A Study on English Communication Skills Using the Talking Compression Method

Abstract: As the era of globalization progresses, graduates strive to equip themselves not only
with solid professional skills, but also with communication skills in English. Institutions of
higher education play an important role in producing graduates that meet these job market
requirements and enabling them to compete globally. Graduates with international knowledge,
education and experience can play an active role in the world with their excellent interpersonal
communication skills, therefore the implication is that developing English communication
skills in graduates is an important function of the institution in this effort. In this study, students
from the Junior College use the career support rubric to visualize problems concerning their
individual English learning progress. A sound recognition learning system program -- the
talking compression method -- is currently being developed. The talking compression method
is a program of study drills whose objective is to improve sound recognition in English learners.
By reading compressed phrases, learners are expected to compose and comprehend the full
sentences. This cognitive strategy is applied to study its effectiveness compared to memory
strategies and compensation strategies as the cognitive function includes memorization work.
The study initially starts with a sentence compression rate of 75%. It gradually decreases the
compression rate to 50%. The 20 respondents of this study are English Communication course
students who come from various countries, including Japan, China and Vietnam. Their English
language skill level ranges beginner to intermediate. The study involves 10 sessions and the
comparison of the first and last progression will be discussed in this paper.

Keywords: compression, cognitive, communication, English, Junior College

Introduction

Learning and mastering a foreign language takes years of practice. A strong base in the
fundamentals at the very early age is also a vital component of enabling the learner to advance
in the language. Many educators find it hard to improve the English language ability among
undergraduates, most of whom have maintained average to poor scores in English language
since their primary and secondary school years. Many factors contribute to this, such as lack
of confidence in speaking the foreign language, fear of making mistakes, or a limited
fundamental background in the English language itself. When English is taught for testing
purposes, unavoidably, learners are provided with enormous grammar and vocabulary lessons
to prepare them for the test. This practice leads to the neglect of English language use as a
practical communication tool, and disables broader understanding of this foreign language.
Learners tend to study and memorize the language simply for the sake of passing tests. English
is regarded as the language of science, international communication and commerce. Being able
to comprehend and communicate in English benefits graduates and enables them to take active
part in the world of globalization. Another negative factor identified by academicians is mother
tongue usage during English language instruction. English lessons are conducted in the learners
first language (L1) and, naturally the technical parts of the instruction, such as grammar, are
also taught in a language other than the target language. It is difficult if the educator expects
to improve student English language accuracy after only a semester or two of instruction. The
process of improving proficiency in a foreign language is no easy task and is time consuming.
Many studies on language learning and teaching methods have already been conducted. The
effectiveness of various methodologies on improving the communication skills and the reading
comprehension ability of EFL and ESL learners has been an interesting focus of study. The
process of cultivating global-minded graduates with foreign language communication skills is
definitely a vital area that warrants further attention. Language learners are able to recognize
words uttered by different speakers (Mehler et al, 1992). This study will examine the
effectiveness of the talking compression method in improving English communication skills in
undergraduates with a beginner level of English accuracy. It is a small scale study that will
serve to assist future lesson plan creation. The talking compression method is an adaptation of
the sentence compression method. This study is aimed to study the ability of EFL learners to
recognize and comprehend simple sentences regardless if the sentences are written in full form
or not. As cognitive scientists suggest, humans use their lexical knowledge to normalize the
signal. Previous studies also state that automatic speech recognition systems can be effective
when the lexicon contains a minimal number of items. Respondents are given sentence
compression tests during 10 class sessions to examine the effectiveness of this method. Is this
method suitable to apply to undergraduate instruction at a beginner level of English accuracy
to improve student communication level? Can this method in some way help improve the
English communication skills of the undergraduates?
Research Question:
1. What is the effect of the Talking Compression Method and Digital Teaching
Materials on the undergraduates communication skill?

Hypothesis
Ho1: There is no significant relationship between talking compression method, the use of
digital teaching materials and the undergraduates communication skill.

Digital Teaching Materials

The e-Learning teaching and learning system was introduced in Josai University in 2004. It is
learning program that enables students to acquire necessary knowledge and skills by utilizing
content and tools delivered via the Internet regardless of time and place. [1]
Applications focused mainly on distributing teaching materials and tests. One of the advantages
is that additional information can be added to the lessons anytime. For example, students are
able to view teacher comments on the focus topic by accessing the web class at any convenient
time. Moreover, it effectively facilitated collaborative learning in the processing of digital
teaching materials, as with providing teaching materials to web classes.
Most of the web-based guidance materials are found in subjects that are related to language
learning. One of the more effective banks of teaching materials can be found in the English
Learning Program. This program is intended for repeated learning use. As many EFL learners
are aware that mastering English grammar is important, students accessed the system an
average of 27 times, in contrast to the 15 class lessons offerered per term. However, the self-
learning motivation test did not show significantly different results compared to previous
results.

