1.7.
Research Hypotheses
1. Sex is not a significant factor influencing E.L. learners'
communicative competence in conversational English.
2. There is no significant difference of communicative
competence in conversational English between E.L. learners from rural area and
those from urban area.
3. There is no significant relationship between family
literacy and E.L. Learners' communicative competence in conversational
English.
1.8.
The Scope of the Study
As far as the evaluation of the communicative competence in
conversational English among E.L. learners is concerned, this study does not
cover all types of communication because of certain reasons such as the
shortage of time and money. Therefore, the study was not be concerned with
written and oral communication; however, it was delimited to the evaluation of
the communicative competence in conversational English. Since the
conversational English involves mainly oral skills such as speaking and
listening this study insisted on the development of speaking and listening
language skills as basics of productive and receptive communication.
Furthermore, the research was conducted to all E.L. learners
in the literary option. However, the study was concerned with schools located
in districts of Rusizi and Nyamasheke in the Southern part of the Western
Province of Rwanda.
1.9. Methodology
This study was conducted in four schools located in Rusizi and
Nyamasheke districts. As only schools with the literary option were concerned
with the study, 366 students who are in that option and 4 teachers of English
were taken as the population of the study. Using the purposive sampling and the
random sampling techniques 73 and 4 teachers were selected as the sample of the
study. Two research instruments: the questionnaire and the test were used in
the collection of data. Then, after having the validity of instruments tested,
the researcher administered the questionnaire and he controlled over the
students who sat for the test to prevent them from cheating. As far as the
method of data analysis is concerned, the quantitative method was used.
Therefore, Epidata 3.1 and SPSS 11.5 are computer software that helped the
researcher to analyse data through this method.
1.10. The Structure of the
Work
This study covers five chapters. The first chapter deals with
the general introduction including the background to the study, the
statement of the problem, the choice of the topic, the significance of the
study, the objectives of the study, the research questions, the research
hypotheses, the scope of the study, the methodology and the present
subchapter..
The second chapter is the literature review. It is an overview
of various ideas from books which relate to the topic of this study. Therefore,
it includes ideas relating to the evaluation of communicative competence in
conversational English among E.L. learners in the literary option.
The third chapter is the research methodology. It comprises
the design of the study, the area of the study, the population of the study,
the sample and sampling techniques, the instruments of data collection, the
validity of instruments, method of data collection, methods of data analysis
and the limitations of the study.
The fourth chapter deals with data presentation, data
analysis, and interpretation. Finally, the last chapter gives the general
conclusion, recommendations and suggestions for further researches.
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