Linguistic Backgrounds and Writing Skills - Research Paper Example

Data Analysis Hypothesis First generation Americans have better writing skills than bilingual Null Hypothesis First generation Americans do not have better writing skills than bilingual students. Findings To examine the validity of the null hypothesis, several tests were done on the data. The various analyses done are described below. Cross-tabulation The analysis aimed at comparing the writing skills of the first generation Americans and the bilingual students. A cross tabulation was done, to compare the two groups, as shown below. Case Processing Summary Cases Valid Missing Total N Percent N Percent N Percent Are you first-generation American? * In high school, you earned an average grade of ___ in your reading and writing classes. (Choose... 53 100.0% 0 .0% 53 100.0% Are you first-generation American? * In college, youve earned an average grade of ___ in your reading and writing classes. (Choose th... 52 98.1% 1 1.9% 53 100.0% Explanation From the cross-tabulated graphs shoe above, it is clear that; being a first generation American didn’t guarantee excellence in English writing skills. For instance, from the performance at high school level, more bilingual students obtained an “A” grade, as opposed to their counterpart. From the table above, it is also clear that, the comparison based on an equal number of learners (53 each), and hence the statistic is reliable. Likewise in the college level, more bilingual students obtained the “A” grade, compared to their counterparts. This could be an indication that being a first generation American plays little or no part in the achievements in English writing skills. However, the cross tabulation alone canoe be used to do the conclusion. An additional test needs to be conducted, to ascertain the observation. To achieve this factor, I proceeded to conduct a correlation test. The correlation test conducted between English writing achievements and whether one is a first generation American indicated a very small positive correlation of (0.017), at a significance level of 0.906. despite the correlation being a positive value, it is slightly above the zero level, and hence a conclusion can be made that, there is no significant correlation between the person’s achievements in English writing and whether he/ she is a first generation American. From these two test therefore, it is worth concluding that being a native English speaker plays little or no role in the person’s achievements in English writing skills. For this reason, the results of the cross tabulation can be considered valid and consequently leading to the acceptance of the null hypothesis. Hypothesis 2: Most first generation Americans speak more English than another language at home. Null Hypothesis: Most first generation Americans do not speak more English than another language at home. To examine the hypothesis, a descriptive analysis was done on the data. The study required examination of the percentage of the Native Americans who speak other languages. The table below shows the analysis of the group. Statistics Are you first-generation American? Do you speak another language? N Valid 53 53 Missing 0 0 Are you first-generation American? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Yes   27 50.9 50.9 50.9 No 26 49.1 49.1 100.0 Total 53 100.0 100.0 Do you speak another language? Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Yes 37 69.8 69.8 69.8 No 16 30.2 30.2 100.0 Total 53 100.0 100.0 Explanation From the analysis of the data, there were no missing values as shown in the table above. Out of the 100 participants, 53 were first generation Americans. From the analysis of the responses on whether they spoke other languages, 27 of the Natives replied that they do speak other languages. A graphical representation of the analysis is shown in the pie chart below. From the analysis, it is clear that, a large portion (69.8%) of the first generation Americans speak other languages. For this reason, the null hypothesis is accepted. Hypothesis 3: Bilingual students feel as if they are not good writers. Null Hypothesis: Bilingual students do not feel as if they are not good writers. Findings To examine the validity of this hypothesis, several tests were conducted, with the most vital one being the cross tabulation. The cross-tabulation of whether the respondent is a native speaker and the level to which he/she considers himself/herself a good writer revealed some interesting facts. Majority of the students who considered themselves good writers were native. No single non-native respondent with the degree “Strongly agree.” The table below shows the statistics. Is English your first language? * Please rate the following statements from 1-5. (1 - Strongly Agree, 2 - Agree, 3 - Neutral, 4 -...-I consider myself a good writer. Cross-tabulation Count Please rate the following statements from 1-5. (1 - Strongly Agree, 2 - Agree, 3 - Neutral, 4 -...-I consider myself a good writer. Total Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Is English your first language? Yes 9 14 7 3 33 No 0 9 7 1 17 Total 9 23 14 4 50 From the table, there were 9 responses at the level of ‘strongly agree,’ by natives, whereas there was none, in the case on bilinguals. The graphical representation of the findings is as shown below. The cross-tabulation analysis could not be solely used in the conclusion, and hence a chi test was also done to ascertain the findings. The chi-square test indicated a significant likelihood at the ratio 9.408, and a Chi-Square value of 6.648a. This supports the previous findings that being a native English speaker makes it more likely that the student considers oneself a good writer. The chi-square table is shown below. Chi-Square Tests Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) Pearson Chi-Square 6.648a 3 .084 