Highlighting Words in Reading: As Perceived by Selected MSU-IIT Students on their

Academic Performance

A Title Proposal
Presented to
The Faculty of the Graduate School
Mindanao State University
Marawi City

In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Arts in Education
Major in Reading

NASHIVA RASCAL AMPUAN

November 2017
 Chapter 1
THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE
Rationale

Highlighting involves using a highlighter pen to change the background color of a

line of black-on-white print by simply stroking the pen over the Highlighted Material 4 line.

This stroking action changes the color of the line to a bright but relatively unsaturated hue,

such as yellow, blue, green, or pink.

According to Yue & et. Al (2014), many students use highlighters and believe them

to be an important component of their studying. There are dependable source that When

students are trained in highlighting techniques (i.e., to read a paragraph, decide what is

conceptually important, and then highlight that information), they perform better than

students who do not receive such training (Leutner et al. 2007), indicating that appropriate

cognitive activity during highlighting can enhance its benefits.

When we are learning, we should try not only to get a strong impression but also to

obtain as many different kinds of impressions as possible. Some people can remember

colors distinctly, but have a poor memory for shapes. But anyone, by putting together and

using all of the impressions our sense organs bring us about one thing, allows us to

remember it much more clearly than if we were to rely on sight or sound alone. For

example, try reading your lesson aloud. In doing this, your eye takes in the appearance of

the printed word, your ear passes the sound of the words to your brain, and even the tension

of the muscles of your throat add their bit to the total impression which your mind is

expected to store away.

 As cited by Ronald Zucker (2007) on his study, “HighBrow: A Context Enabled

Highlighting Browser,” Highlighting is a method of annotating a document that is usually

used to signal future attention, to help mark important places, aid memory, and trace

progress through difficult narrative (Marshall, 1997). Simple highlighting involves a marker

or mouse that uses real or digital ink. The reader simply moves a marker or mouse over the

appropriate material and the material is highlighted. If a reader can recall an equal amount

of important information in less time, the reader may be considered more efficient. Thus if a

reader of a context summary can spend less time reading the context summary than reading

a full document, and score as well as or better than reading the entire document, one can say

that the process is more efficient.

Furthermore, as cited by Gier et. al (2009) to the study titled “Harmful Effects of

Preexisting Inappropriate Highlighting on Reading Comprehension and Metacognitive

Accuracy,” Highlighting textbooks is often the preferred study technique for college

students. Students also use other techniques, such as underlining, making flash cards, or

writing in the margins of the textbook, to help improve retention of the required reading

material (Winograd, 1984). Past studies have shown that if students highlight relevant words

or phrases, reading comprehension increases (Peterson, 1992).

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The study will use theories about Reading, Memory, and Motivation. For reading

theories, the study will use of Bottom-up Model, Top-down Model, and Interactive Model.

For Memory theories, the study will employ Multi-store model and Working memory

model. Lastly for the Motivation theory, the study will utilize the self-determination theory.

READING

There are three main theories which explain the nature of learning to read. First, the

traditional theory, or bottom up processing, which focused on the printed form of a text. (2)

the cognitive view, or top-down processing enhanced the role of background knowledge in

addition to what appeared on the printed page. Third, the interactive view, which is based on

the control and manipulation that a reader can have on the act of comprehending a text, and

thus, emphasizes the involvement of the reader’s thinking about what he is doing while

reading.

The bottom-up theory gives emphasis to the text. The traditional bottom-up

approach to reading was influenced by behaviorist psychologist Gough of the 1950s, which

claimed learning was based upon “habit formation, brought about by the repeated

association of a stimulus with a response” and language learning was characterized as a

“response system that humans acquire through automatic conditioning processes,” where

“some patterns of language are reinforced (rewarded) and others are not,” and “only those

patterns reinforced by the community of language users will persist”. Gough, is a reading

specialist, thinks that processing meaning begins with the print on the page; that all the
letters in the visual field must be accounted for individually by the reader prior to the

association of meaning to any string of letters.

In the 1960s a paradigm shift occurred in the cognitive sciences. It is the Top-down

Model. In top-down concept of reading, the reader is the most important factor that brings

meaning to the text. He brings his experiences and his general view of the world to bear on

the written text. Kenneth Goodman, a reading specialist, is a strong adherent of this theory.

He believes that processing meaning begins with the reader’s prior knowledge of the world

including his knowledge of how language works and is used.

In the context of reading, the interactive view contends that processing begins with

either the print on the page or the reader’s prior knowledge of the world and language.

Meaning may be arrived at through guessing or through decoding the printed symbols.

Strategic readers do not only sample the text, make hypotheses, confirm or reject them, and

make new hypotheses while reading. They also involve many activities along the process of

reading, whose stages can be divided into three, i.e. before reading, while reading, and after

reading.

