Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

In the Philippines setting, the significant role of English as a second language

being taught in all schools, colleges and universities is stipulated in Article XIV Section 7

of the 1987 Constitution, which mandates the use of Filipino and English as official

languages of the Philippines for purposes has realized the need for a language other than

its people´s native dialect. To affirm the inclusion of English as a language of instruction

in classrooms, Bilingual Education Policy (DECS Order no. 52, s. 1987) was conceived

to enable every Filipino to be proficient in the use of Filipino citizens must develop both

skills in Filipino to achieve quality of communication and instruction. Thus, two media of

language instructions are presently used in Philippine schools: English for Science,

Mathematics, English, and Filipino for all other academic subject. The Philippine

government education, and English to perform their functions.

Though, in 2006 the department of education gave an Order No. 36, s. 2006

implementing Rules and Regulations on Executive Order No. 210, Establishing the

Policy to Strengthen the Use of the English Language as a Medium of Instruction in the

Educational, still the proficiency of the students in English language is deteriorating.

In 2012, a survey conducted by the Global English Corporation, a provider of

cloud-based software to advance English literacy in global organizations, ranked

Philippines as the number one in the world for business English proficiency. Meanwhile,

rounding up to the top five are Norway, Serbia, Slovenia, and Australia. Surprisingly,
 2

English native-speaking countries like the United States and Great Britain are not even in

the top ten, while Malaysia and Singapore occupy sixth and ninth place respectively.

However, as results of a two-year study conducted by Hopkins International

Partners, the English proficiency of Filipinos students is declining. Many surveys now

are showing that English proficiency of Philippines is deteriorating university graduates

average 630 on English proficiency based on the Test of English for International

Communication (TOEIC). It also indicated to the report that the Filipino university

graduates’ median score was comparable to the proficiency of 5th and 6th grade students

in native English speaking countries such as the US and the United Kingdom.

Background of the Study

As an educator, it is very important to understand and be aware of the difficulties

faced by most of the students when they are given specific task in English subjects both in

written and speaking performances. The researcher observed that most students doesn´t

like to speak and write in English language. They disregard the English subject because

they are not comfortable to speak the language the way it supposed to be spoken. Students

have the negative attitudes toward the language. They are having difficulties to pronounce

sounds or sometimes interchangeably pronounce some sounds to other sounds (ex. p

sounds to f sound, v sound to b sound and th sound to d sound). This is understandable

since Filipino alphabet doesn´t apply these sounds. This may cause confusion to other

learners, for the reason that students are not willing to learn the right way of speaking

English language, and insisting to do it in the Filipino way. This is not just the difficulty
 3

that the researcher observed, even in the writing aspect, learners are having difficulty

constructing simple essay to a particular topic.

This study will focus on the proficiency of productive skills of senior high school

students using the integrated approach practices and to find out if these instructions will

help the learners enhance their speaking and writing skills.

Theoretical Framework

This study will be based on the concept of Communicative Framework by

Murcia,.et. al. (1996). As described in the book “Teaching English as Second or Foreign

Language,” there must be a preset framework for sequencing of activities within the

second language instruction. Their five stages include description and analysis, listening

discrimination, controlled practice, guided practice and communicative practice.

In order to acquire the second language (English) there must be a systematic way

of teaching the L2 to be able to obtain an effective outcomes in the acquisition of L2 to

non-native speakers especially for the learners. It is very important for every L2

instructors or teachers to know and understands the right instruction that they will use in

teaching the L2 learners, so that at the end of the lessons learners can be proficient in the

productive skills of second language, specifically in English language.

In guided practice the learner's attention is no longer entirely on form. The

learner now begins to focus on meaning, grammar and communication intent as well as

pronunciation. Eventually, the master fades away completely when the apprentice has

learned to smoothly execute the whole task. Teachers need to develop a continuum of

bridging activities, which shift attention gradually to a new cognitive task while the

learner attempts to maintain control in oral and written performance (e.g.: memory
 4

games) Moreover, in communicative practice is based on the idea that learning a

language successfully comes through having to communicate real meaning. In the

Communicative practice the main objective is to present a topic in context as natural as

possible. The activities strike a balance between form and meaning. e.g. debates, role

plays, interviews, etc. Even in this stage the learner's attention should still be focused on

the oral or written performance, Collins, (2008, p. 48)

This study conceptualized the relationship between independent variables and

dependent variables as presented in the research paradigm.

Research Paradigm

Independent Variable Dependent Variable

Proficiency in
Productive Skills
Second Language
Instructions 1. Speaking
 Pronunciation
 Communicative  Intonation
Practice  Stress
 Guided Practice 2. Writing
 Coherence
 Organization
 Content

Figure 1. The research paradigm shows the relationship between the Second Language
Instructions in the Proficiency in productive skills of Senior high school students.
 5

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to answer the following questions

1. What is the mean pre-test score of the two sections in productive skills in terms of:

1.1 Speaking

1.1.1 Pronunciation;

1.1.2 Intonation; and

1.1.3 Stress?

1.2 Writing

1.2.1 Coherence;

1.2.2 Organization; and

1.2.4 Content?

2. What is the mean post-test score of the two sections in productive skills as to:

2.1 Speaking

2.1.1 Pronunciation;

2.1.2 Intonation; and

2.1.3 Stress?

2.2 Writing

2.2.1 Coherence;

2.2.3 Organization; and

2.2.4. Content?

3. Is there a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test mean scores of the

two sections using the second language instruction in English namely guided approach

and communicative approach?

