Oral Communicative Competence of Filipino College Students: Levels, Correlates, and Characteristics

The oral communicative competence of freshman students was determined by their linguistic and sociolinguistic proficiency. This was measured in the way students demonstrated their facility of the English language through their accurate production of sounds (phonetic skill) and in lending more meaning to the utterance through intonation patterns. Convergent skill in oral production and use of grammar, vocabulary, and rhetoric created the impression of oral communicative competence. The facility for oral communication was influenced by social and cultural factors in the home, the environment, and the school. The study had shown that students who had no training or limited training in reading and in classroom interaction developed into less English proficient students. The type of school from which one graduated, the income of parents whose income afforded or deprived exposure of children to English reading materials, and the absence of a highly skilled teacher in communication influenced greatly affected the outcome of a highly skilled communicator. Intervention measures started with a methodical study of the weaknesses of the English Program in the College. The designed program should depart radically from the traditional and remediation approaches but must put meaning into a longitudinal and progressive development of language skills in all year levels in all courses across disciplines. Appropriate and consistent monitoring, evaluation and review ensured the success of the program.