Needs Assessment for Educational Broadcasts in English

to Assist Secondary Students of Bayawan City

Emma Hernandez-Artes

ABSTRACT

This paper assesses the need for educational broadcasts that can be delivered through a cost-
effective medium to help secondary students of Bayawan City, Negros Oriental improve their
English language competencies. With the low academic performance rating of DepEd Division of
Bayawan City, reinforcement tools for students comprehension in the English language are
needed for them to cope with other learning areas. Based from the focus group discussions of
secondary English teachers in the division and the responses to descriptive survey conducted to
selected students from three high schools BNHS (in urban barangay), KNHS, and TPCHS (in rural
barangays) educational broadcasts in English should be developed with focus on vocabulary for
the first three year levels and grammar for the fourth year. The internet is found to be the most
preferred and could be a cost-effective means of delivery considering its accessibility to the target
clients.

INTRODUCTION

In the Philippines, the academic performance of the learners both in elementary and secondary has
always been an issue especially in terms of their academic competence and skills acquisition towards job
readiness. In almost all cases, students who have just graduated from secondary and even from tertiary levels
lack communication competence. Such realities always fall back to DepEd particularly to the instructional
delivery system which primarily comprises the instructors, the materials and the facilities, not to mention other
critical factors on the part of the learners. This is further complicated especially in the countryside and rural
areas, where accessibility, geography and economic conditions are dreadful, such as in the case of Bayawan City.

Bayawan City is a third class agricultural city in the third district of the province of Negros Oriental. It is
the largest local government unit in the Central Visayas in terms of land area; hence communities are dispersed
all throughout the 700 square kilometres total land area. The ten-year old city government as well as the national
agencies in it, such as the newly established DepEd Bayawan City Division faces tremendous challenges in
providing basic services to its constituents because of its geographic extents, rolling terrain, dispersed
communities, mono-crop agricultural economy and typhoon-prone climatic conditions. Majority of the

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population is in the rural barangays or at the hinterlands. Road network development is slow-paced. While road
accessibility to the hinterlands still remains a major developmental need, it exacerbates the challenges in having
a more responsive educational delivery service, particularly in elevating the academic performance of students
and in attaining target competencies on key subjects.

Education service is filled with challenges and of paramount concern because it spells out the quality of
the local human capital, which is key to the growth and developmental directions of the city. Currently, it has 55
elementary schools, 17 secondary schools and only two colleges. The urban population is only 24 % (26,478) of
the 110, 250 total population (NSO 2007); hence the majority are in the rural areas. In terms of educational
attainment, 7.7% have not attended school, 57.6% have elementary education, 23.6% have high school, 10.3%
have college degrees and less than 1% have either post-degree or vocational course (LGU Bayawan City ELA
2011-2013, DepEd Bayawan City Division Report). Clearly there is a huge gap in secondary education as a bridge
to higher education. It was determined that the top issues of the DepEd Division that hinders the delivery of
quality education for all are as follows: a) inadequate school facilities (1:64 Classroom-Student Ratio); b)
inadequate teachers (1:54 Classroom-Student Ratio); c) low academic performance (ranks last in Mean
Performance Score (MPS) in Region 7); d) high dropout rate; and e) low participation rate (79% for elementary
and 45% for secondary, average in the last 5 years).

With this scenario in Bayawan City at this digital age, the communication researcher deems it necessary
that the young generation of Bayawanons today be equipped with basic developmental skills, particularly
communication. And in todays communication, learning English, not only as a second language but also as a
medium in global communication is very important. Dr. David Graddol (2006) emphasizes in his book, English
Next, that adopting global English would mean competitive advantage; hence, the focus of this research.

For so long a time, there is always the need to improve English language proficiency in schools with the
idea that learners comprehension in other content areas follows. It is confirmed by the study conducted by
David O. Fakeye and Yemi Ogunsiji (2009) on English Language Proficiency as Predictor of Academic Achievement
among EFL students in Nigeria; they found out that there is a correlation between the two variables. This is true
particularly with textbooks and instructions delivered in the English medium.

