1

CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM

This chapter presents introduction of the research which discusses

background information of the study on designing differentiated strategy

learning design in English for Grade 2 which is the ultimate output of the

study.

Introduction

Reading leads anyone in almost everything that one does – may it be

buying something in the store, looking for a good material for viewing during

leisure time, in cooking, and so on. It is very important tool for man to function

effectively in his environment. Salazar (2000), noted that reading is a skill that

helps man to discover answer to questions about existence. Reading is the

magic key to the world of enlightened and enjoyment. It plays an important

role in all aspects of education particularly that it is the basic tool for learning

in all subject areas, which enable an individual to ponder the mysteries of the

world, explore accumulated knowledge and contemplate the unknown.

Lizard (2000), posted the following questions and issues regarding the

significance of reading in learning the other tool subjects: in case of learning

the Communication Arts subject, how can pupils learn to follow directions if
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the reading they learned is without comprehension? How can they learn

grammar, if they could not comprehend what they are reading in any other

activity with in communication arts skills? In the same way pupils could not

learn the four fundamental processes in Mathematics if they happen to be

deficient in reading skills, pupils will have a problem in solving mathematical

problems included in learning the subject; reading also plays an important role

in learning social studies subjects, pupils will not be successful in learning the

approaches and concepts pertaining to the subject, in physical education,

meaningful health messages will not be felt by the pupils because they lack

comprehension in reading, so appreciation of the health program s and

activities will also not be experienced by them; and the industrial arts subject

will also be affected because pupils will not be motivated to make projects

with instructions not clear to them because they could not comprehended by.

All this findings entail for differentiate strategy learning design in

English for Grade 2, hence, this study.

Statement of the Problem

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This study aims to design differentiated strategy learning design in

English for Grade 2 during school year 2019 – 2020.

Specifically, this study seeks to answer the following questions:

1. What is the level of learning of the Grade 2 pupils in English in terms

of MPS in English Proficiency Test?

2. To what extent are the following competencies on reading are

developed among the Grade 2 pupils?

2.1 Noting details

2.2 Following directions

2.3 Sequencing events

2.4 Making predictions

2.5 Inferring

3. What instructional materials are utilized by the teachers in teaching

English for Grade 2?

4. To what extent are the following teaching strategies employed by the

teachers in teaching English for Grade 2?

4.1 Experiential Learning Strategy

4.2 Discovery Learning Strategy

4.3 Reflective Learning Strategy

4.4 Cooperative Learning Strategy

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4.5 Interactive Learning Strategy

5. What are the problems met by the teachers in teaching English for

Grade 2?

6. What differentiated strategy learning design in English for Grade 2

may be developed based on the findings of the study.

Theoretical Framework

This study is based on Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theory wherein

he cited that everyone is genius in their own fields. The 21ST century has

been so much of a challenge to teachers as diversity in intelligences has

been recognized after the advent of multiple intelligences theory, the focal

point of education shifted from being teacher centered to

learner centered. Answering to this call came out the differentiation in

instruction to address individuals’ learning needs. As schools continue to

embrace a philosophy of inclusion, teachers are challenged to meet

the diversity of learning needs that exist within a classroom. Many of us are

familiar with three general categories in which people learn: visual learners,

auditory learners, and kinesthetic learners. Beyond

these three general categories, many theories of and approaches toward

human potential have been developed. Gardner asserts that people who have

an affinity toward one of the intelligences do so in concert with the other

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intelligences as “they develop skills and solve problems” In summary,

integrate educational theories, teaching strategies, and other pedagogic tools

in meaningful and useful ways to better address the needs of students.

Gardner himself asserts that educators should not follow one specific theory

or educational innovation when designing instruction but instead employ

customized goals and values appropriate to their teaching

and student needs. Addressing the multiple intelligences and potential of stu

dents can help instructors personalize their instruction and methods of

assessment which later called as differentiated instruction. Differentiated

instruction has gained so much popularity in the stage of education catering

the needs of 21st century learners equipping them with 21st century skills

(businessballs.com, 2009). This was thoroughly discussed by Henderson

(2009) when he cited that before teachers can begin to think about

differentiating their inclusive classroom, they need to be able to see past the

uniqueness of the children in their classrooms. Inclusion efforts to meet

diverse needs have challenged educators to modify curriculum and

differentiate classroom instruction. Inclusion reflects the global initiative

toward equity for students with disabilities. In order to meet the diverse needs

of learners, a paradigm shift of thinking is needed to provide appropriate

curriculum while modifying and adjusting the curriculum.

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Hart (1996) maintained that this type of innovative thinking on the part

of the classroom teacher is a prerequisite to making inclusion work. “Many

teachers are choosing to respond to these challenges by differentiating

instruction” (Henderson 2009). Although differentiated instruction is not a

new concept, it has recently become mainstreamed to meet the

diverse needs of all students within an inclusive classroom.

It offers teachers an approach to developing classroom routines that will

address rather than ignore the variance that exists among students while

maintaining high standards for all (Tomlinson & Cooper 2009).

Differentiating instruction is a comprehensive approach to teaching.

The above findings are reinforced by Purcell, Burns, Tomlinson, Imbeau, &

Martine (2003) when they cited that differentiating instruction based

on student need is nothing new. This was the strategy, although perhaps

not named as such, employed in the one-room schoolhouse of yesteryear.

More recently, differentiated curriculum and instruction occur in the

education of the gifted. The need to address the heterogeneous mix found in

today’s classroom can be met by employing differentiation instruction (DI)

strategies. Tomlinson (2004) among others, believes that the nation’s

advanced students “need only to show up” on the day of the test to do well,

thereby teaching them that effort is not a requirement for success.

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Unfortunately, this corresponds to the trend of “mainstreaming” where

special learning needs (on both sides of the spectrum) are no longer met in

special environments, but are the responsibility of the classroom teacher.

Therefore, segregation and homogeneity is not the answer to leave up students

achievements which was clearly contended by Tomlinson and George (2004)

argue that if advanced students are removed from the classroom to have their

learning needs met,the remaining students will have lower expectations.

At the heart of differentiated instruction (DI) is the belief that all stude

nts learn differently, so they must be given different learning opportunities

Tomlinson (2001). DI is more of a philosophy more of

a teaching strategy Wormeli (2007). Differentiated instruction requires

teachers to incorporate good teaching strategies in novel or meaningful

combinations to fit students’ diverse learning needs (Wormeli, 2007).

Teachers who employ differentiated instruction share common beliefs about

student diversity and how to rise to the challenge of educating a diverse

classroom (Tomlinson & Imbeau, 2010). One belief that teachers share is that

hard work should lead to success, not that the two are independent

of each other.

Conceptual Framework
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This study is anchored on the idea that using reflective learning

activities will enhance the level of learning of Grade 2 pupils in English.

Furthermore, this study use process approach which include input,

throughput and output.

Input. This parts includes variables included in the study like (1) the

level of learning of the Grade 2 pupils in English; (2) the extent to which the

competencies from each content standard are developed among the Grade 2

pupils; (3) the instructional materials utilized by the teachers in teaching

Grade 2. (4) the teaching strategies employed by the teachers in teaching

English and (5) the problems met by the teachers in teaching English for

grade 2.

Throughput. This shows how the data be gathered in order to answer

questions posted in the statement of the problem.

Output. This shows the output of the study which is differentiated

Strategy Learning Design in English for Grade 2.

INPUT VARIABLES PROCESS OUTPUT

Level of Learning of Identifying the Level of

Grade 2 Pupils in Learning of the Grade 2
English pupils in English
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Figure I. The Flow of the Conceptual Framework of the Study

Significance of the Study

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This study has great significance to the teachers, students, school head

and to the futures researchers. They have great roles in developing learners to

become competent individuals ready to face the challenges in this new era.

The Teachers. These materials in teaching reading will help them

improve the reading ability of their grade 2 pupils. The differentiated strategy

learning design in English for Grade 2 will help them to encourage pupils to

participate in activities. They can also use these materials.

The Pupils. The differentiated strategy learning design in English for

Grade 2 will serve as learning tools and will help them improve their reading

performance. Hence, they will be encourage to learn, read and study

independently.

The Future Researchers. The result of this study would provide them

with additional knowledge on what materials to use in teaching beginning

reading. They may use this as one of their related studies when they conduct

their future researches.

Scope and Delimitation of the Study

This study is delimited on the differentiated strategy learning design in

English for Grade 2 in the elementary schools in District Learning Center IX

Tacloban City Division which include Marasbaras Central Elementary

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School, Dr. AP Bañez Memorial Elementary School, V & G dela Cruz

Memorial Elementary School.

The respondents of the study include 256 Grade 2 pupils and 7 teachers.

This study will be conducted during academic school year 2019 – 2020.

Definition of Terms

These terms are herein defined conceptually and operationally to obtain

clear understanding of the words used in this study.

Beginning Reading. The term defines as a process of learning to

recognize certain symbols, words, phrases, and sentences that stand for ideas.

Comprehension. Conceptually, the term refers as the action of

grouping with intellect of the capacity to understand fully.

ECARP. In this study, the term operationally designed as “Every-

Child-A-Reading Program in which a child is a reader by the end of the grade

three.

Differentiated Strategy Learning Design in English for Grade 2. As

used in this study, the term refers as an instructional tool in teaching reading

for Grade 2.

Reading. It is the process of getting meaning from printed word

symbols (Good, Dictionary of Education p. 332).

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Reading Readiness. The term refers to the period when the child is

getting ready to read.

Reading Proficiency Level. The term refers as the reading

performance of the Grade 2 pupil-respondents in DLC IX Elementary Schools

which include Marasbaras Central Elementary School, Dr. AP Bañez

Memorial Elementary School, V & G dela Cruz Memorial Elementary

School.

END NOTES

Cariño, Isidro (2000), New directions in teaching, “Education Review”

(Philippine Normal University, Manila, Volume 1) p.3
Kolb, D. A. (1984) Experiential learning: experience as the source of learning
and development USA: Prentice Hall
Lewin K (1984), “Field theory and learning” in D Cartwright (ed.) Field
Theory in Social Science: Selected Theoretical Papers, London;
Social Science Paperbacks, 1951
 13

Phil Race (2001), The lecturer’s toolkit: 2nd edition’ Routledge, London
Phil Race (2005), “Making learning happen” (Sage, London).
Schon, D. (2000) Reflective practitioner. How professionals think in action,
London: Temple Smith.

Sherwood, Callum, et. Al (2018). "A definition of content strategy in

english". First Page Digital.

