INTRODUCTION Term Paper

INTRODUCTION
https://www.britishcouncil.ph/teach/state-english-philippines-should-we-be-concerned-2
BY MIKE CABIGON
The Philippines is recognized globally as one of the largest English-speaking nations with majority of its
population having at least some degree of fluency in the language. English has always been one of the
official languages of the Philippines and is spoken by more than 14 million Filipinos. It is the language of
commerce and law, as well as the primary medium of instruction in education.
Proficiency in the language is also one of the country’s strengths that has helped drive the economy and
even made the Philippines the top voice outsourcing destination in the world, surpassing India in 2012.
The influx of foreign learners of English is also on the rise due to the relatively more affordable but
quality English as a Second Language (ESL) programs being offered locally.
However, in a recent roundtable discussion organized by the British Council, key stakeholders from the
government, academe, private, and non-government sectors acknowledged that even if the Philippines
is doing fine in terms of English competency, concerns on how much of a competitive advantage it still is
for the country were raised. The stakeholders agreed that the country needs to step up its efforts in
improving the teaching and learning of English, developing it as a vital skill of the workforce. This is an
initiative that could potentially strengthen the Philippines' distinct advantage in this part of the world,
particularly with the upcoming ASEAN economic integration.
Gaps and Recommendations
Enhancing the teaching of English in the Philippines presents opportunities for the country in the area of
tourism.
"...We need to address the gap in qualified ESL teachers and the issues around ensuring the quality of
ESL schools."
“To maintain the Philippines’ strength as a major ESL destination, we need to address the gap in
qualified ESL teachers and the issues around ensuring the quality of ESL schools. This also includes
exploring how we can extend incentives to ESL schools and teachers,” shares Renee Marie Reyes, the
Chief of the ESL Market Development Group under the Department of Tourism (DOT). DOT is
encouraging local ESL schools to offer structured tour packages to ESL learners, the majority of whom
come from South Korea, China, Russia, and Japan, by incorporating English learning activities into the
travel experience.
Other participants from the government sector underscored the need for an interagency government
body to regulate and support ESL provision in the country in order to further capitalize on its economic
potential.
Representatives from the academe focused on teacher training and professional development,
highlighting the need for skills in differentiated instruction, materials development, and knowledge
sharing.
Dr. Rosario Alonzo, Dean of the University of the Philippines College of Education, says that the College
ensures this by emphasizing to its students that English is a skill to be used for communication.
Education students focus on learner-centred teaching, and are taught to ask learners to do meaningful
tasks using English.
“Our future teachers should ensure that English is a means of communication, rather than a set of facts
to be learned,” says Dr. Alonzo.
“Our future teachers should ensure that English is a means of communication, rather than a set of facts
to be learned,” says Dr. Alonzo. In the same way, the Department of Education focuses on the needs of
learners and ensures that they learn the English language holistically, as specified under the K to 12
basic education framework.
There is also a greater imperative to further build on the English skills of the labour force, particularly of
those in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector.
“The demand for BPO services from the Philippines requires more than 1.3 million employees by 2016,
which means that 300,000 more new employees need to be hired by next year,” says Zoe Diaz de Rivera,
the QCCI Manager and Master Trainer of the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines
(IBPAP).
Representatives from the private sector also suggested corporate social responsibility programs to
support teacher development, particularly in English language proficiency in teaching other subjects.
They also recommend collaboration between the government and the private sector to address teacher
and student language proficiency in the outlying communities.
The international and development organizations recognize the same gaps and agree with the
recommendations of the other sectors. In addition, they propose to have a platform for information
sharing and communication among stakeholders to avoid duplicating initiatives.
These statements were made amid the decline of the quality of English in the Philippines while jobs in
various industries that require certain levels of English communication skills are left unfilled. Statistics
from the IBPAP show that today, only eight to 10 individuals are hired for every 100 applicants in the IT-
BPO sector.
Nicholas Thomas, Country Director of the British Council Philippines, says that developing a wider
knowledge of the English language is one of the British Council’s founding purposes.
“Part of our work is to share best practice in the teaching and learning of English with partner countries
all over the world. English has a distinctive place in the Philippine education system, and retaining high
standards of English is critically important for the country’s economy and future development. We look
forward to working with partners on more initiatives to support the teaching and learning of English
here,” says Mr. Thomas.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/86602/english-proficiency-as-a-competitive-edge
English proficiency as a competitive edge
By: Butch Hernandez - @inquirerdotnetPhilippine Daily Inquirer / 12:22 AM July 11, 2015
The availability of quality human resources is one of the Philippines’ key advantages, according to the
Board of Investments. “Our people are highly educated. The literacy rate is 94 percent and 70 percent of
the population are fluent in English, making us one of the largest English-speaking countries in the
world. Filipinos also have strong customer service orientation and are highly trainable,” says the BOI.
Based on various surveys, the Philippines is anywhere from the third to the sixth country in the world
with the largest English-speaking population. We can’t claim to be native English speakers as much as
we would like to, but our talent pool can speak, read and write in this language even at a rudimentary
level.
Japan Times columnist Amy Chavez wrote recently of how, during a visit to the Philippines, she was
impressed that even people who had never stepped outside the country were fluent in English. Having
both English and Filipino as official languages does not mean that everyone understands or speaks
English, “but the exposure to the language is so great that those who do speak it can communicate quite
fluently,” she added.
ADVERTISEMENT
The old Bilingual Medium of Instruction policy did more to erode than elevate our competency in the
English language to globally acceptable standards. Thankfully, we now have the Mother Tongue-Based
Multilingual Education (MTBMLE) language teaching component embedded in the new K-to-12
curriculum. Education Undersecretary Dina Ocampo-Cristobal explains that this evidence-based
language acquisition policy enables early-grade learners to express themselves in class in a language
that they already know (i.e., the mother tongue).
Helping young learners master their mother tongue significantly heightens their competency to acquire
the globally dominant English language. The Department of Education itself recognizes that English
proficiency is a competitive edge that previous generations of Filipinos used to enjoy. Sadly, there is no
denying that many of today’s high school or even college graduates have difficulty in expressing their
thoughts clearly and logically in English, in Filipino, or sometimes even in their mother tongue. However,
it is almost certain that graduates of the new K-to-12 curriculum with MTBMLE will be better prepared
for the challenges of the 21st-century workplace.
But what about today’s graduates and job-seekers?

In his article titled “Countries with the Best Business English,” Kenneth Rapoza, a contributing writer of
Forbes magazine, cites a Mckinsey & Company study showing that only 13 percent of graduates from
emerging countries are suitable for employment in global companies, and that the No. 1 reason is lack
of English skills.
Statistics from the IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines (Ibpap) show a hiring hit rate of
8-10 percent, closely resembling the Mckinsey & Company study, mostly for the same reason (i.e., lack
of proficiency in Business English). Furthermore, the Department of Science and Technology’s
competency mapping of 20,000 new college graduates vis-à-vis 3,000 new hires using Ibpap’s industry-
grade Global Competency Assessment Tool conclusively shows that the widest competency gap
between what the IT-business process management industry needs and what our graduates have is in
English proficiency (29 percent). The basic skills of the top 25 percent of students are only 9 percent
higher than the average demand of the IT-BPM sector.
To address this issue, Ibpap has its advanced English proficiency training or AdEPT, a blended learning
approach wherein Business English concepts learned in the classroom are reinforced through constant
practice using an online tool. Master trainers Zoe Diaz de Rivera and Gino Caliwagan have been busily
conducting AdEPT classes for the faculty of a number of public and private universities for the past three
years, and they hope to implement AdEPT as widely as possible.
The fact remains, however, that employers still turn away many of our youth because their English skills
are below par, despite the Philippines being a country where the English language is deeply entrenched
in local culture.
A white paper from the Human Capital Institute and GlobalEnglish titled “Bridging the Talent Crisis
created by a New Global Reality” gives us an idea why. It says: “The problem is larger than linguistic skills
in English. Being able to conjugate a verb doesn’t translate to the ability to be successful at one’s job.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Today’s global teams require proficiency in Business English, which embraces the additional skill sets of
presentations, meetings, negotiations and conference calls. It also involves topics related to business
functions, such as marketing and finance, as well as topics related to business sectors, such as banking
and pharmaceuticals.
“The size of the skill gap is huge. When 70 percent of your global workforce speaks English as a second
language, communication across global teams can be tricky and frustrating—even counterproductive.
Every global company today is composed of an untold number of very smart employees with cutting-
edge knowledge who simply are unable to contribute meaningfully to their global teams.
“Evidence continues to mount that poor English proficiency is fueling—at best—misunderstandings and
misalignment across global operations. At worst, so many mistakes are made and delays caused, that
productivity plummets destructively.”
Butch Hernandez (butchhernandez@gmail.com) is the executive director of the Eggie Apostol

Foundation and education lead for talent development at Ibpap.
Read more: http://opinion.inquirer.net/86602/english-proficiency-as-a-competitive-