In Bayawan City, the academic performance of the students, particularly in the secondary, in all subject
areas has been declining as reflected by the National Achievement Tests (NAT) and the Regional Achievement
Tests (RAT) results for DepEd Division of Bayawan City from 2008-2011. Though there are a lot of factors that
may have effected this as stated earlier, students competency in English is one which this study focuses on.

English language competence of every learner can be best facilitated with competent teachers using
adequate facilities and effective strategies aided with technology. However, with almost 75% of the Citys

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population in the rural areas, access to such means is far low from that in the urban. As the Australia 2020
summit delegates put it: Remote, rural and regional communities experience significant difficulties attracting
and retaining skilled and professional staff, in areas as diverse as education etc. Same assessment was given
by Coleman and Gleave (2004) in their case study on Access to Education and Employment in Remote Rural
Areas in Highlands and Islands region of Northern Scotland. They added that the distance as well as dependence
on private transport made rural residents access to basic needs relatively more expensive.

On the other hand, education in the urban areas is also affected by migration. Aside from depleting the
rural areas of educated people, it also causes congestion, open unemployment, and other problems in cities
(Tan and Leonor, 1985 as cited by Trewby, n.d.). Due to overcrowding of secondary students in the City, teacher-
student ratio as well as facilities/textbook/classroom-student ratio is not efficient to ensure quality education.
Effective classroom interaction is not achieved.

Nevertheless, with technological advancement and strategies geared toward instructional

improvement, the aforementioned conditions can be addressed through reinforcement tools and
supplementary materials for students to improve their English language competence. These supplements
could become accessible to the learners through educational broadcasting, a systematic use of broadcast
technology to enhance or to contribute to the learning of an identified audience [and] may be utilized in
both formal and non-formal education (Flor, 1995). Educational broadcasts, particularly through radio, can
reach the unreached in a cost effective way since it spreads to the masses (J.K. Das, nd.).

The School Broadcast Program of the Department of Education and the Philippine Broadcasting Service
in 1959 made use of radio to supplement elementary English language instructions and became useful not only
to pupils but also to teachers and other adult-learners (Librero, 2009).

Several other initiatives using radio as an educational media became successful such as the USAID radio-
based teacher training, higher education programs, and literacy training for workforce development initiatives
in Afghanistan (as cited by FLAME, November 2006).

However, radio is only one. Ely (2003) suggested considering other alternative media that may be less
expensive, yet potentially as effective as more expensive media. These include print, audio and video
recordings, telephone, and computer. According to him, there are often less expensive alternatives that will
accomplish the same objectives.

Hence, with the availability of these alternative media in this Digital Age and the established benefits
of educational/instructional broadcasts, the communication researcher looks into the viability of an English
instructional broadcast series (IBS) for secondary school students of Bayawan City, Negros Oriental. This study

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specifically aims at determining the level of interest/attitude of the target audience towards IBS as well as their
preferred delivery medium, and at identifying specific topics/competencies in English that need to be reinforced
through IBS.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study covers a needs assessment for English educational/instructional broadcast series in
reinforcing English communicative and linguistic competencies in secondary schools of the DepEd Division of
Bayawan City, with students and teachers as primary respondents. There was a total of 835 high school
students, 20% of the total population of the three schools one school located at the urban barangay (Bayawan
National High School) and two schools located at the rural barangays (Kalumboyan High School and Tabuan
Provincial Community High School) and twenty teachers in the secondary schools in DepEd Division of Bayawan
City.

Selection of student respondents employed stratified random sampling technique because there are
four (4) year levels, and it is prudent to subdivide the population into smaller and homogeneous group in order
to get accurate representation. Each year level becomes a stratum, from which the number of respondents were
taken to have a proportional representation.