Baluram, Virginia M. (2011), “Strategy same-type modules in building oral

language skills for grade IV” Unpublished Master’s Thesis,
Asian Development Foundation College, Tacloban City
Cabelin, Estela L. (2009), “Building strategies in vocabulary development for
grade II: achievement integration technique,” Unpublished
Master’s Thesis, Asian Development Foundation College,
Tacloban City
Costibolo, Laurence N. (2008), “Activity-based instructional modules in
english language for grade VI,” Unpublished Master’s Thesis,
Asian Development Foundation College, Tacloban City
Dacuyan, Daniela B. (2008), “Worktext in reading development for preschool
preparatory,” Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Asian Development
Foundation College, Tacloban City
De Castro, Eric I. (2012), “Skills-based worktext in english for grade III: A
self-study course,” Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Asian
Development Foundation College, Tacloban City
Kimpes, Bonifacio B. (2013), “Lesson guides on oral language skills
development in english for second year high school,”
Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Asian Development Foundation
College, Tacloban City
Llosa, Elvira A. (2013), “Comic strips instructional modules in english
reading comprehension for grade VI,” Unpublished Master’s
Thesis, Asian Development Foundation College, Tacloban City
Pemonelaar, Merlyn P. (2013), “Self-directed intensive instructional on
reading in english for grade 4,” Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Asian
Development Foundation College, Tacloban City
 14

Regis, Natividad A. (2008), “Worktext in reading skills development for

kindergarten,” Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Asian Development
Foundation College, Tacloban City
Renomeron, Jean S. (2009), “Programmed text for grade 1 in reinforcement
and enrichment activities on reading comprehension,” Unpublished
Master’s Thesis, Asian Development Foundation College,
Tacloban City
Suyom, Mona Liza M. (2012), “Multi-media programmed instruction in
english reading comprehension for grade 1,” Unpublished Master’s
Thesis, Asian Development Foundation College, Tacloban City

CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

Cited in this chapter are the review of related literature and studies

which has an impact on the conduct of the present study on designing

materials in English for Grade 2.

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In the attempt to find how the term differentiated instruction appeared,

investigated a website in which M. Gundlach (2012), refers to the roots of

differentiated instruction in teaching. Gundlach (2012) tell us that “the history

of differentiated instruction dates back to the 1600s when one room

schoolhouses were the staple in education.” The teacher was responsible for

the various types of students in a single classroom with no technology

available to help him/her. According to Gundlach, by 1919, there were

upwards of 190,000 one room schoolhouses operating in the United States.

After that, with the transition from schoolhouses to grade schools, it was

assumed that children from the same age should be in the same classroom

since they could learn the same materials with the same velocity. At that point,

educators started differentiating instruction according to students’

chronological age. Gundlach then refers to Preston Search who, according to

her, in early 1889 “worked to make it possible for students to work at their

own pace without the fear of retention or failure. Preston Search pushed his

teachers to build an environment where students could be successful, each at

their individual pace”. At this point, educators started differentiating

instruction based on students’ individual pace.

Later on, according to Gundlach, evidence suggested that there were

much greater gaps in the children’s abilities than realized. That made
 16

educators such as Frederic Burk and Mary Ward and many others work

together and come up with plans and movements to create textbooks self-

instructive in order for students to develop at their own speed, maturity and

readiness. One such was the Winnetka Plan – that attempted to expand

educational focus to creative activities and emotional and social development,

with no strict goals. However, according to Washburne (1953) “schools went

back to their former programs, widely ignoring the varying readiness levels

of their students” (p. 140). Washburne believes that happened because

“textbooks were not so written as to make self-instruction possible; people

were not convinced that any such radical departure was necessary – we had

no intelligence tests or achievement tests in those days” (p. 140).

That is, they did not have the needed ways of assessing students

according to their level of readiness such as intelligence tests or achievement

tests, as he exemplifies. While we know that testing is not the only method of

assessment, my point here is to express that some way to measure students’

readiness is necessary. Readiness is a developmental stage at which a child

has the capacity to receive instruction at a given level of difficulty or to engage

in a particular activity (online dictionary.com, 2015).

Tomlinson, C. A., & Allan, S. D. (2000) define differentiated

instruction as “a teacher’s reacting responsively to learner’s needs.” They go

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further by saying that “differentiation is attending to the learning needs of a

particular student or small group of students rather than the more typical

pattern of teaching the class as though all individuals in it were basically the

same” (p.4). To help us better understand the previous statement, Tomlinson

(2001) – a germinal researcher in the field of differentiated instruction- also

states that “Effective differentiation will typically be proactively planned by

the teacher to be robust enough to address a range of learner needs, in contrast

with planning a single approach for everyone and reactively trying to adjust

the plans when it becomes apparent that the lesson is not working for some

learners for whom it was intended” (p.4). In differentiated classrooms,

teachers do not necessarily have to come up with different activities for each

student. Instead, the teacher may have all students working on a single activity

but following different tasks’ level of complexity and/or appropriate levels of

development and learning styles.

In the classroom, teachers deal with students from different academic

backgrounds, including different cultural and socio-economic backgrounds,

as well as students from different learning styles and interests. For example,

in a single classroom one may find students who learn best with audiovisuals,

others who learn best with examples, or others who learn best with music.

There are also students who prefer working individually while others prefer
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working with partners or in teams, as stated by Anderson 2007, (p. 50). M.

Nordlund, (2003) points out some types of students that teachers may come

across in classrooms: “students who demonstrate above-average intelligence,

students who are considered ““at risk”” of school failure, students with

cultural/language differences, students who are educationally disadvantaged,

students who have a slow rate and student who qualify for special education

services” (p. 1). Each student has his/ her own and unique way of

understanding and processing information. They may see the same thing in a

different manner or have different perspectives or interpretations of an action

or sentences, for example, depending on the aspects pointed above by

Nordlund.

For today’s schooling, a teacher’s job is not only a one-size-fits-all

strategy to teach a whole classroom. Instead, as Nordlund (2003) states,

“teachers are clearly challenged by the task of diversifying instruction in order

to help every child meet their full potential” (p. 1). Anderson (2007) concurs

by adding that “the utmost importance to the teacher who differentiates is

providing a learning environment and opportunities that exclude no child” (p.

50). It is important to make each and every child feel that they belong to the

class and help them overcome their own fears and master the content that is

being taught. Cummins (2001) and Cummins, Brown & Sayers (2007) point
 19

out that “the social- emotional climate you establish also provides opportunity

for ELLs (English language learners) to see themselves as worthy, capable

and contributing members of the classroom community, both socially and

academically” (as cited in Peregoy and Boyle, 2013, p. 94).

By differentiating instructions, teachers can better help students know

their strong and weak points and help them enhance and strengthen the strong

ones as well as help them overcome the weak ones. When discussing ELLs, I

include EFL (English as a foreign language) students, ESL (English as a

second language) students and also CLD (cultural and linguistic difference)

students who benefit when opportunities are provided in order for them to feel

part of the classroom community since their specific needs, culture and

linguistics differences must be taken into account when given

specific/differentiated instruction.

Students have to acquire fluency in the four macro skills: listening,

reading, speaking, and writing, in order to become fluent and proficient in the

target language. Therefore, in an EFL classroom the teacher has to adjust the

instruction-- trying to apply one or more teaching approaches -in order to help

the students to master the standards. There are several approaches that can be

applicable to achieve these goals. Peregoy and Boyle (2013) suggest some of

them such as Sheltered Instruction or Special Designed Academic Instruction

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in English (SDAIE). This content-based approach “uses the target language

for instruction, with special modifications to ensure student comprehension

and learning” (2013, p. 94). In addition to a sheltering approach they also

propose integrating language, content based instruction, social and effective

adjustments and ongoing coplanning and coordination as effective English

learner instructions. The authors explain the importance of setting social-

affective objectives as they also reflect what the teacher value in student

behavior “interpersonal relationships, empathy, self-esteem, and respect for

others” (p.101). These resources highlight the importance of both providing

students with a comfortable environment, propitious to learning as well as

exploring students’ capacities and capabilities.

Tomlinson and Allan (2000), state that “the number of frustrated and

disenfranchised learners in schools can only increase without large numbers

of classroom where teachers are skilled in meeting varied learners where they

are and moving them ahead briskly and with understanding” (p. 2).

Considering that, numerous researchers (such as Anderson, 2007; Holli, 2008;

Nordlund, 2003; Tomlinson, 2001; Tomlinson & Allan, 2000) have classified

three methods of differentiating instructions for any curricular area:

a- modifying the content

b- modifying the process of learning, and

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c- modifying the product.

According to Tomlinson 2001, content is the “input” of teaching and

learning. It is what is being taught or what teachers want students to learn

(p.72). As defended by S. Krashen (2012) “we acquire language in only one

way…when we understand the messages.” Comprehension takes place when

input and knowledge are matched against each other (Faerch and Kasper,

1986, p. 264).

Heacox (2002) identified that:

there are several actions that teachers can take to differentiate the

content for their students. One way teachers can differentiate the

content or the curriculum they teach is by providing students with the

opportunity to choose a subtopic within a main topic or unit. This

allows students to explore in greater depth a topic of interest which will

then be presented to the class. As each student presents the information

on their subtopic, the whole class learns more about the topic in general

(as cited in Bailey and Black (n.d.) p. 136).

In a non-differentiated classroom, students are only given a main topic

to discuss or explore. The differentiation here, as described by Heacox (2002),

allows students to delve deeper into the subtopics that most strive their
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interest, which will consequently increase their motivation so they will end up

learning more.

Langa & Yost (2007) list some examples of possibilities to differentiate

content such as (1) select specific areas of interest within the focus area; (2)

select a variety of books and resource materials; (3) group students according

to readiness levels or interest levels; (4) reteach to small groups who need

support or explanations -exempt those who have mastered the material - ; (5)

allow students to work alone or with peers (as cited by Logan, B., 2001 (p. 3).

The examples listed above contribute for the learning to occur in a more

relaxed way. Authors like Dulay et al., 1982 and Krashen, 1981a declare that

“the relaxed atmosphere, or low-anxiety environment, is considered

conducive to content learning and language acquisition” (as stated by Peregoy

and Boyle, 2013, p.104). After the “input”, students need time to

practice/process the new ideas and information so they will not lose or confuse

them.

Modifying the process, on the other hand, involves the use of varying

activities, techniques, and teaching strategies to help learners make sense of

meanings (Pham, H., 2012, p. 16). Effective activities are essentially sense-

making processes, designed to help students progress from a current point of

understanding to a more complex level of understanding (Tomlinson, 2001,

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p. 79). Tomlinson (2001) also believes that in order to differentiate the

process, activities should be interesting to the students, help students to think

at a high level and use key skill(s) to understand key idea(s) p.79.

J. Lantolf (2000) also stresses the importance of guiding/leading

students instead of doing the tasks for them (p.18); as A. Ohta (2000) notes,

Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development (ZPD) specifies that development

cannot occur if too much assistance [scaffolding] is provided or if a task is too

easy. Development is impeded both by helping the learner with what she or

he is already able to do, and by not withdrawing assistance such that the

learner develops the ability to work independently (ibid, p.52).

Vygotsky defines ZPD as the difference between what a person can

achieve when acting alone and what the same person can accomplish when

acting with support from someone else (ibid, p.17). In differentiating the

process, teachers should also try to consider students’ ZPD discussed by the

above authors so that the scaffolding provided is neither less nor more than

the necessary.

Langa & Yost (2007) also list some possible steps for differentiating

process. These include the use of independent learning, flexible groups,

flexibility in task complexity and peer teaching (as cited by Logan, B., 2001

(p. 3). Castle, S., Deniz, C. B., & Tortora, M. (2005) define flexible grouping
 24

as “a classroom organizational strategy that is designed to address a broad

range of student needs within a single classroom” p.140. That is, flexible

grouping is a strategy that allows students to be grouped according to their

needs. By modifying instructional process, classes become more meaningful

and applicable to learners in an academically enriched context, as stated by

Pham, H., 2012, (p. 16).

Another strategy, when modifying the instructional process, is to allow

students sufficient wait time so they can process the new information before

giving their answer. As stated by M. Rowe (1988) “Increased wait time

provides students with an opportunity to think … and help students organize

their thoughts and convictions related to any major topic” (p. 95).

