RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ATTITUDE AND STRATEGIES OF THE

STUDENTS TOWARDS WRITING ESSAY

A Research Paper Presented to:

Mrs. Mylene R. Cuadro

Ms. Mae Kristine M. Panopio

In Partial Fulfillment in the Subject Practical Research II

Dela Rosa, Zanderowie D.

Hernandez, Jelly A.

Landicho, Marinella E.

Macatangay, Earlou P.

Magadia, Anafhe

Pedrigal, John Paul M.

Reboca, Ladelin R.

Reyes, Irene Joy L.

Robles, Julie Ann L.

Tumambing, Jerry P.

Valdez, Jhon Eymard

March 2019

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 CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

English language has been commonly accepted as an active universal

language in the world. Therefore, nowadays many people, particularly students,

ought to master English language. Writing is one of the most important skills and

the most sophisticated one. This is really true considering the efforts learners

make to enhance their writing and make words to convey their thoughts in an

understandable way. The writing skills difficulties are one of the most significant

problems that affect not only native English speakers, but also most of the

students that are learning English as a second or foreign language round the

world. The fact that the latter do not have interest in the writing field leads them to

be poor writers, increase the errors in their home works, write run-on sentences

and create incoherent paragraphs.

Attitude plays a large part in student’s literacy learning. Attitude affects

motivation to learn and influences how students approach an academic task. In

this case, writing self- efficacy and aspect of attitude, is discussed as well. Lack of

English language and attitudes will be a hindrance in every students’ to come up

in writing. Researchers also experience the same thing or even some of those

student who can’t write an essay or composition using the second language, like

for example, when we are doing the compositions and essays often times, before

we made it we are fun of having leisure first rather that doing it. In addition,

researchers also experience difficulties in writing because sometimes, we’re not

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interested on the topic as well as in writing. There are instances that we can’t

express our thoughts and opinion using the second language due to lack of

vocabulary words. The researchers also experience having lack of

self-confidence in terms of writing because we as a researchers are also afraid to

be judge by others because of the grammar and the construction of our sentences

using the second language. Despite of the difficulties encountered by the students

they always find a way to conquer it all.

Researchers come up to this research study “Relationship between the

behavior and Strategies of the students towards Writing Essay” because the

researchers also experience some difficulties in constructing an essay especially

with the use of English language. In addition, to overcome the said problem, the

researchers are going to have an action research to find possible ways in helping

every students to cope up with it.

Statement of the Problem

The aim of the study is to enhance the students’ skill in writing through

addressing the root cause which is the attitude of the students in writing using the

second language.

1. To what extent do the students manifest the following attitude while writing?

2. To what extent do the students use the writing strategies in writing Essay?

3. Is there any significant relationship between the students’ attitude towards

writing and the strategies they use?

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4. Based on the findings, what proposed solution or project can the researchers

use to improve the writing skills of the students?

Hypothesis

There is a significant relationship between the attitude and strategies of the

students towards writing.

Scope and Delimitation

The study focused on identifying the attitude of the students towards writing,

strategies used by the students in writing an essay. Significant relationship

between the attitude of the students and the strategies they use in writing essay.

This study delimits the learning about grammar awareness and reading skills

of the students. In addition, the sections who’s not handle by the English teacher

whom the researchers tied up with, is not included as part of the respondent.

Significance of the Study

The researchers believe that this study will be a great help to school

administrators, teachers, students, the researchers themselves and the future

researchers.

Students. This study will help the students enhance their writing skills. To

determine the possible strategies that they will use to overcome their difficulties in

writing skills.

School. The result of the study aims to inform them to motivate the students

those who are having difficulties in writing. The school will understand the

students if there were an instance that they wouldn’t catch up the activities.

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 Teachers. The ideas presented would be used on how teachers be informed

that may help the students improve their Writing skills, for them to overcome the

said problem.

Future Researchers. The ideas and the results of the study may help them to

the validity of other related findings. This study will also serve as their cross

-reference that will give them a background or an overview about the problem of

the study.

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 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter deals with the review of related literature and researchers closely

related to the present study which are derived from general references, foreign,

internet source and other reading materials.

Conceptual Literature

English language plays an important role in our society not only in better

communication but also in making a composition. It can connect with other people

who live in different countries, to connect with their culture and their way of

thinking, is tremendously enriching to your life. It will enable you to be more

successful because through your language you will be able to access more

opportunities and connections. In addition, English Language helps you to

become a better listener.

Writing

Writing is a method of representing language in visual or tactile form. Writing

systems use sets of symbols to represent the sounds of speech, and may also

have symbols for such things as punctuation and numerals. Simon Ager (2018).

