Chapter 1: The Problem and Its Background

Introduction

Education is the process of acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs and

habits. There is also an Educational method that we can use included by storytelling,

discussion, teaching, and direct research. According to Martin Luther King Jr. - "The

function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically.

Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true educator". The function of education

is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically, but education which stops with

efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society. The most dangerous criminal may

be the man gifted with reason, but no morals. We must remember that intelligence is not

enough, the complete education gives individual not only power of concentration, but

worthy objectives upon which to concentrate. Educators transmit to the pupils/students

not only the accurate knowledge of the race but also the accumulated experience of

social living.

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7784 - An act to strengthen teacher education in the

Philippines by establishing centers of excellence, creating a teacher education council

for the purpose, appropriating funds therefore, and for other purposes. In Section 3.

Teacher Education Centers of Excellence. - There shall be identified, designated,

established and developed in strategic places in each of the regions of the country, one

or more centers of excellence for the teacher education based on criteria listed

hereunder, assessed and adjudged by the Council. These centers of excellence shall be

initially chosen from among existing public and private educational institutions by the
Teacher Education Council created under this Act.

Should the need arise, certain centers of excellence for teacher education at the

provincial level may later be identified and developed.

The criteria for identifying schools and colleges are centers of excellence shall include

the following: (a) highly educated, professionally qualified and experienced faculty

dedicated to the Philosophy, mission, vision and goals of the institution and education;

(b) well-settled students; (c) adequate library, research and study facilities; (d)

competent administrative and support staff; (e) well-planned and relevant instructional

programs; (f) adequate student development programs; (g) adequate student services;

(h) relevant extension service and outreach programs; (i) percentage of graduates who

become teachers; and (j) such other criteria as may be established and operationalized

by The Education Council.

The Teacher Education Centers of Excellence shall form a national network

which in turn shall network with elementary schools, high schools and/or part thereof for

laboratory purposes. Any center of excellence that is established shall be maintained for

at least five (5) years before any proposal or review is made to transfer it elsewhere.

The reason why the researcher conducted a study of The Relationship of

Teaching Strategies in Academic Performance in English is to know the different

teaching strategies that can help pupils to learn or achieve the academic performance in

easy ways of learning. So that they can cope in the subject easily and not getting

confused.
Background of Study

English as a subject to educate on the English language in general and to aid in

the understanding and the employment of the language. Literacy instruction in the junior

grades has one overriding purpose: to enable all students to develop as competent

communicators in a multi-literate, multicultural, multimedia world. Embedded in this

broad purpose are four major goals for each junior level: (1) to become a strategic

reader, writer, and oral communicator (2) to expand thinking skills (including

metacognitive and critical-literacy skills), developing the necessary habits of mind (3) to

deepen the motivation to learn (4) to develop independence as a learner.

These four goals are linked to one another, and they permeate literacy instruction

across the curriculum. They provide a lens through which educators can view all

planning, assessment, instruction, and related classroom practices. The strategies

involved in achieving these goals are all discussed in this guide;

In first goal become a Strategic Reader, Writer, and Oral Communicator; many

students who enter Grade 4 are able to understand text at the literal level, can engage

in paired and group discussions, and can communicate thoughts, feelings, and ideas in

writing. In other words, they come with the basic foundation for literacy development.

However, as many experts describe, this basic foundation is only the beginning. To

progress through the junior grades and beyond, students need to continually develop

their strategies for "Making meaning" and communicating effectively. Strategic readers,

written, and oral communicators are able to do the following: (1) identify the purpose of

a text, and the intended audience (2) work with a variety of text forms, technologies, and
media (3) apply their literacy and communication skills in all subjects and in new

situations (4) make choices about which strategies and skills to use in a given situation.

In goal number 2 it, Expand Thinking Skills, Developing the Necessary Habits of

Mind; research has shown that "effective readers and writers use international thinking

skills to regulate their reading and writing processes, to formulate ideas, to solve

problems, and to make meaning. Using higher-order thinking, they are able to move

beyond rote learning and literal interpretation to a deeper, more discerning

understanding of texts" (Literacy for Learning, p.32).