edge#ixzz4fnmFOyy7
Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook
Abstract
Listening and speaking skills co-occur in real-life discourse and they are not mutually exclusive. Within
this framework, this study is conducted to prove that teaching listening and speaking skills in integration
improves oral communicative competence of the students. In order to collect data for the study, a pre-
post test and various tasks were designed for 180 students from the preparatory school of Hacettepe
University, Turkey. The collected data was analyzed through t-test. At the end of the study, the group
practicing the skills in integration was found to be more successful than the group practicing the skills
separately. © 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Keywords: Listening skill; Speaking skill; Communicative competence; Integrated skills
1. Introduction
In real-life communication, people use a variety of language skills – listening, speaking, reading, and
writing. “When people learn a foreign language, they usually want to make use of that language to
communicate with people who speak the same language. They can find themselves in the need of
understanding them and talking to them. 201). As Raimes (1983) states, “listening and speaking are,
regardless of who the people using the language are, at least as important as the other skills to
communicate”. Byrne (1991) states that “one should keep in mind that these skills are normally
integrated in real life” (p.21). The term integrated skills is frequently used as if it were almost
synonymous with reinforcement. Viewed in this way, the process of integrating language skills involves
linking them together in such a way that what has been learnt and practiced through the exercise of one
skill is reinforced and perhaps extended through further language tasks which bring different skills into
use. Here, the use of any skill may quite naturally lead to the use of other. It is essential for students to
understand the language they are exposed to and to respond appropriately so that they can become
competent users of that particular language. Sefero÷lu and Uzakgöre (2004) claim that “listening is
usually an interactive process” (p. 2). The listener does not always just listen to, but she or he also reacts
to the speaker or asks questions for clarification. The most essential issue for the students should be to
understand what they are listening to and to be able to give appropriate responses orally. This aim
brings us to the integration of listening and speaking while teaching, as our main consideration should
be not only learning the grammar of the target language but also communicating in that language,
which highlights the importance of the integration of these
* Zekiye Müge Tavil. Tel.: +90 312 2028474; fax: +90 312 2227037. E-mail address: mtavil@gazi.edu.tr.
Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
766 Rohaty Majzub and Saayah Abu / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 9 (2010) 765–770
two skills. As a result, it may be said that the more the skills are taught individually, the less
communication will take place in the classroom. To avoid this, the skills should be taught in integration
to guide learners to develop their oral communicative competencies. Dell Hymes (1971) defined
communicative competence as a term in linguistics which refers to a language user's grammatical
knowledge of syntax, morphology, phonology and the like, as well as social knowledge about how and
when to use utterances appropriately. Within this process, communicative competence is a way of
describing what a language speaker knows which enables him or her to interact effectively with others.
Therefore, teachers should give more importance to teaching of the skills in integration in order to
encourage the individuals become communicatively competent. Speaking and listening skills have been
regarded as being too difficult to cope with ,so generally students are not willing to participate in tasks
focusing on these two skills. When they are integrated through information-gap tasks, students might
see the actual outcome and become more willing to practice to achieve more success in communicating
their ideas. Some instructors do not prefer information-gap tasks thinking that the class may get out of
control which may cause barriers in communication process. Teachers should sweep away the
boundaries and create a safe stress-free environment to encourage and motivate the students to speak.
An information-gap task is a task where learners have the lack of the needed information to complete a
task and they are in need of listening or speaking to each other in order to complete the task as in real-
life. Information gap tasks are beneficial in a foreign language setting for various reasons. To start with,
they both enhance the opportunity of speaking practice and highlight the real communication,
therefore; the motivation of the students is high. One of the challenges that teachers meet in the
classroom is motivating the students to speak in the target language. Active and confident students
always participate, but the others who are less confident are not willing to speak. As Lightbown and
Spada (2006) suggest “speaking in the target language requires more than one mental task at one time
like choosing words, pronouncing them, and stringing them together with the appropriate grammatical
markers” (p. 39). In order to perform these operations while communicating, complex and
nonspontaneous mental operations are required and failure to do so may lead to reticence, self-
consciousness, fear, or even panic, similarly with respect to listening. “The instructor should be the
facilitator in the classroom to create an unthreatening environment”.(Jones, 2004, p. 34). Hence,
another important feature of information-gap tasks is that each student has only part of the information
they need to complete a task, so they must cooperate and share their information by speaking or
listening to each other. Within this framework, in the learning process the students talk to one another,
not exclusively to the teacher, which provides the involvement of all students into the tasks while at the
same time fostering student-centered learning in the classroom In real life, listening and speaking are
always in integration, so teachers should teach these two skills in an interacted way. Although the
students may know how to listen and speak in the language, they may still not be able to communicate
in this language mainly because these skills are not used in integration. Use of authentic materials and
real life situations could naturally lead to the integration of skills since this is the case in real life. The aim
of this study is to prove that listening and speaking both in practice phase in the classroom and in real
communication situations entail unique features that result in real contributions to overall language
learning. It is the teacher’s task to comprehend and make use of how closely listening is related to the
speaking skill and how listening can be integrated with speaking through information-gap tasks. This
study focuses on and sets forth the scientific view of teaching listening and speaking in integration
through information-gap tasks. Integration of skills exposes English language learners to authentic
language and challenges them to interact naturally in the language. By this way, English becomes a real
means of interaction and sharing among people. In addition to this, it allows the teacher to color his/her
lesson with varieties because the range of tasks is wider. “Real success in English teaching and learning is
when the learners can actually communicate in English inside and outside the classroom” (Davies and
Pearse, 2000, p. 99) With these in mind, this study aims at answering the question whether teaching
listening and speaking skills in integration improves oral communicative competence of the students.
Rohaty Majzub and Saayah Abu / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 9 (2010) 765–770 767
2. Method
2.1. Subjects
For this study, tasks and pre-post tests have been administered to 180 students from the preparatory
classes of Hacettepe University. They are chosen at random and are all pre-intermediate level students
between the ages of 17 and 19 who have graduated from government schools. The course book, they
are studying in their English classes is “English File”. They have started learning English with “English File
Elementary” and have gone as with the other levels of the same book. First, the pre test was
administered to all participants. Then, ninety of these students practiced fifteen listening and fifteen
speaking tasks which were taught separately. Each day one of these tasks was carried out in the class. In
the meantime, the other ninety students were busy with the thirty tasks which were based on the
integration of the listening and speaking skills through information gap tasks. Subsequently all the
students were given exactly the same test as the post test. The tasks and the tests have been carried
out in the fall semester of the 2008-2009 academic year. The post test was applied to the students just
after they had completed the tasks. This, of course, increases the reliability of the test results since it
was held when the effects of the tasks were still fresh.
2.1.1. Instruments
2.1.2. Pre- Post Tests
All of the participants chosen for this study are all of the same level of proficiency, which makes the test
results more reliable. It would be impossible to work with students at various levels of proficiency
because different levels of proficiency would require different tests and tasks to arrive at reliable
results. The base lines of the students were determined by the pre-test and the students who are at the
same level were chosen randomly. To reach reliable and valid results the pre and the post tests were the
same communicative test. Chastain (1988) mentions that “a communicative test aims at developing
valid, reliable and practical means of evaluating students’ ability to communicate” (p. 393). Students
were expected to demonstrate the ability to perform skills similar to those they had performed in class.
These tasks were practically the same as those practiced in the real language portions of the class hour.
The students talked about the items in the listening text and were able to relate the content to their
own lives. Before administering the pre-post tests, a pilot study was carried out. It was applied to twenty
students apart from the participants of the main study as it was not possible to administer the same test
again to the participants of the pilot study. The participants of the pilot study were from Hacettepe
University preparatory school and they were all chosen randomly. The pilot study aims at finding out
whether all the items are clear and understandable to make the factor analysis, and see if there are any
irrelevant questions and also to see if they are categorized in the right place and to find out whether
the test is reliable or not. The Cronbach’s alpha value is 0.80, so the result of the pilot study reflected
the reliability of the test which reinforces the validity, as well.
2.1.3. Tasks
All the tasks involved in the study were information-gap tasks. As Krashen (1985) pinpoints, “learners
are exposed to language only in the classroom where they spend less time in contact with the language,
covering a smaller discourse type” (p. 46). The limited exposure to the target language and lack of
opportunities to practice speaking do not let the communicative abilities of learners fully develop and
result into embarrassment and stress for them, so the teachers should use real life materials through
information-gap tasks to increase the motivation of the students. Errors in social settings are mostly
overlooked if they do not interfere with the meaning because people consider it and face-threatening to
interrupt and correct somebody who is trying to have a conversation with them. Interlocutors only react
to an error if they cannot understand the speech and try to adjust their speech with the speaker in their
effort to negotiate for meaning. It is mostly the classroom environment where feedback on error is
provided; this leads many learners to frustration. In this study, during the implementation process,
teachers just reacted to an error if they couldn’t get the meaning as the aim of these tasks is developing
communication skills of the students. The tasks given to the first group were mainly focusing on
listening and speaking separately, however; the tasks developed for the other group involve the
integration of these two skills. As is mentioned before, all of them were developed through information-
gap tasks. They were adapted to be carried out separately and integratively. Later, these tasks were
ordered so that students could move from sentence level to paragraph level. The aim of preparing the
tasks in this order is to make students familiar with the skills before asking them to do more complicated
ones. Moreover, to activate participation in the classroom, it was ensured that students were provided
friendly, informal and learning-supportive environments. This was obtained by teachers’ friendly, helpful
and cooperative behavior while the students were dealing with a task. In order to reinforce students,
the tasks provide reasonable commitments for successful language learning. When the teachers said
that the lesson would be about listening or speaking, most of the students did not want to be involved
as they believed at first that it would be difficult. So, the first tasks were just a small warmer to motivate
the students before going on with the more challenging ones. By the end of the first tasks, the students
seemed to be more willing to participate in the other ones and they became more familiar with the
skills. During the following tasks, it was observed that students did not feel anxious anymore about
forming sentences while speaking or listening. Generally most of the tasks were autonomous as there
were student-students or students-student interaction. There was an information-gap between the
students so they were communicative tasks. People need this kind of information in real life, which
fosters student involvement in the classroom. All through these tasks the students had the opportunity
of working together and they were very active which supported the authentic atmosphere of learning.
The tasks were ordered from the controlled to free ones in order to guide students but later on they
became more autonomous. The tasks not only considered these two skills but also covered practicing
the sub skills such as listening for the main idea, listening for the detailed information, predicting and
comprehending. Generally the tasks took 20 or 30 minutes to complete in the actual classroom setting.
In parallel with the aims of the study, integration of the skills accustoms the learners to combining
listening and speaking , in natural interaction through information-gap tasks.
2.2. Data Analysis
In order to compare the results of the same test given to both groups, the t-test technique was used for
two independent samples. But this technique requires a sample feature which is normally distributed.
Therefore, it was necessary to study the distributions of these two samples first and see whether their
distribution were normal or not. If they were not normal, nonparametric tests to compare these
samples could be used, however; the analysis made reflected that t-test would be applicable for the
interpretation of the test administered to the two groups. The mean (arithmetic average of the n values)
of the two samples are 61.51 and 50.86 respectively. The group practicing the tasks in integration seems
to receive higher values than the other. The test results of both of the groups are normally distributed
(for the significance level of 0.05 or 0.01). Therefore, the t-test technique could be used for the two
independent samples. Independent samples t-test is Leverie’s test for equality of variances. According
to the value of significance which is 0,470, it can be concluded that these two samples have equal
variances (for the significance level of 0.05 or 0.010). Considering the value of significance 0,008, it can
be said that these two samples do not have equal means. It is found that the t-test value is 0.008 which
is less than our significance level 0.05. Therefore, it can be concluded that the two sample distributions
are not the same.
Table 1. Group Statistics
Rohaty Majzub and Saayah Abu / Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 9 (2010) 765–770 769
N Mean Std.Deviation Std. Error Mean Integrated 90 61.51 12,80 2,86 Not-integrated 90 50.86 12,21
2,43
As can be seen in Table 1, the mean value of the integrated group is more than the non-integrated
group, so it can be said that listening and speaking tasks in integration through information-gap tasks
make students more successful than they can be when these skills are taught separately.
3. Conclusion
People listen or speak in order to obtain the presented information or to learn about a content which is
intellectual rather than factual as a way of developing their own intellectual skills so that ideas can be
more effectively manipulated, possibly with the aim of influencing the behavior of others, or of
determining the outcome of a series of operations. These reasons for listening and speaking are
essentially practical. Thus, it can be said that listening is carried out for many purposes other than
listening to the language itself. Just as messages are listened in order to be able to do something else,
the student speaking a foreign language should be less concerned with the language than with the
message sent to communicate. Therefore, students should develop not only listening but also speaking
skills in order to communicate with others. For some time in language teaching, it has been
conventional to teach speaking as being of primary importance, regarding listening to be less important
although it is known that oral skills and aural skills cannot be separated from each other. Language
teachers should encourage students to predict, to tolerate ambiguity and to link ideas so that they stop
dwelling on isolated words often not vital for comprehension. To facilitate communicative competence
the teachers can also help students by discussing the title, theme, and cultural background before
starting the tasks. While choosing the tasks, all types of materials from advertisements to literature can
be used. In the first language, students have ready access to language used in meaningful contexts, and
they incorporate needed patterns from those models into their own changing and evolving the linguistic
system. What they often lack in the second foreign language classroom is the opportunity to develop a
sufficient language base from which to generate messages they would like to communicate. Classroom
use of comprehensible materials can help to alleviate this problem. Thus, all tasks should serve to
facilitate communicative fluency in each of the other language skills including listening and speaking.
The students can speak at a much higher level of proficiency than in the past when the preoccupation
with grammar is used to deprive them of the opportunity to speak for the meaning. Besides these,
information-gap tasks increase students’ motivation and improve their level of comprehension. Within
the framework of this study, it was realized that the students were willing to participate in the tasks as
the two skills were presented in integration through information-gap tasks, which created real life
situations in the classroom. Listening is a receptive skill in that the listener is receiving a message from a
speaker, but it shouldn’t mean that the listener is passive during a listening task. The listening process,
in a way, is a very active process as the listener needs to use background knowledge to understand the
intended message of the speaker; so, the listeners should deal with various tasks while listening to
activate their schemata. The follow-up of these stages can easily be the production stage, which
inevitably means the integration of skills. Hence, teaching the skills separately will influence negatively
the communication in the classroom; therefore, the teachers should create real life situations not only
by integrating listening and speaking skills but also by implementing information-gap tasks to enhance
real communication among the individuals. In conclusion, it is seen that the results of the test show that
students’ success increases when these two skills are taught in integration through information-gap
tasks. Moreover, practicing the skills through informationgap tasks carry up student involvement and
motivation mainly because these kinds of tasks are related to real life and thus leads to communication.
It may be said that the listening and speaking skills are at least as important as the reading and writing
skills. This study suggests that students’ success rises when listening and speaking skills are integrated
through information-gap tasks.
References
Anderson, A., & Lynch, T. (1988). Listening. Oxford: O.U.P. Bada, E. & Okan, Z. (2000). Students’ language
learning preferences. TESL- EJ. Brownell, J. (2006). Listening: Attitudes, priciples, and skills. (3rd ed.),
Boston: Pearson/ Allyn& Bacon Brown, H. D. (1994). Principles of language learning and teaching. N.Y:
Prentice Hall Press Burrows, L. K. & Gutherie, D. & Peterson, D.& Rakow-Larson. L. (1999). Improving
listening skills. Master’s Action Research Project. Saint Xavir University and IRI/skylight. (ERIC Document
Reproduction Service No. ED435107). Byrne, D. (1991). Writing tasks. London: Macmillan Press Celce-
Murcia, M. (1991). Teaching English as a second or a foreign language. N.Y. : Newbury House Chastain,
K. (1988). Developing second language skills: Theory and practice. USA: Harcourt Javanovich Pres. Cook,
V. (1991). Second language learning and language teaching. London: Edward Arnold Pres. Davies, P. &
Pearse, E. (2002). Success in English Teaching. Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press. Doff, A.
(1990). Teach English. London: C.U.P. Hiúmano÷lu, M. (2000). Language learning strategies in foreign
language learning and teaching. The Internet TESL Journal. 4 (8). Retrieved February 9,2008, from http://
iteslj.org/Articles/ Hiúmano÷lu-Strategies. Html Hymes,D.H.(1971) On Communicative Competence.
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press Jarvis. H. (2004). Shifting Paradigms from a
communicative to a context-based approach. Asian EFL Journal, 6, 4, from http://www.asian-
efljournal.com/pta_november_06_aa.php Jones, J. F. (2004). A cultural context for language anxiety’. EA
(English Australia) Journal, 21 (2), 30-39. Jones, P. W. (1983). Techniques and principles in language
teaching. London: O.U.P Keskil, G. (1997). Listening vs. Reading: An experiment to see how they improve
each other. Hacettepe Üniversitesi E÷itim Fakültesi Dergisi. 13: 135-140. Krashen, S. D. (1985). The input
hypothesis: Issues and implications. London: Longman. Lightbown, P. M., & Spada, N. (2006). How
languages are learned. London: Oxford University Press. Littlewood, W. (1981). Communicative language
teaching. London: C.U.P. Martinez, A. G. (2002). Authentic materials: An overview. Retrieved March 9,
2008, from http://www3.telus.net/linguisticsissues/authenticmaterials.html Neill, R. (1990). English in
situations. London: O.U.P. Richards, J.C. (2005). Tactics for listening. (2nd ed.). Oxford: O.U.P. Sefero÷lu,
G., & Uzakgöre, S. (2004). Equipping learners with listening strategies in English language classes.
Hacettepe Üniversitesi E÷itim Fakültesi Dergisi, 27, 223-231. Vandergrift, L. (1999). Facilitating second
language listening comprehension: Acquiring successful strategies. ELT Journal, 53(4): 73-78 Wang, Q.
(2000). A course in English language teaching. Beijing: Higher Education Press. Wagner, B. J. (1985).
Integrating the language arts. ERIC Digest. Retrieved February 19, 2008, from
http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-923/arts.htm Yagang, F. (1993). Listening: problems and solutions.
English Teaching Forum Online. 31(1). Retrieved December 10,2007, from
http://draft.eca.state.gov/forum/vols/vol31/no1/p16.htm Yükselci, S. (2003). Teachers’ practices and
perceptions regarding listening strategies, and perceptions of difficulties likely to arise in English
listening comprehension lessons. Master’s thesis, Bilkent University, Ankara.
Communicative competence of secondary senior students: Language instructional pocket
Charita B. Lasala* University of the Visayas, Colon St., Cebu City 6000, Philippines
Abstract
1. This study included both qualitative and quantitative research approaches and utilized two general
instruments. Making use of focus group discussions and a structured oral interview with an American
native speaker. Once the transcriptions of the interview were ready, the researcher forwarded it to
three expert raters. Findings show that the level of communicative competence in oral and writing skills
of the students is both acceptable; however, they differ in their numerical values. In terms of
grammatical competence in oral skill, the average rate is 3.10 while the respondents obtained an
average rate of 2.91 in their writing skill. In terms of discourse competence in oral skill, the average rate
is 3.10, while the respondents obtained an average rate of 2.68 in their writing skill. In sociolinguistic
competence in their oral skill, the respondents obtained an average rate of 3.29 and 3.01 in their
speaking skill. For the strategic competence, the respondents got an average rate of 3.12 in their oral
skill and an average rate of 2.73 in their writing skill. Based on the findings of the study, it can be
disclosed that the communicative competence of the students both in speaking and writing skills is
acceptable, having an average rate of 3.15 and 2.84 respectively. Their communicative and
sociolinguistic competence could still be improved. Based on the foregoing conclusion, it is
recommended that the module created by the researcher be used in their English classes since the
topics included in the module were relevant to the actual findings. It is important for the different
school administrators to ensure that the teachers are able to carry out the suggested topics included in
the module.
© 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and peer-review under the responsibility of the
Organizing Committee of ICLALIS 2013.
Keywords: Communicative competence; linguistics; languages.
_______________________
© 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license. Selection and
peer-review under the responsibility of the Organizing Committee of ICLALIS 2013.
227 Charita B. Lasala / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 134 ( 2014 ) 226 – 237
1. Rationale
Communicative competence has always been the goal of every language classroom wherein
instructions are geared toward the components on organizational, pragmatic, systematic and
psychomotor (Brown, 1994). Brown (994) stresses that authentic language and real-world tasks enable
students to see the relevance of classroom activity to their long term communicative goals by
introducing natural texts rather than artificial ones where students will more readily dive in to the
activity and that these communicative goals are best attained if enough attention is given to language
use and not just usage, to fluency and not just accuracy, to realistic language and contexts and to how
these students’ apply the learning in real life situations. Further, he said that the learner capitalizes on
his ‘strategic investment’ in mastering the target language. He thinks of ways and means to improve his
competence of the language and is directly involved in his own learning process. Yet one must
understand that strategies used differ in each situation depending on the learner in solving the
problems or tasks given to him.
To Hymes, in understanding actual linguistic performance, one must consider more than just what
utterances are possible according to the rules of any given linguistic system or what utterances are
feasible, because it is important to consider the factors governing the appropriateness of an utterance
and how the conditions that define what is appropriate are linked to the factors governing the possible
and feasible in determining the actual speech performance. Communicative competence can refer to
what a speaker needs to know to communicate effectively (Cabalquinto, 1989). The whole of the
communicative event is considerably greater than the sum of its linguistic elements. Moreover,
language is made up of a collection of units, all related to each other in very particular ways, on different
levels. These different levels are themselves related in various ways to each other. The primary
function of language is to express meanings and to convey these to someone.
Tongco, as cited by Prejoles (1997) in her study, said that difficulties in oral communication continue
to pose a challenge to language teachers and that over the past few years, educators and language
specialists have searched for ways to make language teaching relevant and effective. Freeman, as cited
by Prejoles (1997), believes that communicative competence will be enhanced if the students are made
to feel that they are working on communicative skills, practicing some functions within a social context,
not just accumulating knowledge of vocabulary and sentence level structures. Communication is vital in
all areas of one’s life. It is used to persuade, influence relationships, inform and share and uncover
information.
Inspired by the researches of Pastrana (1980) and Prejoles (1997) and driven by the researcher’s own
growing interest in communicative competence, a similar study has been carried out. The researcher has
been in the Academe for six years now as a College Instructor handling English subjects. She has always
been faced with the same dilemma over the years on how to make English subject appealing,
meaningful and lovable to her students, thus making them more participative during class discussions
and making them more confident with their written and speaking skills. The result of this study will
greatly aid the researcher and the English teachers in becoming more effective and efficient in their
teaching, thus helping them to achieve one of the language classroom’s goals, which is to help the
students become a good manipulator of the English language. Further, the proponent also intended to
conduct a study on a micro level by analyzing the communicative competence of the selected high
school graduating students of Mandaue City. The outcome of this investigation is beneficial to the
students as well as to the English teachers because the module is generated from a case study, thus
making the learning process of every language classroom more fun, ideal and meaningful.
This study, which is based on the communicative competence theories, was undertaken in an effort
to identify and recognize the needs of the students and for every language classroom to achieve its
goals. The need for this communicative competence assessment was to cross the gap between the
current level of communicative skills and the goals set. In this context, the study on communicative
competence has provided an essential and distinctive database. Nevertheless, this study marked
differences on the different studies made by Pastrana, Prejoles and other researches pertaining to
communicative competence. Firstly, it focuses on Sociolinguistics which is an interesting
area. Secondly, it is a case study, which means it is an analysis and an in-depth study. Thirdly, the
present study used a variety of research designs. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods
were used. Fourthly, in assessing the speaking skills of the respondents, a native American English
speaker was hired to conduct an interview.
2. Theoretical Background
For clarity and emphasis, this study is anchored on Canale and Swain’s (1987, cited in Ohno, 2011)
notion of communicative competence as a synthesis of an underlying system of knowledge and skill
needed for communication. In their concept of communicative competence, ‘knowledge’ refers to the
conscious or unconscious knowledge of an individual about language and about other aspects of
language use. According to them, there are three types of knowledge: knowledge of underlying
grammatical principles, knowledge of how to use language in a social context in order to fulfil
communicative functions and knowledge of how to combine utterances and communicative functions
with respect to discourse principles. In addition, their concept of skill refers to how an individual can use
the knowledge in actual communication. According to Canale (1987), skill requires a further distinction
between underlying capacity and its manifestation in real communication or performance (Bagariü and
Djigunoviü, 2007).
Figure 1. Model of Communicative Competence by Canale and Swain (1987), cited in Ohno (2011)
Grammatical Competence
Discourse Competence
Strategic Competence Sociolinguistic Competence
Lexis
Syntax
Morphology
Phonology
Naturalness
Cohesion
Rhetorical Organization
Register and dialect
Cultural references and Figures of speech
Canale and Swain, as cited by Ohno (2011) believe that the sociolinguistic work of Hymes is important
to the development of a communicative approach to language learning. Their work focuses on the
interaction of social context, grammar, and social meaning. Although Hymes said that there are values
of grammar that would less be useless without rules of language, Canale and Swain maintain that there
are rules of language use that would be useless without rules of grammar. They strongly believe that
the study of grammatical competence is as essential to the study of communicative competence as is
the study of sociolinguistic competence. Canale and Swain’s four components of communicative
competencies are grammatical competence, discourse competence, sociolinguistic competence and
strategic competence.
Ohno (2011) further pointed out that grammatical competence is the ability to recognize and produce
the distinctive grammatical structures of a language and to use them effectively in communication and
the ability to use the forms of the language such as sounds, words, and sentence structure. It concerns
the mastery of the language code itself - lexicon, syntax and semantics. Canale and Swain (1987, cited in
Ohno, 2011) pointed out that grammatical competence will be an important concern for any
communicative approach whose goals include providing learners with knowledge of how to determine
and express accurately the literal meaning of utterances. They believe that knowledge of these rules
will be crucial in interpreting utterances for social meaning, particularly when there is a low level of
transparency between the literal meaning of an utterance and the speaker’s intention.
While discourse competence concerns the mastery of how to combine grammatical forms and
meanings to achieve a unified spoken or written text in different genres, the cohesion and coherence of
utterances or sentences. It is used to refer to two related, but distinct abilities. Textual discourse
competence refers to the ability to understand and construct monologues or written texts of different
genres, such as narratives, procedural texts, expository texts, persuasive (hortatory) texts, descriptions
and others. These discourse genres have different characteristics, but in each genre there are some
elements that help make the text coherent and other elements which are used to make important
points distinctive or prominent.
Learning a language involves learning how to relate these different types of discourse in such a way
that hearers or readers can understand what is going on and see what is important. Likewise it involves
being able to relate information in a way that is coherent to the readers and hearers. Whereas,
sociolinguistic competence, addresses the extent to which utterances are produced and understood
appropriately in different sociolinguistic contexts depending on contextual factors.
On the other hand, Cascallar and Henning (2011) said that strategic competence is a set of strategies
devised for effective communication and put into use when communication breaks down. It is said to
involve the ability to recognize, assess, infer and compensate for deficiencies.
Another explanation of Canale and Swain, as mentioned by Ohno (2011), strategic competence is
made up of verbal and non-verbal communication strategies that may be called into action to
compensate for breakdowns in communication due to performance variables or to insufficient
grammatical competence. It is composed of the mastery of verbal and non-verbal communication
strategies that may be called into action for two main reasons: (a) to compensate for breakdowns in
communication due to limiting conditions in actual communication or to insufficient competence in one
or more of the other areas of communicative competence; and (b) to enhance the effectiveness of
communication.
Ohno (2011) pointed out that the idea of communicative competence is originally derived from
Chomsky’s distinction between competence and performance. By competence, Chomsky means the
shared knowledge of the ideal speaker-listener set in a completely homogeneous speech community.
Such underlying knowledge enables the user of a language to produce and understand an infinite set of
sentences out of a finite set of rules. The transformational grammar provides for an explicit account of
this tacit knowledge of language structure, which is usually not conscious but is necessarily implicit.
Hymes says that the transformational theory carries to its perfection
the desire to deal in practice only with what is internal to language, yet to find in that internality that in
theory is of the widest or deepest human significance.
Moreover, Ohno (2011) mentioned Widdowson’s view, saying that language learning is not merely
acquiring the knowledge of the rules, but also acquiring the ability to use language to communicate. He
says that knowing a language is more than how to understand, speak, read, and write sentences, but
how sentences are used to communicate. Widdowson (1983, cited in Ohno, 2011) added the idea that
once competence is acquired, performance will take care of itself is false. He states that six or more
years of instruction in English does not guarantee normal language communication. He suggests that
communicative abilities have to be developed at the same time as the linguistic skills; otherwise the
mere acquisition of the linguistic skills may inhibit the development of communicative abilities.
Widdowson’s idea seems to be influenced by Hymes’ thought that children acquire not only the
knowledge of grammar, but also the knowledge of appropriateness. Hymes points out that children
acquire knowledge of sociocultural rules such as when to speak, when not to speak, what to talk about
with whom and in what manner, at the same time as they acquire knowledge of grammatical rules. With
this, Widdowson (1983) strongly suggests that communicative competence be taught alongside with
linguistic competence.
To make the decision of teaching both linguistic and communicative competence clear, Widdowson
distinguishes two aspects of performance: “usage” and “use”. He explains that “usage” makes evident
the extent to which the language user demonstrates his knowledge of linguistic rules, whereas “use”
makes evident the extent to which the language user demonstrates his ability to use his knowledge of
linguistic rules for effective communication. He also distinguishes two aspects of meaning:
“significance” and “value”. Significance is the meaning that sentences have in isolation from the
particular situation in which the sentence is produced. Value is the meaning that sentences take on
when they are used to communicate.
Accordingly, acquisition of linguistic competence is involved in use. Widdowson suggests that the
classroom presentation of language must ensure the acquisition of both kinds of competence by
providing linguistic and communicative contexts. Linguistic context focuses on usage to enable the
students to select which form of sentence is contextually appropriate while communicative context
focuses on use to enable the students to recognize the type of communicative function their sentences
fulfill. He suggests that the selection of content should be made according to its potential occurrence as
an example of use in communicative acts rather than as an example of usage in terms of linguistic
structure. Grammar must be based on semantic concepts and must help a learner to acquire a practical
mastery of language for the natural communicative use of language.
The communicative competence model emphasizes the importance of the four language skills since
they are viewed as manifestations of interpreting and producing a spoken or written piece. With this
framework as the basis and taking the intercultural component as the point of departure, a variety of
activities in the four language skills are presented for teaching learners intercultural communicative
competence. Communicative competence is the interaction of the grammatical (formally possible),
psycholinguistic (implementationally feasible), sociocultural (contextually appropriate), and probabilistic
(actually done) systems of language. All these, according to Hymes, show that communicative
competence refers to the psychological, social and cultural rules which discipline the use of speech in
social settings. It includes not only linguistic forms of language but also its social rules.
3. Statement of the Problem