Writing is one of the most important skills in English as a second language

learners must master, particularly to students. That’s because unlike speaking

exercises, when you write you leave a lasting record of your language. Mistakes

in spelling, grammar and word choice are immediately evident. And while literacy

skills are not a reflection of intelligence or knowledge, poor writing can cause a

student to receive lower marks despite their understanding of the subject being

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discussed. People may judge you as lazy or untrustworthy if you create a content

full of mistakes. People who have never tried to write in a second language

cannot understand the frustration, agony and helplessness second language

which is English, before they become proficient, as they attempt to put their

thoughts in English. Writing in English is a life skill which nobody in twenty-first

century can do without. It is much more important for prospective teachers whose

future career and entails a lot of writing and on whose shoulders are responsibility

of teaching writing is place.

According to Smith Hurried (2012), writing is a process organizing the idea,

opinions, and feelings into written form. It is a complex activity with the control

language both of the sentences level (grammatical, structure, vocabulary,

punctuation, spelling, and later information) and beyond the sentence rank

(organizing and integrating information into cohesive and coherent paragraph or

text). What we want write should have something meaning to convey.

Bram (2008), defines that writing is producing or reproducing written message.

It is an active process to organize and formulate the ideas on the paper. Therefore,

before we write we need to determine what to writes should have something

meaningful to convey.

Furthermore, writing is in the sense of the verb ‘write’. Write is to make letters

or other symbols (ideographs) on a surface, especially with a pen or a pencil on a

paper.Hornby (2012),

In addition, Hammad (2013), writing is thinking process which demands

intellectual effort, and its involved generating ideas, planning, goal setting,

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monitoring, evaluating what is going to be written as well as what has been written,

and using language for expressing exact meanings. It means that writing consists

of some stages that should be done by the writer in conveying the message of

writing.

According to Harmer (2015), there are three stages of writing process. The

first stage is Pre-writing. Pre-writing is a way of organizing your thought or

beginning to put the information you have on paper. Pre-writing stage helps the

writer to generate the ideas by numerous ways such as brainstorming, outlining,

topic analysis, freewriting and planning. The second stage is Drafting. After

getting some ideas, drafting is begun. In drafting the students need to arrange

their writing. It can be done by using native language translate into English or

directly write in English with some problems may face.

Students often shared their drafting results to their friends or teacher to get

feedback about their writing. In addition, students start to concern several aspects

related to writing such as grammar, spelling, vocabulary, and content of their

writing to discover how they can express their ideas in clearest manner possible

so that their readers will receive the same message with the same impact that

students intended. The third stage is Revising.

The process revising means students learn from some feedback they got to

improve their writing. When students do not get feedback in this stage they rewrite

their result and may do some changes that they would like or make.

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Writing Strategies

Writing Strategy in various kind of learning is needed to help students in

reaching goal of learning. It can be applied to overcome the problem during

learning. Second language learning strategies can be defined as specific actions

used by students to make the learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self -

directed, more effective, and more transferrable.A strategy is often presented as a

set of questions that writers need to ask themselves to facilitate the generation of

ideas and to assist with the organizations or their material across different writing

genres Westwood, (2008).

Strategy is a plan, method or series of activities design to achieve a particular

educational goal (Sanjaya, 2006: 126). It implies that strategy is plans or ways

used by someone in doing something to achieve the goal. Strategy will help them

to do something in this term to help the students to write.

Westwood (2008), informs that applying writing strategies give some

advantages. Firstly, writing strategies help students think productively before

writing, because in the first stage students need to write their rough ideas to be

generated later. Hopefully, students will not be shortage of ideas. Secondly, make

students easier to sequence their ideas logically, add relevant detail, and impose

structure on their text. From the ideas gather, student chose the ideas and

arrange it in their text. Thirdly, attract the students to review and improve their

drafting. It means that after students finish their writing, they will read the whole

result. Students check and make some revision of the writing. Besides, students

will be more aware of their own particular problem areas when they are writing.

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Furthermore, Lan, Hung & Hsu (2011: 2 vol. 10 issue 4) confirm that writing

strategies develop and formulate abstract ideas as well as use proper media or

tools to assist pre - writing and successive tasks ate critical issues. In short,

writing strategies aid students to generate the ideas, order the ideas in good line,

and check their writing to improve the writing result.

According to Professional Learning Board LLC (2018), there an SRSD

concept to choose writing strategies to enhance student writing. Teaching specific

writing strategies is referred to as Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD).

SRSD is the concept of using writing strategies for individual students to better

their writing skills. This concept requires self-regulation by the student to take an

active part in recognizing and identifying the writing skills they need to improve.

