more liste

e were dif

ng the sem

n an Exten

e encourag

B

80

48

class, my w

ugh 11 ask

ass has hel

writing ab

at their sp

questions

n their agr

he class. T

results fo

with the d

how the Fr

ld not be s

er the cour

sses receiv

. In regard

ility had im

ening prac

fferences in

mester, the

nsive Read

ged to read

Bus

0

20

66

writing ab

ked studen

lped them

bilities. Fro

peaking ab

we can se

reement th

The degree

or Q9, Q10

data from

eshman En

surprising

se helped

ved roughl

d to listenin

mproved,

ctice time

n in-class

Business

ding (ER)

d graded re

Econ

67

33

bility has

nts to refle

improve t

om Q8 we

ility impro

e that stud

hat their sp

of agreem

0, and Q11

previous q

nglish cla

that stude

them impr

ly equal am

ng, all thre

despite th

in class. R

practice ti

and Econ

program o

eaders of t

% Ag

% Di

improved

ect on the

their Engli

e can see th

oved as a r

dents in all

peaking ab

ment decre

1. By comp

questions

ss is satisf

ents respon

rove their

mounts of

ee classes

he fact that

Regarding

ime betwe

nomics clas

once a we

their choo

gree

isagree

d.

extent to

ish speakin

hat studen

result of th

l three cla

bility has

eases as we

paring the

in this sur

fying the n

nded so

speaking

f in-class

were in

t some cla

Reading a

een the cla

sses

ek in whic

sing and

ng,

nts

his

sses

e

e

rvey,

needs

sses

and

asses

ch

67

complete a short writing assignment about the book they read. This fact may

explain why students in the Economics and Business classes agreed more

that their reading and writing abilities had improved, compared with the

International Relations students, who did not participate in the ER program.

Reflections on the Four Skills

Speaking

Student responses to the questions in this survey provide some

interesting insights into their perspectives regarding their speaking skill.

From the survey results we can see that the students in this study feel that

speaking is one of their weakest skills, which is likely the result of limited

speaking practice in secondary schools. Because of this, students find

speaking to be the most difficult skill to learn. Despite these findings,

students find speaking to be the most enjoyable skill to practice in class, and

the skill they want to spend the most class time practicing. Speaking is also

the skill they perceive will be the most important for their futures.

From the questionnaire we can also gauge how well the Freshman

English course is meeting the needs of the students regarding speaking. We

can see that students, in general, feel that they spend more time on speaking

than the other skills (with the exception of IR, as explained above). And,

almost unanimously, students agreed that their speaking ability had

improved as a result of the Freshman English course. Therefore, it can be

said that based on the results of this study, students do feel that they are not

only getting adequate speaking practice, but that this practice is in fact

helping them improve their speaking ability.

68

Listening

Questionnaire results yielded some useful insights from the students

regarding their listening ability. Students felt that listening is one of their

stronger skills, as well as being less difficult than the other skills. Students

also viewed listening as more enjoyable than reading or writing, as well as

the skill they want to improve more by spending more time practicing it in

class compared to reading and writing. Students see listening as a more

useful skill for their future, second only to Speaking.

In all three classes students ranked Listening higher than Reading and

Writing for the amount of time they actually spent in the classroom

practicing this skill. From the results of Q9 we can see that most students

feel their listening ability had improved as a result of this class.

Reading

The survey results for reading show that students, in general, view

their reading ability, along with listening, as stronger than their speaking or

writing. As mentioned above, the receptive skills of reading and listening

were shown to be easier, as well as the skills students felt were their

strongest. This is likely the result of the fact that more time was devoted to

these skills in secondary school English education. Possibly as a result of

this, students find this skill less enjoyable to practice in class and the skill

they least want to improve when compared to speaking, listening, or writing.

Students do not want to spend much time practicing reading in class, and see

it as being less useful in their futures.

The amount of time spent on reading practice, as reported by the

students, was less than the time spent on speaking and listening. As for

reported improvement in reading (Q10), a majority of students agreed that

69

their ability had improved, but a large percentage (between 23% and 38%)

of students felt that it had not. It should be pointed out here that both of the

classes (Business and Economics) that participated in the Extensive Reading

program had higher percentages of students who felt their reading ability had

improved over the course of the semester.