This study sought to assess the communicative competence of the secondary senior students of
Mandaue City as basis of proposed English Language Module. Specifically this investigated the oral and
written competencies of the following:
1. Grammatical competence in terms of: 1.1. pronunciation/orthography, 1.2. semantic appropriacy of

lexis,
1.3. vocabulary, 1.4. morphology, and 1.5. syntax 2. Discourse competence in terms of: 2.1. cohesion,
and 2.2. coherence 3. Sociolinguistic competence in terms of: 3.1. register, and 3.2. performance 4.
Strategic competence in terms of: 4.1. fluency, 4.2. density of information transfer, 4.3. hesitation
phenomena, 4.4. non-verbal compensation, 4.5. verbal compensation, 4.6. confidence/neatness,
and 4.7. overall strategic success 5. Based on the findings of the study, what English Language Module
can be designed?
4. Methodology
4.1 Research design
The design included the qualitative and quantitative research approaches, research environment,
research instruments, data gathering procedures and data analysis.
4.2 Research environment The study was conducted in selected high schools in Mandaue City, namely
Mandaue City Comprehensive National High School (Main Campus), Maguikay National High School,
Tipolo National High School and Pagsabungan National High School.
Mandaue City is one of Cebu province’s urbanized cities. It is located in the middle eastern coastal
region of Cebu. Bordering on its right side are Mactan Island where Lapu-Lapu City is located. The city
has an area of about 34.87 square kilometres with 27 barangays.
4.3 Research respondents The selected graduating high school students were utilized as the research
respondents and cluster sampling was used. A total of 12 informants from the four districts of Mandaue
Division: North, South, East and West were involved in the study. Each school with the approval of the
school principals and the help of the guidance counsellors and the English teachers chose three students
to be the respondents wherein one of them was categorized as a Superior Student, one an Average
Student and the other one as a Regular Student.
Selection of key informants. The research locations were chosen in terms of population of the
graduating students in a district and these schools were strategically situated in Mandaue City.
The selected schools. The study was primarily conducted in the following government funded schools.
These schools were selected based on location and population. The schools are stated as follows:
Mandaue City Comprehensive National High School (Main Campus) is located at Plaridel St., North
Reclamation Area, Mandaue City. It is one of the biggest schools in Mandaue City in terms of population
of their fourth year graduating students.
Maguikay National High School is one of the schools in the West District of Department of Education,
Mandaue Division. It is located at the heart of Barangay Maguikay.
Tipolo National High School is a public school and one of the four schools located in Barangay Tipolo,
Mandaue City. It is right across the infamous San Miguel Corporation and fronting Mandaue City’s Hall
of Justice.
Pagsabungan National High School is the sole secondary school built in Barangay Pagsabungan. It was
built to serve as an extension of Canduman National High School in Barangay Canduman, a neighboring
barangay.
4.4 Research instrumentation