The following are 4 steps to helping students choose the right writing strategy for

them.

The first step is to develop. Develop assessments that can help identify what

skills students are able to display and which skills they need to improve. Have

students perform different types of writing assignments to get a better idea of the

range of their skills. The second step is to discuss. Students can be introduced to

when, how and why to use the chosen strategy. Students may be asked to reflect

on the writing process, their own writing skills and the areas they think they need

to improve. With this collaboration, teachers can explain how SRSD can help

them develop better writing skills. Goals can be set, in this stage or the next,

based on individual skills. Students can also be encouraged to engage in

self-monitoring as they work toward their individual goals. The third step is model.

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It should model the use of the strategy so students can understand each step.

The teacher may use the ‘think aloud’ technique of modelling so that students are

aware of how the strategy is being used during the process of writing as well as

modeling self-regulation strategies. The teacher may model the use of

mnemonics, graphic organizers and other aids that can act as supports to the

students as they begin to use a strategy. The fourth step is to support.Students

should be able to practice strategies with their teacher’s support and guidance.

Scaffolds and feedback can be provided and the students can slowly become

more independent as they become more comfortable with the strategy.

Graphic organizers

A graphic organizer is a visual representation or frame used to organize

information. The purpose of a graphic organizer is to help students by simplifying

information and by stimulating thinking skills.It is one of the strategies in writing

which is generally used during the Guided activity. In Guided reading, graphic

organizers establish prior knowledge, activate schema, help students in making

predictions, and assess students' comprehension. Graphic organizers provide a

visual connection with the text and explicit guidance in note-taking and classifying

information for recall. For this reason, graphic organizers are particularly effective

with content area or expository text.

Also used in the Writing Block, graphic organizers help students plan for

writing. Graphic organizers provide

a visual framework for details, comparisons, sequences, and interactions.

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Writing Techniques

According to Johnston (2008), there are five techniques in writing. The first

technique is to cut unnecessary words. Many words we use in conversation are

not necessary, but they don’t distract from our message because our tone of voice

complements them. Those same words get in our readers way.When you finish a

piece, read it in search of words that add nothing to the tone or meaning. Next

technique is cut introductory words unless your readers need them. Third one is

choose shorter words, shrink your writing by cutting unfamiliar words. Fourth

technique is say things just once. In speech, we often say things two different

ways to make a point. In writing, that habit leads to redundancy. Fifth one is use

fewer examples. You can make a strong argument with one or two powerful

example, and Then edit, asking yourself which of those are weighty evidence.

Those are the techniques in writing by Johnson and he also said it’s a fact, long,

wordy writing annoys and frustrates readers. It makes them work too hard to find

the essential message.

The Writing Process

The writing process involves generating ideas, developing and organizing the

ideas, and revising and editing them. Effective writers cycle through these stages

until they are satisfied that the writing achieves its purpose. Generating Ideas In

all subject areas, students need to develop skills for getting what they know about

a topic down on paper, and generating ideas or finding additional facts. They also

need skills to check whether their writing is on-topic and fulfilits purpose. Further,

they need to be able to explain the writing assignment and the process they are

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following to effectively complete the assignment. Developing and Organizing

Ideas Students need to know how to organize what they have learned about any

topic or assignment into a well-structured whole. In longer writing assignments,

they need to know how to create a strong, focused introduction that catches the

reader’s interest; how to link ideas in logically connected paragraphs that contain

enough supporting detail; and how to conclude with a strong ending. Revising and

Editing Students need individual and group skills to assess their own work and the

work of others for content, clarity, form and style, and for errors in grammar,

punctuation and spelling. Ultimately, students have individual responsibility for

the accuracy of their work, but they need to know how to help each other

improved.

Related Studies

According to the study conducted by Pineteh (2013), the academic writing

challenges of undergraduate students at Cape Peninsula University of

Technology (CPUT), South Africa. It examines challenges such as lack of a

mastery of academic writing conventions, analysis of writing topics, using writing

to construct social identities; ability to research and apply knowledge across

different context and poor sentence skills. It also focuses on the implications of

these challenges for students’ academic development and possible strategies to

address these challenges. The study draws on sustained interviews with twenty

2nd year students, 1st year student reflections and discussions with four

Communication lecturers. The data revealed that academic writing challenges of

students in universities of technology are consequences of students’ linguistic and

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general literacy backgrounds, their attitudes toward academic writing and the

privileging of middle-class literacy practices in South African higher education. To

mitigate these challenges, this study proposes the following strategies: the

integration of academic literacies in disciplinary curricula, the promotion of

multimodalities of teaching and assessment as well as collaboration between

language lecturers and core course specialists. It also recommends intensive

academic reading and writing workshops, and increased formative feedback.