In junior classrooms where effective literacy instruction takes place, there is an

emphasis on higher-order thinking. Higher-order thinking refers to the transformation of

information and ideas that occurs when students combine facts and ideas and use them

to synthesize, generalize, explain, hypothesize, or arrive at some conclusion or

interpretation. By manipulating information and ideas through these processes, students

able to solve problems, acquire understanding, and discover new meaning (Literacy for

Learning, p.116).

As well, higher-order thinking involves the development of "metacognitive" and

"critical-literacy" skills. Metacognition is the process of thinking about one's own thought

processes. Using metacognition, students reflect on how they learn, what they know

and need to know, what strategies they need they need to make sense of what they

see, hear, and say. Teachers model how to think metacognitive to give students the

ability to construct meaning from texts and to plan, monitor, and improve their own

learning. Metacognitive skills help students to achieve independence as learners.

 Critical literacy requires the ability and willingness to look beyond the literal

meaning of text to observe what is present and what is missing, in order to analyze and

evaluate the meaning and the authors' intent (Literacy for Learning, p. 116). It goes

beyond conventional critical thinking to engage with issues of fairness, equity, and

social justice. Critical-literacy skills equip students with the ability to analyze how

authors develop text in order to influence readers; they also give students the

knowledge, skills, and confidence to develop their own perspectives and world view

(Literacy for Learning, p. 37). For reflective learners, these skills can become a call to

social action, challenging them to examine their role in making the world a better place.

Necessary Habits of Mind, According to Costa and Kallick

Thinking about our Thinking (metacognition)

Taking Responsible Risks Thinking Flexibility
Finding Humor Persisting
Striving for Accuracy and Precision
Listening to others with Understanding
Learning Continuously
Gathering data through all senses
Thinking and Communicating with Clarity and Precision

Habits of Mind necessary for higher-order thinking include open-mindedness,

perseverance, curiosity, and independent thinking. Costa and Kallick define habit of
mind as the stance that individuals adopt when confronted with problems that do not

have immediate answers. The habits of mind that facilitate higher-order thinking

transcend all subjects’ areas. "They are what make . . . learning continual, workplaces

productive and democracies enduring" (Costa and Kallick, p.12)

Costa and Kallick believe that students need to develop the habits of mind

represented in the diagram above. They agree that these habits of mind are

characteristic of peak performers in fields.

As well as in goal number 3, deepen the Motivation to Learn; another major goal

of literacy instruction is to insist in students an appreciation of the value and power of

reading and writing so that they will choose read and write throughout their lives for

personal and professional reasons. Students need to understand how reading and

writing will help them learn about themselves, solve problems, and explore and

influence the world.

Lastly the goal number 4, Develop Independence as a Learner; Proficient

communicators dig deep for meaning and develop their own stance and voice as

independent thinkers. Effective literacy instruction strives to move students along a

continuum of learning towards this independence, scaffolding their learning and

gradually releasing responsibility to students as they master strategies and skills. Along

the way, students learn to do the following: (a) use appropriate strategies during reading

and writing, with limited teacher support (b) select texts and text forms for different

purposes (c) engage in accountable talk (d) draw on internal motivation to read and

write (e) transfer learning to new situations (f) persist when faced with a difficult task (g)
pursue meaningful activities after completing assigned tasks (h) set personal goals and

assess progress towards their goals (i) draw on their strengths and develop new

abilities (j) think independently.

A large number of students with initial reading and writing skills may be

challenged by the more intricate tasks required to make meaning of the subject-specific

texts that are introduced in the junior grades. Starting in Grade 4, students are faced

with demands and responsibilities - they are asked to read and write longer texts

involving more complex subjects matter and to think about more abstract ideas.

Grade 4 teachers are challenged to guide students carefully towards developing

the skills and knowledge they need to meet these new demands, while at the same time

preserving and nurturing in them a love of reading and an appetite for discovering new

ideas and gaining new understanding and new perspectives on the world through

reading, writing, and thinking.