This study utilized two general instruments since it attempted to use qualitative and quantitative
methods. In the qualitative research, Focus Group Discussion was made with the different English
teachers. Photos and interview sheets duly signed and confirmed by the interviewees were utilized as
proofs.
For the quantitative dimension of the study, the researcher prepared her own instrument adapted
from the study of Pastrana (1980) for the written exercise. For the oral interview, it made use of a
structured oral interview patterned after Pastrana (1980) and Prejoles (1997) in their studies on
linguistic and communicative competence and adopted a rubric used by Grant Henning and Eduardo
Cascallar (2011) on the Study of the Nature of Communicative Competence. This structured interview
covered informal, formal and intimate topics or questions prepared by the researcher. However, the
interviewee, an American native speaker, was not limited to the prepared topics or questions, for he
was given the liberty to ask follow-up questions.
Each respondent was interviewed at the time allowed by the school principal, and responses were
video-taped by the researcher. The video-taped interviews were then transcribed and individually rated
based on a standard set of criteria adopted from Grant Henning and Eduardo Cascallar.
Once the transcriptions of the interview were ready, the researcher then forwarded it to three expert
raters, two of whom holds a Doctorate degree, wherein one is a concurrent dean in one of the notable
colleges in Iligan City while the other one is one of the best English professors in one of Cebu’s finest
university. The third rater is a graduate from one of the Philippines’ top university, and she is currently
pursuing her Doctoral degree in one of Cebu’s most respected university.
4.5 Research procedure
Data gathering was done in the months of February and March 2012. The researcher administered the
questionnaires and hired a native American English speaker to conduct the interview with the
respondents, involving the use of a video to document the proceedings. The interviews were then
transcribed. Still photos were also taken to serve as proofs of the interview and of administering the
written exercise.
In regard to the key informants, the researcher approached them first and asked permission from
Mandaue City’s Department of Education’s Division Superintendent. Upon earning the approval of the
letter request, the researcher went to see the different school principals of the selected schools. The
selections of the respondents were made by the different school principals with the aid of the school’s
guidance counsellor and the fourth year English teachers. With their consent, the written exams and
interviews were done at their own convenience.
4.6 Data Analysis
Quantitative Data. Data from the quantitative instruments were analyzed using the norms of each
instrument to elaborate the different interviews and experiences that were presented in the study. The
interviews conducted to answer sub-problem two (2) were integrated in the narratives.
The research involved the averaging of summation of ratings given by the raters. The formula used
was:
Area of competence = Summation of ratings given Number of variables
In order to arrive at a definite interpretation of each scale, the researcher assigned the following
hypothetical mean range to the scale: Range Scale 4.21 - 5.00 Superior 3.41 - 4.20 Very Good
2.61 - 3.40 Acceptable 1.81 - 2.60 Marginal 1.0 - 1.80 Poor
For clarity on the ratings of the written exercise, the following descriptions are given to the following
scales: Superior. It means that the respondent’s main idea or topic sentence is clear and it is in the
right place and it is mentioned again in the last sentence. Its main idea is supported by four or more
sentences that give details about it wherein each supporting detail sentence has been expanded. The
penmanship is neat and readable, and has no visible erasures, smudges or cross outs. There is no serious
grammar error and that all sentences use correct spelling, capitals, punctuation and end marks.
Very Good. It means that the main idea or topic sentence is clear and in the right place but there is no
reference to the topic in the last sentence. The main idea is supported by three sentences that give
details about it wherein each supporting detail sentence has been expanded. The penmanship is
generally neat but is occasionally hard to read and has some obvious erasures or smudges. There are
fewer than two grammar errors and that sentences have fewer than two errors in spelling, capitals,
punctuation and end marks.
Acceptable. It means that the main idea or topic sentence is either unclear or not in the right place
and that there was no reference to topic in the last sentence. The main idea was supported by two
sentences that gave details about it wherein each supporting detail sentence had been expanded. The
penmanship is generally neat, but is hard to read, and have some erasures or smudges. There are fewer
than three grammar errors and that sentences have fewer than three errors in spelling, capitals,
punctuation and end marks.
Marginal. It means that the main idea or topic sentence is unclear and in the wrong place and that
the idea is not brought up again. The main idea has only one supporting detail sentence and it has been
expanded. The composition is not readable in some places, and has more than five erasures, smudges
and cross outs. There are fewer than five grammar errors and that sentences have fewer than five
errors in spelling, capitals, punctuation and end marks.
Poor. It implies that the main idea or topic sentence is unclear and in wrong place and that the idea is
not brought up again. There are no obvious supporting detail sentences to back up the main idea and
the supporting detail sentences are stated without additional details or expanded information. The
penmanship is generally not readable and that there are more than five erasures, smudges or crossed
out words. There are five or more grammar errors, and sentences have more than six errors in spelling,
capitals, punctuation and end marks.
While the ratings were used in the oral examination, the following descriptions (adopted from
Pastrana, 1980) were given to the following scales:
Superior. It means that the student is enthusiastic; he/she makes an extremely active effort to
communicate using a wide variety of means, verbal and non-verbal to express himself or herself. The
student is never hesitant and halting. It is smooth and nearly effortless, approaching near-native
delivery. The delivery is characterized by complete utterances, appropriate expressions and the use of
the isolated words only when appropriate and he/she conveys all the information called for in the
communication task. All relevant facts are included.
234 Charita B. Lasala / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 134 ( 2014 ) 226 – 237 Very
Good. It means that the student is interested; he/she made a concrete effort to communicate and went
well beyond what the task requires. The delivery is seldom hesitant or halting and seemed fairly smooth
and effortless. Further, the delivery is characterized by very few incomplete statements, inappropriate
expressions or isolated words with mostly complete utterances and that the student is able to convey
most of the information called for in the communication task and nearly all of the relevant facts are
included.
Acceptable. This shows that the student is alert; he/she tries to complete the communication task
and is able to add something not specifically called for. His/her delivery is occasionally hesitant and
halting with a few unnatural pauses and fragmented utterances and that it is characterized by some
incomplete statements, an occasional inappropriate expression and a few isolated words with many
short, complete utterances. Moreover, the student conveys much of the information called for in the
communication task and many of the relevant facts are included.
Marginal. This suggests that the student is lightly attentive; he/she expressed what comes easily, but
appears unwillingly to put forth any special effort. The delivery is often hesitant and halting with a few
unnatural pauses and fragmented utterances and is characterized by quite a few incomplete
statements, inappropriate expressions, and isolated words with some short, complete utterances.
Further, it indicates that the student is able to convey some of the information called for in the
communication task and a large number of relevant facts are omitted.
Poor. It implies that the student is listless; he/she appears not to care if a message is properly
conveyed. The delivery is constantly hesitant and halting with a very large number of unnatural pauses
and fragmented utterances and is characterized by a constant flow of incomplete statements,
inappropriate expressions, and isolated words with only a few short complete utterances. Likewise, the
student conveys very little of the information called for in the communication task and nearly all the
relevant facts are omitted.
To authenticate the ratings of the students, the researcher asked the assistance of three English
professors from Cebu and Mindanao, specifically Iligan City. Further, these raters were asked to provide
their own assessments and comments to each activity, the written exercise and the interview.
The baseline and statistical data were presented, analyzed and interpreted. They served as the bases
for the different topics and activities that were included and implemented on the proposed English
Language Module.
The research flow This presents the study with the conceptualization of the design on data gathering.
The qualitative data were gathered from the interview questions of the English teachers. The responses
were used in the analysis of the data. For the quantitative data, the examination was administered
by the researcher, and after the written exercise the same respondents had an actual face-to-face
interview with a Native American English Speaker. Each respondent was asked three (3) sets of
questions, an informal question, a formal and an intimate question. The interview took not more than
10 minutes (and not less than five minutes).
From the findings of the study, the researcher then generated an English Language Module for the
secondary senior students.
Figure 2. The research flow
5. Summary of Findings
The present study sought to assess the communicative competence of the secondary senior students
of Mandaue City, the researcher anchored the conduct of the study on the theoretical model of
communicative competence of Canale and Swain that communicative competence is important to the
development of a communicative approach to language learning and that the study of grammatical
competence is as essential to the study of communicative competence as is the study of sociolinguistic
competence.
1. The level of communicative competence in oral and writing skills of the students is both acceptable;
however, they differ in their numerical values: 1.1. In terms of grammatical competence in oral skill, the
average rate was 3.10 which means acceptable, while the respondents obtained an average rate of 2.91
in their writing skill, which also means acceptable. 1.2. In terms of discourse competence in oral skill, the
average rate is 3.10 which means acceptable, while the respondents got an average rate of 2.68 in their
writing skill, which also means acceptable. 1.3. In sociolinguistic competence in their oral skill, the
respondents obtained an average rate of 3.29 which means acceptable and 3.01 in their speaking skill,
which also means acceptable. 1.4. For strategic competence, the respondents obtained an average rate
of 3.12 in their oral skill, which means acceptable and an average rate of 2.73 in their writing skill, which
also means acceptable.
6. Conclusion
Based on the findings of the study, it can be disclosed that the communicative competence of the
students both in speaking and writing skills is acceptable, having achieved an average rate of 3.15 and
2.84 respectively. Their communicative and sociolinguistic competence could still be improved.
7. Recommendations
Based on the foregoing conclusion arrived, the researcher recommends the following: 2. It is
recommended that the module created by the researcher be used in their English classes since the
topics included in the module were relevant to the actual findings. 3. It is important for the different
school administrators to ensure that the teachers are able to carry out the suggested topics included in
the module.
Designing Data Collection Data Gathering
Proposed English Language Module
Drawing Conclusion
Output Generation
References
Adolfo, Ermetes Jr. (2012). Students’ English proficiency poor: Philippines is lagging behind in terms of
oral and written communications. @Bukisa.com. (5 June 2011. Web. 28 May 2012). Aljundi, S. (1991).
Measuring grammatical competence and discourse competence of fifty students at the University of
Santo Tomas. Master’s Thesis. University of Santo Tomas. Autida, M. A., & Saw, L. A. (2010). English 1:
Study and thinking skills. Cebu City: University of San Jose- Recoletos. Amarillo, M. E. (2012). Personal
interview. 14 February.2012 Anderson, A. & Lynch, T. (1988). Language teaching: Listening. Oxford,
U.S.A.: Oxford University Press. Bagariü, V., & Djigunoviü J. M. (2007). Defining communicative
competence. Metodika, 8, br.1, Review Paper, 94-103. http://hrcak.srce.hr/file/42651 Beare, K. (2012).
Why is writing more difficult than speaking?. Weblog entry. About.com.English as 2nd Language. 29 May
2012. http://esl.about.com/od/esleflteachingtechnique/a/difference_speaking_writing.htm. Benlot, S.F.
(2004). Study and thinking skills., Cebu City, Philippines: University of the Visayas. Benlot, S.F. (2004).
Communication skills 2: Writing the research paper. Cebu City, Philippines: University of the Visayas.
Boloron, R. A. (2011). Sociolinguistic analysis of the Boholano lexico, phonemic variations of Cebuano
Visayan.” Doctoral Thesis. University of San Jose-Recoletos. Brown, H. D. (1994). Teaching by
principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall Regents.
Brown, J.D. (1988). Understanding research in second language learning: A teacher’s guide to statistics
and research design. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press. Cabalquinto, M.A. (1989). The
communicative competence of graduate students of Cebu City. Doctoral Thesis. Cebu Normal University,
1989. Canale, M. (1987). The measurement of communicative competence. Annual Review of Applied
Linguistics, 8, 67-84 doi:10.1017/S0267190500001033. Capuno, G.G. (2006). Linguistic competence of
the fourth year students of MSU-IIT integrated developmental school, AY 2004-2005. Master’s Thesis.
Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology. Cascallar, E., & Henning, G. (2011). Research
reports: A preliminary study of the nature of communicative competence. 21 November 2011.
www.ets.org/Media/Research/pdf/RR-92-17.pdf Caturza, R.A. (2002). Discourse analysis of variant
English in Cebu-based newspapers. Doctoral thesis. Cebu Normal University, 2002. De Real, I.L. (2001).
Instructional materials using English movies to develop listening comprehension skills of advanced EFL
Learners. Master’s Thesis. De La Salle University. Doroja, G.T. (2005). Metamorphic competence of the
sophomore students of Ateneo de Manila University in relation to their English language proficiency.
Master’s thesis. Ateneo de Manila University. Essberger, J. (2012). Speaking versus writing: The pen is
mightier than the spoken word or is it?.” Weblog entry. 29 May 2012. http://www.englishclub.com/esl-
articles/200108.htm. Gershon, S. (2010). Developing oral communication skills: What, why and how.
Research presenter. Philippine Association for Language Teaching, Inc. (PALT). UP Diliman. 2 December
2010. Lecture. Holly, E. (1999). The focus group research. Illinois, U.S.A. : NTC Business Books. Hyde, S.
Identifying intellectually gifted students: Common definitions and characteristics of advanced learners. 9
May 2012. http://suite101.com/article/identifying-intellectually-gifted-students-a70469. Juan-Usó, E. &
Flor, A.M. (2011). Teaching intercultural communicative competence through the four skills. 21
November 2011. http://rua.ua.es/dspace/bitstream/ 10045/10400/1/RAEI_21_09.pdf. Lasala, C.B.
(2007). A proposed human resource program for Larmen de Guia and Royal Oaks International School.
Master’s Thesis. University of San Jose Recoletos. Litosseliti, L. (2003). Using Focus Groups in Research.
London: MPG Books Ltd. Logmao, J. L. (1989). Error analysis of English verbs in written compositions of
fourth year students in Marinduque Institute of Science and Technology. Master’s Thesis. University of
Santo Tomas. Longinos, R.A. (2009). Rubrics for performance-based activities. Cebu City, Philippines:
SouthWestern University. Malicsi, J. (2005). The ELP written communication strategies, 3rd ed. Quezon
City, Philippines: Classics Foundation. Mauranen, A., & Ventola, E. (1996). Academic writing:
Intercultural and textual issues. Philadelphia, U.S.A.: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Miranda, M.
(2001). Construction and validation of a communicative–integrative achievement test in English for the
third year high school students of Jose Rizal University. Master’s Thesis. De La Salle University. Naniong,
N.M. (1997). A diagnostic test in English for first year students of higher education Institutions in
Pangasinan. Doctoral Thesis. University of Santo Tomas. Ohno, A. (2011). Communicative competence
and communicative language teaching. 2 December 2011. http://cicero.u-bunkyo.ac.jp/lib/kiyo/
fsell2002/25-32.pdf. Pastrana, Cecilia C. (1980). Determinants of linguistics and communicative
competence of second language learners of English in the University of the Philippines Integrated
School. Doctoral thesis. University of the Philippines. Prejoles, Corazon A. (1997). The oral discourse
proficiency of the lower level 12 students in English. Master’s thesis. Cebu Normal University. Purpura,
J.F. (2002). Language proficiency and cognitive strategies of freshman Xavier High School Students, SY
2001-2002. Master’s Thesis. Ateneo de Manila University. Quilala, F.P. (1977). Developing an integrated
test to measure the communicative competence in English of fourth year high school students. Doctoral
thesis. University of the Philippines. Rosada, R.J.C. (2007). Entrepreneurial learning and success
framework: The unschooled Entre-Pinoy Experience. Doctoral thesis. Cebu Normal University,
Philippines.
Sadorna, M.L.C. (2000). Reading in English and Filipino: A study of self-reported strategy use and reading
performance. Doctoral Thesis. De La Salle University. Sáez, F.T., & Martin, L.O.. (2011). Discourse
competence: Dealing with texts in the EFL Classroom. University of Granada. 16 November
2011.http://fernandotrujillo.es/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/discourse.pdf. Savignon, S.J. (2011).
Communicative language teaching: Linguistic theory and classroom practice. 2 December 2011.
http://yalepress.yale.edu/ excerpts/0300091567_1.pdf. Spolsky, B. (2011). Communicative competence,
language proficiency, and beyond. 16 November 2011. http://applij.oxfordjournals.org/
content/10/2/138.short. Subong, P.J.E. (2005). Statistics for research. Manila: Rex Bookstore. Viado,
A.M. (1999). The English language needs of the secretarial students of the Philippine Christian
University: Implications for syllabus building. Master’s Thesis. De La Salle University. Villanueva, P.M,
Acurantes, D.C., & Aranzaso, R.C. (2003). Writing skills for College, 2nd ed. Quezon City, Philippines:
Katha Publishing Co., Inc. Wikipedia. (2012). Communication. 25 May 2012.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Communication. Wikipedia. (2011). Communicative competence.” 16
November 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communicative_competence Wikipedia. (2012).
Linguistic competence.” 13 March 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_competence.
Wikipedia. (2012). Morphology. 13 March 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morphology_(linguistics).
Wikipedia. (2012). Phonology. 13 March 2012. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonology.
English Language Proficiency and Academic Performance of Philippine Science High School Students
International Journal of Languages, Literature and Linguistics, Vol. 2, No. 2, June 2016
44doi: 10.18178/ijlll.2016.2.2.65
scientific problems or to refute or confirm a theory. In Mathematics, the students are poor in solving
problems or even in interpreting and analyzing data. They are also weak in terms of manipulating
numbers and equations. Likewise, they are weak in thinking conceptually and spatially. Indeed, their
analytical, critical and problem-solving skills are poor. The study of [6] concludes that the students’
weaknesses in Science and Mathematics subjects are attributed to the students’ difficulty in English. As
stated in his findings, the students’ difficulty in English included difficulties in making inferences and
interpretations of information, deducing meaning, drawing conclusions, and summarizing ideas. All
these boil down to problem on comprehension, leading the students not to understand what they are
reading. They are not developing proficiency in the language. They have difficulty in expressing their
ideas in spoken and written form. Obviously, the skills in English are pre-requisites in learning concepts
in Science and Mathematics. Based on the experiences and observations of their English teachers, the
students normally refuse or react negatively when given literary pieces and novels for home reading
reports and compositions and analyses for submission. This is true to most, if not all, experiences of the
language teachers in the said institution. Same observations are also perceived by the Science and
Mathematics teachers. They say that the students have difficulty in articulating their ideas, analyzing
problem sets and applying theory in given situations. Generally, the students complain that they could
hardly understand a language that is not native to them even they try all the means to learn it. To them,
even how competent their teachers are in the language, still they could hardly attain proficiency in the
language. These observations relative to English language proficiency and academic performance
prompted the researchers to conduct this study. Particularly, this research assesses the relevance of
language proficiency to the academic performance of the students in Science, Mathematics and English.
II. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY This research primarily aimed to determine the relationship between the
English language proficiency and the academic performance of the Grade 8 students of Philippine
Science High School in Northern Luzon. Likewise, the study endeavored to determine and describe the
English language proficiency level and academic performance in Science, Mathematics and English of the
Grade 8 students of Philippine Science High School.
III. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY The findings of this study could provide a database that can be used as
a tangible reference for more meaningful educational services. Results could be useful in the solution of
problems related to English language teaching and learning. Definitely, students, teachers,
administrators, parents and other research enthusiasts could benefit from this study. With the result of
this study, the students of PSHS-IRC
could find essential feedback and information as regards their language learning which could provide
guidance and direction on better English language skills development and for a more improved language
performance. Moreover, they could also be directed to focus in any of the language proficiency skills
identified as weak among them. Moreover, the results could also guide the teachers in English relative
to information on the level of the students’ language proficiency and academic performance. They can
use the essential information to improve their teaching practices. With the results, they could then
device approaches and strategies on how to integrate learning content with the students’ current
deficiencies. Consequently, emphasis on the improvement of the English program will be looked into.
Furthermore, the administration could use the results of the study as a reference in formulating school
policies and programs. Through the results, they can propose and initiate in-service trainings and
seminars for the teachers. Gradually, the English program content can be improved based on the needs
of the students. Significantly, the results can shed light in evaluating the Sciences and Mathematics
programs of the school. This study could also be beneficial to parents for the upcoming grade levels
since results will guide them in choosing the opportunities and interventions that should be provided to
their children so as to enhance their language proficiency and academic performance. Lastly, the result
of the study could provide meaningful data useful for other research enthusiasts. Hopefully, more
replicate studies along this line of concern can be done to further ascertain relationship of language
proficiency and academic performance.
IV. SCOPE AND DELIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY This study primarily focused on the relationship between
the English language proficiency and academic performance in Science, Mathematics and English of the
Grade 8 students of the Philippine Science High School in Ilocos Region, Cordillera Autonomous Region,
and Cagayan Valley Region. The choice of the locale is prompted by the fact that they are the
forerunners in Science and Technology, a name in the academe as flagship of quality education in the
North. With this, it is presumed that the students belonging to said school could be the best
representative of the desired type of students for the study. The English language proficiency level of
the students was delimited to the result of the National Competitive Examination along Verbal Aptitude,
which tests the students’ skills in grammar, vocabulary and reading comprehension. Meanwhile, the
level of academic performance was delimited to the students’ grade point averages (GPAs) in Science,
Mathematics and English from their report cards in Grade 7. Only the students’ academic performance
in the three subject areas was included since these subjects use English as a medium of instruction.
V. THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK This study was anchored on Cognitive Academic
Language
45
Proficiency (CALP) which delineates the connection between students’ cognitive and linguistic processes
to their academic performance. There are two levels of language proficiency. These are the basic
interpersonal communicative skills (BICS) and the CALP. The BICS concept signifies the students’
language informal conversation. These are used by students when they talk to their parents, siblings,
parents and peers in real settings and situations, that is; situations in which the context offers cues that
make understanding not totally dependent on verbal interaction alone. [2] refers to this everyday
conversational ability as context embedded or contextualized. It has been found by [7] that in context
embedded or contextualized communication, the conversation is natural, and deals with ordinary
matters requiring speakers to react and respond to each other. Meanwhile, according to [2] and [7],
CALP is the type of language proficiency needed in the academic settings. Classroom activities like
reading, writing, participating in formal conversations and taking exams are some of the tasks that
require CALP. Thus, students who have not yet developed their CALP may encounter difficulties in
learning science, mathematics and other academic subjects. The CALP concept is related to literacy skills
in the first or second language. Both higher levels of language and cognitive processes are required in
order to develop the language proficiency needed for achievement in school. [8], [9] have
conceptualized the relationship of language proficiency and academic achievement by using an iceberg
representation. In this representation, BICS or skills that depend on the surface features of language and
lower levels of cognitive processes are represented above the waterline while the CALP or skills related
to the meaning of language and higher level of cognitive processes are represented below the waterline.
All children develop BICS and learn to communicate in their native or first language. On the other hand,
CALP reflects a combination of language proficiency and cognitive processes that determine a student’s
success in school [10]. CALP enables the student to learn in a context, which relies heavily on oral
explanation of abstract ideas. This is often the context in which high school science is taught, with
unfamiliar events or topics being described to students with little or no opportunity to negotiate shared
meaning [6]. According to [7-[9], students who have not yet developed their cognitive academic
language proficiency (CALP) will surely meet difficulties and problems in several contexts and situations.
The theory on CALP, therefore, provided the researcher a reason to study and investigate the
relationship of English language proficiency and academic performance of the Philippine Science High
School students. With the tenets of CALP, the researchers were inspired to conduct this present study.
Based on Fig. 1, the researchers conceptualize that the English language proficiency of the Grade 8
students of Philippine Science High School affects their academic performance in Science, Mathematics
and English. This study believes that if the students have high English language proficiency, they are
more likely to perform well in their
academics, particularly in the said subjects.
Fig. 1. Research paradigm.
VI. METHODOLOGY This study used the descriptive-correlational design since its aim was to describe
students’ English language proficiency and their academic performance levels. Further, the study aimed
to correlate the two to determine their relationship. This study was conducted in the three campuses of
Philippine Science High School in Northern Luzon situated in Ilocos Region, Cordillera Autonomous
Region and Cagayan Valley. The schools are three of the thirteen campuses of the Philippine Science
High School System ¸a specialized public high school in the Philippines, manned by the Department of
Science and Technology (DOST). Among the 270 Grade 8 students enrolled in the identified three
campuses of Philippine Science High School, 80 % or 216 were selected as samples employing the
purposive random sampling technique. This number was considered adequate to represent the whole
population. The data on the students’ English language proficiency were based on the result of the NCE
Test along Verbal Aptitude. The data were provided by the Admission Committee of the school system.
Meanwhile, the data on the students’ academic performance in Science, Mathematics and English were
taken from the students report cards in Grade 7. These were provided by the school registrar of each
campus. Frequency distribution using range of scores was used in the students’ scores in the NCE along
Verbal Aptitude while frequency distribution using grade point system was used on the students’
academic performance in Science, Mathematics and English. Meanwhile, Pearson’s r correlation was
used to determine the relationship between the English language proficiency and academic
performance of the students. In the tests of hypotheses, the level of significance was set at the .05
probability level.
VII. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
A. Students’ Level of English Language Proficiency One of the concerns of the study is to determine and
describe the level of English language proficiency of the Grade 8 students of Philippine Science High
School based on their scores in the NCE along Verbal Aptitude which tested the students’ skills in
grammar, vocabulary and reading comprehension. The data showing the level are presented in Table I. It
can be deduced from the table that majority (148 or 68.52 %) of the students gained a satisfactory level
of their
46
language proficiency test in NCE with scores ranging from 25 to 36. Meanwhile, 39 students (18.05 %)
obtained a fair level while 29 students attained a very satisfactory level. Notably, none of the students
belongs to the excellent or the poor level. Importantly, the mean of the students’ language proficiency is
30.05, with standard deviation of 5.66.
TABLE I: DISTRIBUTION OF THE STUDENTS’ LEVEL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY Range of Scores
(Verbal Aptitude in NCE) Level of English Language Proficiency f % 49-60 Excellent 0 0.00 37-48 Very
satisfactory 29 13.43 25-36 Satisfactory 148 68.52 13-24 Fair 39 18.05 0-12 Poor 0 0.00 Mean = 30.05
(Satisfactory) Standard Deviation = 5.66
The result indicates that the students have average English language proficiency level. This further
implies that the students have typical skills in grammar, vocabulary and reading comprehension. Thus,
the students have to be exposed to more reading and writing activities to further enhance their English
language proficiency level. B. Students’ Level of Academic Performance Another concern of the study is
to determine the academic performance of the students in Science, Mathematics and English based on
the students’ grade point averages (GPAs) in their report cards in Grade 7. Apparently, these subjects
use English as the medium of instruction.
TABLE II: DISTRIBUTION OF THE STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN SCIENCE Grades Description f
% 1.00 Excellent 0 0.00 1.25 Highly Outstanding 2 .93 1.50 Outstanding 29 13.43 1.75 Very Good 77
35.65 2.00 Good 69 31.94 2.25 Very Satisfactory 26 12.04 2.50 Satisfactory 10 4.63 2.75 Fair 3 1.38 3.00
Poor 0 0.00 Total 216 100.00 Mean = 1.90 (Very Good) Standard Deviation = .28
Table II shows the academic performance of the students in Science. It reveals that 77 (35.65%) of the
students belong to the very good level, 69 (31.94 %) to good level, 29 (13.43%) to the outstanding level
while 26 (12.04%) to the very satisfactory level. Notably, two students have a highly outstanding level
and three (1.38 %) belong to fair level. No one falls under the excellent and poor levels. Further, the
mean of the students’ GPA in Science is 1.90, with standard deviation of 0.28. Table III shows the
students’ academic performance in Mathematics. Based on the table, 56 (25.93%) of the students
belong to the very good level and 43 (19.91%) of them belong to the outstanding level. On the other
hand, 35 (16.20%) are within the good level and 31 (14.35%) are under the very satisfactory level.
Meanwhile, 21 (9.72 %) students belong to
the satisfactory level, 17 (7.87 %) to the highly outstanding level and one (0.46 %) to the poor level. The
mean of the students GPA in Mathematics is 1.83, with standard deviation of 0.41.
TABLE III: DISTRIBUTION OF THE STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN MATHEMATICS Grades