Another study conducted by Hall (2013), found that writing attitudes directly

influenced writing achievement in a study examining the relationship between first

and third graders’ writing motivation and achievement. Because writing attitudes

and motivation can predict writing performance, it is imperative to learn more

about key experiences that motivate young children to write. The study found out

that there is a positive influence between the writing experiences to the students

desire to write and influence their writing development. Students reported positive

experiences with writing revolving around topic choice and the publishing of their

work and negative experiences including assigned writing tasks and critical

feedback from adults (Hall & Grisham-Brown, 2010).

According to the study of Setyowati and Sukmawan (2013), Writing is a

sophisticated language skill since it requires the ability not only to tailor ideas, but

also to construct acceptable sentences to create a meaningful, logical, and

comprehensible work. As a result, English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners

have to maximize their efforts to put their thoughts on the paper. This paper is

intended to describe the EFL Students attitude toward writing. There were 57

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students participating in the study. The data was collected by using questionnaire,

interview, and documentation of self-reflection essay.

The result shows that none of the students has low attitude in writing, while 58%

of them has moderate attitude to writing, and the rest of them have positive

attitude to writing. The result from the interview also reveals that although the

students have moderate attitude to writing, they view writing as difficult, and

stressful. While those who have high attitude, mostly view writing as interesting

and challenging. The finding also reveals several efforts the students do to

improve their writing skill, among others are practice writing, reading a lot for

knowledge and ideas, and using diary writing. The implication of the finding is

discussed.

Another study conducted by Alamis (2010), study which discusses the

reactions and responses that students have with regard to teacher written

feedback. This study used the descriptive and analytical methods in gathering

data. The instruments which have been utilized in the inquiry are survey

questionnaire and student composition. The results of a survey given to a group of

students at the Faculty of Arts and Letters of the University of Santo Tomas show

that the students generally believe that teacher comments help them enhance

their writing skills. It also reveals that praise comments encourage students to

improve their written work. Students read teacher comments to know their

strong and weak points. Furthermore, students prefer feedback in the area of

content in the form of advice or suggestion. This paper also reveals significant

insights on Filipino ESL learners who are learning to write.

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Synthesis

The aforementioned studies conducted by different researchers were found

relevant to this study. These were of great help to the present researchers on the

pursuit for deeper meaning and served as guides in the attainment of the

objectives of this study. This section discusses the differences and similarities

between the present research and the previous ones.

The study of Pineteh (2013) is similar with the present study in terms of the

students’ attitude towards the academic writing and privileging of middle-class

literacy practices with regards to the challenges such as lack of a mastery of

academic writing convention, analysis of writing topics, using writing to construct

social identities; ability to research and applied knowledge across different

context and poor sentence skills. The differences are that the previous study have

the under graduated students at cape peninsula University of technology, South

Africa as the subject of their study. On the other hand, the present study has the

grade 11 students of reading and writing subject.

The study of Anna H. Hall (2013) is similar to the present study in terms of the

attitude of the student towards academic writing. It focuses on the writing

experience of the students that has a positive influence in the writing development

of the student. The difference of these study to the present study is that, it

excluded the achievement of the student in revealing their attitude and behavior

towards writing.

In addition, Setyowati and Sukmawan (2013) is similar with the present study

in terms of its objectives. This study aims to know and describe the students’

16
attitude towards writing an essay. The differences of this to the present study is

that they used the EFL students as their respondents, while the present study will

use the grade 11 students as a subject of this study who are currently taking

reading and writing subject.

Another study by Alamis (2010) differs from the present study in terms of the

method and research instrument that they used in gathering data. And this study

is similar to the present study in terms of the strategies of the students on how

they will enhance or improve their writing skills. Because students prefer feedback

in the area of content in the form of advice or suggestions from the teachers.

Theoretical Framework

According to Saskatoon (2008) RAFTs Technique is a strategy that integrates

reading and writing in a non-traditional way. It asks that students take what they

have read and create a new product illustrates their depth of understanding; it

may be use with fiction or non-fiction text. The acronym RAFT means: Role of

writers, Audience, Format and Topic. The format is incredibly flexible and offers

limitless opportunities for creativity for both you and your students. The RAFTs

Technique is a system to help students understand their role as a writer, the

audience they will address, the varied formats for writing, and the expected

content. Almost all RAFTs writing are written from a viewpoint different from the

student’s, to another audience rather than the teacher, and in a form different from

the ordinary theme. Therefore, students are encouraged to use creative thinking

and response as they connect their imagination to newly learned information.The

purpose of RAFTs is to give students a fresh way to think about approaching their

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writing. It occupies a nice middle ground between standard, dry essays and

free-for-all creative writing. RAFTs combines the best of both. It also can be the

way to bring together students’ understanding of main ideas, organization,

elaboration, and coherence in other words, the criteria by which compositions are

most commonly judged.

