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Introduction
English has four skills and some linguistics components that must be
related areas of study. The elements of grammar are the building blocks of
technology and working world use English. It is believed that the students want to
be the winner in working world competition that is getting tight day by day. One of
the conditions that the students must require is having ability to speak English
fluently. This skill will be their plus point in facing the working world. From now
on, the students have to try hard to overcome their difficulties to speak English
fluently.
the world today, it is a second language here in the Philippines and it is currently
the primary language used on the World Wide Web, in the political and business
arenas. It has even become the language of today's pop culture. One cannot
deny the importance of English Language. Behlol (2009) contended that English
is the language in which man can communicate with his fellowmen in a small
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crowded and independent world. It is the language of international politics, law,
science, technology, business, literature, arts, sports, music and aviation. English
Filipino and unless, otherwise provided by the law, English’’ De Leon (2002).
Fernandez (2010) also cited that through it, Filipinos, can find fulfillment
on their dreams, their aspirations as individuals and their role in their immediate
and wider community. The extent to which they have fully developed the English
language skills determines the degree by which they can maintain their social
standing.
2006 provides that English language shall be used as the primary medium of
instruction in all public and private schools in secondary level, including those
institution.
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Methods of learning English are highly variable depending on the
students’ level of English proficiency and the manner and setting in which they
are taught, which can range from required classes in school to self-directed study
and written assignments) are provided in mixtures of English and the student’s
but the vocabulary, grammar, and context clues may be modified to be more
2010)
Harklau (1995) posits that for many residents second language students,
the journey from secondary school to postsecondary school is often met with
Writing and speaking would not be easy. Another author, Ramies (2002),
draft down to its finest until the writer gets contented with his output.
command of the language, and schemata are also vital. In addition, richness of
coherence, content complexity, and accuracy are also of the same importance.
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Error free use of language is important. If it all that was important was to
As regards grammar, one of the most common errors that students incur
is the error in applying the rules of subject verb agreement. Many still find
problems concerning this particular part of grammar. Nayan (2009) states that as
a general rule, the subject must agree with the verb, thus a singular subject must
take a singular verb and a plural subject must take a plural verb. However, this
very easy rule is not followed because of the students’ common confusion on the
singular subject and singular verb because both do not have the same forms
when either singular or plural. For instance, in the sentence “The girl dances
gracefully.”, the subject is the boy (which is singular and no –s/-es added) and
the verb is jumps (which is singular but with –s/-es added). This mere example
alone would confuse the learners as to how they will take the right forms of their
verbs according to the number of subject because the subject and the verb in
Murcia & Freeman (1983) as cited by Nor Arfah (1988), stated that in spite
agreement, they still pose problems for the ESL learners at all levels or
proficiency. Some examples from an advanced level Malay ESL learner are as
need me to help his business. Recently, my father want to expand his business
by selling LPG gas. It is really tedious to get a license.’’ As the example shows,
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the learner failed to employ the correct rule of subject-verb agreement where a
singular subject requires a singular verb. The learners writing should be: ‘’ It
to help his business. Recently, my father wants to expand his business by selling
construct meaningful sentences that have correct grammar. Dorn (2000) states
that the sentences created by word and phrases are essential blocks of meaning
that allow us to communicate thoughts. If they are not constructed carefully, they
can make reading difficult. He further states that the major basic usage of and
grammar slips in written English are those associated with verbs. Across different
levels, whether a young one or adult, the problem of subject-verb agreement has
The lack of agreement between subjects and verbs in speaking or writing is one
speaker speaks with accuracy in this particular type of grammar, she is deemed
Based on the fact that the subject –verb agreement area is very important
absent, the students really need to master the rules in order to write effectively.as
a result, they can convey their message clearly and effectively. By writing a piece
of work that is error free, it shows that the learners have mastered the English
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grammar rules. Many interventions were proposed and carried out to improve the
learners’ skills in applying the rules of subject verb agreement in grammar test
the idea to help the Grade 10 students to minimize if not totally stop these errors
Conceptual Framework
For clarity and emphasis, this study is anchored on the Theory of McCray
Hill Grammar Dictionary, The Master level in using subject-verb agreement is the
rule of grammar that states that singular subjects must agree with singular verb
and plural compound subjects must agree with plural verbs. The verb in the
sentence must agree with the subjects and not with any other word that is placed
between them.
communication and depicts the extent to which a user of the language in both
speaking and writing media has internalized the rule. Anyone who speaks or
is considered a good and experienced speaker. However, the present day usage
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of English language by learners at various levels of education is bedeviled by
errors in agreement between subject and verb, among others Tafida & Okunade
(2016)
Errors committed by the learners revealed the true state of the second
particular point of time. Apart from that they also revealed what the second
language learner do not know and what have internalized of the new language
more likely when a local noun and head noun mismatch in number (i.e. ‘’the key
More errors when local and head nouns mismatch in number (Bock & Miller
1991); (2) Syntactic factors affect agreement errors (Bock & Cutting, 1992); (3) In
English, semantic factors (i.e. animacy, concreteness) may not (Bock & Miller,
Semenza, 1995).
that assist the students to learn basic skill and acquire information that can teach
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emphasizes the use of small group, face to face instruction by the teacher and
provides learners with practically useful knowledge of language. Daly & Miller
proficiency among ESL learners. Hettich (1994) defines that writing apprehension
certain factors, which this study tried to identify. It is seen in figure 1, the
level are perceived to affect the dependent variable which constitute the
variables.
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
Profile Variables
DEPENDENT VARIABLE
Mother tongue;
School graduated from;
English Academic Level of Grammatical Skills in
Performance; and Subject-Verb Agreement
Writing Proficiency Level
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The first box in the conceptual paradigm is the independent variable
graduated from, English academic performance and the writing proficiency level.
The second box includes the dependent variable which is the level of the
Academy, Bone South, Aritao, Nueva Vizcaya during the School Year of 2018-
2019.
a. Mother tongue;
agreement?
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Null Hypothesis
their teaching staff, specifically in the English subject area as they propose
awareness as one of the nine domains of the language and arts curriculum. The
result of this study will also enable them to recommend trainings to the teachers
subject-verb agreement by the students. They would also be made aware of their
The students. It might find this study advantageous as they are able to
know how to recognize their strengths and weaknesses in grammar or know the
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Future Researchers. The result of this study could be used as a
reference for their future research in relation to their study. This will also give
them inspiration to start another study to assess the level of the grammatical
skills and it will serve as a related literature for future studies. This will drive them
to conduct a study in a broader scope and will give them an idea to create
agreement when grouped according to the profile variables among the Grade 10
33.
A survey questionnaire containing two parts was used. Part I elicited the
English academic performance and writing proficiency level. Part II measures the
level of grammatical skills in subject-verb agreement which was adopted from the
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Definition of Terms
For a better understanding on the study and to enlighten the readers, the
Subject-verb agreement. Tt refers to the fact that the subject and the
verb in a sentence must agree in number. In other words, they both must be in
singular or they both must be plural. The tricky part is in knowing the singular and
Mother tongue. This refers to the first language learned and spoken at
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