Description f % 1.00 Excellent 10 4.63 1.25 Highly Outstanding 17 7.87 1.50 Outstanding 43 19.91 1.75
Very Good 56 25.93 2.00 Good 35 16.20 2.25 Very Satisfactory 31 14.35 2.50 Satisfactory 21 9.72 2.75
Fair 2 0 .93 3.00 Poor 1 0.46 Total 216 100.00 Mean = 1.83 (Very Good) Standard Deviation = 0.41
TABLE IV: DISTRIBUTION OF THE STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN ENGLISH Grades Description f
% 1.00 Excellent 0 0.00 1.25 Highly Outstanding 3 1.38 1.50 Outstanding 38 17.60 1.75 Very Good 50
23.15 2.00 Good 63 29.17 2.25 Very Satisfactory 48 22.22 2.50 Satisfactory 11 5.10 2.75 Fair 3 1.38 3.00
Poor 0 0.00 Total 216 100.00 Mean = 1.94 (Good) Standard Deviation = .31
Meanwhile, Table IV indicates the students’ academic performance in English. It can gleaned from the
table that 63 (29.17%) students are within the good level, 50 (23.15%) to the very good level, and 48
(22.22%) to the very satisfactory level. Evidently, 38 (17.60%) fall under the outstanding level, 11
(5.10%) to the satisfactory level and three (1.38%) each to the highly outstanding and fair level. The
mean of the students’ GPA in English is 1.94, with a standard deviation of 0.31. C. Relationship of
Students’ English Language Proficiency and Academic Performance
TABLE V: COEFFICIENTS OF CORRELATION BETWEEN THE STUDENTS’ ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY
AND THEIR ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN EACH OF THE SUBJECTS AND THEIR GENERAL WEIGHTED
AVERAGE
Variables
Correlation Coefficients (r)
Prob
Science -.20
.004* *
Mathematics -.35
.000* *
English -.35
.000* *
General Weighted Average (GWA) -.11 0.03*
** p<.01 * p<.05
The study determined if the students’ English language proficiency and their academic performance in
Science, Mathematics and English have significant relationship. The coefficients of correlation are
presented in Table V.
47
It can be noted from the table that the students’ academic performance in Science (r= -.20) is
significantly related to their English language proficiency, which is significant at the .01 level of
significance. The negative correlation coefficient implies that as the level of English language proficiency
of the students gets high, their grade indicator gets low. Thus, this indicates that the students with high
English language proficiency tend to perform, as well, in Science. Further, it is evident from the results
that the students’ language proficiency and their academic performance in Mathematics (r= -.35) and
English (r= -.35) are significant at the .01 level of significance. The negative correlation coefficient
implies that as the level of English language proficiency of the students gets high, their grade indicator
gets low. Thus, this indicates that the students with high English language proficiency tend to perform,
as well, in Mathematics and English. Moreover, it can be noted from the table that the general weighted
average (GWA) (r=-.11) is significantly related to their language proficiency which is significant at the .05
level of significance. The figures show that the relationship between the two variables is indeed
significant. In other words, the more language proficient the students are, the better they perform in
their Science, Mathematics and English subjects. Further, the students who score high in English
language proficiency test have also the tendency to achieve high GPAs. Thus, the teachers of English,
Science and Mathematics at the Philippine Science High School System should be proficient in the
English language. The effective use of language in class by the teachers may facilitate the learning of
science and math concepts among their students. The finding of the study is in consonance to the result
of the study of [11] which aimed to investigate whether there is a significant relationship between the
Iranian college students’ language proficiency and their academic performance. Based on the findings,
the study found out that a significant relationship between language proficiency and academic
performance exists. The result of the study further corroborates to the results of the study of [4] and
[12], which aimed at finding the relationship between academic achievement and language proficiency.
Results of their studies showed that there is a significant relationship between English language
proficiency and academic achievement.
VIII. CONCLUSIONS Based on the findings, the study concludes that majority of the Grade 8 students of
the Philippine Science High School in Northern Luzon have English language proficiency belonging to the
satisfactory level. Further, the study concludes that the students’ academic performance in Science and
Mathematics fall under the very good level while good level in English. Likewise, the study concludes
that there is a significant relationship that exists between the students’ English language proficiency and
their academic performance in Science, Mathematics and English. The higher the English
language proficiency levels of the students are the higher their academic performance levels in Science,
Mathematics and English. Thus, the study further concludes that students’ English language proficiency
could be a predictor in the students’ academic performance in Science, Mathematics and English since
the medium of instruction used in the teaching of the said subjects is English. Thus, English language
program in school should be prioritized.
IX. RECOMMENDATIONS In the light of the findings and conclusions, several recommendations are
offered to English, Science and Mathematics teachers, students, school administrators, curriculum
designers and developers, and other research enthusiasts. The English teachers of Philippine Science
High School should continuously update themselves with new approaches, methods, strategies and
techniques in teaching the English subject. This can be done by attending seminars, trainings and
workshops related to language and literature teaching. Through this, they can bring out innovations in
their teaching and that the proficiency of the students in the English language will be heightened. The
Science and Mathematics teachers of Philippine Science High School should support the English Program
of the school. They should promote the use of English language in their classes. Also, they should serve
as model to their students in the use of the language. They should not just only teach their students
concepts; they should incorporate real life tasks that require the students to use the English language
while learning the concepts in Science and Mathematics. The Grade 8 students of Philippine Science
High School should realize the importance of English language in learning Science and Mathematics
concepts. They must understand the English language as a system and of the role of its components so
as to understand its demands on academic tasks and eventually gain skills to address the role of
academic language in their learning. The school administrators of Philippine Science High School System
should have concrete plans to develop and monitor their students’ English language proficiency
throughout their stay in the institution. Also, they should establish bases and standards for allocating
resources that contribute to the students’ English language proficiency. Further, they should provide
professional development assistance for the faculty to equip them relevant approaches, methods,
strategies and techniques in English language teaching. The curriculum designers and developers of the
Philippine Science High School System should revisit the existing curriculum programs of the system,
particularly English, Science and Mathematics by taking into consideration the result of the study. Lastly,
other research enthusiasts are encouraged to conduct a similar study on a wider scope to validate the
results and findings of the present study. Likewise, they are encouraged to investigate other factors that
may contribute to
48
students’ English language proficiency and academic performance such as learning styles, teaching
strategies, technologies used in teaching and learning, exposure to English language, as well as other
environmental and contextual variables.
REFERENCES [1] Global English Corporation, “Philippines: World's best country in Business English,”
Business English Index (BEI), vol. 23, no. 4. pp. 35-40, September 2014. [2] J. Cummins, Language
Proficiency, Bilingualism and Academic Achievement, White Plains, NY: Longman, 1992, pp. 58-70. [3] D.
Fakeye and Y. Ogunsiji, “English language proficiency as a predictor of academic achievement among ELF
students in Nigeria,” Journal of Science Research, vol. 37, pp. 490-495, March 2009. [4] J. K. Aina, A. G.
Ogundele, and S. S. Olanipekun, “Students’ proficiency in English language relationship with academic
performance in science and technical education,” American Journal of Educational Research, vol. 9, pp.
355-358, September 2013. [5] National Statistics Coordination Board, “Quality of basic education
remains poor but improving,” Eastern Visayas Tops, vol. 12, no. 3, July 2006. [6] M. M. Javier, “Language
proficiency and mental ability as related to critical; Thinking and academic achievement of secondary
students: A casual modeling study,” M.S. thesis, Philippine Normal University, Manila, 2001. [7] J. W.
Rosenthal, Teaching Science to Language Minority Students, England: Multilingual Matters Ltd., 1996,
pp. 329-340. [8] J. Cummins, Interdependence and Bicultural Ambivalence: Regarding the Pedagogical
Rationale for Bilingual Education, Rosslyn, VA: National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education, 1982, pp.
281-290. [9] J. M. O’Malley and A. Chamot, Strategies Used by Second Language Learner, Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1990, pp. 179-188. [10] J. Cummins, Language Development and Academic
Learning, Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters, Ltd., 1991, pp. 161-175. [11] R. Sahragard, A.
Baharloo, and S. M. A. Soozandehfar, “A closer look at the relationship between academic achievement
and language proficiency among Iranian EFL students,” Theory and Practice in Language Studies, vol. 1,
pp. 1740-1748, December 2011. [12] L. L. Garnace, “Correlates of English performance among fourth
year high school students in Philippine Science High School-Eastern Visayas Campus, Science and
Technology streams,” M.S. thesis, Leyte Normal University, Tacloban City, 2001.
Robelle Millie Ann B. Racca is from Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, Philippines. She was born on January 23,
1989. She earned her master of arts degree in education majored in language and at the Mariano
Marcos State University (MMSU) Graduate School, Laoag City, Philippines in 2016. At present, she is a
special science teacher 1 at the Philippine Science High School – Ilocos Region Campus located in San
Ildefonso, Ilocos Sur. Ms. Racca is a member of Alliance of Language and Literature Teachers, School
Press Advisers Movement, Inc., and Linguistic Society of the Philippines.
Ronald Candy S. Lasaten is from the City of Batac, Ilocos Norte, Philippines. He was born on January 16,
1981. He earned his doctor of philosophy degree in applied linguistics at the Mariano Marcos State
University (MMSU) Graduate School, Laoag City, Philippines in 2012. He is presently an English professor
at the Mariano Marcos State University College of Teacher Education (CTE), Laoag City. He is the
Program Adviser for English, College Coordinator for Instructional Materials Development, Coordinator
for Board Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers (BLEPT) Review and the Head Editor of the
CTE Research Journal. His papers titled “English Language Needs of Teachers at Bangplama
Soongsumarnpadhungwit School, Suphanburi, Thailand,” and “Analysis of Errors in the English Writings
of Teacher Education Students,” were published in the Researchers World: Journal of Arts Science and
Commerce in 2014. He also wrote a book titled Literatures of the World: Teaching and Learning in the
Constructivist Approach (Quezon City: IPM Publishing, Inc., 2011). His research interests include
linguistics, language, literature, language and literature teaching, language and literature assessment,
instructional materials development and integration of ICT in education. Dr. Lasaten is a member of
Linguistic Society of the Philippines (LSP), Inc., College English Teachers Association (CETA), Council of
the Department Chairpersons for English (CDCE), Philippine Association for Teacher Education (PAFTE),
Philippine Association for Language Teaching (PALT), Inc. and International English Learners Training
Institute (IELTI). He was awarded the Outstanding Teacher of MMSU in 2014
Introduction
When attempting to teach a language, it is important to consider the task from all
sides, especially from a naturalistic side. As the world becomes smaller, through
technological advances, various cultures receive opportunities to interact more than was
ever possible. However, this blessing comes with a price due to the numerous linguistic
barriers that human evolution has developed. It is for this reason that teachers and
educators alike started to take interest in developing effective methods to teach their
students different languages. However, teaching languages is a complicated process.
One of the reasons for this is that there are many things to consider such as where ones
priorities lie. A teacher can prioritize in vocabulary building, grammar, communication,
spelling and other different factors that make up language-teaching as a whole. Due to
these numerous important factors, this discipline is vast with much room for
specialization and that is why it is so interesting to this author. One thing that language
teaching has in common, however, is its dependency on learner motivation.
Lack of motivation can be very detrimental to a language student. Because of
this, further research needs to be done on the effects of outdoor education on the
motivation level of the students that participate. The effects on the student’s motivation
level within the context of language use is also something that bears investigation along
with the efficiency of Outdoor Language Teaching. This paper will include a definition
on what Outdoor Language Learning is, a section about the motivational benefits that it
offers, how it has been implemented in the past, how it can be used in a lesson plan and
the drawbacks to the method.
These are the questions that this essay will attempt to answer:
1. Can outdoor education be used to increase a student’s motivation?
2. Does this increase in motivation, if found, effect the process of language
learning?
3. Can the outdoor classroom be used effectively?
When all these questions have been answered, it will become apparent that outdoor
language-teaching is an effective and beneficial teaching method for teaching language
arts.
Outdoor learning
The first thing that needs to be addressed before delving deeper into the material
is the definition of outdoor language-learning. Fellner, in his article "Outdoor language
learning: A novel approach to language learning through outdoor education", describes
it as a learner-centered teaching method in which the target language is used to achieve
a certain goal in the outdoors (Fellner 3). He also refers to it as a holistic method that
gives students an opportunity to experience new things that further promote the growth
of their language skills (Fellner 4). Additionally, he calls it a combination of Task
Based Language Learning and outdoor education with some elements of experiential
language-learning, learning through an experience rather than through class work, but it
is not limited to only that (Fellner 4). However, to eliminate confusion later on, it is
possible to categorize Outdoor Language Learning into two distinct, but related
categories. The first category is Intentional Outdoor Language Learning. The defining
quality of this category is that a lesson is conducted outside for the expressed purpose of
enhancing the students’ lingual skills. This includes, taking the students to the zoo to
help them learn the names of the animals, which is a method that will be used later on in
this essay. The second category involves teaching students a specific vocabulary to
accomplish a certain objective. This category will be called Unintentional Outdoor
Language Learning. This includes, teaching students the names of the plants that
inhabit an area in order to document them for a biology lesson. Regardless of these
differences, both of these approaches contribute to the growth of a student’s lingual