Likelihood Ratio 9.408 3 .024 Linear-by-Linear Association 2.572 1 .109 N of Valid Cases 50 Additionally, the nominal symmetric measure of Phi (Cramer’s V) indicated a positive value .365, at a significance level of .084, further supporting the previous findings. With all the assembled evidence, a conclusion is drawn that, bilingual students are not likely to consider themselves good writers, when compared to natives. For this reason, the null hypothesis is not accepted. Hypothesis 4: Monolingual speakers of English have a higher GPA than bilingual students. Null Hypothesis: Monolingual speakers of English do not have a higher GPA than bilingual students. Several tests were conducted to examine the validity of the hypothesis. The most significant measure for this test was the regression. It started by the computation of the average means based on whether the person was a monolingual Native or bilingual. The findings at this level are presented in the table below. Descriptive Statistics Mean Std. Deviation N What is your overall GPA? 2.70 .749 47 Is English your first language? 1.34 .479 47 Do you speak another language? 1.30 .462 47 From the table above, the mean of the overall GPA obtained monolingual was 1.34, whereas that obtained by the bilinguals was 1.30. At this level, an observation can be made that; monolingual have a better GPA than their counterparts. For further analysis, ANOVA test was done on the data. The ANOVA indicated a significant value of the mean square, and F value. This is an indication that there exists a difference in the mean GPA of the two groups. For a close comparison of the means, a crosstabulation followed. The table below shows the ANOVA analysis. ANOVAb Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. 1 Regression .437 2 .218 .378 .687a Residual 25.393 44 .577 Total 25.830 46 a. Predictors: (Constant), Do you speak another language?, Is English your first language? b. Dependent Variable: What is your overall GPA? To complement the ANOVA test, a crosstabulation was done to compare the means between the groups. The table below shows the findings. Crosstab Count What is your overall GPA? Total 4 3.5-3.9 3.0-3.5 2.5-2.9 Do you speak another language? Yes 1 11 16 5 33 No 1 5 7 1 14 Total 2 16 23 6 47 Explanation From the findings of the cross tabulation, it is evident that, the bilinguals have a higher GPA than their counterparts. the graph show below puts more emphasis on the findings. From the findings of the tests conducted, it is worth concluding that; the bilinguals have a higher overall GPA than the monolinguals. For this reason, the null hypothesis is accepted. Hypothesis 5: Bilingual students appreciate speaking a language other than English. Null Hypothesis: Bilingual students do not appreciate speaking a language other than English. In the examination of the hypothesis, a descriptive analysis was done. The level of other language liking was ranked in values (1, 2, and 3), with the value 1 representing the highest degree of liking. From the descriptive analysis, it was found that largest percentage of bilinguals like speaking language other than English. There were some missing values, in the data collected. The analysis findings are shown below. Rank the following in the most precise order.-Im happy to speak another language. Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid 1.00 22 41.5 45.8 45.8 2.00 24 45.3 50.0 95.8 3.00 2 3.8 4.2 100.0 Total 48 90.6 100.0 Missing System 5 9.4 Total 53 100.0 Explanation From the findings, 86.8% of the bilinguals accepted that they like speaking languages other than English. 45.8% of the valid percentage reported that they strongly agree they prefer speaking in other languages. From this finding therefore, a conclusion can be draw that; most of the bilinguals prefer speaking in language other than English. For this reason, the null hypothesis is rejected. Hypothesis 6: Bilingual students usually receive more recommendations to seek help from outside sources (Writing Center) than monolingual students. To examine this hypothesis, a cross0tabulation was necessary. A cross-tabulation was conducted between the records on whether bilinguals receive recommendation from professor to seek external help in their writing. From the findings, it was clear that, bilinguals a less likely to be referred for external help as compared to their counterparts. the findings are resented below. Do you speak another language? * Please rate the following statements from 1-5. (1 - Always, 2 - Often, 3 - Sometimes, 4 - Rarely,...-Professors recommend I seek help from the Writing Center Cross-tabulation Count Please rate the following statements from 1-5. (1 - Always, 2 - Often, 3 - Sometimes, 4 - Rarely,...-Professors recommend I seek help from the Writing Center Total Always Often Sometimes Rarely Never Do you speak another language? Yes 0 3 8 12 14 37 No 1 2 0 3 10 16 Total 1 5 8 15 24 53 \ Explanation From the findings, most of the students referred by the professor to seek help from the writing centers are the monolinguals. For this reason, it is worth concluding that, bilinguals are less likely to be referred to external help and consequently leading to the acceptance of the null hypothesis. Hypothesis 7: Bilingual students are more likely to seek help with their writing. Null Hypothesis: Bilingual students are not more likely to seek help with their writing. To ascertain the validity of the hypothesis, a cross tabulation was done. The findings of the test are shown below. Do you speak another language? * Please rate the following statements from 1-5. (1 - Always, 2 - Often, 3 - Sometimes, 4 - Rarely,...-I actually seek help from the writing center. Crosstabulation Count Please rate the following statements from 1-5. (1 - Always, 2 - Often, 3 - Sometimes, 4 - Rarely,...