The specifications of the English Learning System are as follows:

1. Practices: Practice in providing English sentence input corresponding to Q & A in

Japanese.
2. Learners are only allowed to move on to the next question if they picked the correct
answer at least three times while practicing the English input for the Q & A.
3. After 5 questions are completed at this level, learners will next move to the test
section.
4. The test section constitutes a review of the practices completed previously.
5. The test should be completed within 10 minutes.
6. Learners can end the test as soon as they wish to.
7. In input practices, learners are able to save the input contents for later revision
purpose, however this only applies to the Q & A that differs from the sample (with #
symbol).
8. All entered contents can be saved for for the test analysis and revision purposes.
9. Sentence patterns on the top of the page are selected.
10. Questions are randomly displayed.
Figure 1: English Learning System top page Figure 2: Input screen

Typing/Input Practice

A learning system using the typing function and checking function of the computer was
developed to assist learning basic English communication. Sentence input repetition is
expected to help learners with their grammar acquistion. However, English grammar acquistion
which leads into communication skill training should not only focus on mastering grammar
rules, but it should also be applicable to communicative situations to the greatest extent possible.
In this study, a computer teaching materials system is being developed that collects a students
learning history that also supports -- via iterative learning -- the degree of comprehension and
memorization. This system includes study of the English parts of speech and records the
learning achievement trend of each area that was analyzed. The analysis was carried out in
three stages, using 5 pairs of Japanese-English translation of the same interactive form. In the
first step, learners were required to answer on paper. In the second step, at the end of the
exercises, learners were asked to key-in their input into the dedicated computer teaching
material system. In the third step, the same writing tests were conducted as in the first step.
Electronic teaching materials such as games might be suitable for EFL language learning.
Teaching materials such as situation context-dependent sentences are being created. Though
digitizing, the printed materials are interactive compared with traditional textbook based
teaching and learning materials and activities; what should be kept in mind is when preparing
the electronic teaching materials, the content must parallel the learning outcomes of the course.
Electronic teaching materials could be a factor in learning motivation. It is possible to increase
teaching and learning effectiveness by using electronic teaching materials with an interactive
screen composition.

Figure 3: Screen depicting the exercise section

Learning Styles of EFL undergraduates

It is difficult if educators expect to change the English language accuracy level after only a
semester or two of teaching. The process of improving proficiency in a foreign language is not
an easy task and is time consuming. The fact is that cognitive changes and psychological
development in young adults may require educators to spend some time tailoring suitable
language learning strategies that suit the cognitive level of the undergraduates. Before
conducting the test, the learners English learning preferences were examined using the SILL
questionnaire. The usage of the SILL questionnaire on EFL students has been widely
investigated over a lengthy period of time. According to the Drnyei 2005, White, Schramm
and Chamot 2007, the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) is a popular tool used
to measure language-learning strategies practiced by second language or foreign language
learners. The SILL is a structured questionnaire that aims to understand how often learners
employ specific language learning strategies in the process of learning a foreign language
(Kazamia, 2010). It helps educators produce a strategy profile of their learners and uncovers to
learners the kinds of strategies they practice in the process of learning English as a second or
foreign language (Oxford, 1990). The survey uses the Japanese translation version of Oxfords
SILL questionnaire as well as a translated Likert scale questionnaire. The SILL questionnaire
consists of 50 questions where participants respond to each item by choosing the score that best
describes their learning behavior. SILL version 7.0 (ESL/EFL) was created by Rebecca Oxford,
a professor at Columbia University in New York. Both the English and Japanese versions of
the questionnaire are attached (Attachment 1 and 2).
The 5-point Likert scale represents 5 different response categories:
1 Never true of me. (The pattern or practice mentioned in the statement does not occur in
the learning behavior.)
2 Usually not true of me. (The learning behavior only happens occasionally.)
3 Somewhat true of me. (The learning behavior happens fairly regularly)
4 Usually true of me. (The behavior happens regularly and represents an obvious pattern in
the learning behavior)
5 Always true of me. (The behavior happens almost all of the time and it represents a solid
learning behavior pattern)

Compressed Sentences

Based on the analysis of SILL learning styles, problems related to individual English learning
styles can be visualized. Hence, we proposed applying the talking compression method to the
respondents. According to Napoles et al, 2011, sentence compression is defined as the process
of shortening a sentence while preserving the main point. The difference between tightening
and compression can be pictured as how much space needs to be preserved.