A purposive sampling procedure was also employed in the selection of teachers, school heads, and
subject supervisors/coordinators. Only English teachers were selected because the research focuses on English
and communication competence. School heads and subject supervisors/coordinators were purposively selected
as respondents because they plan, influence, and monitor all activities in the schools and confer with the
teachers.

Descriptive survey and direct observations during focus group discussion activities were used in this
research. Survey questionnaires for the student-respondents and a guide interview questionnaire for the focus
group discussions with the teachers were used. Checklists, close-ended and open-ended questions were
included in the questionnaire. The questionnaires validity was field-tested to 10-20 trial respondents.
Supervisors at the DepEd Division were also consulted into the aptness and validity of the questionnaires. Survey
questionnaires were administered in coordination with the school heads and English teachers with authorization
from the DepEd Division. Focused group discussions and guided interview for teachers were conducted through
arranged special meeting/workshops.

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 This research design allowed the communication researcher to present results and findings in a
convenient, quantitative and easy-to-understand format using statistical presentation such as frequency count,
sum and ranking, coupled with qualitative description of the items under study.

In data analysis for the responses indicating preferred options, the ranking are summed up and grouped
according to the year levels (as per stratification). A composite rank (an over-all sum of ranking) across the whole
sample/all year levels was also taken. The option with the least sum is taken as the most preferred response on
a per-year-grouping as well as in the general (over-all) ranking. On the other hand, for questions with a yes or
no response, frequency count of the responses was taken and grouped according to year levels. Similarly, the
over-all frequency count across the whole sample/all year levels was also noted for interpretation.

RESULTS

Based from student responses, English as a high school subject is perceived by students as not so
difficult, not so easy with more than half of them (54%) saying that their level of difficulty is at the middle of the
continuum from difficult to easy. This was followed by 18% who perceived the subject as easier.

When asked about their identified topics of difficulty, they vary according to their year level. The first
and second year found idiomatic expressions as the most difficult while the third year, vocabulary, and the
fourth year, grammar. The student respondents also specified figures of speech, spelling, and forming
ideas/idea relationships which all are closely related to vocabulary and reading comprehension. The fourth
year mostly considered grammar and specified bibliographical entry and research writing as difficult topics.

In the survey, financial concerns appear to be the most influential factor that affects their English
language competencies especially to the second, third, and fourth year. Lack of access to materials and
resources at home and in school to help them improve their communication and linguistic skills is one specific
example of this as observed by teachers. There were no reading materials at home; their habit was not
developed. For most of the freshmen, they considered socialization as the main factor that affect their English
learning competencies. For some specified answers, family, personal, and teacher concerns were identified
factors also.

Niney-seven percent (97%) of the 835 student-respondents acknowledged that they need assistance
in the form of supplementary materials in English.

As to the medium of delivering these supplementary materials, majority of them ranked internet as their
most preferred medium. It was followed by the print, then radio broadcast, then CD Audio-Visual Playback, and
then for others, TV broadcast. Of the three schools that were considered for study Bayawan National High

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School (BNHS), Kalumboyan National High School (KNHS), and Tabuan Provincial Community High School
(TPCHS) TPCHS respondents preferred radio broadcast next to internet.

Accessibility to these media is not a problem to majority of the students in BNHS, KNHS, and TPCHS.
Almost 90% of them have access to radio and 85% to CD AV Playback, and mostly at their respective homes.
Their internet access which is about 94% is in school.

With internet as their most preferred medium of supplementary materials/reinforcing tools, they were
also asked about their perceived efficient means of delivery. Majority of them, particularly the second and third
year, chose social networking. Most first year and fourth year prefer official websites/webpages.

DISCUSSION

With more than half of the student respondents saying that they have an average level of difficulty in
English, in the recent NAT and RAT results (2011), the English proficiency level of the students is still low; Mean
Proficiency Score is 46.77%. This response may be attributed to students reference of difficult subjects which
is usually associated with content subjects as Sciences and Mathematics.