-I actually seek help from the writing center. Total Always Often Sometimes Rarely Never Do you speak another language? Yes 2 5 9 6 15 37 No 1 1 3 0 11 16 Total 3 6 12 6 26 53 Explanation From the test, it was observed that; bilinguals are more likely to seek help from writing centers as opposed to monolinguals. This may be attributed to their ability to speak different languages, hence making it possible to communicate with the help centers. In line with this finding, the null hypothesis is rejected. Hypothesis 8: Bilingual students earn better grades in high school than in college in writing courses. Null Hypothesis: Bilingual students do not earn better grades in high school than in college in writing courses. To examine the validity of this hypothesis, a t-test was done. The results of the test are presented in the table below. Paired Samples Test Paired Differences t df Sig. (2-tailed) 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean Lower Upper Pair 1 Do you speak another language? - In high school, you earned an average grade of ___ in your reading and writing classes. (Choose... -.302 .845 .116 -.535 -.069 -2.599 52 .012 Pair 2 Do you speak another language? - In college, youve earned an average grade of ___ in your reading and writing classes. (Choose th... -.192 .864 .120 -.433 .048 -1.605 51 .115 Explanation From the t-test results, the mean across the two groups is identified as .302 for high school, and .192 for college level. This is evidence that the bilingual performances were better in high school, than in college. This finding leads to rejection of the null hypothesis. Hypothesis 9: Females are more likely to seek help (writing center). Null Hypothesis: Females are not more likely to seek help (writing center). This part of the analysis involved comparison between genders, to find out which gender is more likely to seek external help. To examine the formulated hypothesis, a cross tabulation was done. The results are shown below. Case Processing Summary Cases Valid Missing Total N Percent N Percent N Percent What is your gender? * Please rate the following statements from 1-5. (1 - Always, 2 - Often, 3 - Sometimes, 4 - Rarely,...-I actually seek help from the writing center. 47 88.7% 6 11.3% 53 100.0% What is your gender? * Please rate the following statements from 1-5. (1 - Always, 2 - Often, 3 - Sometimes, 4 - Rarely,...-I actually seek help from the writing center. Crosstabulation Count Please rate the following statements from 1-5. (1 - Always, 2 - Often, 3 - Sometimes, 4 - Rarely,...-I actually seek help from the writing center. Total Always Often Sometimes Rarely Never What is your gender? Male 1 0 4 0 9 14 Female 2 3 6 6 16 33 Total 3 3 10 6 25 47 Explanation From the findings, it is clear that more females, compared to males seek external help. For instance, two females reported to always seek external help, while only one male was reported to always seek help. Likewise, under the category often, no male reported to seek external help at that frequency, whereas three females were lying at that category. From this finding, a conclusion can be drawn that, females are more likely to seek external help than males. Consequently, the null hypothesis is rejected. Discussion From the data analysis, some of my hypotheses were rejected, with a good number of them being accepted. One of my hypotheses which were accepted was the hypothesis that stated that first generation Americans do not have better writing skills than bilinguals. The findings indicated that bilinguals do better than the first generation Americans, and hence supporting the stated hypothesis. My hypothesis on whether most Native Americans prefer speaking in English than other languages was supported by the findings, hence leading to its acceptance. The analysis indicated that bilingual Native Americans prefer speaking in other languages. This finding disapproved the initial hypothesis that stated most natives would prefer speaking in English only. My null hypothesis that stated that the bilingual learners do not feel like they are not good writers was rejected. The analysis showed that natives have a higher level of confidence in their writing than the bilinguals. For this reason, my hypothesis was declared incorrect. The null hypothesis on the bilingual students not appreciating speaking languages other than English was also rejected. The analysis indicated that a good number of bilinguals preferred speaking in languages other than English. In this respect, rejecting the null hypothesis was a worthwhile decision. My hypothesis that stated that bilingual students are less likely to be referred to external help by the professor was supported by the findings and hence accepted. The analysis indicated that, the monolinguals are more likely to be referred to external help by the professor as opposed to their counterparts. My null hypothesis on bilingual students not being likely to seek external help was rejected. The findings indicated that indeed, the bilingual students are more likely to seek external writing help. This could be attributed to their ability to speak in different languages, hence making it easy for them to communicate with the writing help personnel. My null hypothesis that stated that bilingual students de not attain better grades in high school than in colleges was disapproved. The research results indicated that bilingual obtain better grades in high school than in colleges. Finally, my null hypothesis on females being more likely to seek writing help was deemed correct. The analysis indicated that females are more likely to seek writing help, as opposed to males. Conclusion From the findings of the research, a conclusion can be drawn that; bilinguals are better than monolinguals in many aspects. Their ability to speak in different languages gives them an advantage in terms of ability to communicate with people with varied language backgrounds. Read More