Finally, the last of the three methods of differentiating instruction

suggested by Carol Tomlinson is modifying the product. Here, learners can

finally demonstrate their knowledge or understanding of a topic. Teachers can

analyze what learners understand and how well they can apply their

knowledge in practical situations. Anderson (2007) suggested that

differentiated products challenge students at all levels to make decisions, be

responsible for their own learning, as well as affording them opportunities to

demonstrate what they know through products that are representative of their

unique learning preferences, interests, and strengths (p. 51).

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C. Desrochers (2005) affirms that “defined as information on the results

of one’s efforts, feedback that is clear, specific and timely motivates students

to improve. Conversely, the absence of prompt and useful feedback reduces

interest in learning” (Background section, para.1). Therefore, it is important

for teachers to promptly provide feedback so that learners know exactly where

they are and what needs to be improved. Writing a story or a poem, debating

or investigating an issue, creating a song and comparing and contrasting ideas

and opinions are some of the possible strategies of differentiating the end

product that are suggested by Pham, H., (2012, p. 16). These steps of

differentiating instruction provide, as the name implies, different options to

bring information to all students as well as allowing them to express/practice

the content learned in different ways.

In order to achieve proficiency and to become fluent in the English

language in any other language, students have to acquire fluency in the four

macro skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing. However, since there

are greater amount of materials on the other skills than on listening, and also

because in Cape Verde students face enormous difficulties with listening

skills, my focus now turns to listening comprehension skills. How can we

apply knowledge on differentiated instruction onto the listening class? What

is the role of listening in language learning/acquisition?

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It seems that the skill of listening has not received the appropriate

attention it deserves. Research has shown that for successful second/foreign

language acquisition and/or learning, it is crucial to consider listening as an

active skill that needs special attention as well as the other domains of the

language. For instance, Vandergrift (1999) maintains that “Listening skill is

anything but a passive activity” (p.168) and it surely is not. Gilman and

Moody (1984) state that “it seems so logical, simple, and so obvious that one

needs to be able to hear sounds before producing them; that in order to speak

a language one must have a “feel” for the language and be able to understand

a message” (p. 331). Again, listening comes first; therefore, it is essential to

develop this skill in order to be able to make use of the target language.

Research has also shown that adults spend 40-50% of their communication

time listening, 25-30% speaking, 22-16% reading and only about 9% of their

time writing (Rivers – as cited in Gilman and Moody 1984, p.331). However,

one can find more research and methodology on reading, writing and speaking

than on listening. What occurs is that, as K. Carrier (2003) maintains, “it is

frequently assumed that because students have many opportunities to hear

spoken English throughout the school day, this exposure will improve their

ability to comprehend oral English” (p. 384).

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In the meanwhile, the ELLs who do not get to have enough exposure to

the English language, either because they do not practice it with their relatives

at home or because English is not otherwise part of the language they speak

in their daily life. These students need to first of all, understand the importance

of developing their listening comprehension skills as well as to be taught the

strategies that facilitate their comprehension.

Morley (2001) takes us back into the history of the listening skills in

order to show the different status it has faced – from being a neglected skill to

one of increased importance. Morley (2001) tells us that it was in the 1970s

that listening was recognized to be an equally important skill as well as

reading, writing and speaking by Rivers (1966) and others. Morley also

affirmed that in the 1990s, attention to listening in language instruction

increased dramatically and aural comprehension became an important area of

study in second and foreign language acquisition (p. 69). Meanwhile, as

supported by Vandergrift (2007), even though research in the area of listening

processes and strategies is increasing, it still remains the least understood and

least researched of the four skills (p. 191). Therefore, conducting my own

research seeks to better understand more about this skill, its importance and

impact in the language learning and teaching processes as well as the best

strategies to help learners develop their comprehension on listening.

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Even though listening comprehension skill has is now considered of

utmost importance, it seems that researchers have not reached a general

agreement about its definition. Chastain (1971) defines listening as the ability

to understand native speech at normal speed in unstructured situations (p.

163); the author stresses that students’ receptive skills need to be closer to

native level so that effective communication is possible. Wipf (1984) provides

a very thorough definition in which he states that listening is a complex

problem solving skill that entails receiving, decoding and reacting to sounds

being received from a speaker, and finally make retention of what was

gathered and being able to contextualize it (p. 345). O‘Malley, Chamot, and

Kupper (1989) offer another excellent and more comprehensive definition that

―listening comprehension is an active and conscious process in which the

individuals construct meaning by using cues from contextual passages and

relate what they hear to existing knowledge, while relying upon multiple

strategic resources to fulfill the task requirement (p. 434). While there is not

a unique definition of listening, researchers defend this notion that listening is

not a passive skill as it requires cognitive effort from the listener such as

interpreting sounds, their meanings and yet contextualizing them to get their

specific meaning in each situation. That is, listening is much more than just

decoding sounds. Therefore, as stated by Morley (2001), it is crucial that

 29

teachers instruct students to know that "achieving skill in listening requires as

much work as does becoming skilled in reading, writing, and speaking in a

second language" (p. 72).

As Faerch and Kasper note, “comprehension takes place when input

and knowledge are matched against each other” (p. 264) as cited in O’Malley

et al. (1989). However, as stressed by these authors, there is rarely a perfect

match between input and knowledge, and this is why special efforts from the

teachers may be required (p. 422). O’Malley et al. (1989) support this idea by

arguing that “second language listeners may have difficulty in understanding

language spoken at typical conversation rates by native speakers if they are

unfamiliar with the rules for segmentation, even though they may understand

individual words when heard separately” (p. 420). Gilakjani and Ahmadi

(2011) also tell us that while native speakers and highly proficient second

language learners complete the complex process of speech comprehension

smoothly, second language learners at lower levels of language proficiency

(whether it be due to a lack of auditory experience with varying accents,

limited vocabulary, imperfect control of the syntactic and semantic structure

of the language, or other limitations with regard to the elements necessary for

communicative competency) need to rely on listening strategies to assist them

in comprehending the aural communication (pp. 980-981).

 30

Rivers (1983b) in her germinal work ‘Speaking in many tongues’,

discusses the speech perception and identifies three stages of listening

comprehension. The first stage is sometimes called sensing. The listener must

construct rapid synthesis of impressions that result from his/her familiarity

with the phonetic system, the morphophonemic rules, and the broad syntactic

categories. Therefore, some “noise” elements are rejected because they did

not fit in with the initial construction so; they can have no further effect on

our interpretation. The second stage is the identification through segmentation

and grouping. This process is an active and detailed identification of the

sounds along with lexical and syntactic signal that is received sequentially

within the phrase structure of utterance. The third stage is the rehearsal and

recoding of the material in the long term memory, by recoding it in a more

retainable form so it does not fade. These three stages take place

instantaneously (pp. 79-83) and it is certainly an active process involving

cognitive processing. The existence of different stages requires the need for

different steps and strategies by the listener so that the oral language input

being received is appropriately understood.

Most of the previous research on second/foreign language listening

refer to three types of strategies to overcome difficulties with listening

comprehension: cognitive (manipulation of information/material),

 31

metacognitive (e.g. planning, monitoring, evaluating) and socioaffective

(interaction with others) strategies (O’Malley et al. 1989;

Hancock & Brooks-Brown, 1994). Serri et al. (2012) clarify that even

though there are other strategies with other names, they do not differ in nature;

“they are just different in their names and in their classification that different

researchers used them according to their survey's aims” (p. 843).

Teachers should "provide listeners with the background information

needed to understand the message before asking students to listen to a segment

of discourse"

(Dunkel, 1986, p. 101). As suggested by Oxford (1993), pre-listening

tasks such as discussing the topic, brainstorming, presenting vocabulary,

sharing related articles, must be used to foment the appropriate background

knowledge and help learners determine the goal of the listening activity (p.

210, as cited in Koichi, N. (2002). Moreover, Goh & Taib (2006) recommend

“using a variety of methods which include reflection and discussion, process,

as well as perception practice that facilitates recognition of segments of

speech” for a comprehensive program in metacognitive instruction (pp. 230-

31). Metacognitive strategies involve knowing about learning and controlling

learning through planning, monitoring and evaluating the learning activity.

 32

O’Malley et al. (1989) reveal that “monitoring has been described as a key

process that distinguishes good learners from poor learners” (p .422).

Vandergrift, L. and Tafaghodtari, M. (2010) also tell us that “learners

with a high degree of metacognitive knowledge and the facility to apply that

knowledge are better at processing and storing new information, finding the

best ways to practice, and reinforcing what they have learned” (p. 473).

O’Malley et al. (1989) go further explaining that monitoring consists of

maintaining the awareness of the task demands and information content; and

that there are two metacognitive strategies that support monitoring: (1)

selective attention, or focusing on specific information anticipated in the

message, and (2) directed attention, or focusing more generally on the task

demands and content (p. 423).

Previous research has also shown that more/skilled learners use more

metacognitive strategies than less/skilled learners. According to a study

presented in O’Malley et al. (1989) - in which all participants were from

Spanish speaking countries in Central or South America - results revealed that

effective listeners used three specific strategies: self-monitoring, elaboration

and inferences while ineffective listeners were concerned with the meaning of

individual words (p. 434). Elaboration is making use of the knowledge one

already has or make connections of portions of the text that were not
 33

completely understood (O’Malley et al. 1989, p. 421). teacher modelling,

integrated sequences of activities that focus alternately on text and Top-down

and bottom-up strategies are also common strategies for listening

comprehension. Peterson (2001) defines top-down processing as a process

"driven by listeners' expectations and understandings of the context, the topic,

the nature of text, and the nature of the world" (p. 88) and bottom-up

processing as a process "triggered by the sounds, words, and phrases which

the listener hears as he or she attempts to decode speech and assign

meaning"(p. 88). Studies have also indicated that effective listeners make

frequent use of top-down processing, occasionally applying bottom-up

strategies while ineffective listeners often rely solely on bottom-up strategies.

Hancock, C. & Brooks-Brown, S. (1994) explain that top-down strategies

incorporate knowledge of the world in general and topic familiarity in

particular, while bottom-up strategies typically focus on word recognition.

Focusing and processing at the word level somewhat hinders many

second language (L2) learners to take advantage of the more general (top-

down) strategies and affects their comprehension of the text in a negative way

(p. 120). Goh & Taib (2006) mentioned that poor listeners will be distracted

by their preoccupation with difficult words or ideas (pp.231-32). Therefore,

as pointed out by the authors, learners can be helped to see that not all
 34

strategies are appropriate for all tasks, and that the effectiveness of strategies

is often influenced by various factors (ibid, p. 230).

Note taking is another strategy defended by some researchers to help

improve students’ listening comprehension skills (Arslan, M. 2006; Carrell,

P., Dunkle, P., & Mollaun, P., 2000; Trafton and Tricket, 2001). Carrell, P.,

Dunkle, P., & Mollaun, P. (2000) reveal that in 24 studies reviewed by Harley

(1983), listeners who took notes and reviewed them performed higher than

those who did not (p.4). Furthermore, a more recent study was conducted by

Carrell, et al. (2000) and they found positive effects for notetaking on shorter

lectures (but not in the longer lectures) p.53.

