Cebu International EFL Conference

Abstract of paper

Author

Assistant Professorial Lecturer Jessie S. Barrot
De La Salle University
Manila
Philippines

Title
Accuracy Order of Selected Grammatical Morphemes in the Monitored Written Compositions of Filippino Adult Language Learners

Abstract
Studies about morpheme have excited researchers in discovering a “built-in syllabus”. Although accuracy order on the “unmonitored language use” has been established, some variations were obtained depending on the task where the data was elicited (Ellis, 1994). This article asserts that there might be an accuracy order for the “monitored language use”. Very few have tried to identify and establish an accuracy order for the “monitored language use” particularly of the adult Filipino language learners. Thus, an investigation such as this was conducted. Specifically, this paper presents the accuracy order of selected grammatical morphemes in the students’ narrative and expository essays and their implications for language teaching.

                Data elicitation was through text reconstruction. In this procedure, the participants watched a movie and were asked to retell the film producing a narrative essay and to write a film review producing an expository essay. These essays were then analyzed with focus on specific grammatical morphemes in obligatory context. The criterion level of “acquired” accuracy for each grammatical morpheme is 80 percent which was based on the definition that Brown (1973) used in L1 acquisition research (Ellis, 1994).

Jessie S. Barrot is a faculty of De La Salle University – Manila, Philippines. He obtained his MA in Teaching English from De La Salle University – Dasmariñas and is taking up Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics at Philippine Normal University. Currently, he works as the Managing Editor of the De La Salle Health Science Institute (DLSHSI) Scientific Journal. His research interests include language acquisition, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, and instructional materials development.