Many students reach the middle grades (4-8) lacking the language and literacy

skills required to access grade-level content instruction and texts. English learners in

the middle grades must also contented with the additional challenge of developing

language and literacy skills in a second language. In these critical grades, English

learners lag behind their English proficient peers in content area knowledge as seen on

the National Assessment of Educational Progress (National Center of Education

Statistics, 2011). Additionally, when English learners reach high school, these students

have higher drop-out rates than their English proficient peers (Chapman, Laird, Ifill, and

KewalRamani, 2011).
 Despite the unique strengths and needs of English learners in the middle grades,

there is little research on effective instruction for these students (Biancarosa and Snow,

2004). The National Center for Research on the Educational Achievement and Teaching

of English Language Learners (CREATE) has a focused program of research designed

to address the critical challenge of improving the educational outcomes of English

learners in content area classrooms by; enhancing the empirical research base for the

development of language and literacy in Grades 4-8; developing and testing effective

interventions that promote content knowledge and language and literacy development

simultaneously; investigating the features of scaffolder instruction that facilitate learning

for English learners in content area classroom (e.g., oral language development, shared

interactive reading, direct vocabulary instruction, traditional text v. modified text);

designing, testing, and delivering professional development that ensures that teachers

implement effective classroom practices to help English learners achieve high

standards; and implementing a comprehensive school-wide intervention delivering

curricula, professional development, and coaching sessions for content areas teachers.

The achievement gap between English language learners and their English-

proficient peers in U.S schools is persistent and well documented (California

Department of Education, 2004; Lee, Grigg and Donahue, 2007; Siegel, 2002).

Research shows that among in-school factors that contribute to student achievement,

teachers have the biggest impact. Given this, it is imperative that all teachers know how

to make academic content comprehensible to learners who are not yet proficient in

English.

One Promising approach to improve the academic performance of English

language learners is the STOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol) Model, an

empirically tested, research-based model of sheltered instruction developed by

researchers at California State University, Long Beach, and the Center for Applied

Linguistics under the auspices of the National Center for Research on Education,

Diversity & Excellence (Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2008). The SIOP Model is a lesson

planning and delivery system that incorporates best practices for teaching academic

English and provides teachers with a coherent approach for improving the achievement

of their students. Using strategies and techniques that make academic content

comprehensible to students, teachers present curricular content concepts that are

aligned with state standards. While doing so, teachers are developing students’

academic English skills across the four domains—reading, writing, listening, and

speaking—in addition to building their academic vocabulary. Many features of the SIOP

Model, such as cooperative learning, reading comprehension strategies, and

differentiated instruction, are recommended for high-quality instruction for all grade

levels and content areas (Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2008; Genesee, Lindholm-Leary,

Saunders, & Christian, 2006). However, the SIOP Model adds key features for the

academic success of English language learners, such as including language objectives

in every content lesson, providing opportunities for oral language practice, developing

background knowledge and content related vocabulary, and emphasizing academic

literacy. It is not a step-by-step approach but rather a framework for organizing best

practices. The SIOP Model provides teachers with specific lesson features that, when

implemented consistently and to a high degree, lead to improved academic outcomes

for English language learners (Echevarria, Short, & Powers, 2006; Short, Fidelman, &
Louguit, 2009).

One of the latest development in the Philippine educational system is the Mother

Tongue – Based Multilingual Education (MTB – MLE). MTB – MLE refers to the use of

students’ mother tongue and two or more additional languages as Languages of

Instruction (LoI) in school. In other contexts, the term is used to describe bilingual

education across multiple language communities – each community using its own

mother tongue aside from official school language of instruction. In South Asia,

multilingual education usually follows the first definition, learning and using multiple

language in school. In some countries, MTB – MLE includes four languages – the

students’ mother tongue or first language, a regional language, the national language

and an international language (Malone, 2007).

According to the official language policy of the 1987 Educational Act (Revised in

2004), children in Grades 1 – 3 were to be instructed in their first language, while those

in Grade 4 onwards are set to be instructed using a second language (L2), which is

English. This language policy can be identified as a possible model for bilingual

education (Borch & Tombari, 1997 as cited by Ndamba, 2008).