M. Arslan (2006) supports Carrell, et al. (2000) in an experimental

research in which he describes note taking in a science class of 5th graders in

Kayseri (Central Anatolia, Turkey). Arslan (2006) found gained results in

favor of note taking as an effective learning strategy. He reveals that

researchers found notetaking to be effective on recalling and assisting

students’ learning (Introduction section, para. 3). The author also explains that

according to Kiewra (1985), instead of writing down everything that a teacher

says, it is suggested that students summarize or do some self-questioning.

These types of note taking, according to Trafton and Tricket (2001), “involve

significant levels of engagement and are thus more effective” (as cited by
 35

Arslan, 2006, Introduction section, para. 4). To improve the accuracy and

efficiency of students’ notetaking, and increase students’ retention of course

content, Heward (1997) suggests providing students with guided notes that he

defines as “teacher prepared handouts that guide a student … with standard

cues and specific spaces in which to write key facts, concepts, and

relationships” p.44.

Sometimes it is useful for teachers to, as defended by Chamot (1990, p.

499), directly inform students about the strategies they are using so they can

practice, generalize and use it in other occasions -outside that particular

session- (as cited by Carrier, 2003, p. 387). That is, let students know what

type of strategies they are using and why they are using them so they can

understand the benefits or non-benefits of the different strategies they use.

There are many problems students may feel when first listening to a

new language, especially those students for whom the stress and intonation in

the new language is different from their own language(s). Underwood (1989)

points out some potential problems that could make listening comprehension

difficult. First of all, the speed at which speakers speak cannot be controlled

by the listener. As stated by Underwood (1989) “many language learners

believe that the greatest difficulty with listening comprehension, as opposed

 36

to reading comprehension, is that listener cannot control how quickly a

speaker speaks” (p.16).

Second, “it is extremely hard for the teacher to judge whether or not the

students have understood any particular section of what they have heard”

(Underwood, 1989 –p.17). It is not always possible to listen to words/passages

more than once, or go backover parts that are necessary for making the

comprehension possible. A third aspect pointed by Underwood (1989) has to

do with the limited vocabulary knowledge of the listener. “Choice of

vocabulary is in the hands of the speaker, not the listener.” If the listener does

not understand a word used by the speaker, the tendency is to stop and try to

figure out the meaning of that word which immediately leads the listener to

miss the next part of the speech. I have often times caught myself off track

while listening trying to decipher the meaning of unknown words, mostly with

homonyms. These three problems so far described are emphasized by

Vandergrift (1999) to be the “the most important reason for teaching listening

comprehension strategies, and provide the rationale for the continued

inclusion of listening activities throughout a language program, even at

advanced levels” (p. 169).

Underwood (1989) points out a fourth problem which has to do with

the listener’s failure to recognize signals that the speaker is using to move
 37

from one point to another. In formal situations, discourse markers like

‘secondly …’ or ‘finally…’ or ‘then…’ generally show that there will be a

moving to a next/new point. In informal situations however, signals like

repeating a point, giving an example or using of different intonations that may

indicate the introduction of a new idea can be very ambiguous to a foreign

language and can easily be missed. As supported by Scarcella and Oxford

(1992) "ordinary speech contains many ungrammatical, reduced, or

incomplete forms; it also has hesitations, false starts, repetitions, fillers [e.g.,

`uh,' `hmm,"yeh”, ] and pauses, all of which make up 30-50 % of any informal

conversation" (p.146, as cited in Koichi, N. (2002).

Another problem pointed out is that it can be difficult for the listeners

to interpret words they hear especially if the speaker and the listener do not

share common meanings and assumptions. For example, some expressions

and tone of voice can be misinterpreted by listeners from other cultures.

Listening comprehension requires efforts from the listeners to concentrate on

the language and figure out the meaning of what is being said, especially with

idioms, colloquialisms and slangs, for example.

Underwood (1989) also pointed out the established learning habits in

the classroom aimed to have students understanding everything in the English

lesson as a potential problem. Teachers traditionally want students to

 38

understand every word they hear while listening. They ensure that students

meet this goal by repeating and pronouncing words carefully, by speaking

slowly and pausing frequently. The author explains that because of this,

students tend to feel worried if they fail to recognize/understand a word or

phrase when they are listening and may be further discouraged.

Also, in Yao’s (1995) study, she found that the speaker’s speed, accent,

vocabulary, as well as the listener’s background knowledge and listener’s

interest affected listening comprehension. Of these factors, the speaker’s

speed and accent were the most important factors that influenced students’

listening comprehension. The students found that clear pronunciation and

speech were important to their comprehension (as cited by Serri et al, 2012,

p.845). For example, in one of the episodes of ‘Do you speak American?’ by

Cran, W. & Buchanan, C., (2005), the journalist Robert MacNeil talked to

Pam Head (a gas station owner from Boston, MA) who shared her experience

when talking to a girl from Texas. Pam Head reveals her astonishment when

the girl from Texas did not understand her pronunciation of the word car [kα],

as in Texas they pronounce car as [Kαr]. Consequently, they had to interrupt

the course of the conversation until they were able to overcome that barrier

(pronunciation) in listening comprehension and move forward. The previous

example shows how even among people from the same nationality there may
 39

be barriers in conversation if what the listener is listening to is not

comprehended by him/her. This reinforces the importance of developing

listening comprehension skills so that communication can take place.

Exposing students to different accents of the target language for example, will

help them to not get familiar with only one accent of that same language.

Nowadays we have various sources offering authentic audio and video

materials that may be used for instructional and assessment purposes.

However, it is crucial that teachers know how to deal with all the existing

materials. Dunkel et al. (1993) affirm that assessment of L2 listening

comprehension is difficult because of the non-existence of a uniform

agreement on the components of listening comprehension and factors

affecting comprehension as well as for the non-existence of a general

consensus on the best techniques for assessment (p. 180).

Hancock, C. & Brooks-Brown, S. (1994) list the academic purposes of

listening assessment: “recognizing the message, checking comprehension,

delivering information, diagnosing listening problems, determining

proficiency level, ascertaining general listening capability, and identifying

listening strategies” (p. 129). Sometimes it is easy to find academic listening

purposes that replicate real life purposes -recognizing the message delivering

information, checking comprehension-, but that is not always the case;

 40

sometimes it becomes quite challenging to find and identify academic

listening purposes that reflect real-life tasks (e.g. diagnosing listening

problems). Therefore, as maintained by Wiggins (1990), the key to authentic

assessment is to design tasks to stimulate real world tests of ability. It becomes

the task of the test designer to think of such academic assessment purposes

and design valid and reliable tests that adjust to Wiggins’s criteria of

authenticity: requires students to be effective performers with acquired

knowledge, presents students with a full array of instructional tasks so that

“students can craft polished, thorough and justifiable answers, performances,

or products” (Wiggins, 1990, what is authentic assessment section, para.3). It

is important to explore authentic materials (such as videos, films, radio

broadcasts, television programs, and so forth) in the classrooms in order to

have students working on real life listening context simulations. H. D. Brown

(2001) highlights the necessity to help students be aware of the importance of

listening comprehension skills, explaining that "authentic language and real-

world tasks enable students to see the relevance of classroom activity to their

long term communicative goals" (p. 258). It is imperative to also emphasize

that assessment should be continuous (formative) so teachers and students can

keep track of the learning process. Heritage (2007) describes formative

assessment as a “systematic process to continuously gather evidence about

 41

learning. The data are used to identify a student’s current level of learning and

to adapt lessons to help the student reach the desired learning goal” p.141.

Wiggins (2004) maintains that formative assessment emphasizes the

importance of focusing on understanding and improving student learning

instead of merely measuring student learning (as cited by Dahlman, Hoffman

and Brauhn, n.d.). In addition, Heritage (2007) further explains that in

formative assessment, students are active participants with their teachers,

sharing learning goals and understanding how their learning is progressing,

what next steps they need to take, and how to take them (p. 141).

Good teaching is inseparable from good assessing and teachers need to

contextualize the tasks given to students and these must be realistic and rich

in contextual detail, supporting multiple approaches, styles and solutions

(Wiggins, G, 1992, pp. 27- 33). He goes further adding that the designers of

the tasks must “achieve an aesthetic effect that causes pride or dismay in the

results” (p. 28). That is, the designers of the tasks must think of tasks that are

meaningful so they can positively impact students, provoke thought and keep

students interested in them. Therefore, the necessity to provide differentiated

instruction for listening comprehension is important.

There are far more studies on differentiating instruction in English

reading and writing than there are studies on English listening. The National
 42

Center for Education Statistics (NCES, 2014) reports that in 2011–12, the

overall percentage of ELL students enrolled in US public schools for example,

were 9.1 percent or an estimated 4.4 million students.

Many teachers are already differentiating instruction by allowing

students to choose their own activities to work on and topics to be discussed

in class as well as other strategies. Therefore, my aim with this research

project has been to both provide new information for teachers who lack it but

also highlight and provide encouragement for teachers who already know and

apply this knowledge into their classrooms.

According to Tomlinson (2001), “the teacher thinks and plans in terms

of ‘multiple avenues to learning’ for varied needs, rather than in terms of

‘normal’ and ‘different’ when engaging in activities. The goal for each student

is maximum growth from his current ‘learning position’” (Tomlinson, 2001).

Tomlinson also clarifies that if students can’t learn everything, teachers need

to “make sure they learn the big ideas, key concepts and governing principles

of the subject at hand” (p.13). Students do not have to understand every single

word they hear; some are key words, others sounds can be ignored while

others help understanding the message and we need to be conscious about

them (TedTalk, 2011).

 43

In doing differentiated instruction, the teacher needs to first know his

/her students. In order to help students, move from their current learning

position, as defended by Tomlinson (2001), the teacher would need to pre-

assess the students by having them fill out questionnaires, for example. That

will allow teachers to have thorough data concerning students’ readiness,

interest and learning profile when making lesson plans. Peregoy and Boyle

(2013) talk about teachers being effective participant-observers in their own

classroom. The authors believe this will help teachers get to know and

interpret some aspects of the classroom, such as the activities students feel

comfortable with, the way they behave and so forth which will be valuable

when planning the lessons (p.13). Only when teachers know their students,

they will be able to design tasks that will help them move forward.

In a differentiated classroom, students should be given clear

instructions on what they should do, the responsibilities they have to take, and

the ways they should be doing the tasks. This, as suggested by Hess (1999),

can be done by using “whole-group instruction for introducing ideas, planning

or sharing results” (as cited in Protheroe, 2007, p. 37). Hess (1999) also

reports on the activities a differentiated classroom implements.

According to this author, teachers in a differentiated classroom:

 44

Keep the focus on concepts, emphasizing the understanding and sense

making, not retention and regurgitation of fragmented facts; use

ongoing assessments of readiness and interests, and pre-assess to find

students needing more support

and those who can leap forward. They don’t assume all students need a certain

task (as cited in Protheroe, 2007, p. 37).

Furthermore, differentiation allows for flexible grouping, in which teachers

let students work alone sometimes and also in groups based on readiness,

interests, or learning styles (ibid. p. 37).

This knowledge can be applied when differentiating for listening

comprehension; teachers need to provide differentiated instruction so that no

student is left behind. What is taught, the way students work on the content as

well as the way students present/reveal their learning must be differentiated.

We should follow Goh & Taib’s (2006) recommendation regarding the use of

a variety of methods to facilitate comprehension; this will truly provide

students with different avenues to learning listening comprehension skills.