The RAFTs technique has six steps, the first one is explain to the students

how all writers have to consider various aspects before every writing assignment

including role, audience, format, and topic. Tell them that they are going to

structure their writing around these elements. (It may be helpful to display the

elements on chart paper or a bulletin board for future reference.) Second step is

to display a completed RAFTs example on the overhead, and discuss the key

elements as a class. Then, demonstrate, model, and “think aloud” another sample

RAFT exercise with the aid of the class. Brainstorm additional topic ideas, and

write down the suggestions listing roles, audiences, formats, and strong verbs

associated with each topic. Fourth step is to Assign students to small,

heterogeneous groups of four or five or pairs and have them “put their heads

together” to write about a chosen topic with one RAFTs assignment between

them. You may prefer to do this with pairs or even individually, depending on

your class. The fifth step is to circulate among the groups/students to provide

assistance as needed. Then have the groups/students share their completed

assignments with the class. Lastly, after students become more proficient in

developing this style of writing, have them to generate RAFTs of their own based

on current topics studied in class.

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 According to Wiggins, Grant and Jay McTighe (2011) the acronym GRASP

means Goal is to provide statement of the task when writing, Role is to state the

job of the students for writing, Audience is to identify he target audience within the

context of the scenario, Situation is to set the context of the scenario and explain

the situation, Product is to clarify what the students will create and why they will

create it and last the Standards and Criteria it provides students with a clear

picture of success and issue rubrics to the students or develop them with the

students.

Affective Cognitive Consistency Theory

M.I Rosenberg has suggested the affective- cognitive consistency theory

which is concerned with the consistency between a person’s overall attitude of

effect towards an object or issue and his beliefs about its relationship to his more

general values. This theory is concerned mainly with what happens within the

individual when an attitude changes. It assumes that the relationship between the

affective and cognitive components of the attitude change when an attitude is

altered.

The theory postulates a person’s effect towards or evaluation of the attitude

object tends to be consistent with this cognitive structural component. When there

is inconsistency beyond a certain level of tolerance, the individual is motivated to

reduce the inconsistency and thereby to change one or both components to make

them more consistent.

The theory thus suggests that changes in the affective components produce

changes in the cognitive component in order to bring about consistency between

19
the two. The theory also suggests that persuasive communication can also be

used to change the attitudes by evaluating the goals themselves.

Writing Strategies
Theory (Saskatoon Affective
RAFTs Cognitive
c 2008, Wiggins
technique Consistency
2011) Theory

Relationship
between the Attitude
and Strategies of the
Students towards
Writing

Figure 1

Theoretical Framework of the study Relationship between the Attitude and

Strategies of the students towards Writing Essay.

Conceptual Framework

The data needed for the study are gathered by the researchers from books in

the library and internet. They asked for the help of the adviser/ instructors and

20
former students to get examples and ideas. Everyone participated by researching

interesting topics and problems in community or institutions in which the proposed

study can be based.

The figure below discusses the three major processes in developing this

project: the input, process, and output. The input includes theories, ideas,

gathered data, principles, materials, tools, and equipment to be used and

application of knowledge and skills.

The middle frame contains the process. First, the researchers make sure that

all tools and materials needed are ready. After they gathered all the information

and data, they started the processing the plan and performed the project.

The next process concerns all about output. The researchers produce a

project that can help students enhance their writing ability.

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Research Paradigm
Input Process Output

Attitude of the
students towards
writing

Strategies used
by the students in
writing an essay Brochure about
Interview mechanics and
Significant
relationship Survey strategies in
between the Questionnaire writing
attitude of the
students and the Pearson R
strategies they
use in writing
essay

Figure 2

Research Paradigm about the Relationship between the Attitude and

Strategies of the Students towards Writing Essay

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Definition of Terms

This section involves the definition of the terminologies used in the study. For

better and clearer understanding of the study, following terms were defined

conceptually and operationally.

Attitude. A settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something,

typically one that is reflected in a person's behavior. (Merriam 2018). In this study,

it refers on how the students can write well in their essay with their attitude.

Attitude towards writing. Attitude was operationally defined as an affective

disposition involving how the act of writing makes the writer feel, ranging from

happy to unhappy. Writing attitude in the present study did not represent a

personality trait or a short-lived, situationally specific state. Merriam (2018). In this

study, it is used as the base of our research. Researcher’s wants to address the

root caused why the students are having difficulties in writing.