ability through their own ways and as such, for the sake of this essay, both of these
approaches will be referred to as outdoor language-learning and examples of both will
be given in this essay.
The second thing that should be noted is what the prerequisites are for maxing
out entertainment and efficiency in outdoor language-learning. First, there is safety. A
teacher needs to keep in mind numerous safety measures, such as ensuring that the
students are properly equipped, to make sure no one gets hurt during the outdoor
activities. However since this is a pedagogical essay, these safety measures will not be
covered extensively. Secondly, a teacher needs to prepare the students properly for the
outdoor activity itself. Outdoor education begins indoors so in order for the students to
be able to learn outside, context must be provided beforehand. For example, if the goal
of the lesson is learning animal names, it is a good idea for the teacher to introduce the
students to some of the animal names in class before going outside. Additionally, the
indoor part of the lesson could be used to increase student motivation.
An additional factor that needs to be taken into consideration is the weather. For
example, rain and wind prohibit the students from taking notes, looking at or making
flash cards, or even use a camera. Windy rain can also be very distracting and
aggravating for students that is detrimental to the learning process. Simpson, in his
essay, "Outdoor education as a tool for immigrant learning: An action research study"
provides a quote by Key which claims that outdoor education should be centered on a
conducive weather condition (Simpson 23). Simpson also experienced the importance
of weather conditions when conducting his experiment with immigrant learners. The
main problem that the immigrant learners experienced was the cold weather in their new
environment. More will be said about Simpson when his contribution to the field of
outdoor language-learning will be brought up. To summarize this chapter, Outdoor
Language-Learning can be categorized into Intentional and Unintentional Outdoor
Language-Learning. Secondly, outdoor learning in general can be perilous and needs to
be treated with caution. Lastly, an educator must consider the weather when planning an
outdoor language-teaching lesson.
Motivation
Outdoor education can help motivate a student to advance their knowledge in the
language arts. It is a widely recognized fact that motivation is vital to the success of a
student’s learning experience. Fellner cites the work of McGroarty, who claims that
motivation is the key to a student’s success (Fellner 5). A great deal of academic
literature has been written on the subject, such as Motivation in Education by Pintrich
and Schunk wherein they discuss the latest in motivational theory and research. This
claim also makes sense when common sense is applied. I say this because I consider it
is safe to say that an individual would do better at a task if they enjoyed it and saw its
purpose. Due to the importance of motivation, a lot of research has been done on the
motivational benefit that outdoor education offers and most of them have yielded
positive results. For example, Peter Becker lists several reasons for why outdoor
education helps students and one of them is that nature can serve as an inspiring
backdrop for activities and thus provide potential inspiration and motivation to learn. He
also says that it can be very entertaining for students, which is another positive
motivator (Becker 3).
Nevertheless, how can a teacher motivate students to study languages in the

outdoors as opposed to other scholarly topics? Staley and Staley give some excellent
examples of this in their article "Using the outdoors to teach language arts". Some of
those examples include, instructing the students to read selected literature from known
environmentalists such as Thoreau or Roosevelt and enacting plays that incorporate
naturalist imagery (7). This method is also a good opportunity to help the students
acquire the vocabulary in those works using The Grammar Translation Method. There
will be further mention of that when we explore how outdoor education connects with
other methods. Another way to motivate students to study languages outdoors is to
show them a nature documentaries or by telling the students a story about the area that
they will be visiting in the future.
Outdoor language-learning can also improve motivation among the students by
tying the outdoor lesson with cultural history. For example, when working on a project
about the outdoor education potentials of Ástjörn, I noticed that on top of Ásfjall, a
nearby mountain, there was a cairn stone that people used for navigation in the time of
the Vikings. The cairn stone could serve as an example of how people found their way
in those days. Furthermore, cultural folklore can also be used to spark interest among
students. An Icelandic example would be the trolls or the elves. By teaching them in this
fashion, one can promote interest among the students in their cultural heritage and
motivate them to learn. Simpson makes a valid point in his essay regarding outdoor
language-learning and cultural assimilation. In countries such as Finland, where in
which the study presented in Simpson´s paper takes place, there is a substantial
emphasis on outdoor activity as a part of cultural identity, which would make it difficult
for people to assimilate into their culture if they are afraid of the outdoor environment.
In other words, implementing outdoor language-learning could help immigrant learners
overcome any phobias they might possess regarding the outdoors while learning the
language of the culture into which they are attempting to assimilate. As mentioned
earlier, Simpson’s students originally had issues with the cold in Finland. However,
they quickly overcame that problem by persevering through their outdoor language-
learning sessions (Simpson 30). Through these examples, we can see how outdoor
language-learning, and outdoor learning in general, can have positive motivational
influences on a students learning career.
Relations to other theories and methods
The theory that outdoor education is usable to teach English, as well as most
languages, is consistent with other tried and true methods and theories regarding the
teaching of languages. Most language-teaching methods can be used outdoors, however
this essay will list a few to serve as examples. The methods and theories that will be
exemplified in this chapter are, The Multiple Intelligence Theory, Desuggestopedia, The
Direct Method, The Grammar Translation Method, The Direct Method, The Content
Based Method, Experiential Language-Learning, The Task-Based Method, and the
theory of Learner Autonomy. The first example of this is a philosophy that has become
prevalent in the pedagogical community. The theory in question is The Multiple
Intelligence Theory. Howard Gardner introduced this theory in 1983 in his book Frames
of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. This theory claims that different people
respond to different forms of themes and stimuli. Furthermore, it argues that people
have their own strengths and weaknesses and subsequently, benefit differently from
different types of teaching methods since it is a good idea for a teacher to build up on
what the student already knows. In her book, Techniques and Principles in Language
Teaching, Freeman introduces the eight intelligences believed to exist. She also lists the
activities that support each of them. The list is as follows:
Logical/Mathematical- puzzles
Visual/Spatial- videos and drawing
Body/Kinesthetic-hands-on activities and field trips
Musical/Rhythmic-singing and playing music
Interpersonal-pair work and group work
Intrapersonal-self evaluation and journal keeping
Verbal/Linguistic-note-taking and story telling
Naturalist- collecting objects from the natural world, learning their names and
about them (Freemann 192).
All of these intelligences can be stimulated by using an outdoor education lesson plan as
will now be demonstrated. First off is Logical/mathematical. Staley and Staley suggest
using riddles to increase a student’s understanding of a word and how it fits in a
sentence (21). In this case, riddles with a natural theme to them would be most
appropriate. The following is an original riddle to serve as an example:
I am taller than you
And often green
Brown sometimes too
And rarely clean
ANSWER: tree (original riddle by Kristján Sigurðsson).
The Visual/Spatial Intelligence can be stimulated by allowing the students draw a
picture of an outdoor environment and labeling the objects depicted there. They could
label the grass, the trees and the animals in order to aid them in remembering their
names. The students could also make charts on what animals and plants live in an area
to compare it with another area. Body/Kinesthetic is somewhat self-explanatory. This
writer makes this claim since outdoor education involves a great deal of walking and
movement which would stimulate this intelligence. In addition, many of the games that
are incorporated into an outdoor language lesson will require a lot of movement that
would further provide the students that benefit from hands on activity with added
benefits. The Musical Rhythmic Intelligence can also be incorporated into this lesson
plan. Staley and Staley recommend using music with a naturalistic theme to motivate
students (Staley and Staley 11). The Interpersonal Intelligence can be used by adding
group work to the assignments. For example, organizing the students into pairs and
asking them to come up with a vocabulary list of the things they perceived during the
outdoor lesson. Having students pair up is another beneficial, although not exclusive,
advantage to outdoor language-learning which will be touched upon later in this essay
when Experiential Language-Learning will be brought up. The Intrapersonal
Intelligence is the same story. One option for a teacher is to have the students keep a
journal of the thoughts they had on their trip as well as a vocabulary list. The
Verbal/Linguistic Intelligence is the one that is most commonly associated with
language-learning. In order to stimulate those students that are prone this intelligence, a
teacher could have the students take notes on some of the animals and plants in an area.
Furthermore, the students could be asked to write stories about the area, ones that
involves the life in a day of an animal for example, or have the students engage in a
debate about their favorite animals. The Naturalist Intelligence requires no explanation
either since the whole lesson is centered on nature. asking the students to take home
souvenirs from the trip to help them remember what they learned is a possibility.
Therefore, all known intelligences can benefit from an outdoor lesson plan. These
examples show that outdoor education can be used very well with the multiple
intelligence philosophy.
Desuggestopedia is another idea that that is well complimented by outdoor
language-learning. Like The Multiple Intelligence Theory, it is more of a philosophy
than a method. Freeman claims that this method was thought of by Georgi Lozanov.
The reasoning behind this philosophy is that the process of language acquisition can be
aided with appropriate methods. The reason that students use a limited amount of their
mental capacity is due to perceived psychological barriers. Feelings of inadequacy are a
good example of this since feeling inadequate can affect ones language performance,
while ones language competence is actually better. Therefore, the solution that
Desuggestopedia proposes is that these ideas need to be desuggested to the students. In
other words, removing the idea that they might fail, in a weaker case, or even removing
the idea that there is a lesson at all, in a stronger case (Freeman 71). Furthermore,
Mustapić and Dankić claim that this method can help strengthen the trust between
teacher and students (Mustapić and Dankić 218). An example of how the idea of a
lesson can be desuggested to a student is asking the students to engage in an activity
without telling them that they are being taught. Desuggestopedia relates to outdoor
language-learning in the sense that the students are taken out of the classroom and into
an environment that is, under the correct circumstances, free of stressors. In other
words, by taking students outside, the idea that they are being taught is being
desuggested to them in hopes of breaking through the afore-mentioned psychological