After getting to know the students, teachers will be able to group them into

flexible grouping with basic, intermediate or advanced levels of English

proficiency and academic knowledge.

 45

The teachers will design activities for before--listening, while listening

and after listening sessions. In the ‘before--listening session’ the teacher

provides students with a variety of resources from which they can choose

materials from; the teacher should also help building the background

knowledge of the topic. The purpose, content and language objectives should

be made clear to the students because if students do not know what to do, they

will find something else to do, and misbehavior or inattention arises

(Echevarria, Vogt & Short, 2013, p. 195). I believe this would greatly help

students as they can better focus on specific vocabulary words and on listening

for specific purposes. Another advantage of doing so is that students will feel

less anxious and more relaxed in class as they know what they are expected

to do. After students have chosen the materials and/or known the objectives

of the lesson, the teacher builds up the context and makes decisions about

grouping students as well as of which information should be provided to the

students before the actual listening activity starts.

In the ‘while-listening session’ the teacher analyses how many times

the material should be repeated, lets students know what they are expected to

do while listening and provides hints and support whenever necessary. In the

‘after-listening session’ some clarifications may be needed (the teacher may

talk about it or have the class discuss about it); students may have to answer
 46

to questions either orally or written. Here, students can be placed in groups

and work on post-listening activities that help them consolidate the content

learning. The teacher may also need to sometimes, evaluate students’ learning

for different reasons (e.g. comprehension’ check, detect listening problems,

and identify strategies (Hancock, C. & Brooks-Brown, S., 1994). In the

meanwhile, it is important to have in mind Wiggin’s (1992) suggestion about

the need to design tasks that are thought provoking in order to call students’

interest and keep them engaged.

Hedge (2001, p. 252) held that activities for this stage [post-listening]

could be integrated with other skills through developing the topic into reading,

speaking or writing activities (as cited by S. Kan 2011). Echevarria, Vogt, &

Short (2013) also tell us that “Reading, writing, listening, and speaking are

complex cognitive language processes that are interrelated and integrated. As

we go about our daily lives, we move through the processes in a natural way,

reading what we write, talking about what we’ve read, and listening to others

talk about what they’ve read, written, and seen…Although the relationships

among the processes are complex, practice in any one promotes development

in the others” (pp. 176-177).

For example, the whole class may be given the same listening text to

watch/ listen to but students will be given different worksheets to work on

 47

with different hints as well as more or less clues according to their readiness.

Teachers should be able to have students working in activities that will

challenge them (not too easy, not too difficult) just like Lantolf (2000)

defends. This will keep them engaged on the activities so that some students

will not finish the task too early while others are still working on their task,

avoiding class disturbance. For instance, basic learners may be asked to listen

to the text and fill in the blanks, while intermediate learners may be asked to

take notes in order to respond to some questions with full sentences and some

key expressions. More advanced learners may also be asked to take notes in

order to respond to some questions with full sentences and some key

expressions, adding some ideas from the text as well. Appendix A, activity 2

is an example of students working on different tasks related to the same topic,

based on their level of readiness (language proficiency and background

knowledge).

Teachers should allow students to work in flexible groups so they get

the opportunity to work by themselves, work in small groups and sometimes

work in larger groups as well as with the class as a whole as suggested by

Langa & Yost (2007). In addition, having students working in cooperative

groups will allow them to work together towards a common goal (achieve
 48

academic and social learning goals), as the “individuals are accountable for

their own learning and that of the group” (Peregoy & Boyle, 2013, p.105).

Differentiated instruction seems to be an effective teaching approach

that helps teachers incorporate the four language domains in a more natural

and effective way even though it may be quite overwhelming for teachers to

make the lesson plans on their own. In the appendices, there are examples of

lesson plans for differentiated instruction for listening comprehension that I

developed based on what I have learned throughout the literature review. For

example, I tried to have students make inferences/predictions as much as

possible as I believe it raises their interest on the topic/task which keeps them

more engaged in the tasks. By asking students to first listen to have a general

idea and only then pay attention to some key words in order to respond to the

questions, I tried to follow Rivers (1983b) in her discussion of the stages of

listening comprehension developed on page 19 of my literature review.

Another example is asking students to listen to the audio, then simulate

the next exercise with the teacher and the class as a whole first, after that they

work on it with their peers and only then they are asked to actually write about

it; just as described by Gilman and Moody (1984) on page 16 of my literature

review, where the authors stress that before being able to produce the

language, students need to first hear it and be able to understand it beforehand.

 49

I have students working with their peers in pairs, small or whole class

activities so they can challenge and support each other. Based on Carol

Tomlinson’s studies, I took students’ readiness, interests and preferences into

consideration as they are the key principles when differentiating the content,

process and product.

Related Literature

Calium (2008), described content strategy in English as planning for

"the creation, publication, and governance of useful, usable content." It has

also been called "a repeatable system that defines the entire editorial content

development process for a website development project."

In a 2007 article titled "Content Strategy: The Philosophy of

Data," Rachel Lovinger (2009) describes the goal of content strategy as using

"words and data to create unambiguous content that supports meaningful,

interactive experiences." Here, she also provided the analogy that "content

strategy is to copywriting as information architecture is to design.

The Content Strategy Alliance combines Kevin Nichols'

definition with Kristina Halvorson's (2009) and defines content strategy as

"getting the right content to the right user at the right time through strategic

planning of content creation, delivery, and governance."

 50

Many organizations and individuals tend to confuse content strategists

with editors. However, content strategy is "about more than just the written

word," according to Washington State University associate professor Brett

Atwood. For example, Atwood indicates that a practitioner needs to also

"consider how content might be re-distributed and/or re-purposed in other

channels of delivery." Content strategists may also need to consider the

development and maintenance of content strategies, which often touches upon

branding, sourcing, and workflow.

It has also been proposed that the content strategist performs the role of

a curator. Just as a museum curator sifts through a collection of content and

identifies key pieces that can be juxtaposed against each other to create

meaning and spur excitement, a content strategist "must approach a business’s

content as a medium that needs to be strategically selected and placed to

engage the audience, convey a message, and inspire action."

The English assessment is required for most students. There are two

sections to this assessment, reading comprehension. These assessments will

place you in the most appropriate reading and writing classes for you to be

successful.

Strategies were chosen as the focus of this project because of their

usefulness in helping teachers to scaffold content and language input to

 51

children in the process of learning English as a new language. The strategies

also scaffold rigorous instruction for ELLs as Missouri, and most other states,

transition to the Common Core State Standards. The term instructional

strategy refers to a generalized learning or teaching technique that is

applicable across content areas. Effective teachers have knowledge of a wide

array of instructional strategies, and they choose the most effective ones for

specific teaching and learning environments. Most strategies are content

neutral and can be used flexibly in a variety of teaching environments.

The 78 strategies described have been chosen to reflect the five

research-based principles of scaffolded instruction for English language

learners outlined focus on academic language, literacy, and vocabulary; link

background knowledge and culture to learning; increase comprehensible input

and language output; promote classroom interaction; and Stimulate higher

order thinking and the use of learning strategies.

A major goal of education is to guide children towards a higher level of

learning. Learning to read in one’s native language is learning to shift, to

transfer from auditory signs for the language signals which the child has

already visual or graphics sign for the same signal for language reception. For

the young educators of school clientele, to come up to the proficiency

 52

excellent that our country needs, the administrators, teachers and parents must

need to work collaboratively to come up with this purpose. In this way

enrichment students communicative competence may take place.

It is an acceptable fact that in our country today, we find both teachers

and learners faced with the problems of English language incompetence.

Students have not developed their ability to speak, listen, read and write

with a considerable degree of fluency, appropriateness, accuracy and

acceptability. Hence, it can be said that generally, Filipino learners do not

have an excellent command of English language.

What must have caused this decline? Classroom observation shows that

English language teachers, despite the stress made by the K to 12 Curriculum

on the maximum use of the interactive, cooperative and collaborative

learning, and integrated strategies, still hang on to traditional modes of

teaching like the use of lecture methods, textbook method, question-answer

procedure, the teacher centered approach, chalk-talk-cope and even the use of

traditional modes of assessment which lends itself best to the development of

multiple intelligences.

In line with the new English curriculum where we integrate the four

macro skills with literature (vocabulary, comprehension, study skills and

literary appreciation), values development and also grammar and language

 53

functions, it is imperative for the English teacher to use a variety of teaching

and learning strategies where optimum opportunities are provided for both

pupils and students to practice.

The use of communicative activities in the teaching of English will

certainly augur well to the attainment of the end-goals of English language

teaching-communicative and linguistic competence. These learning activities

can likewise provide an easy and exciting way to explore the language without

much difficulty but with fun.

According Villamin (2009), reading is reasoning. The power of reading

means the power to read, comprehend and applied relatively difficult textbook

materials. It includes the ability to grasp the central thought and the details, to

get an idea that is expressed in several sentences, and to interpret content and

draw inferences, all from single test paragraphs. Speed of reading denotes the

rate of comprehension in fiction and factual materials.

Schools, nowadays, especially in the elementary level, encountered

some problems regarding facilities of learning.

As pointed out by Stratemayer (2009), curriculum developed around a

situation for which learners should face and required that a wide range of

instructional materials will result to effective teaching.

 54

Learning to use resource materials effectively is itself a persistent life-

situation. Just as the experience of participating in planting and scheduling the

days’ activities contribute to skill important to the learner in today’s world, so

do experience in selecting materials. These materials used to develop skills in

learning, computation and language, should be equally varied and flexible.

According to Forst, Sonquist (2008) state that the essential of the

learning process is a self-teaching of the pupils. Teachers should help the

pupils take active parts in their own learning by furnishing them instructional

materials, such as size comparison, transparent color cards for mixing colors.

According to Villamin, Betts (2008) says that the child should have

reading vocabulary of about to-hundred words (200) before he attempts to

read. No matter how controlled and repetitive vocabulary and may be

presented in reading materials, these should be set in interesting and

meaningful situation.

Children will have mastered the techniques of reading the stage of rapid

growth. Interesting materials should be used in developing vocabulary

comprehension, location nd simple organization of skills.

Teachers should require the pupils a functional listening and speaking

vocabulary, and engage them in varied activities using real or concrete objects
 55

like toys, books, pictures and alphabet blocks. Pupils taught skills in auditory

and visual discrimination, motor-ocular coordination, and critical thinking.

Children should learn to attack words through the use of phonetic and

structural analysis.

Learning communicative competence, therefore, become pleasurable

and enjoyable if materials used are based on children’s interest.

With modular instruction, the teacher assumes a more active role as a

manager of the learning architect, designing the motivational climate of the

classroom, managing the interpersonal relationship of the class and

demonstrating interest and positive attitude towards the program. One striking

feature of modular instruction is that it allows the teacher to focus on students’

differences. The teacher is more sensitive to the fact that learners in their

classes have unique capabilities and needs, and thus would not benefit by a

fixed presentation of information that is same for all.

Torralba, the leading proponent of learning modules stated that

modules are a set of learning opportunities systematically organized around a

well-defined topic, which contains the elements of instruction-specified

objective, teaching-learning activities, and evaluation using criterion-

referenced measures.
 56

Likewise, he stated that good modules should be self-contained, self-

facing adequately motivating and the subject matter should be short and well-

defined, accurate and written in a clear language suitable to the level of the

target learners.