Writing

Based on the responses to the survey questions, students’ perceptions

of writing illustrate the somewhat negative perception this skill receives in

English language education. Students ranked writing as the most difficult

skill, as well as their weakest skill, alongside speaking. This is not surprising

considering the productive skills are generally more challenging for the

learner than the receptive skills. Writing was also ranked the least enjoyable

skill to practice and the least useful skill for their futures. However, the

results show that some students do want to improve their writing skill. For

example, in the Economics class, writing was the second highest ranked skill

in Q4.

It is not surprising, because of the rankings given to the skill of

writing, that the least amount of class time is devoted to it. Even though it

could be argued that students should spend more time practicing writing,

what can be taken away from this survey is that based on students’ reported

needs, the amount of time spent on this skill may be appropriate due to the

higher priority of speaking and listening practice in the classroom. Even

though a majority of students in all classes considered their writing ability to

have improved because of this class, the percentage of students who did not

was higher than for any other skill.

70

Conclusion

The purpose of this action research study was to gain a better

understanding of students’ attitudes toward the four English skills of reading,

writing, listening, and speaking taught in the integrated-skills Freshman

English classroom. The study looks to answer several questions about the

students’ perceptions regarding their English learning that arose while I was

teaching at Asia University. In general the students’ opinions regarding their

abilities in each of the four skills were quite consistent across classes from

different academic departments and at different English skill levels.

Regarding the relationship between difficulty and willingness to study a skill,

the study showed that, for Speaking, perceived difficulty had little effect on

students’ desire to practice it. Other factors, such as a skill’s perceived

usefulness in the future or how much students enjoyed practicing the skill in

class are likely to play more important roles than difficulty in determining

students’ willingness to practice it in class. The fulfillment of a student’s

learning needs is crucial for success in the L2 classroom; therefore,

understanding how students perceive in-class practice time is essential to the

instructor. From this survey I can ascertain that students’ perceived needs

are, in general, being fulfilled. The skills they see as most useful and in

greatest need of improving are given priority in the classroom, and their self-

reported improvement of those skills hints at the effectiveness of the method

of instruction employed in the classroom.

Though the value of self-reported data from students can easily be

challenged, I feel this study can be useful to new and continuing Asia

University English teachers in providing some insight into their students’

thinking that may otherwise go unnoticed. It is hoped that this initial

71

research project will be further developed, and its data made stronger, by

including classes from other teachers with differing class levels in

subsequent academic terms.

References

Canagarajah, S. (2002). Globalization, methods, and practice in periphery

classrooms. In D. Block & D. Cameron (Eds.), Globalization and

language teaching(134–150). London: Routledge.

Hinkel, E. (2006). Current perspectives on teaching the four skills. TESOL

Quarterly, Vol. 40(1), 109-131.

Jing, W.U. (2006). Integrating skills for teaching EFL—Activity design for

the communicative classroom. Sino-US English Teaching, 3(12).

Mohan, B. (1986). Content-based language instruction. MA: Addison-

Wesley.

Nunan, D. (1989). Designing tasks for the communicative classroom.

Cambridge University Press.

Oxford, R. (2001). Integrated skills in the ESL/EFL classroom. ESL

Magazine, 6(1).

Appendix A:

Questionnaire

Spring 2012 Freshman English Questionnaire: We would like your opinions on this class.

The information you provide on this questionnaire will be used only for researching ways

to improve this class in coming semesters. Please do NOT write your name on this paper.

Please answer all of the questions with your honest opinion.

2012 年前期英語クラスアンケート

72

このクラスに関してアンケートのご協力をお願い致します。皆さんにお答え頂い

たアンケートの回答は、後期の同英語クラスの改善を目的とした研究にのみ利用

されます。尚、回答される方の名前は絶対に記入しないで下さい。無記名での回

答をお願い致します。また、今後の英語クラスさらに良いクラスになるように皆

さんには正直な回答をお願い致します。

Answer the following questions by ranking the skills from 1 (most) to 4 (least). Write the

appropriate number in the space next to each item.

