ACTION RESEARCH IN ENGLISH COMMUNICATION

QUESTION: How can HCJC students do to improve the academic performance in English Communication?

PROBLEM: What are the factors affecting the academic performance of the students in English Communication?

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY: Once a pupil reached Grade Three level, teachers are expecting that this pupil can already comprehend on what he/she is reading, whether in English or in Filipino. The researcher had found out based on the final rating of Grade Three pupils in his school that almost 75% are low performing pupils. Despite of several programs by the Department of Education, the problem on reading comprehension still prevails. When a pupil has a reading comprehension difficulty, it could be observed that all the subjects that he/she is studying are being affected. Thus, the researcher decided to find out if reading comprehension has a significant relationship to the academic performance of Grade Three pupils.

LITERATURE RELATED TO THE STUDY:
As cited by Wilson and Cleland in their Theory of Diagnosis, “the first step in dealing reading difficulties is the identification of the difficulty. That classroom diagnosis can take place before, during and after instruction was clearly expressed by Wilson and Cleland. It is impossible to give any recommendation when one does not know what to remediate. Diagnosis may begin with a simple observation and possibly as survey test which will be followed by a hypothetical remedy to the disability.”
To diagnose the difficulty in reading, there are several factors that affect the reader in the reading comprehension of the reader to be taken into consideration, as cited by Katherine Maria in her book “Reading Comprehension: Instruction, Issues and Strategies (1990), these are: 1. Decoding Ability 2. Word Knowledge 3. Linguistic Knowledge 4. Meta Comprehension 5. Interest and Motivation
Decoding ability includes the skill of the reader to recognize each word so that he could put meaning to it.
Word knowledge refers to the background knowledge or the prior knowledge of the reader that are also important in associating meaning to each written symbols.
Linguistic knowledge is the skill of the reader to understand the second language (English) by having enough vocabulary, knowledge of the sentence structure and knowledge of text genre (whether narrative or expository).
Meta comprehension includes knowledge about reading and different reading tasks and how the reader can manipulate his skills as a reader in understanding the text better.
Interest and motivation of the reader is greatly affected by their parents, and teachers who have low expectation from their children and this affect the reading performance of the pupil. In line with this, Rubin (1982) pointed out that the longer children remain non-readers the less likely will be their ability levels, even with the best remedial help. Children with reading difficulties become underachievers not only in English but in other subject areas like Math and Science where reading is a prerequisite skill. These children tend to acquire many emotional and social problems which are compounded as the child goes through school. Children have many needs. They need security with parents and teachers, status with their peers, and the opportunity for activity and for achievement or success in meeting some of their problems. They need to increase some worthwhile skills, to grow in understanding of their environments and in their attitude connected with good citizenship in a democracy. The reading program can contribute to these needs in the quality of the ideas it deals with, in the way the total program is organized, and in the various methods the teacher uses in reading situations. McDermott as mentioned by Richardson and Morgan (1985) emphasized that a child’s progress in reading is less influenced by the nature of the reading activity than by the personal relationships the child has developed with the teachers. Children respond most to the feelings the teacher display when asking them to perform an activity than to the activity itself. Teachers need to remember that they are very important in the lives of their students and helping children gain an appreciation of reading is one of the noble tasks of a teachers. She is the key that can open a wholesome world of beauty and wonder for the beginning reader. Morgan cited Collins as saying that a teacher’s enthusiasm affects learners’ performance. Vocal delivery, eyes gestures, body movement, facial expressions, world selection, acceptance of ideas and feelings and over all energy are teacher factors that can affect a learners’ desire to learn to read and in the end, lead to learn. This growing awareness among teachers of the tremendous task that is assigned to his profession is slowly being manifested in their increasing interest to help learners learn to read.