barriers.
The Direct Method can be modified for use outdoors. Celce-Murcia claims that
this method was first used in the 19th century as a viable alternative to The Grammar
Translation Method (Celce-Murcia 2). Freeman lists some characteristics of this method
in her book, which includes, heavy usage of flash cards and asking the students to
answer in full sentences, for example, "What is this? This is X" (Freeman 28-30).
Implementing this method outside the classroom would be simple. For example, the
teacher might start by pointing at various objects such as a mountain, if a mountain is in
view, or a horse, if the trip is to the zoo. The teacher can then revisit these things later in
the lesson. The best way to do this is to keep cycling through words, or objects. Nation
claims repetition is important in order to remember a word and that spaced repetition is
the best. That means that the time until the word is repeated should be short at first and
then increase each time (Nation 76).
The Grammar Translation Method can also be used in outdoor education, as was
mentioned in the motivational segment of this essay. According to Freeman, this is a
very old method. It was once called The Classical method due to its usage in teaching
Latin and Greek in the 20th century (Freeman 13). Freeman lists the goal of The
Grammar Translation Method as, teaching the student the grammar rules of a target
language through direct reading of literature in said target language (Freeman 19). As
the name suggests, the students are often asked to translate the texts as well. This would
be best implemented in the indoor stages of the lesson. For example, as has been
mentioned before, having the students read and translate poems and other works of
literature in order to build their naturalistic vocabulary is a possibility. In other words,
this method would be well suited for the preparation stage of the outdoor lesson.
Another method that this practice is compatible with is The Content-Based Method.
Freeman describes this method as learning language through a different subject matter
or content, such as chemistry or biology, where the focus is on the content and not the
language (Freeman 131). In the case of outdoor education, the students could increase
their English vocabulary by learning about the flora and fauna of the area that they are
visiting. Using The Content-Based Method is also useful in the long run. I say this
because the students could use it to learn about the jargon of their desired future study
subject as well as potentially help them discover said future subject.
Fellner describes outdoor language-learning as experiential. In other words, it is
a method where the main objective is not learning to use a language but rather to just
use it to accomplish an objective and to allow the students to absorb it more naturally
(Fellner 4). This description is familiar to the method of Communicative Language
Teaching since its main goal is to train students to be able to use language
communicatively rather than just learning about its grammar rules and other
conventions. According to Celce-Murcia, this philosophy was started in the 1970s by
Hymes and Halliday who were of the opinion that language was a communication tool
above everything else (Celce-Murcia 6). One way a teacher can encourage
Communicative Language-Learning in the outdoors is to organize the students in groups
to have them accomplish a task.
The next method that can be used for outdoor language-teaching, in conjunction
with other methods, is the Task-Based Method. In this method, according to Freeman, a
teacher attempts to teach the students the meaning of words by giving them orders in the
target language and having them carry it out if they understood (Freeman 149). This
could be implemented in the outdoors with commands such as "pick up that rock". In
fact, an entire game can be developed using this method. The game could consist of the
teacher giving commands such as: "everyone in a red shirt raise your hand" anyone in a
red shirt that fails to comply is out of the game. The same would apply to people not
wearing red shirts that raise their hands. This could promote contemplating about the
meaning of the words since the students need a minute to contemplate whether or not
the instructions apply to them.
Outdoor language-learning can help enhance learner autonomy. Learner
autonomy is a word that has yet to be universally defined. However, one of the
definitions that have been given to it is: the students’ ability to take charge of their own
education. In a sense, this is what teachers should strive for since it makes the student
willing and able to master the skills being taught. So how can outdoor language
learning aid learner autonomy? As said before, outdoor language-learning is very
10
inspiring and fun for some students. If a student finds the activities fun, they will be
more willing to participate. In addition, when outdoor language-learning is conducted in
a familiar place, a local park or a zoo for instance, the student will still have access to it
even after the lesson and therefore promote the growth of learner autonomy.
This particular phenomenon is not so much a theory or a method as it is an
activity. The activity in question is using games as a teaching tool. A game can turn a
restrictive and monotonous teaching session into a fun filled activity to which the
students will look forward and at which they will try their best. The reason that this
method is mentioned here because it fits extremely well into the outdoor classroom
format, especially for younger learners. Dolati and Mikaili conducted a study on the
effectiveness of playing games for vocabulary acquisition for Persian students of the
intermediate level. This study was presented in their work "Effects of Instructional
Games on Facilitating of Students’ Vocabulary Learning". The study involved
assembling seventy students together and having them play games that were meant to
increase their English vocabulary. What the study found out was that allowing the
students to play instead of using conventional learning methods yielded much more
positive results than the traditional approaches. The students were more motivated,
happy and the more shy and reclusive students stood out (Dolati and Mikaili 1223).
However, how does this translate into outdoor language-learning? Here are some
reasons why playing games translates very well into an outdoor environment. The
outdoors provide a larger and less constraint setting than a classroom would, allowing
the students to move more freely and explore the area more. Some of the vocabulary
building games that would be enriched in the outdoors include, scavenger hunts and
charades.
In conclusion of this chapter. Outdoor language-teaching is compatible with The
Multiple Intelligence Theory, Desuggestopedia, The Direct Method, The Grammar
Translation Method, The Direct Method, The Content-Based Method, Experiential
Language-Learning, The Task-Based Method, and the theory of Learner Autonomy. It
has been shown here that using outdoor education to teach language arts has an
empirical basis through its relations with these methods and when used properly, can
enrich and influence a lesson while still having some empirical evidence to back it up.
11
The Theory in Practice
Despite earlier claims of its rarity, outdoor language-learning has been
implemented in the past. There have been many of cases where it has been tried with
mostly positive results. In this section, the academic literature on the topic of outdoor
language-learning will be explored. This will be done by exploring research papers on
the subject. In order to be counted as an appropriate research paper for the topic, these
works of literature must meet certain criteria. Firstly, they need to be about the teaching
of a language, both Intentional and Unintentional Outdoor Language-Teaching qualify.
Secondly, they need to include an outdoor setting. Lastly, they need to be published
sources.
One of the instances where outdoor language-teaching has been tried is with
Purdie and Niel in 1999 where they tried to use outdoor education, a western
philosophy, to try to teach students of Japanese descent. The work in which this was
presented is called "Japanese students down-under: is Australian outdoor education
relevant to other cultures?" The lesson plan was divided into several parts, however an
English lesson was included which was designed to help the students understand some
of the subject material and to teach them some English competence in general. The
lessons were conducted in two half-day classes along with three full day classes every
two weeks. The lesson turned out to yield results that were mostly negative. The authors
themselves explain as to why this might have happened. Firstly, it could have been that
the English teaching parts of the lessons simply did not mix well with the other parts.
Another reason the authors list has to do with culture. They claimed that the outdoor
education program was simply not optimal for those in the class. In fact, the closing
word of the article is that outdoor educators need to be very mindful of their students
cultural background in order to be able to use outdoor language-learning (Purdie and
Niel 56).
Culin wrote about a concentrated effort to teach children biology in his essay,
"Butterflies Are Great Teachers: The South Carolina Butterfly Project". However, it
soon became apparent that this project could help students in other disciplines as well,
including the language arts. This project was originally started in 1997 by a group of
educators as a response to the low scores of children in American schools. Their
12
solution for this was to take their students outside to a butterfly garden to see if it would
help them. The results were very effective in increasing student motivation. As stated
before, this initiative was intended to be for teaching natural sciences, but the potential
teaching language arts was soon discovered. They had the students write poems and
stories about the garden and the insects that inhabit it. The students also did research
about the creatures which increased their vocabulary (Culin 17). This project
demonstrated the motivational benefits that outdoor learning can provide since its
participants had low grades to begin with. This example shows that outdoor language
learning is extremely flexible and can be implemented as long as someone notices the
potential for it.
Smith tried to teach students how to read by using outdoor language-learning
which yielded positive results. The name of the article in which she documents this is
"Outdoor Education as a Method for Teaching Reading". Her methods were essentially
content-based with the content of the outdoor camp that they were situated in as content.
The students were in the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth grade where the students with
low literacy scores were given priority of participation. The overall procedure started
with a multiple choice test where students were tested in their vocabulary in the four
subtopics of the program which were archery, forestry, boating and swimming. They
were then told that there would be no failing or passing in this program, which hints at
the use of Desuggestopedia as described by Freeman. During the outdoor class, the
meaning of some words were discussed by the teachers and the students. For example,
they discussed the pronunciation of the word conservation, the role of the prefix re-, as
in the recurve bow, and the difference between breath and breathe. The outcome of this
experiment was very positive. Here are the main results reported by Smith in her
conclusions:
1. Outdoor education can be used effectively as a method of teaching
reading, for it offers a relaxed situation and an opportunity to present
material which is meaningful to the child in that situation.
2. Children learned that reading does not always have to be an experience,
which can cause anxiety, or an experience, which is unrelated to life. It can
be meaningful in a given life situation.
13
3. Attitudes toward reading were excellent. Little resistance, if any, was
shown.
4. Comparable gains were made by both boys and girls.
5. Mean gains were highest for groups comprised of sixth graders. Second in
achievement were seventh graders. Smallest gains were evidenced from
eighth and ninth graders’ scores.
6. Gains were significantly higher for campers returning to camp for a second
or third week.
7. It seemed that language gains were more noticeable than gains in reading
skills, per se. (Smith 232-233).
It bears noting how Smith placed emphasis on discussing the words. Nation claims that,
exploring different meaning of words will help students remember it better (Nation 69).
Also, it seems that Smith’s research indicated that outdoor learning can increase a
student’s motivation since her students had low grades. Considering, this seems that this
was an example of successful outdoor first language-learning.
The next example of the theory in practice is the research paper by Simpson that
has often been referenced in this essay. The main purpose of the research was to gauge
student and teacher reaction to outdoor language-learning for immigrants in Finland. In
order to accomplish this, he had four different groups of students based on their skill
level, highest level in one group and the lower levels in their respective groups. He also
had four teachers whom he classified as teachers A-D. The teachers each had a different
amount of experience in teaching in the outdoors, A having the least and D having the
most. The study was conducted in four lessons, each consisting of four to five activities.
Some of those activities included, placing the names of facial features on the correct
part of the face to familiarize the students with the names of these parts, singing the
song head, shoulders, knees and toes to teach them about different body part names and
finding an object that they liked in nature and explain why they like it. They even did
something that was not done in any other lesson to be discussed in this essay, other than
the lesson plan, which is to conduct a grammar lesson outdoors. For example, they
would have the students line up in order from shortest to tallest or have them walk a
different distance to explain the difference between comparative adjectives. The results
14
were extremely positive. Teachers saw the benefits in taking the language class outside
and the students felt that it was a fun experience. One interesting thing was that the
more quiet students became more vocal as if they were no longer afraid to speak.
(Simpson 28-30). It was mentioned before that outdoor education had a great impact on
students’ confidence and this is a good example of that. In the case of Simpson, we can
observe that outside language-learning can help people learn a language of a particular
culture while getting to know the natural part of said culture. Simpson also showed that
motivating his students had a positive impact their second language development. This
has been a good example of training by doing. By experiencing the natural side of the
Finnish culture, the students learned better the language of the culture.
The next case is a native one, at least from an Icelander’s point of view. It is
about the teaching methods of Björn Gunnlaugsson of Norðlingaskóli in Reykjavík.
Norðlingaskóli is a school that has always held outdoor education in high regards and
according to an interview with Gunnlaugsson, the school was forced to adopt this
approach due to simple housing problems. However, Gunnlaugsson was the one who
originally started using the method to teach foreign languages. He found it limiting to
tie a lesson to a specific theme such as plants or animals so he merely taught the
students in the outdoors the same way that he would teach them in the indoors. This
might seem to be an act of taking the class outside simply for the sake of taking it
outside, in other words, relying more on the method and less on the reasoning behind
the method. However, he began to see a difference in the class once they were outside.
There were those among the students that were less capable and less sure of themselves
than the other students that benefited greatly from this change of scenery. This is similar
to the point that Simpson made regarding the Finnish immigrants that also had
confidence problems. Gunnlaugsson noticed this and decided to develop a way to
eliminate test anxiety by taking the English exam outside the classroom. He devised a
creative method of testing which was meant to test student’s reading comprehension. He
organized the students into eight groups from those with the most competence in
English and those with the least. He gave each of the groups a different text to read. The
more advanced students got a more difficult text and the less advanced got easier ones.
He then told them that these texts would be on the exam and that they would be asked
questions about them during it. On the day of the test, they went outside and
15
Gunnlaugsson reshuffled the groups. He placed a member from each initial group into
each of the new groups. He then told them that they needed to find the questions in the
woods. The questions could have been from any of the texts given to the different
groups. In other words, only one person from each group could know the answer. So
even the least confident student got the feeling that each of them were responsible for
the success of their group. Their knowledge was just as important as the knowledge of
the students who had the greater experience. The outcome of the exam was mostly
positive and gave many of the lower achieving students a chance to shine
(Gunnlaugsson). The initiative that Gunnlaugsson took to teach his students English
through outdoor education was a good decision based on the results that his students
showed. Not only that, Gunnlaugsson showed that language arts can be effectively
taught in the outdoors. This showcases that one must sometimes step out of convention
if one is to discover something useful.
Tatarchuk and Eick wrote an article, which shows how they could teach students
English and natural science at the same time through outdoor education. In other words,
their method was Content-based Language-Teaching where the emphasis was just as
much on the content as it was on the target language. At first this approach seemed
questionable since it seemed to have a lack of focus and would cause students to be
unsure of what was being asked of them to do. However after reading their article,
"Outdoor integration: Looking to nature to accentuate science and language arts