Essay. An essay is a "short formal piece of writing dealing with a single

subject, It is typically written to try to persuade the reader using selected research

evidence. In this study, it is defined as the test type to the students.

GRASP. It is a strategy in writing means Goal is to provide statement of the

task when writing, Role is to state the job of the students for writing, Audience is to

identify he target audience within the context of the scenario, Situation is to set

the context of the scenario and explain the situation, Product is to clarify what the

students will create and why they will create it and last the Standards and Criteria

it provides students with a clear picture of success and issue rubrics to the

students or develop them with the students. In this study, GRASP strategy will

23
guide the researchers to have a technique which will help in making an activities

using the second language in writing.

RAFT. It is a technique in writing which means Role of writers, Audience,

Format and Topic. The RAFTs Technique is a system to help students

understand their role as a writer, the audience they will address, the varied

formats for writing, and the expected content. In this study, it will help the

researchers to make an activities that will apply this technique wherein, writing is

most sophisticated one.

Writing activities. A brief passage of text or sometimes an image that

provides a potential topic idea or starting point for an original essay, report, journal

entry, story, poem, or other form of writing. Merriam (2018). In this study, it is used

as an instrument to make the students enhance their writing abilities with regards

of their attitude.

Writing. A form of communication that allows students to put their feelings

and ideas on paper, to organize their knowledge and beliefs into convincing

arguments, and to convey meaning through well-constructed text. Writing skills

help the learners gain independence and creativity in writing. Merriam (2018). In

this study, writing is the main focus of our study. The researchers want to

enhance the writing of the students.

Writing process. According to Merriam (2018), itinvolves at least four distinct

steps: prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing. It is known as a recursive process.

While you are revising, you might have to return to the prewriting step to develop

and expand your ideas. It this study the operational and conceptual definition is

24
the same. In this study, it is used as a sample for the students to know the right

process when they are writing.

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 CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter will discuss the research design used, subject of the study,

research instruments, data gathering procedures and the statistical treatment

applied.

Research Design

The researchers used a quantitative research design to determine the

relationship between the behavior and strategies towards writing an essay of

Grade-11 Senior High School students in PGNHS S.Y. 2018-2019. According to

Merriam (2018), Correlational is the type of quantitative research that is used by

the researchers. Correlational study determines whether or not two variables are

correlated. This means that this is a study of two or more variables from the same

group of participant and one is trying to determine if there is a relationship

between two variables. (Kalla, 2011)

This type of quantitative research is best suited to this study since this will

identify the relationship between the behavior and strategies towards writing an

essay of Grade-11 Senior High School students in PGNHS S.Y. 2018-2019.

Subject of the Study

The subject of the study involved selected Grade 11 students at PGNHS SY:

2018-2019, under the supervision of Mrs. Aileen Pascual in one of her subject

which is Reading and Writing. The researchers used the stratified sampling

method wherein it will the Slovin’s formula will be applied where the margin of

error was .05. The sampling that the researchers used is Stratified Sampling.

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Stratified Sampling refers to a type of sampling method. With stratified sampling,

the researcher divides the population into separate groups, called strata. Then, a

probability sample (often a simple random sample) is drawn from each group.

Stratified sampling has several advantages over simple random sampling. For

example, using stratified sampling, it may be possible to reduce the sample size

required to achieve a given precision. Or it may be possible to increase the

precision with the same sample size.

Description of Research instrument

The researchers chooses the survey method to gather information.

According to Research Connection Organization (2018) survey research is a

commonly used method in collecting data or information.

Questionnaire. The researcher constructed questionnaires to determine the

relationship between attitude and behaviour of the students towards writing

essay.

Construction of Questionnaire. The instrument contains questions that will

serve as the basis of evaluating the relationship between attitude and behaviour

of the students towards writing essay. It will be made from organizing different

published studies coming from books, articles, published thesis and the like. The

researchers also gathered data from the internet for more details, ideas, and

information on the questions that will appear in the questionnaire sheet.

Validation of Questionnaire. The copy of questionnaires will be submitted to

the teacher for validation and evaluation. After checking, it will be revised and

improved by the researchers, it will be then, rechecked by the teacher to ensure

27
that the questionnaires were polished and understandable by the respondents

before distributing it to them. The final draft will be submitted for approval and are

ready to be administered.

Administration. The researchers will send first a letter of request to the

principal to conduct a survey. Upon approval, the questionnaires will be

distributed to the respondents. After accomplishing the survey questionnaires,

those will be collected and tallied and the results are going to be evaluated to

answer the posted questions of the problem.