Modular instruction in teaching is an educational technology that has

served as an alternative to the usual methods of instruction. It is an

individualized instruction viewed from the concept that human being differ

from one another, that they are individuals and learning is an individualized

experience. It is characterized by manifestation of love and concern toward

the student. It provides a learning activity characterized by principles of

openness, freedom, activity, socialization, reinforcement and humanity. The

pupils are led to discover the lesson for him. The emphasis is on the how and

it stresses on the why as learning take place. This type of learning is not

facilitated always by a trainer or tutor but by self-instructional module. This

module is structured interactively and in a way that communication to the

learners is done very simply and clearly, the way an effective teacher or

facilitator would. Mursell, Brubacher, Thorndike, and Skinner as cited by

Escalabanan and Lorber also pointed out, that besides the individual’s

assuming responsibility for his own learning, it also facilitates a strong

commitment for the work and dignity of the learner, recognizes his potential
 57

and encourages him to demonstrate his initiative and to involve his creative

powers.

Moreover, Orstein and Kemp came up with five major concepts of

modular instruction. One is to provide flexible modular scheduling. That on a

given session during their free time. Second, independent study is wee-

provided for in modules. Students can be moved from dependence on the

teacher towards self-directed learning related to their specific abilities, needs

and interests. In other words, independence in performing academic task or

project is an extension of having learned how to learn, requires, curiosity,

interest and independent reading and study skills. Third, it is a self-motivated

learning. It includes the learners\ assuming responsibility for their learning in

a give subject at a point appropriate to his past achievement, proceeding with

activities and materials at their own level and studying at their individual pace

of study being different. These ideas have their optimum validity for well-

ordered content like Mathematics. Fourth, it emphasizes mastery concept. It

refers to the students’ achievement of the lessons. Mastery is indicated by

successful responses to criterion-referenced tests, which will match to the

content and behavior specified in the objectives. They are obliged to master

the lesson before going on to the next module. Fifth, it provides continuous

progress. The student controls his own development, thus, he moves

 58

according to his own rate of learning, without regard to the speed of his

classmates. They know exactly what they have to learn and reduce

competition for grades since they check their own work.

Another concept that Nivera, emphasized is programmed instruction in

modular form is a method of instruction under which a student is taught

individually and still allows the teacher a most pleasant time to plan for the

enrichment activities. It is a method of learning that is totally painless, that is

the student is not threatened nor scolded but is rewarded and encouraged

instead.

On the other hand, Constantino M. Tarralba, as cited by Baltazar, and

Lardizabal defined a module as a self-contained material as well as self-

sufficient unit of instruction designed to be managed by the learners rather

than by the teacher. It is also a set of instructional materials and procedures

that contains within the basic element of instruction: objective, learning

activities and evaluation. It is also a portable self-learning kit that is properly

sequenced from the simplest to the more complex types of learning

experiences. It consists of a package of learning activities, usually papers that

have to be accomplished by the student. It can be used as part of a course or

as a curriculum design.
 59

In addition to these, Ponce and Kemp stated that a good module takes

up only one particular topic at a time and allows students for an in-depth study

and concentrates only on the given subject-matter. It also enables the students

to achieve the objectives explicitly stated in a module: thus, encouraging them

to proceed to the next module. Moreover, the objectives, learners’ activities

and evaluation should be interrelated with one another in order not to mislead

them. In this manner, modular instruction teaches the learner self-direction.

Teachers and students could benefit much in the use of modules.

Baltazar and Cruz said that it helps meet the individual needs of students in

different learning areas and helps integrate theory and practice. Teachers

become facilitators in the sense that learning is achieved by the students with

a minimum teacher direction and supervisor. It also caters to the different

learner within one course and serves as a supplement to classroom instruction

and materials.

Not only Baltazar and Cruz but also Greager and Murray and

Lardizabal found out the advantages of modules in the teaching-learning

process to both teachers and students. They said that modular instruction

provides teachers more time to pay attention to individual learning problems.

They can identify them earlier and are free to serve as resource persons to

answer questions and to help those who need help. As a consequence, it

 60

promotes better cooperation between the teacher and the students. It provides

them the opportunity for organizing a number of sequences of experiences to

reflect special interests of the teacher and the student. It likewise allows them

to focus on the students’ deficiencies in subjects’ matter that must be corrected

immediately and provides a way of assessing the students\ progress in

learning.

One of the striking features of modular instruction is that it allows the

teacher to focus on student differences. The teacher is more sensitive to the

fact that learners in their classes have unique capabilities and needs, thus,

would not be benefited by a fixed pace presentation of information that is the

same for all. In the traditional method, the teacher presents many instances

that are studied, absorbed, and compared by all the pupils until the common

elements in them are discovered and generalized. The process is sometimes

too lengthy and tiring for the undisciplined pupils for it tends to make the

lesson too formal.

Moreover, with modular instruction, the learner becomes the center of

the educative process, since it focuses on the learner. Modula learning

constitutes a powerful new instrument to discern how successful students

behave, and to recommend how to make students more successful by

providing better guides to objectives. Through its careful sequencing, it

 61

provides active involvement and reinforcement to the learner and making him

a partner to the development of his own future. The learner, then, becomes an

active subject.

Proponents of modular instruction have been careful to make assurance

that the teacher will not be eliminated in the learning process. The teacher in

fact, assumes more active role as manager of it, as supervisor or as adviser.

He still remains the learning architect, designing the motivational climate of

the classroom, managing the interpersonal relationship of the class, and

demonstrating interest and positive attitude toward the program. Instructors

who have constructed a module often regard it as a challenging exercise in

teaching because of the fact that modular instruction obliges a teacher to state

his objective correctly in a way that will assure students’ achievement of these

goals. This educational equipment is necessary technical tool to cope with

changes.

Related Studies

Regis (2008) wrote a “Worktext in Reading Skills Development for

Kindergarten.” The study was conducted in Tacloban City Division to the 27

Preparatory Schools. Among the findings of the study were: the need for

mastery of reading skills among kindergarten students, instructional materials

 62

like worktexts and workbooks was insufficient in teaching Reading Skills

Development.

The study of Regis and the present study have similarities in the sense

that both studies employed descriptive method of research and the output of

the study was intended for the improvement of the performance of the target

users.

However, the users of the study were different in the sense that Regis

study was intended for Kindergarten students for enhancing the reading skills

development while the present study is intended for the Grade 2 pupils.

Kempis (2013) of Asian Development Foundation College developed

“Lesson Guides on Oral Language Skills Development in English for Second

Year High School.” This study was conducted in the public secondary public

schools in the municipality of Abuyog, Leyte, Leyte Division. Findings

revealed that the teachers who were teaching English were in dire need of the

lesson guides which would help develop the oral language skills among the

students.

The study of Kempis and the present study have similarities in the sense

that both outputs of the study improved the proficiency level of the students.

Likewise, both studies used descriptive survey method of research. They

differ was on the output and respondents of the study. Kempis study was on
 63

Lesson Guides in Oral Language Skills Development in English for secondary

students while the present study is on teaching reading for SPED Grade

2pupils.

Renomeron (2009) developed a “Programmed Text for Grade 1 in

Reinforcement and Enrichment Activities on Reading Comprehension.” The

study was conducted in Burauen North and South Districts to Grade 1 students

and teachers. Based on the results of the data gathered, findings revealed that

the (1) the performance level of the Grade 1 students in English Reading

comprehension was low, (2) skills in reading comprehension were found

difficult to Grade 1 students which means reading comprehension skills were

not yet mastered by the students. Comparatively, both studies has similarities

in terms of the purpose of the output, the subject matter focused and research

design used. The two studies differ on the locale of the study.

The study of Renomeron was conducted only in two districts in

Burauen while the present study is intended for Grade 2 pupils on

differentiated strategy learning design in English for Grade 2.

Llosa (2013) developed “Comic Strips Instructional Modules in

English Reading Comprehension for Grade VI.” The study determined the

achievement level of the Grade VI students in Reading Comprehension;

determined the extent to which the Reading Comprehension skills were

 64

developed among the Grade VI students and developed the instructional

materials and strategies utilized in teaching English Reading Comprehension

for Grade VI. The two studies differ on its locale and respondents. Llosas

study focused Grade VI students while the present study was for Grade 2

pupils.

Moreover, Pemonelar (2013) developed a “Self-Directed Intensive

Instruction on Reading in English for Grade 4.” This study was conducted in

Barugo I and II Districts. Findings of the study revealed that the achievement

level of the Grade 4 students was fairly mastered as seen by the obtained mean

percentage score (MPS) of 69.08%. Furthermore, self-correcting motivational

activities were “sometimes undertaken” as manifested by the average mean of

3.04. On the problems met by the teachers in teaching Reading in English it

was considered all as “always a problem.’ Thus, conclusion signals that there

was a need to develop a self-directed intensive instruction on Reading in

English for Grade 4 that is appropriate for the development of all the skills

that were not totally mastered.

The study of Pemonelar and the present study are similar in terms of

research design, subject matter and the purpose of the output which is to

improve the proficiency level of the students in English. Nonetheless, the two

studies are different in terms of the respondents and the scope of the study.
 65

Pemonelar’s study was intended for the Grade 4 students in developing

the reading ability of the pupils while the present study is intended for Grade

2 pupils on modular communicative-based tools for SPED learners in reading.

Baluram (2011) conducted a study on “Strategy Game-type Modules in

Building Oral Language skills in Grade IV.” This study involved the Grade

IV students and teachers who were teaching English for Grade IV in San

Miguel District in Leyte Division during the School year 2010-2011. Findings

revealed that the achievement level of the Grade IV students in oral language

was considered as “low performing” which means that the oral language skills

were all least-learned. Furthermore, data connotes that the studens and the

teachers were in need of strategies game-type modules in building oral

language skills to improve their performance of the subject. The study of

Baluram has similarities with the present study in terms of subject matter

focused and research design employed. They differ on the locale of the study

and respondent of the study.

De Castro (2012) of Asian Development Foundation College;

developed “Skills Based Worktext in English for Grade III: A Self Study

Course.”

Findings of the study revealed that the achievement level of Grade II

students in Dagami North and South Districts was low and that it needed
 66

improvement. Also, skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing were not

yet developed. With the negative results of the test given, it was recommended

that teachers should use new approaches in teaching English to develop

independent learning.

This study has similarities with the present study in the sense that both

studies employed descriptive method of research and its focus is English.

However, both studies are different in the sense that the output of De Castro’s

study was intended for Grade III students while the present is intended for the

Grade 2 pupils in the schools from DLC I X Tacloban City Division.

Also, Suyom (2012) developed a “Multimedia Programmed Instruction

in English Reading Comprehension for Grade 1.” This study was conducted

in Burauen North and South Districts in Leyte Division which involved 30

public elementary schools, 34 Grade 1 teachers and 466 Grade 1 student-

respondents. Selection of the respondents were done through simple random

sampling technique. Findings revealed that: (1) the academic performance of

the Grade 1 pupils in reading comprehension was low; (2) there was no

mastery of the skills in Reading comprehension among the grade 1 students;

(3) multi-media utilization much more on online computer and internet

connection were never utilized among the Grade 1 teachers. The study of

Suyom and the present study are similar because both studies aimed towards
 67

the improvement of student performance of the subject. Comparatively, the

two studies utilized descriptive type of research and the same subject was

used. However, the two studies differed in the local of the study. Suyom’s

study covered two districts in Burauen while the present study will be

conducted in the elementary schools in DLC IX Tacloban City Division.