connections", this approach seemed more plausible. The first evidence they provide for
this approach is that the processing skills that students use for scientific-learning and
language-learning overlap in some areas. The skills that both disciplines use as listed by
Tatarchuk and Eick are, predicting, inferring, comparing and contrasting and
communicating (Tatarchuk and Eick 36). Tatarchuk and Eick then take the reader
through a lesson in which they use this method by teaching the students about seeds.
There are other lesson plans listed in their article, however going into all of them would
take time and using one example should suffice. The lesson started in the classroom as
is customary for outdoor language-learning. The students began by reading a book in
English about the subject matter. The plan already has some element of language
teaching to it. They also made diagrams depicting the changes a seed goes through
before becoming a tree. Additionally, they compared the names of the seeds they found.
16
This allowed them to learn more names of seeds and the adjectives that best describe
them. Before heading out, students were asked to record their prediction regarding what
sort of seeds they might find. If we look at this from the perspective of The Multiple
Intelligence Theory, we would see that this activity supports the Intrapersonal
Intelligence as well as gives the students a chance to practice their English writing
skills. The students were then sent out to gather seeds and compare them with the seeds
that other students found. The students then discussed the qualities of the seeds. One of
the points brought up was that some seeds were hard and that they relied on animals
carrying them. (Tatarchuk and Eick 36-37). In this lesson plan, and the others listed in
the article, the students had a chance to learn both English and biology in the same
lesson where outdoor education helped them immensely. Not only that, but it was also
demonstrated how a student’s first language skills could be improved with outdoor
learning.
Creating a lesson plan
Now that proper research has been done on how outdoor language-teaching
works, it is time to create a custom lesson plan. In this plan, it is assumed that the
students are 12-13 years of age, Icelandic and of varied competence levels. The theme
of the lesson will be animals and animal related words and the goal will be to teach the
students the English names of animals and other vocabulary that is associated with
them. This goal will be achieved by offering a diverse lesson in order to reach as many
students in the group as possible. From a Multiple Intelligence perspective, the goal
would be to reach out to as many types of intelligences as possible. After this lesson
plan, the students will be expected to know some basic vocabulary involving the
Icelandic farm animals. Now that the group and goals of the plan have been introduced,
the actual lesson can begin
As stated before, outdoor education begins indoors. Thus, it is important to have
the students learn about the topic before the outdoor part of the lesson. For the sake of
consistency, this part of the lesson shall be called the pre-lesson since it is in essence a
lesson that comes before the actual lesson, or the outdoor part. Motivating the students
during the pre-lesson can be done in a variety of ways. One of these ways is playing and
17
having the students sing songs that relate to animal such as Old McDonald. However,
not every student is motivated by music. Because of this, the lesson will also include a
story that relates to the subject matter. A good story for an Icelandic audience would be
one of the many Icelandic fables and legends regarding animals. A good example would
be the fable of the Nikur, a horse with its hooves backwards that drowned children who
sat on it, or the story of the worm of Lagarfljót. All of these stories would be presented
in English. The reason for picking these stories is so that the students can experience a
demonstration of their own cultural heritage while learning another language.
The setting of the outdoor lesson will be the Icelandic national zoo. This area is
a great place for students who wish to learn the names of animals to visit which we will
find out more about later. The zoo is located in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavík and is
easily accessible by bus, public or commissioned, so accessibility is not a problem. This
lesson plan assumes that the weather conditions are acceptable. The outdoor lesson will
be split into four parts. Each part will consist of a description and reasoning behind the
approach.
The first part will encourage independent exploration and discovery. The
students will be asked to explore the zoo and write down the English and Icelandic
names of the animals they find. This is convenient for them since the zoo has the names
of the animals written down in both Icelandic and English. This step of the lesson draws
elements from The Grammar Translation Method. This is because the students are
essentially translating the words they already know into English. The differences are
that, instead of a dictionary they are using the signs posted around the zoo and that they
are working with single words rather than a text. This way, the students can explore the
names of the animals in a more interactive and less constrictive way than, for example,
looking up the names in a dictionary. In addition, the students receive a chance to see
the animals, which they are being asked the names of, up close which serves as a
pleasant experience to help further motivate them. Lastly they will be assigned one
specific animal each. They will be asked to write down its main characteristics such as
size, colour or skin texture.
The second part of the lesson will, draw elements from the first part. This will be
a presentation from each of the students on the animal that they were assigned. They
18
will be asked to describe the animal with as much detail as they can. Suggested topics
will be the animal’s place of origins, feeding habits or appearance. Since these students
are rather young, they would not be expected to form entire sentences about these
characteristics. Some simple words such as big or hairy would suffice. These words will
be important since the students will be asked to use them in the next exercise. The
information is usually supplied by the zoo, which is another reason for why the zoo is
such an ideal location for this lesson. The purpose for this is to attempt to make some of
the shyer and reclusive students overcome their lack of confidence using the outdoors,
similar to what Gunnlaugsson did when he noticed an improvement in student
confidence. Another good reason for doing this is that the entire class is receiving verbal
input.
The third activity will be a simple lesson in comparative adjectives, namely, the
ones that they heard during their presentation part. For example, the students will be
shown a picture of three animals and asked to give them the labels, small smaller and
smallest and big bigger and biggest. The first reason for this is to teach the students
about the comparative adjectives. The second reason is that Nation claims that
explaining to the students the usefulness of a word and ask them to study it in depth will
help them to remember it (Nation 63).
The last activity will be a scavenger hunt. The students will be organized into
teams. The goal of each team is to find the clues about a certain animal of which the
teacher has thought. The clues are placed near the animal signs in the zoo. For example,
if the correct answer is a bull, a clue will be put on the cow sign saying that the animal
has horns. The goal of this exercise is to influence the students to remember such words
and learn a new word in the end. This is done mainly for the fun factor and the gives the
students a unique experience, which will help to make the vocabulary more accessible
in the future. After the lesson is done, it is important to evaluate the students. For this
purpose, a quick exam will be conducted shortly after the trip to see how the students
benefited from this lesson plan.
To summarize what this lesson plan has done. By asking the students to find the
names of the animals, it has promoted self-exploration and possibly learner autonomy.
In addition, if we look at this lesson plan from the perspective of Multiple Intelligence
19
Theory, this lesson plan promotes four of them. Those are, Body/Kinesthetic, by asking
the students to walk around to seek their answers, Intrapersonal, by allowing them to
work in pairs, Linguistic, by having them present their animal, and finally Natural, by
immersing the students in a natural environment. By letting the students make a
presentation, they receive opportunity to use the words that they have discovered and it
also stimulates those more prone to the Verbal/Linguistic approach. The lesson on
comparative adjectives will help the students find new uses for the words they
discovered and hopefully see a pattern for how comparative adjectives work in the
English language. If this lesson plan is successful, it should provide a fun filled and
constructive experience of which the students will have fond memories.
Drawbacks to the method

There are, however, many drawbacks to outdoor language-teaching. Its greatest
strength is its ability to help people who are having difficulties with other methods. In
other words, some people can benefit from this method simply because of their genetic
structure or temperament. However, therein lies its weakness. The fact that there are
people who benefit greatly from this method must also mean that there are those
students that would view the method as a waste of time and not benefit nearly as much
from it. For example, let us look at a class composed of about twenty students. If half of
the students would benefit from outdoor language-learning then the other half might
not. This is why an outdoor language teacher needs to be extra observant to a student’s
needs in the outdoors. Another flaw in this approach is that it is very limited when it
comes to teaching grammar. One could make the argument that one could use the
Grammar Translation Method in the pre-lesson in order to teach students grammar
while informing them about the subject. The lesson plan even suggested using outdoor
education to teach adjectives. However, the pre-lesson should not be the main focus of
an outdoor language-learning lesson plan and thus does not receive adequate attention.
In fact, it could be said that outdoor education and grammar are philosophically
opposed to one another. Outdoor education is concerned with freedom and exploration
while grammar is concerned with constraint and tradition. The next flaw revolves
around the qualification of the teacher. In the example of Purdie and Niel, one of the
20
main reasons that their lesson failed was that they were not mindful enough of the needs
of the students and because of that, their research provided negative results. This
displays that teachers need special training in the outdoor lesson program in order to be
effective in teaching it and since language-learning is not the primary objective of

outdoor education methods, it is fair to assume that a lot of language teachers do not
possess this training. The drawbacks to outdoor language-learning can also come from
the outside as will be discussed next.
The next flaw has already been discussed in this essay. It is the fact that the
success of the lesson is often predicated on if the weather is being cooperative or not.
Lesson plans vary in how flexible they are and some of them need to follow a rigid time
schedule. In these cases, a bad weather day can be the difference between success and
failure. The last flaw has to do with location. Not every school has access to a location
that would fit an outdoor language lesson. A school in a major city would be a good
example of this. There could of course be bus tours scheduled, however that would take
away a lot of the benefits mentioned in this essay such as, the students ability to revisit
the site on their own time, the emotions that cultural ties can provide, and it would not
be as cost effective. To summarize the flaws, outdoor education is simply not for
everyone or for all aspects of language-teaching. Teachers are not always qualified to
use the method. It is risky to assume a cooperative weather and not all schools are
situated in places that would suit the method.
Conclusion
To summarize, outdoor language-learning is a great way to teach students about
reading, vocabulary, the world around us and even the particular culture of a country.
Outdoor education has shown that it can greatly motivate students, by providing them
with inspiring imagery and emphasis on cultural heritage, to improve at the subject they
are studying. Not only that, but it is also compatible with existing theories such as
Multiple Intelligence Theory, The Direct Method, Learner Autonomy and Experiential
Learning. It has been shown to have its merits in practical usage as was made apparent
in the cases of Smith, Simpson, and Gunnlaugsson. On the other hand, Purdie and Niel
made it apparent that in order for outdoor language-learning to work, a teacher needs to
be aware and sensitive to a student’s needs as well as their cultural background. They
21
also discovered that outdoor language-learning is simply not for everyone. In contrast,
Culin made it apparent that outdoor language-learning can be taught even if it is not
what one intended to do in the first place. Additionally, it was made apparent in Culin’s
article that sometimes students need the outdoor classroom to improve. In addition,
Tatarchuck and Eick discovered that one can teach students not only one but two
disciplines in one lesson. By observing what skills the students used, they were able to
construct their lessons so that the students could use these skills to study two subjects at
the same time. Smith showed us that it was possible to increase a student’s reading
skills by taking the class outside. By giving students with lower test scores priority,
Smith showed further that outdoor learning can help students that have trouble with the
conventional classroom. Simpson showed that outdoor language-learning can be used as
a way to immerse a student in the culture of the country in which the target language is
spoken, particularly if the lesson is conducted in said country. It was also shown in
Simpson´s essay that teachers need to be more familiar with outdoor education.
Gunnlaugsson gave a great example of how outdoor language-learning can eliminate
test anxiety and promote a sense of self worth. By constructing the outdoor exam in
such a way that every student had valuable information, he was able to increase their
confidence. Outdoor language-learning can be implemented in a variety of different
ways as was shown with the lesson plan created for this essay. By creating a lesson plan
with outdoor language-teaching in mind, it has been shown that creating such a lesson
can be done by most people. Additionally, it shows that the methods and philosophies
that have been discussed in this essay, such as Multiple Intelligence Theory, can work in
a practice as well as in theory. We also delved into the weaknesses of the method, which
was essential in order to understand it further. The weaknesses of any theory need to be
observed just as much as its strengths if the theory is to stand the test of time.
Regarding the questions that were asked at the start of this essay, Smith’s
research indicates that outdoor learning can help students who are less motivated since
her test subjects were mostly ones with low test scores. This was also true in Culin’s
article as it was centered around students with low grades as well. Simspon showed that
this motivation can be helpful in learning a language with his immigrant group, and
Gunnlaugsson’s outdoor exam and Tatarchuck’s and Eick’s lesson about seeds showed
that outdoor language-teaching can be done in a effective manner.
22
In my opinion, outdoor language-learning bears further investigation. This essay
could be seen as a compilation of works that explore this topic but I believe new studies
need to be conducted. The scarcity of suitable work materials I experienced when
working on this essay hints that this topic needs more coverage. To ultimately conclude
this essay, outdoor language-learning is a fantastic method. But like all methods, it
needs to be used correctly and in association with other methods.

INTRODUCTION Term Paper

Caricato da

Informazioni sul documento

Titolo originale

Copyright

Formati disponibili

Condividi questo documento

Condividi o incorpora il documento

Opzioni di condivisione

Hai trovato utile questo documento?

Questo contenuto è inappropriato?

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

INTRODUCTION Term Paper

Caricato da

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

INTRODUCTION

Gaps and Recommendations

English proficiency as a competitive edge

But what about today’s graduates and job-seekers?

Butch Hernandez (butchhernandez@gmail.com) is the executive director of the Eggie Apostol

Read more: http://opinion.inquirer.net/86602/english-proficiency-as-a-competitive-

Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet on Facebook

Keywords: Listening skill; Speaking skill; Communicative competence; Integrated skills

Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.

Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.

2.1.2. Pre- Post Tests

2.2. Data Analysis

Table 1. Group Statistics

Communicative competence of secondary senior students: Language instructional pocket

Keywords: Communicative competence; linguistics; languages.

Strategic Competence Sociolinguistic Competence

Register and dialect

Cultural references and Figures of speech

3. Statement of the Problem

1. Grammatical competence in terms of: 1.1. pronunciation/orthography, 1.2. semantic appropriacy of

4.1 Research design

4.4 Research instrumentation

4.5 Research procedure

4.6 Data Analysis

Area of competence = Summation of ratings given Number of variables

Designing Data Collection Data Gathering

Proposed English Language Module

academics, particularly in the said subjects.

Fig. 1. Research paradigm.

TABLE III: DISTRIBUTION OF THE STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN MATHEMATICS Grades

Correlation Coefficients (r)

General Weighted Average (GWA) -.11 0.03*

students different languages. However, teaching languages is a complicated process.

priorities lie. A teacher can prioritize in vocabulary building, grammar, communication,

teaching has in common, however, is its dependency on learner motivation.

Lack of motivation can be very detrimental to a language student. Because of

the drawbacks to the method.

1. Can outdoor education be used to increase a student’s motivation?

2. Does this increase in motivation, if found, effect the process of language

3. Can the outdoor classroom be used effectively?

is the definition of outdoor language-learning. Fellner, in his article "Outdoor language

learning: A novel approach to language learning through outdoor education", describes

it as a learner-centered teaching method in which the target language is used to achieve

of their language skills (Fellner 4). Additionally, he calls it a combination of Task

accomplish a certain objective. This category will be called Unintentional Outdoor

differences, both of these approaches contribute to the growth of a student’s lingual

approaches will be referred to as outdoor language-learning and examples of both will

be given in this essay.

out entertainment and efficiency in outdoor language-learning. First, there is safety. A

indoor part of the lesson could be used to increase student motivation.

outdoor language-learning will be brought up. To summarize this chapter, Outdoor

Language-Learning can be categorized into Intentional and Unintentional Outdoor

Language-Learning. Secondly, outdoor learning in general can be perilous and needs to

outdoor language-teaching lesson.

motivator (Becker 3).

Nevertheless, how can a teacher motivate students to study languages in the

environmentalists such as Thoreau or Roosevelt and enacting plays that incorporate

other methods. Another way to motivate students to study languages outdoors is to

they will be visiting in the future.

Outdoor language-learning can also improve motivation among the students by

language-learning and cultural assimilation. In countries such as Finland, where in

In other words, implementing outdoor language-learning could help immigrant learners

language-learning, and outdoor learning in general, can have positive motivational