Scoring of Responses. To treat the items on the evaluation sheet, a

four-point Likert Scale was used. Below is the interpretation and value scale.

Scale Interpretation

4 Very Great Extent (VGE)

3 Great Extent (GE)

2 Moderately Extent (ME)

1 Least Extent (LE)

Data Gathering Procedure

The researchers of the study followed many steps to be able to obtain the

information needed. First, the researchers will create a letter for the approval to

conduct the survey at Grade 11- HUMSS Students. The researchers conduct the

28
study to know the relationship between the behaviour and strategies of the

students towards writing. Second, the researchers will provide some survey

questions to be answered by the respondents.

At last, after collecting all the data, the researchers will analyze and interpret

the data and information gathered using survey questions and interview. The

result will help the researchers to provide a recommendation on how the students

will enhance their writing skills.

Statistical Treatment of Data

To analyze and interpret the data that were gathered, the researchers used

the following statistical treatment in this study.

Frequency Distribution. This is used to determine the number of those who

evaluated questionnaire.

Percentage. The statistical formula is used to describe the profile of the

respondents.

Pearson R. The method is used to determine the degree of the relationship of

the variables. In this study, it was utilized to describe the relationship between

attitude and behaviour of the students towards writing essay.

Ranking. It is used to determine the majority of answers done by the

respondents. It is measured which among the items got the highest mean score to

the lowest mean score.

Statistical Treatment Applied

The data collected are the subject for the analysis in the development of a

right and clearer interpretation. Questionnaires will be used to determine the

29
relationship between the behaviour and strategies of the students in writing essay.

Answers will be transcribed carefully before they have undergone a thorough

analysis. According to the Statistical Solution (2018) Pearson’s correlation

coefficient is the test statistics that measures the statistical relationship, or

association, between two continuous variables. It is known as the best method of

measuring the association between variables of interest because it is based on

the method of covariance. It gives information about the magnitude of the

association, or correlation, as well as the direction of the relationship.

30
Bibliography

Nazurah Abdul Rahman.(2016). Retrieved last November 03,2018, retrieved from

https://m.grin.com/document/383545

Will Kenton.(2018). Retrieved last December 08,2018, retrieved from

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/simplerandomsample.asp

Lestari Setyowati Sony Sukmawan.(2006).EFL Indonesian Students Attitude

toward Writing in English.Retrieved last November 26,2018 Retrieved from

https://www.resarchgate.net/publication/323971798_EFL_Indonesian_students_

attitude_toward_writing_in_english

Question Pro Survey Software.(2019).Retrieved last January 4,2019 Retrieved

fromhttps://www.question.com/blog/quantitative-research/amp

Muhammad Fareed.(2016).ESL Learners Writing Skills Problems,Factors and

Suggestions retrieved last November 26, 2018. Retrieved from

https://www.researchfate.net/publication/311669829_ESL_Learnes_writing_skills

_problems_factors_andsuggestion

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 CHAPTER IV

PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS, AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

This chapter presents the data pertinent in the study which were carefully

presented, analyzed and interpreted. The data were derived from the answers

provided by the respondents.

1. Attitude of the student in writing

Table 1 shows the extent that the student manifested the following attitude. It

could be gleaned from the table that the students are very careful in choosing

words in writing essay and also the students can accomplish their composition

when they are alone. This attained the highest weighted mean of 3.03 which was

manifested to a great extent among them.

The indicator can use words in meaningful and creative way in writing ranked

third among the respondents. This obtained a weighted mean of 3.02 which is

manifested to a great extent. The result shows that students can use words

creatively in writing an essay. To a great extent awareness of misused words in

writing essay and writing when it talks about personal experiences. This was

revealed with the obtained weighted mean of 3.01.The student find it hard to

come up with a good topic but they can write well when they are writing with their

piece ranked lowest among the given items. This obtained a weighted mean of

2.92, however still manifested to a great extent. Moreover this can be implied that

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students are more comfortable in writing essay were topics are coming within

them rather than to those topics that is given by other person.

In general, the attitude of the students in writing were manifested to a great

extent as revealed by the obtained composite mean of 2.98. The result shows that

attitude of the students in writing not reached its maximum level, particularly those

students who are making their essay properly.

Table 1

Extent do the students manifest the following attitude while writing

INDICATORS Weighted Verbal Rank

Mean interpretation

I brainstorm ideas every time I need to write. 2.94 GE 12

I find it hard to come up with a good topic 2.92 GE 14.5

I write well when I’m writing with my piece. 2.92 GE 14.5

I’m confused in using proper grammar every time I 2.93 GE 13

write

I find it difficult to select proper words that are 2.95 GE 11

appropriate to what I’m going to write.

