Research is different from topic-reporting because I have to experience a lot of things in the field like conducting an actual research.
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| Language Researcher: Lorie Lee Paypa |
I have to talk personally with the dean of the respective department and the students who are about to graduate this school year 2013-2014.
My classmates have been given their time and chance also to conduct research, along with the school administrators and students in the assigned schools with approved inputs used as the schema of study.
Frankly speaking, I get nervous when I defended orally my thesis but later on, I overcame it.
Furthermore, in order to take cognizance of the content of my thesis, please allow me to share with the reading public how to report and defend a thesis in front of the panelists led by Dr. Ermetes Adolfo, Jr.
The study really aims to construe the scale of language adequacy among the graduating students of Cebu Institute of Technology- University, Cebu, Philippines. Here are the important things to remember when you conduct a research:
Prepare the input of your thesis
Before you engage in actual study of research, see to it that you have already chosen your research input. For example in my research study, my research input is the "Level of language competency among the graduating electrical engineering students at the Cebu Institute of Technology-University:"
Prepare the abstract of your thesis
On my part as a researcher, I have to summarize first every chapter of my research with the aim, field, precise account of language, and inference. Here is the sample of my abstract:
The study aims to construe the scale of language adequacy among the graduating students (preferably Electrical Engineering students) at the Cebu Institute of Technology- University.
As a field of engineering that deals with the study and application of electromagnetism, electricity, and electronics, Electrical Engineering (EE) plays a key role in terms of electric power distribution.
Covering a wide range of sub-fields, Electrical Engineering, as a baccalaureate course, and a future identifiable occupation, bestows upon an intensive discussion that deals with electricity, and electronics. Generally, it includes units covering Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Project Management, and a variety of topics in Electrical Engineering.
To guarantee a precise account on its emphasis with language, the researcher conducted this study to be able to consider such into details. Since these graduating students were so busy planning for the implementation of their thesis-project, it took fourteen days for the researcher to gather all the data needed. A three- page questionnaire was handed to twenty one available students (out of fifty) who were gladly obliged to answer.
The questionnaire was composed of twenty-nine items with multiple choice type, sixteen item checklist, and three existential questions. It took some time before they've finally finished answering the query. The researcher decided not to conduct pretest as well as posttest to the respondents, but rather reckoned it to be a diagnostic test.
Since their final examination was fast approaching, they could no longer entertain other matters of concern. In addition, the study did not pertain to any experimental research. So to speak, the external validity to have the pretest and posttest was only applicable for scientific and psychological research (e.g. cause-effect relationship among controlled variables). They completely answered the given questionnaire; however, there were types of questions that were found very difficult to answer.
To wrap up the results, the researcher actually has inferred that only a handful could be deemed to have a high level of language competency. The minute attention given "to study said language' affected the capability of those students to accurately and fluently express their thoughts without being mocked at their grammatical structures using the target language.
Prepare your rationale of research study
Rationale is very important when you plan to come up with concrete ideas based on facts and theories. Rationale serves as the conduit of information to justify what are the pros and cons of your research.
For example in my study (referring to my thesis), it said that it must have been expected that most of the baccalaureate degrees that have been offered by various learning institutions like universities require language acquisition. Almost all students on the campus are being obliged to enroll the English subject even if the student is taking up a course...any student who majors in Science or any subject, except English as the second language.
However, it is sad to note that being obligated to study such a major tool with the "irrelevant subject mindset" of the student, the possibility to fluently and confidently understand the language can be a huge factor in the syntax and semantic acquisition of the learner himself. The inclination to the importance of speaking, writing, reading, and listening will become less than what most students aim to acquire because of the diversity and period of time to learn the language.
This is one of the reasons why the researcher like me decided to conduct a study on the level of language acquisition of students who are taking up Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. In this study, the researcher aims to internalize the simple but deep insights of the students on the usage and inclusion of the universal language in their program.
Prepare the place as your research environment
I choose to conduct my research study at the Cebu Institute of Technology- University (CIT University) (formerly known as Cebu Institute of Technology) here in the Philippines which is a private non-sectarian academic institution, providing basic and higher education with a foundation in general and technological education.
As we all know that CIT is the first higher educational institution (HEI) in the Visayas and Mindanao classified as Category A (t). This places CIT as a mature teaching institution under the CHED-IQUAME framework. IQUAME is Institutional Quality Assurance through Monitoring and Evaluation, a system of higher education quality assurance and classification. CIT is one of only nine schools nationwide awarded by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) as Center of Excellence in Information Technology Education.
Prepare the students as your research subjects
The research subjects are the respondents of your study with your chosen research environment. For example in my study, the subjects are the selected students of Cebu Institute of Technology- University, Cebu, Philippines.
Prepare final findings or research data as your conclusion
For example in my research study, it is not worthy to contemplate the low level of language competency of those graduating Electrical Engineering students. Just because they've gotten a low score, didn't mean they should be regarded as poor linguistic learners.
Engineers are more on numbers than words. However, the statement expounds on the distinction between Mathematics and English; it would have been better if a certain curriculum has given a parallel consideration to both academic subjects.
After having a careful and accurate analysis over this study, the researcher infers that there are lots of things that must be considered in the development of language acquisition among the graduating Electrical Engineering students. That is, the narrow deliberation of it will be a great difficulty for those students who understand problem-based questions, and for those students who seek for the best job that includes written and oral examinations.