Vocabulary and idiomatic expression are identified to be the most difficult topics in English. Seemingly,
this explains why one of the least learned skills identified by the teachers during the focus group discussion is
reading comprehension. Students may not see it that way since they know that they can recognize and read
selections. But with their poor understanding of the meaning of words and idiomatic expressions, particularly
in the lower year levels, comprehension would be difficult to achieve.

Although the student respondents considered English as not so difficult one, 97% of them acknowledged
their need for supplementary materials to assist them in developing their English communicative and linguistic
skills. Secondary students of the DepEd-Division of Bayawan City recognize their need for supplementary
materials/reinforcing tools in learning and developing their English competence in various topics. With this, it
can be expected that the students also recognize the importance of developing their English communicative and
linguistic skills in a more functional aspect at a global perspective. Considering the major topics, skills, and
competencies in the English learning area, students with the guidance of their teachers would therefore be able
to improve on these since these are the competencies/topics that are given to all high school students at varying
levels, i.e., first, second, third and fourth year.

With DepEds program on establishing internet connections in school as well as the proliferation of
internet cafes and in some households, and even mobile internet connections, students have access to and are
so familiar with the web. Apparently, students are still comfortable with the print media probably because they

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have been accustomed to its use. Although their internet skills are easily developed, their association with it is
not yet academic and educational. TPCHS respondents preference of radio broadcast next to internet is
relatively due to its being a rural school which is approximately 30 kilometres from the City proper. Most of the
people rely on radio broadcast as their source of information.

In terms of accessibility to the learners, it may be observed that information and communications
technology (ICT) tools are common to students nowadays, that it seems to be their primary concern in life. Robin
Horn, in his blog posted at blogs.worldbank.org (Janurary 18, 2012), says that :

education leaders from developing and emerging countries desperately want to leapfrog out
of their educational dilemmas with modern technology. Rather than working on improving the quality
of education by slogging through incremental reforms built upon 20th century or even 19th century
practice and norms, education leaders in developing and emerging economies want to take the
proverbial giant leap forward by using new and innovative (though usually unevaluated)
technologies.

One provision in distance learning is that materials are tailored in ways that content is brought to
students in the most efficient and effective way possible (Kanas, Jane, nd).

On this basis of Bayawan City students accessibility to all the media options for High School English IBS,
cost-effectiveness of the media for its delivery could not be a question later. The cost that matters would be of
IBS content development and production costs.

With these findings, the target IBS to improve English language competency through a cost-effective
media delivery system somehow could become an initial step towards achieving an improved academic
performance of secondary students of Bayawan City.

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Coleman, N. and Gleave, Steeve Davies. (2004). Access to Education and Employment in Remote Rural Areas:
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education-and-employment-in-remote-rural-areas-the-highlands-and-isl accessed date: January 18,
2012.

Das, J. K. (no date). Educational Broadcast through Radio. http://www.aiaer.net/ejournal/vol19107/8.htm

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Ely, Donald P. (2003). Selecting Media for Distance Education. ERIC Digest. http://www.ericdigests.org/2005-
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Fakeye, David O. and Ogunsiji, Yemi. (2009). English Language Proficiency as Predictor of Academic
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FLAME (Friends of Literacy and Mass Education). November 2006. Nepal: School On-Air Radio Teaching and
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Flor, Alexander. (1995). Broadcast-Based Distance Learning System. Diliman, Quezon City: UP Press. Available
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Graddol, David. (2006). English Next. UK: British Council. Available in www.britishcouncil.org/learning-
research Accessed date: February 4, 2012.

Kanas, Jane. No date. Designing Learning for Learners: A study of learning English through distance at USP
Emalus Campus, Vanuatu. http://wikieducator.org/images/6/6a/PID_770.pdf accessed date: July 21,
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Librero, Felix. (2009). Early Years of Distance Education in the University of the Philippines. Available in
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