DATA COLLECTION: The researcher used the final rating of the Grade Three pupils as the source of the data of this study. Table 1 shows the Final Rating of Grade Three Pupils in five subjects for the SY 2010-2011.
Table 1
Final Rating of Grade Three Pupils in Five Subjects for the SY 2010-2011
N=33
Number | Final Rating | | Filipino | English | Math | Science | MAKABAYAN | 1 | 86.163 | 84.675 | 84.900 | 84.738 | 86.418 | 2 | 84.013 | 84.013 | 84.250 | 84.300 | 84.150 | 3 | 84.438 | 82.993 | 83.163 | 84.488 | 85.048 | 4 | 82.975 | 82.575 | 82.325 | 81.638 | 83.278 | 5 | 82.763 | 82.125 | 82.100 | 81.250 | 82.790 | 6 | 83.338 | 81.255 | 81.925 | 81.538 | 83.203 | 7 | 82.100 | 80.938 | 81.088 | 80.975 | 81.648 | 8 | 80.988 | 80.600 | 81.088 | 80.375 | 81.548 | 9 | 81.488 | 80.563 | 80.188 | 80.300 | 81.033 | 10 | 81.188 | 79.713 | 81.188 | 79.750 | 81.385 | 11 | 81.213 | 79.625 | 79.963 | 80.288 | 80.298 | 12 | 81.175 | 79.425 | 79.950 | 78.775 | 80.703 | 13 | 79.088 | 78.100 | 78.888 | 78.100 | 79.553 | 14 | 78.663 | 77.975 | 79.338 | 77.938 | 79.195 | 15 | 80.550 | 77.963 | 79.700 | 77.238 | 79.773 | 16 | 78.813 | 77.675 | 78.088 | 77.938 | 79.348 | 17 | 78.713 | 77.375 | 77.775 | 77.013 | 78.675 | 18 | 78.788 | 77.213 | 77.313 | 77.500 | 78.498 | 19 | 78.263 | 77.213 | 77.450 | 76.600 | 78.828 | 20 | 77.575 | 76.663 | 76.138 | 76.475 | 77.053 | 21 | 78.000 | 76.550 | 78.513 | 77.513 | 78.950 | 22 | 78.000 | 76.513 | 77.450 | 77.088 | 78.240 | 23 | 78.025 | 76.500 | 77.300 | 77.288 | 77.940 | 24 | 77.950 | 76.263 | 77.038 | 76.650 | 77.915 | 25 | 77.200 | 75.975 | 77.038 | 76.700 | 77.983 | 26 | 76.725 | 75.888 | 76.175 | 76.650 | 77.025 | 27 | 76.050 | 75.613 | 76.150 | 76.150 | 76.418 | 28 | 76.663 | 75.250 | 76.438 | 76.225 | 76.865 | 29 | 76.o63 | 75.200 | 75.750 | 75.588 | 77.760 | 30 | 76.550 | 75.063 | 76.538 | 76.050 | 77.035 | 31 | 77.113 | 75.025 | 75.788 | 76.050 | 76.715 | 32 | 75.638 | 74.850 | 76.163 | 75.888 | 77.040 | 33 | 76.413 | 74.713 | 76.175 | 75.375 | 76.895 | Gen. Ave. | 79.520 | 78.245 | 78.877 | 78.498 | 79.682 |

DATA ANALYSIS: Based on the data presented in the previous page, the general average garnered in each subject, English, Math and Science was below average. In view with this, Stanley (1992) conformed that, in many of our schools today, it is quite evident that there are number of pupils who can scarcely comprehend what they read. And if they can do, they stop at the literal understanding and are unable to evaluate student, make accurate judgment or draw conclusions making the one less important. In so far as school is concerned, Rogers (1986) disclosed that reading is the most important study tool. Next to the teacher, the textbook is usually the principal educative agency contributing to the pupil’s academic success. One can learn in spite of the teacher, as one educator said which is certainly true as there are other ways by which an individual can learn. Sadly, worldwide, more than 800 million people over the age of 15 cannot read and write. This severely limits their ability to learn and to communicate. It suppresses their thinking ability and makes them dependent on those who can read, thus exposing them to the danger of being manipulated or exploited. Researchers concluded that students who are slow readers in higher educational level had poor reading abilities when they were still in their primary years. And there are several factors, which affect the reading performance of the pupils. These factors include the family, the instructional materials being used by teachers, the environment and even the nutritional status of the pupils.