質問を読んで各選択肢に 1 から４の数字を記入しランキングをつけて下さい。

Example: Which skills do you think are the most difficult to learn? (1) Most

Difficult, (4) Least Difficult. どのスキルを学ぶことが最も難しいと思いま

すか？（１＝最も難しい、４＝最も簡単）

[Speaking 会話力 3 Listening 聴解力 1

Reading 読解力 4 Writing 文章力 2 ]

1. Which do you feel are your strongest English skills? (1) Strongest, (4) Weakest.

次のどの英語のスキルが最も得意だと感じますか？（１＝最も得意、

４＝最も苦手）

[Speaking 会話力 Listening 聴解力

Reading 読解力 Writing 文章力 ]

2. Which skills do you find most difficult? (1) Most Difficult, (4) Least Difficult.

次のどのスキルが最も難しいですか？（１＝最も難しい、４＝最も

難しくない）



73

3. Which skills do you find most enjoyable to study in class? (1) Most enjoyable, (4)

Least Enjoyable.

次のどのスキルがクラスで学んでいて楽しい・興味深いですか？

（１＝最も楽しい、４＝最も楽しくない）



4. Which skills do you want to improve most? (1) Most, (4) Least.

次のどのスキルを最も上達したいですか？（１＝最も上達したい、

４＝最も上達したくない）



5. Which skills do you want to spend the most time practicing in class? (1) Most, (4)

Least.

次のどのスキルをクラスで一番練習したいですか？（１＝最も練習

したい、４＝最も練習したくない）



6. Which skills do you think will be the most useful in your future? (1) Most useful, (4)

Least useful. 次のどのスキルが将来最も役に立つと思いますか？（１＝最も役

立つ、４＝最も役に立たない）



74

7. Which skills do you spend the most class time practicing? (1) Most Class Time, (4)

Least Class Time. 授業中、次のどのスキルに最も多く時間を利用していると思

いますか？



Mark your response to the statement from 1 (strongly agree) to 4 (strongly disagree).

Place a check in the appropriate space. 各文章を読んでその文章に対し、賛成する

か否かを４つの選択肢より選んでください。

Example: Because of this class, I can understand English better.

例）このクラスによって、英語を理解できるようになった。

[Strongly Agree 大いに賛成する X Agree 賛成する

Disagree 賛成しない Strongly Disagree 全く賛成しない ]

8. Because of this class, my speaking ability has improved.

このクラスによって、私の会話力が上達した。

[Strongly Agree 大いに賛成する Agree 賛成する


9. Because of this class, my listening ability has improved.

このクラスによって、私の聴解力が上達した。



10. Because of this class, my reading ability has improved.

このクラスによって、私の読解力が上達した。

75



11. Because of this class, my writing ability has improved.

このクラスによって、私の文章力が上達した。



Appendix B:

Data from Questionnaire

Q1: Which do you feel are your strongest English skills?

Speaking Listening Reading Writing

IR 66 80 85 59

Bus 47 58 57 38

Econ 44 53 54 29

Q2: Which skills do you find most difficult?


IR 81 72 64 73

Bus 57 41 48 54

Econ 46 37 42 55

Q3: Which skills do you find the most enjoyable to study in class?


IR 109 81 49 51

Bus 71 58 44 27

Econ 58 48 40 34

76

Q4: Which skills do you want to improve most?


IR 108 77 52 53

Bus 74 52 40 34

Econ 62 42 34 42

Q5: Which skills do you want to spend the most time practicing in class?


IR 107 80 56 47

Bus 74 55 41 30

Econ 60 45 39 36

Q6: Which skills do you think will be the most useful in your future?


IR 116 76 51 47

Bus 76 56 38 30

Econ 63 47 30 30

Q7: Which skills do you spend the most class time doing?


IR 84 90 71 44

Bus 71 57 43 29

Econ 55 42 39 34

Q8 Strongly

Disagree

Disagree Agree Strongly

Agree

%

Agree

%

Disagree

IR 0 0 25 4 100 0

Bus 0 1 14 5 95 5

Econ 0 0 15 3 100 0

77

Q9 Strongly

Disagree


Agree

%

Agree

%

Disagree

IR 0 3 16 10 90 10

Bus 1 3 13 3 80 20

Econ 0 1 15 2 95 5

Q10 Strongly

Disagree


Agree

%

Agree

%

Disagree

IR 0 11 15 3 62 38

Bus 0 6 11 3 70 30

Econ 0 4 12 2 77 23

Q11 Strongly

Disagree


Agree

%

Agree

%

Disagree

IR 2 12 14 1 52 48

Bus 1 3 15 1 80 20

Econ 0 6 11 1 67 33

Ranking the Four Skills: How Asia University Freshmen View ...

Documents

Transcript of Ranking the Four Skills: How Asia University Freshmen View ...