The Effect of Using Pragmatic Competence Test on the Ninth Graders’ Proficiency of the Major Four Skills in Nablus City

This study investigated the effect of training ninth graders on Pragmatic Competence activities: linguistic competence (knowledge of form), sociolinguistic competence (ability to use language appropriately in different contexts) and discourse competence (cohesion and coherence). The study attempted to address the following questions: 1- Is there any significant difference at (α =0.05) in the effect of using English pragmatic competence test on the students’ proficiency, regarding the four language skills, due to teaching method variable? 2- Is there any significant difference at (α =0.05) in the effect of using English pragmatic competence test on the students’ proficiency, regarding the four language skills, due to gender, teaching method and the interaction between gender and teaching method variables? The population of the study consisted of all male and female ninth grade students at the public schools in Nablus City in the first semester of the scholastic year 2003-2004. The sample of the study consisted of 393 ninth grade students (198 males and 195 females). For data collection, the researcher developed an instrument: General Pragmatic Competence Test (GPCT). It was administered to assess the general language proficiency of the students as well as their reading comprehension, writing, speaking and listening. Test validity and reliability were confirmed by a group of experts. The correlation coefficient of the test was 0.86, which was considered statistically acceptable to carry out this study. The data was collected, coded out and analysed by using Independent T-Test, Two-Way ANOVA and Paired T-Test to answer the questions of the study. The training program comprised 10 sessions, which aimed at training the experimental group. On the other hand, the control group was taught the same material but did not receive any training. After 10 sessions of training, means of the pre- and post- tests for the two groups were calculated. A t-test was conducted at the level of significance (α =0.05). On the basis of the results, one can infer that: (1) the students’ ability improved significantly than that of the control group which remained the same; and (2) pragmatic competence use WAS the only strategy correlateD with four skills. Findings of the study a) There were no satistically significant differences at α =0.05 in the improvement of the ninth grade students which might be attributed to gender. b) There were statistically significant differences at α =0.05 in the improvement of the ninth grade students which might be attributed to the use of pragmatic competence activities. c) There were considerable significant differences at α =0.05 in the improvement of the ninth grade students which might be attributed to interaction between the gender and the teaching method. d) There were significant differences at α =0.05 in the improvement of the ninth grade studentswhich might be attributed to the use of pragmatic competence activities on the four skills before and after the training program. Based on these findings, the researcher recommends that teachers give emphasis to the use of pragmatic competence activities. She also recommends that syllabus designers give more interest to pragmatic competence activities in the curriculum. It is also recommended that other researchers conduct other studies to investigate the relationship between teaching method and students’ achievement in English as a foreign language. In particular, research on the relationship between the teaching method and pragmatic competence and communicative skill abilities is still lacking in Palestinian settings.