 6

4. Is there a significant relationship between the second language instruction and the

productive skills of respondents in terms of:

4.1 Speaking

4.1.1 Pronunciation

4.1.2 Intonation

4.1.3 Stress

4.2 Writing

4.2.1 Coherence

4.2.2 Organization

4.2.3 Stress

Research Hypotheses

1. There is no significant difference between the pre-test and post-test mean

scores of the two groups using the second language instruction namely guided

practice and communicative practice.

2. There is no significant relationship between the second language instruction

and the productive skills of respondents.

 7

Significance of the Study

The significance of the study is to be of assistance to ESL teachers, to ESL

students, researchers, to schools and universities, in particular to society in general. This

study address the following:

ESL Teachers/ Instructors. The study could help develop in the ESL teacher´s

critical reflection of their teaching as to how should they assist students become

proficient in the productive skills; how should they assess/ evaluate student´s speaking

and writing performance in the classroom; and how they should analyze their

effectiveness as Second language Instructors.

The result of this study would challenge the English teachers to expose and enhance

themselves, and to acquire competency in English. This will make them more creative in

preparation of their lesson so that activities will be more responsive to the needs of their

student particularly those who have difficulty in speaking and writing. Also, it will

contribute to the development of professional competence among ESL teachers since

they are involved in investigating the ways in which their students learn and the purpose

for which they are learning the English language.

ESL Students. This study will serve as assistance for them to understand the

importance of enhancing the productive skills; spoken and written skills in English They

will find the ESL Speaking (intonation, pronunciation, and delivery) essentials as ELL to

be able to communicate well to native or non-native speakers. Also, they will find ESL

writing (Composition, reflective, journals, diaries, paragraph/letter writing and the like)

as important tool in helping them diagnose and recognize their writing strengths and

weaknesses.
 8

Through this study, student would become aware of the significance that give a wide

opportunity to learn English language effectively, correctly, and fluently without

affecting the learning of the subject content, it will uplift the level of proficiency in

English and enhance the communication skills particularly in productive skills.

ESLCurriculum Planner. The insights gained from this study will encourage

curriculum planner to identify vital agenda for future classroom-based research, which

they may call for a critical review or evaluation of ESL Productive skills instruction and

assessment.

This study would help the curriculum planners by considering ESL teacher´s

teaching load and English class sizes, since teaching writing and speaking to non-native

speakers like the Filipino students is obviously not a simple and easy task particularly in

large classes. This may also help the ESL teachers to improve their own teaching style

that would benefit both them and their students.

Administrators/ Principals. This study will make them aware of the proficiency

in productive skills of their students and plan possible training programs for the teachers

to improve their ability in teaching second language and will surely enhance English

language students’ performance in both spoken and written communication.

Scope and Limitation of the Study

This study will focus on using second language Instruction in teaching Oral

Communication in Context as an input towards to students´ proficiency in productive

skills.

The study will be conducted at San Pablo Christian School during the first

semester of the academic year 2018-2019. The number of respondents will be limited to
 9

twenty (20) students per section; a total of 60 students will be asked as the respondents of

the experimental study. The approach will be used in teaching speaking and writing

(language drill, guided practice and communicative practice) will use by the researcher as

the instruction in teaching Oral communication in Context. The researcher will apply one

approach in every section to compare the effectiveness of each practice.

Definition of terms

In order to have a better understanding, the following terms are defined on the

manner in which are used in this study.

Productive skills. This pertains to speaking and writing skills. They are also

known as active skills.

Pronunciation. This refers to the way in which we make the sound of words. The

act of saying a word correctly

Intonation. This refers to the sound changes produced by the rise and fall of

the voice when speaking.

Organization. How the composition is formed which may also include the

paragraph development and sentence variety used.

Writing. The use graphic symbols such as letter or combination of letters into

words; words into sentences and sentences into a paragraph to produce a written

composition.

Coherence. It refers to logical bridge between words, sentences, and paragraphs.

Coherent writing uses devices to connect ideas within each sentence and paragraph.
 10

Communicative Approach. This approach focuses on to language teaching that

emphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of study.

Content. The writing competence of the respondents that provides information

including the added features include in the medium in which that information is

delivered.

Pretest. A preliminary test where in the respondents will be asked to answer the

provided examination to evaluate the students´ proficiency in productive skills

Posttest. The test given to the students by the teacher after the completion of the

lesson using the second language instruction in teaching English. Students will be ask to

answer the provided test during midterm examnation to determine the validity of the

study.

First Language (L1). Refers to people or students in which the native language

use in speaking and writing. The vernacular language or mother tongue

Second language (L2). People and students in which English are studied as their

second or foreign language.