Methodology

This article reports the results of an experimental study, which was conducted to find out the
effectiveness of electronic teaching materials and the sentence compression method in
improving EFL students English skill (comprehension and communication). The study was
started at the beginning of the new semester in April 2017 and will be completed by the end of
the first half of the semester in July.

Subjects

A total of 25 respondents took part in this study. Respondents are first and second year students
from Josai Base College, a two-year college connected to Josai University in Japan. They are
elementary level in English. The background of the respondents differs according to their
nationalities, which include Japanese students, Chinese students and Vietnamese students. All
of the respondents are attending the same Oral English course offered by the university.

Procedures

The duration of the course is 15 weeks. The test, however, is run for 10 sessions. Class lessons
focus more on daily practical conversation. Situation-based lessons such as communicating at
the airport, at a hotel and in restaurants were taught to the class. Using typing input software
has proven to greatly improve learning effectiveness. Therefore, the talking compression
method (adapted from the sentence compression method, which relies on students listening
and memorizing skills) was also applied in this study. As previously mentioned, the talking
compression method is a study drill to whose purpose is to improve sound recognition. By
compressing a sentence to a minimal level, respondents rewrite the sentence based on their
cognitive skills such as recall and comprehension. The sentences were initially compressed at
a rate of 75%. As the sessions went on, it gradually decreased to 50%. Figure #5 below show
examples of 70% compressed sentences.
The respondents worked in pairs and designed their own dialogue according to the target topic.
The instructors first explain the situation and then provide vocabulary and grammar rules as
the input. A model example of the conversation is played during the class as the initial part of
the learning and teaching process. This is to help the respondents to first understand the
information needed and the commonly used expressions. According to Mehler et al, 1992, the
acquisition of lexical inputs such as phrases, must be placed within one and the same category,
presumably one that is allowed by the phonology of the language. At the end of each session,
respondents were asked to rewrite a set of 10 compressed sentences related to the topic being
taught.

Data Analysis

Learning strategies preference

Table below shows the analysis of the questionnaire of Learning Strategies. The result of this
survey shows that there is a relation between language acquisition and sound recognition as the
analysis shows score of 70% and above on usually true of me and always or almost always
true of me, for part B and D in the questionnaire. Each part of the SILL questionnaire
representing a group of learning strategies. There is a tendency toward language acquisition by
reliance on sound detection; therefore the study applied the talking compression method as a
language learning methodology that relies on sound.

English Sentence Compression Method

The study used the learning support questionnaire to visualize problems related to EFL learning
of the individuals. The analysis shows that using typing software has greatly improved learning
activities. In this study, the sentence compression method is also adopted for listening and
speaking activities. The talking compression method is a study drill for sound recognition
improvement. By compressing the phrases, learners will rewrite complete sentences by
imagining the pronunciation of the phrases. The compression rate was initially started at 75%
and gradually decreased to a 50% compression rate.
The table below shows the part of the compression-rewriting test that was conducted, which is
named the hint-game during the teaching and learning activities.

No. Compression Complete Sentence

 1 I wld lk to chk in
2 I wld lk to mk a rm rsvt
3 Is thr any rm avbl?
4 Hw mch for a 1 nght sty?
5 Hw mch if I wld lk to sty for a wk?
I would like to check in
I would like to make a room reservation
Is there any room available?
How much for a 1 night stay?
How much if I would like to stay for a week?

The hint-game examples shown in the table above contain a compression ratio of 75%. There
are a total of 100 simple conversations used in the 10 sessions. The topics are based on basic
daily conversations such as those occurring in the airport or during a hotel check-in. These
activities lasted around 10 minutes during each lesson. The majority of the students showed
significant improvement according to the analysis of the data, which was collected weekly. The
class is considered beginner level, but learner motivation towards language learning has been
increased.

Conclusion

Although the talking compression method is usually applied in listening and speaking learning
activities (and requires average to strong fundamental English pronunciation) it is also
applicable, however, to learners with a low level of English accuracy. There are more and wider
areas in which applying this method can be used to help learners to improve their language
accuracy. The result of this study is considered a first step in developing a system of digital
teaching materials that will assist instructors in adjusting the compression ratio rate and
collecting data learner progress.

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