Theoretical Framework

According to Jerome Bruner the Constructivist Learning Theory was the

foundation for the theories, but he reached different conclusions about the best way to

teach. He advocated Discovery-based instruction in which teachers provide situations

that let students discover ideas for themselves, as they explained by Learning-Theories

and Greg Kearsley and Life Circles.

Jerome Bruner credited with originating discovery learning in the 1960’s, but his

ideas are very similar to those of earlier writer (e.g. John Dewey). Bruner argues that

“Practice in discovering for oneself teaches one to acquire information in a way that

makes that information more readily viable in problem solving” Bruner, 1961, p. 26)

The label of discovery learning can cover a variety of instructional techniques.

According to a meta-analytic review conducted by Alfieri, Brooks. Aldrich and

Tenenbaum (2011), a discovery learning task can range implicit pattern detection to the

elicitation of explanations and working through manuals to conducting simulations.

Discovery learning can occur whenever the student is not provided with an exact

answer but rather the materials in order to find the answer themselves.

Discovery learning takes place in problem solving situation where the learner

draws on his own experience and prior knowledge and is a method of instruction

through which students interact with their environment by exploring and manipulating

objects, wrestling with questions and controversies, or performing experiments.

“Most human behavior is learned observationally through modeling: from

observing others, one from an idea of how new behavior are performed, and on later
occasions this coded information serves as guide for action.” – Bandura

Social learning theory explains human behavior in terms of continuous reciprocal

interaction between cognitive, behavioral, and environmental influences. Some of the

necessary conditions for effective modeling; attention, retention, reproduction and

motivation. Bandura believed in “reciprocal determinism”, that is, the world and a

person’s behavior cause to eh other, while the behaviorism essentially states that one’s

environment causes one’s behavior. Bandura soon considered personality as an

interaction between three components: the environment, behavior and one’s

psychological processes (one’s ability to entertain images in minds and language).

The researcher want to tell is that every pupils are capable to learn from their

own ideas, we just need to provide a situation that they can solve by themselves. They

also have to socialize to have a motivation on what they’re doing, and also a guide for

their actions that they will perform.

Conceptual Framework

In this study the Relationship of Teaching Strategies in Academic Performance in

English conceived the conceptual framework based on the Input – Process – Output

system approach. This approach is composed of interrelated elements that served as

guide by the researchers in solving problem under investigation.

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

Profile of the Academic

Respondents Performance

Age
Gender

FEEDBACK
Statement of the Problem

1. What is the profile respondent in term of relationship of teaching

strategies?

2. What are the teaching strategies of Grade IV Students?

3. What is the academic achievement of Grade IV in English?

Hypothesis of the Study

The hypothesis of this study is a null hypothesis:

That there is significant relationship in the Teaching Strategies in Academic

Achievement in English of Grade 4 Pupils at Cainta Catholic College.

That there significant in teaching strategies in academic achievement in English

and their respondents profile.

Scope and Delimitation of the Study

Scope: The geographical scope of the present study is located at A. Bonifacio Avenue

English teachers of Cainta Catholic College (Elementary Department).

Limitation: The study is intended only to the grade 4 pupils of Cainta Catholic College

Significance of the Study

English is important in helping you to read and write well, how to use the English

language to its greatest effect and be creative with the language itself. The study of both

topics can increase your vocabulary, increase your creative ability and teach you about

the history of the language and the culture from which great writers were writing their

books.

Teacher – They can benefit from the study in case of information in the teaching
strategies in academic achievement.

Future Educators – this study will help them to their study in teaching strategies in

teaching English subjects.

Pupils – This study will help the pupils to know what will be the teaching strategies that

will help them to their academic.

Parents – They will benefits from the study in the sense that they will come and

appreciate the teaching strategies for their children.

The School Personnel and Administrators – The school administrators could gain

enough knowledge for this study in the English subject in terms of teaching strategies in

academic achievement.