International Journal of Linguistics & Communication

Freshmen College Students’ Metalinguistic Knowledge: Matching Perception and Actual Performance
Leonardo O. Munalim

Abstract
Amid the little treatment of grammar, heavily literature-based in the 2010 Secondary Curriculum in the Philippines, this mixed-mode research aimed to investigate the relationship between the students’ actual nature and extent of metalinguistic knowledge (MK) and their perception on the merits of metalanguage in grammar teaching and learning. One hundred forty-eight (n=148) freshmen college students from five different academic programs in a university in Manila took the metalanguage and perception tests. Using the SPSS, Pearson-moment correlation and ANOVA were utilized to see the relationships under study. An interview was also conducted to triangulate their responses. Results show that the actual students’ MK was considered low with significant difference; thus, an academic program is a factor in metalinguistic knowledge. As regards the relationship, no significant relationship between the actual MK and perception on MK exists as a whole, hence a very weak positive correlation. However, the positive perception on metalanguage may be used by the policy makers to revisit the treatment of grammar in the existing English curriculum.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/ijlc.v3n1a8