Similarly, Costibolo (2008) of Asian Development Foundation

College, Tacloban City developed an “Activity-Based Instructional Modules

in English Language for Grade VI.” This study was conducted in Dagami and

South districts, Leyte Division. Findings of the study revealed that the Grade

VI students in Dagami North and South Districts needed remediation in the

English language. Furthermore, varied teaching techniques in teaching the

English language was “seldom employed.” Likewise, instructional materials

were rarely used and the problems met by the teachers were considered as

“more serious a problem.”

The study of Costibolo and the present study had similarities in terms

of subject matter focused which is English and research design employed.

Also, the output of the study was designed to improve the proficiency level of

the students in English.

Dacuyan (2008) developed a “Worktext in Reading Skills

Development for Preschool Preparatory”. The respondents of the study were

 68

the 46 preschool teachers that came from 27 private schools in Tacloban City

during the school year 2007-2008. The study revealed that out of the 46

Preschool teachers, 26 of them have attended seminars on multiple

intelligences and 20 of them have had not attended seminars in multiple

intelligences. All of the 46 teacher respondents were female. Likewise, skills

for Preparatory in Reading skills were “sometimes developed” among the

preschool children. Both study differ on the locale.

The study of Dacuyan and the present study have similarities in terms

of the purpose of the output of the study which is to improve the academic

performance of the learners. Another thing that makes them similar is on the

type of research employed. However, both studies are different in terms of

subject matter focused, locale of the study and the respondents of the study.

Dacuyan study focused on Reading Skills Development intended for

Preschool children while the present study focused on beginning reading for

the Grade 1 SPED learners in DLC IX Tacloban City Division.

Cabelin (2009) developed “Building Strategies in Vocabulary

Development for Grade II: Achievements Integration Techniques.” This study

was conducted in Jaro I and II Districts. Among the problems met were; lack

of parent’s follow-up and insufficient instructional materials like

workbooks/worktext. One of the conclusions mentioned was the need to

 69

provide supplemental materials for teachers’ use in vocabulary development

for Grade II.

The study of Cabelin and the present study have similarities because

both studies used descriptive method of research, the same subject area was

used. However, they differ on the Grade level and the scope of respondents of

the study. Cabelin’s study was conducted to the Grade II students in Jaro

District, Leyte Division while the present is for Grade 2 pupils in the

elementary schools from DLC IX Tacloban City Division.

These studies and literature may contrast or affirm the result of the

present problem but these are very useful to the researchers in giving the

proper direction in coming up with an accurate and reliable output. They could

be a help in understanding deeper this study.

END NOTES

Cariño, Isidro (2000), New directions in teaching, “Education Review”

(Philippine Normal University, Manila, Volume 1) p.3
Kolb, D. A. (1984) Experiential learning: experience as the source of learning
and development USA: Prentice Hall
Lewin K (1984), “Field theory and learning” in D Cartwright (ed.) Field
Theory in Social Science: Selected Theoretical Papers, London;
Social Science Paperbacks, 1951
Phil Race (2001), The lecturer’s toolkit: 2nd edition’ Routledge, London
Phil Race (2005), “Making learning happen” (Sage, London).
Schon, D. (2000) Reflective practitioner. How professionals think in action,
London: Temple Smith.
 70

Sherwood, Callum, et. Al (2018). "A definition of content strategy in

english". First Page Digital.

Baluram, Virginia M. (2011), “Strategy same-type modules in building oral

language skills for grade IV” Unpublished Master’s Thesis,
Asian Development Foundation College, Tacloban City
Cabelin, Estela L. (2009), “Building strategies in vocabulary development for
grade II: achievement integration technique,” Unpublished
Master’s Thesis, Asian Development Foundation College,
Tacloban City
Costibolo, Laurence N. (2008), “Activity-based instructional modules in
english language for grade VI,” Unpublished Master’s Thesis,
Asian Development Foundation College, Tacloban City
Dacuyan, Daniela B. (2008), “Worktext in reading development for preschool
preparatory,” Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Asian Development
Foundation College, Tacloban City
De Castro, Eric I. (2012), “Skills-based worktext in english for grade III: A
self-study course,” Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Asian
Development Foundation College, Tacloban City
Kimpes, Bonifacio B. (2013), “Lesson guides on oral language skills
development in english for second year high school,”
Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Asian Development Foundation
College, Tacloban City
Llosa, Elvira A. (2013), “Comic strips instructional modules in english
reading comprehension for grade VI,” Unpublished Master’s
Thesis, Asian Development Foundation College, Tacloban City
Pemonelaar, Merlyn P. (2013), “Self-directed intensive instructional on
reading in english for grade 4,” Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Asian
Development Foundation College, Tacloban City
Regis, Natividad A. (2008), “Worktext in reading skills development for
kindergarten,” Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Asian Development
Foundation College, Tacloban City
 71

Renomeron, Jean S. (2009), “Programmed text for grade 1 in reinforcement

and enrichment activities on reading comprehension,” Unpublished
Master’s Thesis, Asian Development Foundation College,
Tacloban City
Suyom, Mona Liza M. (2012), “Multi-media programmed instruction in
english reading comprehension for grade 1,” Unpublished Master’s
Thesis, Asian Development Foundation College, Tacloban City

CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

Presented in this chapter are the research design, locale of the study, the

respondents of the study, research instruments, data gathering procedures, and

the statistical treatment of data.

Research Design
 72

The qualitative descriptive type of research will be used in the study.

Which determines the level of learning of the Grade 2 pupils in DLC IX

Tacloban City Division.

Fraenkel (2010), qualitative descriptive research defines as comparing

to sets of data from pre to post result. Pretest result shows data without using

materials in teaching while post test result shows data after using the materials

develop in the study like the modular communicative-based tools for SPED

learners on reading for Grade 2 in elementary schools from DLC IX Tacloban

City Division.

The data gathered will be collected and analyzed using descriptive

statistics thus the analysis of the data would provide the researcher basis in

designing Differentiated Strategy Learning Design in English for Grade 2.

The study will be conducted during the school year 2019 – 2020.

Locale of the Study

This study will be conducted in the elementary schools in DLC IX

Tacloban City Division which Marasbaras Central Elementary School, Dr. AP

Bañez Elementary School, and V & G Memorial Elementary School during

the school year 2018-2019.

 73

Figure 1 shows the Map of Tacloban City which shows the Elementary

Schools involved in the study.

 74

Legend:

- Elementary Schools of DLC IX - Tacloban City

Division

Figure 1 Shown the map of Palo were the location of the school where the

study conducted.

Respondent of the study

The respondents of the study are the 236 Grade 1 pupils enrolled for the

school year 2019-2020 and 7 teachers in Marasbaras Central Elementary

School, Dr. AP Bañez Elementary School, and V & G Dela Cruz Memorial

Elementary School all from DLC IX, Tacloban City, Division.

 75

Table 1 presents the respondents of the study.

TABLE 1

THE RESPONDENTS OF THE STUDY

PUPIL- TEACHER-
SCHOOLS
RESPONDENTS RESPONDENTS
1. Marasbaras
Central
115 3
Elementary
School
2. Dr. AP Bañez
Memorial
65 2
Elementary
School
3. V & G Dela Cruz
Memorial
76 2
Elementary
School
TOTAL 256 7

Looking at Table 1, it shows that the total number of the Grade 2 pupil-

respondents of the study are 256 and 7 English teachers who are teaching

Marasbaras Central Elementary School, Dr. AP Bañez Elementary School,

and V & G Dela Cruz Memorial Elementary School all from DLC IX,

Tacloban City, Division

Research Instrument
 76

The research instrument used in this study are survey questionnaire for

teacher-respondents and proficiency test for pupil-respondents. These

instruments are described below:

Survey Questionnaire. The survey questionnaire for teacher-

respondents consist of four parts. Part I asks data on the extent to which the

competencies in English for Grade 2 are develop as perceived by the teacher-

respondents. Part II of survey questionnaire asks data on the instructional

materials utilized by the teachers in teaching English for Grade 2. Part III of

the survey questionnaire elicits data on the extent to which the teaching

strategies are employed by the teachers in teaching English for Grade 2 and

Part IV of the survey questionnaire asks data pertaining to the problems met

by the teachers in teaching English for Grade 2. This survey questionnaire is

shown in Appendix A.

Proficiency Test. This is a 30-item test in English for Grade 2 which

covers competencies prescribed in the K to 12 curriculum. This proficiency

test is designed to determine the level of learning of the Grade 2 pupils in

English. Further, this proficiency test is seen in the Appendix B.

Validation of Instrument
 77

The research instruments like survey questionnaire and the proficiency

test will be pre-tested to the Grade 2 teachers and selected Grade 2 pupils in

Sagkahan Central Elementary School.

Specifically, the survey questionnaire will be validated by a Master

Teacher in Grade 2 so that it will be checked or corrected for the improvement

of the said questionnaire. Likewise, proficiency test will be tested to some

Grade 2 pupils to determine if the test is fitted to the level of learning of the

pupils in the grade. Then, necessary revisions of the research instruments will

be done after administering it based on the suggestions of the teachers

concerned.

The choice of Sagkahan Central Elementary School as validation

school of the instrument is that school possess the same characteristics of the

respondents specifically on the language, educational landscaping and socio-

economic status of the schools involve in the study.

Data Gathering Procedure

Prior to the conduct of the study, the researcher will seek a written

permission to the Schools Division Superintendent of Taclobn City Division.

 78

Then validation of the research instruments will be conducted before the

actual administration of the said instruments. After the validation, final draft

of the research instruments will be prepared on the result of the validation.

The researcher will personally administer the proficiency test and

survey questionnaire to the Grade 2 pupils and teachers with the permission

from each School Head. Before administering will be given to the respondents

in order to get the data needed. Then, test will follow. Meanwhile the test is

going on, teachers will be given questionnaire for them to accomplished.

Retrieval of the research instruments will follow. Answer sheets will be

checked and data will be tabulated, analyzed and be given an interpretation.

Statistical Treatment of Data

The described statistics such as frequency counts, and weighted mean

is utilized in this study.