In terms of constructing a sentence, I avoid 2.96 GE 10

redundancy of words.

I can construct a short but precise sentence. 3 GE 7

I’m aware of misused words in writing essay. 3.01 GE 4.5

I’m very careful in choosing words in writing essay. 3.03 GE 1.5

I can use words in meaningful and creative way in 3.02 GE 3

writing.

I can accomplish a composition when I’m alone. 3.03 GE 1.5

I like writing when it talks about personal 3.01 GE 4.5

experiences.

I like to use lots of descriptions and new words in 2.99 GE 9

writing.

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I like to write in bullet form or fill in charts. 3 GE 7

When I write, I try to spell all the words correctly in 3 GE 7

the first time.

COMPOSITE MEAN 2.98 GE

Table 2

Extent do the students use different strategies in writing

INDICATORS Weighted Verbal Rank

Mean interpretation

I organize ideas using graphic organizer. 3.01 GE 5

After reading, I rephrase the ideas based on my GE 3.5

understanding and put it into writing. 3.02

I activate my prior knowledge based on the ideas GE 3.5

presented. 3.02

I brainstorm idea with my other classmates to gather GE 6.5

ideas. 3

I use suggestions to improve my writing. 3 GE 6.5

I write based on the presented rubrics. 2.97 GE 8.5

I set goals to improve my writing based on my GE 8.5

reflections. 2.97

I use pre-writing strategies to help me write a first GE 13.5

draft. 2.94

I search in books and internet as a source of ideas GE 13.5

for my writing. 2.94

I use literary devices such as simile metaphor, etc. 2.90 GE

I use transitional devices to achieve the coherence of GE 11.5

ideas. 2.95

I consult to the dictionary every time I write so that I GE 10

can improve my vocabulary. 2.96

I tend to use bullets in organizing my ideas. 2.95 GE 11.5

Before I write, the objective of writing is clear to me. 3.09 GE 1

I proofread my works so that I can correct the 3.08 GE 2

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grammatical error.

COMPOSITE MEAN 2.99 GE

Table 2 shows the extent do the students use the different strategies in writing.

It could be gleaned from the table that before the student write, the objective of

writing is clear to them. This attained the highest weighted mean of 3.09 which

was manifested to a great extent among them. It clearly shows that the students

are making sure of the purpose that they will work on. The students proofread

their works so that they can correct the grammatical error ranked second among

them. This obtained a weighted mean of 3.08 which had manifested to a great

extent. The result shows that the students activate their prior knowledge based on

the ideas presented and also the students rephrase the ideas based on their

understanding and put it into writing. This attained the weighted mean of 3.02

which was manifested to a great extent among them.

3. The study focused on the relationship between the attitudes and strategies of

the students towards writing. With the help of Microsoft excel, the data indicates

that the decision is to accept the alternative hypothesis, which means that there is

a significant correlation between the attitude and strategies of the student. This

means that the variables are directly proportional to each other. If the attitude of

the student is low, the strategies will also be low. According to

35
 CHAPTER V

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

This section includes the summary of the study, the findings, the conclusion and

recommendations based on the analysis done.

Summary

The main objective of the study is to enhance the students’ skill in writing

through addressing the root cause which is the attitude of the students in writing

using the second language. This quantitative study, which made use of the

correlational approach focused on the attitude and strategies of the Grade 11

HUMSS students towards writing essay.

It utilized the questionnaire method to gather relevant data from a quota of

160 respondents who are a students of humanities and social sciences in Grade

11. The Pearson-r correlation with its corresponding hypothesis testing were used

in treating the data.

Findings

The following are the salient findings of the study:

1. The extent of the attitude of the student is great.

2. The extent of the strategies of the students is great.

36
3. The great relationship between the attitude and strategies of the student

towards writing is significant.

Conclusion

The researchers arrived at the following conclusions:

1. The student attitude towards writing essays are greatly manifested.

2. The student strategies in writing are greatly manifested.

3. The higher the extent of the attitude means the higher extent of strategies.

Recommendation

Based on the findings and conclusions of the study; the following are

suggested:

1. Organization who’s in lined with the second language has to improve their

activities that can catch the interest of a students.

2. Coordination between the English teachers must be establish to come up with

the strategies or means on how to improve the writing skills of a student.

3. The researchers highly recommended the proposed output which is the

brochure that contains mechanics and strategies in writing that can be used to

improve and uplift the writing skills of the students.

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 Table 3

Variables Level Decision Remarks

correlated

Attitude
Great Significant
and
Accept
Extent correlation
strategies

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39