FINDINGS: As shown in Table 1 in the previous page, it can be gleaned that almost 75% of the Grade Three pupils belong to low performing level. Further, as presented in the general average of the final grades presented, the subjects English, Math and Science got lower than Filipino and MAKABAYAN.

ACTION PLAN:
PROPOSED ACTION PLAN
Rationale
Objectives: 1. Develop among the pupils the proficiency in reading and good habit in note-taking technique. 2. Activate the English teachers on their professional development. 3. Provide adequate number of books and instructional materials for the pupils. 4. To improve the academic performance of the pupils with the other subjects.
With the above-mentioned objectives, the school managers, including the Principals must work hand-in-hand to improve the reading comprehension of the pupils. In line with this, there are several readings that could be basis for such objectives.
According to Avillanoza (1996), a reading program may make an important contribution to a child’s personal and social needs through its content, through the manner in which it is conducted, and through a careful organization and gradation of materials which will help toward successful activity and desirable attitudes towards reading. She stressed further that through content, the reading program may add to the understanding and enjoyment of life in the pupils’ immediate environment, his home, and his community. It may make children live more meaningfully through stories and descriptions of earlier days. It may help to satisfy curiosity about specific topics in such fields as science, social studies, the arts and health. It may suggest possibilities for creative and constructive activities. It may give the child some insights into his own and others’ adjustment and behavior. She cited that through organization, the reading program may provide for gradual and complete growth in reading skills, habits and attitudes. It may provide for exploration in broad areas or centers of interest related to children’s activities at different developmental levels. By providing a variety of materials centered on one theme or topic, a well-organized program of reading can provide both breath and depth of understanding. And through method, the reading program may cultivate personal interests and tastes in a wide variety of good literature. Methods, which stress reading for enjoyment rather than minute dissection of the text, help to develop desirable reading interests. Slavin (1993) found out that ability grouping could increase pupils’ achievement in Math and English, particularly reading. It can also be maximized to eradicate reading difficulties like non-reading via the Joplin Plan. This can be by regrouping the pupils by performance level, not grade. Find out through the results of oral reading tests or by tracking pupil’s reading abilities from the different grade levels that belong to a particular group. It can be surmised that a particular group, say pupils with a reading readiness of a pre-schooler, may be composed of Grade II, III, IV, V and VI pupils with varying magnitude. With this kind of grouping, the teacher can made use of whole group instruction more effectively. Similarly, the teacher who handles the said group should not lose sight of the inviolability of spending much of the day in a heterogeneous classroom grouping to dispel discrimination and the stigma of inferiority among slow learners. The rationale behind ability grouping, Slavin said, goes with the thinking like this: “if you reduce the range of abilities among a group of pupils, it will be easier for a teacher to target instruction to meet those pupils’ needs, thus, all pupils will achieve more”. Tact must be employed by the teacher to avoid misunderstanding, mismanagement and misgivings. A dialogue should take place between the teacher and the principal, and between the school and the parents. To get maximum results, Slavin suggests the following strategies: 1. Group pupils for only one lesson at a time, with pupils remaining in a heterogeneous classroom for most of the day. 2. Assign pupils to groups based on their demonstrated needs and abilities, not on IQ. 3. Group pupils for instruction only when it will help them learn new materials. 4. Use ability grouping to teach specific reading skills. Group pupils at a similar level of understanding together on a temporary basis for instruction. 5. When grouping pupils, vary the level and pace of reading instruction to meet pupils’ levels of readiness and understanding. 6. Reassess grouping assignments frequently. Build flexibility so that pupils can move from group to group as their progress and needs warrant.
Solutions on reading problems lie on the hands of the teachers being the ones who are with the pupils from eight in the morning to four in the afternoon. But based on researches, family has great responsibilities on the low academic performance of their children specifically in reading. Thereby, parents have to be included in the preparation of the action plan. Attached is a Matrix of an Action Plan for SY 2011-2012.