To find the mean, all the response of the respondents will be summed-

up, divided by the number of respondents, then multiplied by one hundred,

thus percentage, the following formula will be used:

M= ∑ 𝑊𝑆 x 100%
n

Where: M = Mean
 79

∑ 𝑊𝑆 = sum of weighted mean

N = total number of respondents

To determine the level of learning of the Grade 2 pupils in English, the

mean percentage score (MPS) in the proficiency test will be taken using this

scale:

Percentage Value Interpretation

74% - below Beginning (B)

75% - 79% Developing (D)

80% - 84% Approaching Proficiency (AP)

85% - 89% Proficiency (P)

90% and above Advanced (A)

To describe the extent to which the competencies in English are

developed among Grade 2 pupils, the following mean value s and

interpretation are used:

Mean Value Interpretation

3.50 – 4.00 Outstandingly Developed

 80

2.50 – 3.49 Very Satisfactorily Developed

1.50 – 2.49 Satisfactorily Developed

1.00 – 1.49 Not Developed

To identify the instructional materials utilized in teaching English for

Grade 2, the following mean values and interpretation are used;

Mean Value Interpretation

3.50 – 4.00 Always Utilized

2.50 – 3.49 Oftentimes Utilized

1.50 – 2.49 Sometimes Utilized

1.00 – 1.49 Never Utilized

To describe the extent to which the teaching strategies are employed by

the teachers in teaching English for Grade 2, the following mean values and

its interpretation are used:

Mean Value Interpretation

3.50 – 4.00 Always Employed

2.50 – 3.49 Oftentimes Employed

 81

1.50 – 2.49 Sometimes Employed

1.00 – 1.49 Never Employed

To identify the problems met by the teachers in teaching English for

Grade 2, the following mean values and its interpretation are used:

Mean Value Interpretation

3.50 – 4.00 Always a problem

2.50 – 3.49 Oftentimes a problem

1.50 – 2.49 Sometimes a problem

1.00 – 1.49 Not a problem

 82

REFERENCES

REFERENCES

Cariño, Isidro (2000), New directions in teaching, “Education Review”

(Philippine Normal University, Manila, Volume 1) p.3
Kolb, D. A. (1984) Experiential learning: experience as the source of learning
and development USA: Prentice Hall
Lewin K (1984), “Field theory and learning” in D Cartwright (ed.) Field
Theory in Social Science: Selected Theoretical Papers, London;
Social Science Paperbacks, 1951
Phil Race (2001), The lecturer’s toolkit: 2nd edition’ Routledge, London
Phil Race (2005), “Making learning happen” (Sage, London).
 83

Schon, D. (2000) Reflective practitioner. How professionals think in action,

London: Temple Smith.

Sherwood, Callum, et. Al (2018). "A definition of content strategy in

english". First Page Digital.

Baluram, Virginia M. (2011), “Strategy same-type modules in building oral

language skills for grade IV” Unpublished Master’s Thesis,
Asian Development Foundation College, Tacloban City
Cabelin, Estela L. (2009), “Building strategies in vocabulary development for
grade II: achievement integration technique,” Unpublished
Master’s Thesis, Asian Development Foundation College,
Tacloban City
Costibolo, Laurence N. (2008), “Activity-based instructional modules in
english language for grade VI,” Unpublished Master’s Thesis,
Asian Development Foundation College, Tacloban City
Dacuyan, Daniela B. (2008), “Worktext in reading development for preschool
preparatory,” Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Asian Development
Foundation College, Tacloban City
De Castro, Eric I. (2012), “Skills-based worktext in english for grade III: A
self-study course,” Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Asian
Development Foundation College, Tacloban City
Kimpes, Bonifacio B. (2013), “Lesson guides on oral language skills
development in english for second year high school,”
Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Asian Development Foundation
College, Tacloban City
Llosa, Elvira A. (2013), “Comic strips instructional modules in english
reading comprehension for grade VI,” Unpublished Master’s
Thesis, Asian Development Foundation College, Tacloban City
Pemonelaar, Merlyn P. (2013), “Self-directed intensive instructional on
reading in english for grade 4,” Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Asian
Development Foundation College, Tacloban City
 84

Regis, Natividad A. (2008), “Worktext in reading skills development for

kindergarten,” Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Asian Development
Foundation College, Tacloban City
Renomeron, Jean S. (2009), “Programmed text for grade 1 in reinforcement
and enrichment activities on reading comprehension,” Unpublished
Master’s Thesis, Asian Development Foundation College,
Tacloban City
Suyom, Mona Liza M. (2012), “Multi-media programmed instruction in
english reading comprehension for grade 1,” Unpublished Master’s
Thesis, Asian Development Foundation College, Tacloban City
 85

APPENDICES

Appendix A

SURVEY QUESTIONAIRE ON DIFFERENTIATED STRATEGY

LEARNING DESIGN IN ENGLISH FOR GRADE 2

(FOR TEACHER-RESPONDENTS)

Part I THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE COMPETECIES IN

ENGLISH ARE DEVELOPED AMONG GRADE 2 PUPILS

 86

Directions: Below are competencies in English for Grade 2. Please indicate

the extent to which these competencies are developed among the

pupils based on the results of their Proficiency Test. Use the

following scale below.

Scale Quantitative Description

4 Very Satisfactorily Developed

3 Satisfactorily Developed

2 Nearly Developed

1 Not Developed

# Competencies in English for Grade 2 4 3 2 1

1 Noting details
2 Following directions
3 Sequencing events
4 Making predictions
5 Inferring

Part II INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS UTILIZED IN

TEACHING ENGLISH FOR GRADE 2

Directions: Below is a list of instructional materials in teaching English for

Grade 2. Please indicate the extent to which these instructional

materials are utilized in teaching English for Grade 2 using the

scale below.
 87

Scale Quantitative Description

4 Always Utilized

3 Oftentimes Utilized

2 Sometimes Utilized

1 Not Utilized

No.
Instructional Always Oftentimes Sometimes Not
Materials Utilized Utilized Utilized Utilized
1 Textbooks
2 Teachers’ Guide
3 Modules
Audio visual
4 Materials
5 Self-learning Kit
6 ICT
Differentiated
learning activities/
worksheets design
7
in English. Please
specify: _________

Part III TEACHING STRATEGIES EMPLOYED BY THE

TEACHERS IN TEACHING ENGLISH FOR GRADE 2

Directions: The following are teaching strategies employed in classroom

instruction. Please indicate the extent of using these strategies in

teaching English for Grade 2 in your class using the scale below.

Scale Quantitative Description

 88

4 Always Employed

3 Oftentimes Employed

2 Sometimes Employed

1 Never Employed

No.
Teaching Always Oftentimes Sometimes Never
Approaches Employed Employed Employed Employed
Experiential
1 Learning
Strategy
Discovery
2 Learning
Strategy
Reflective
3 Learning
Strategy
Cooperative
4 Learning
Strategy
Interactive
5 Learning
Strategy

Part IV PROBLEMS MET BY THE TEACHERS IN TEACHING

ENGLISH FOR GRADE 2

Directions: The following are the problems met by the teachers in teaching

English for Grade 2. Please indicate problems that you met in

teaching English for Grade 2 using the scale below.

Scale Quantitative Description

 89

4 Always a problem

3 Oftentimes a problem

2 Sometimes a problem

1 Not a problem

Problems Met 4 3 2 1
1. No comprehension in reading
2. Poor study habits among Grade 2 pupils
3. Insufficient pre-requisite knowledge on
reading skills
4. Pupils absenteeism
5. Absence of differentiated strategy
learning design in English
6. Lack of parental support
7. Others: (Specify) __________________

Appendix B

PROFICIENCY TEST IN ENGLISH FOR GRADE 2

(FOR THE PUPIL-RESPONDENTS)

Part I. PROFILE

Direction: Fill out the space provided for.

Respondents’ Profile
 90

Name of Respondents: ________________________________________

Grade & Section: ____________________________________________

School: ____________________________________________________

Name of Teacher: ____________________________________________

Part II. PROFICIENCY TEST IN ENGLISH

A. NOTING DETAILS

Direction: Read the story carefully and answer the questions that follow.

Mother and her daughter Sophia were at the town plaza. They were
watching the amateur singing contest. There were many people watching the
show. Sophia got separated from her mother. Mother called. “Sophia, Sophia,
where are you ?” Sophia could not be found. Meanwhile, a lady saw Sophia
crying. She helped Sophia look for her mother. Mother saw Sophia and the
lady. She called Sophia and thanked the lady.

______1. Who is the main character of the story ?

a. Sophia b. Mother c. Lady

______2. Where did the story happen?

a. At the mall b.At the town plaza c. In the market
______3. What part of the story is this statement “They were watching the
amateur singing contest?”
a. Event b. Character c. Setting

______4. What is the Mother’s problem in the story ?

a. Mother had a stomachache.
b. Sophia got lost.
c. The lady scolded Sophia.

______5. Which of the following was the ending of the story ?

a. There were many people watching the show.
b. Sophia got separated from her mother.
c. Mother saw Sophia and thanked the lady.
 91

Read the story carefully and answer the questions that follow.

Ted’s Pet
Ted has a pet.
Hi pet is a hen.
He feeds his pet hen.
“Red Hen, don’t go to the well.”
But Red Hen runs.
“Red Hen, Ted yells.
“Oh, Red Hen falls into the well.
Ted gets a net.
He gets Red Hen out of the well.
______6. Who has a pet ?
a. Fed b. Jed c. Ted

______7. What is his pet ?

a. Black pig b. red hen c. spotty dog

______8. Where did Red Hen go ?

a. Inside the house b. into the well c. under the tree

______9. What did Ted used to get Red Hen out of the well ?
a. Net b. jet c. pen

______10. What happen to Red Hen ?

a. Get out of the well. b. Died in the well. c. Drink water from the well.
B. FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS

Direction: Follow the following directions correctly.

11. Draw a square and write the name of your school inside.

12. Draw a ball and color it red.

13. Write the first letters of the alphabet and encircle the second letter.
 92

14. Draw a circle and write the first name of your mother.

15. Write the word pan and change the first letter to f.

C. SEQUENCING EVENTS

Direction: Read the story below and arrange the events in the story. Match
the events in column A with the correct order in column B.
Write the letter on your paper.

Going to School
The very first thing I do on school days is wake up. Then, I need to eat a
good breakfast to have energy. Next, I get dressed. Then, I put my backpack
on. After that, I wait for the school bus to come and take me to school.

A B
______16. I wait for the school bus to come
and take me to school. a. 1st event
______17. I eat a good breakfast. b. 2nd event
______18. I wake up. c. 3rd event
______19. I get dressed. d. 4th event
______20. I put my backpack on. e. 5th event
f. 6th event
D. MAKING PREDICTIONS

______21. The fisherman catches fish. He gets a knife and slices it.
What happens next ?
a. He will put it inside the classroom.
b. He will feed it to the cat.
c. He will cook the fish.

______22. My sister goes to the bookstore. She buys a storybook.

What will happen next ?
a. She will throw the book.
b. She will hide the book.
c. She will read a short story.
 93

______23. The pupils fall in line in the plaza. The teacher stands at the
center. What will happen next ?
a. Thy will sing the Philippine National Anthem.
b. They will run around the plaza.
c. They will cry.

______24. Cris is studying his lesson. There will be a test tomorrow.

What is likely to happen ?
a. He will get high score.
b. His scores will be low.
c. He will be hungry.

______25. Peter is sleeping in the classroom. He did not listen to the

teacher. What happen next ?
a. He will be left in school.
b. He will be dreaming.
c. He will not learn the lesson.

E. INFERRING

______26. Anita will sing in the program. Suddenly she got sick. She cannot
sing in the program anymore. Why can’t Anita sing in the
program ? Because ______________
a. She got sick.
b. She was angry.
c. She had no shoes.
_______27. Mother will buy pencil and paper for Mila. Because _________
a. She is 7 years old.
b. She will go to school.
c. She will play in the school.

______28. The baby boy is in the crib. Suddenly he cried. He was hungry.
Why was the baby crying ? Because __________.
a. He wanted milk.
b. He wanted a ball.
c. He wanted candy.

______29. Romel will go to the forest. He will gathered firewood. He will

cook rice. Why is Romel gathering firewoods ? Because ______.
 94

a. He will play.
b. He will study.
c. He will cook rice.

______30. The room is clean. The children are scrubbing the floor. Why is
the room clean ?Because _______________.
a. The children are scrubbing the floor.
b. The children throwing papers around.
c. The children are watering the plants.