In this study, these three Reading theories give us information how does the student

learn to read. It is necessary to know the rote of the learning to read for us to understand

the students when they are reading their books. If they employ either Bottom-up, Top-down

or Metacognitive process of reading.

MEMORY
 The first theory is an influential theory of memory known as the multi-store model

was proposed by Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin in 1968. This model suggested that

information exists in one of 3 states of memory: the sensory, short-term and long-term

stores. Information passes from one stage to the next the more we rehearse it in our minds,

but can fade away if we do not pay enough attention to it.

Information enters the memory from the senses. This stream of information is held in

the sensory memory store, and because it consists of a huge amount of data describing our

surroundings, we only need to remember a small portion of it. As a result, most sensory

information ‘decays’ and is forgotten after a short period of time. A sight or sound that we

might find interesting captures our attention, and our contemplation of this information -

known as rehearsal - leads to the data being promoted to the short-term memory store,

where it will be held for a few hours or even days in case we need access to it. We need to

further rehearse information in the short-term memory to remember it for longer. Rehearsal

then further promotes this significant information to the long-term memory store, where

Atkinson and Shiffrin believed that it could survive for years, decades or even a lifetime.

Short-term memory stores to reach the long-term memory.

In this study, this model provides a compelling insight into how sensory information

is filtered and made available for recall according to its importance to the respondents

while they are highlighting words to easily enter the textual content to their senses which

lead it to their short term memory and then long term memory for them to gain higher

grades.
 On the other hand, Alan Baddeley and Graham Hitch viewed the short-term memory

(STM) store as being over-simplistic and proposed a working memory model (Baddeley &

Hitch, 1974), which replace the STM. The working memory model proposed 2 components

- a visuo-spatial sketchpad (the ‘inner eye’) and an articulatory-phonological loop (the

‘inner ear’), which focus on a different types of sensory information. Both work

independently of one another, but are regulated by a central executive, which collects and

processes information from the other components similarly to how a computer processor

handles data held separately on a hard disk. According to Baddeley and Hitch, the visuo-

spatial sketchpad handles visual data - our observations of our surroundings - and spatial

information - our understanding of objects’ size and location in our environment and their

position in relation to ourselves.

The visuo-spatial sketchpad also enables a person to recall and consider visual

information stored in the long-term memory. When you try to recall a friend’s face, your

ability to visualize their appearance involves the visuo-spatial sketchpad. While the

articulatory-phonological loop handles the sounds and voices that we hear. Auditory

memory traces are normally forgotten but may be rehearsed using the ‘inner voice’; a

process which can strengthen our memory of a particular sound.

In this study, the working memory model gives us insight that this could be beneficial

when we are highlighting word that involves visuo-spatial and when we read it aloud what

we highlighted is so called articulatory-phonological loop that could help the respondents

to store the information to their long term memory and a possibility to gain higher grades.
 MOTIVATION

Another theory is Self-determination theory (SDT), developed by researchers Deci

and Ryan (1985), addresses human motivation, development, and psychological wellness. It

effective way of explaining student motivation in the classroom. SDT identifies autonomy,

competence, and relatedness as the three basic psychological needs that motivate students.

Deci and Ryan describe autonomy as the need to feel self-governing, competence as the

need to feel effective or adequate, and relatedness as the need to be connected to others.

Students are more likely to be motivated if these three basic needs are satisfied, thus making

conditions more comfortable for them when participating in classroom activities.

In this study, this theory tells us when does the student feel motivated to comply his

academic requirements.

Therefore, the three above theories such as Reading, Memory and Motivation are used

due to the belief of the researcher that these three are beneficial in deep understanding about

the respondents’ ability to read, recalling the information when the respondents are

highlighting word while reading their school materials, and their motivation for performing

their academe and get higher grades.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

The study tries to know the Effect of Highlighting word in Reading. This study is

based on the believed that the students who are highlighting word in reading can affect their

spelling, vocabulary development, writing and reading comprehension.

Figure1 shows the schematic diagram of the study. The figure below illustrates the

respondents’ profile that the researcher believes factual information about respondents

should be gathered these are identified as the independent variables of the study, then

followed by the awareness and practices of respondents on highlighting then followed by

the importance of highlighting words on the aspect of spelling, vocabulary development,

writing and reading comprehension which will give feedback to the reader of the study on

how does the Highlighting word contributes to reading. Lastly, Academic performance is

the dependent variables of this study which tell us how this highlighting word is beneficial

in gaining higher grades.

 Independent Variables Dependent Variables

Personal Profile
 Age
 Sex
 College Year Level
 Academic Status
 Civil Status

The Perceptions of
respondents in highlighting
word
Academic
Performance
The Practices of respondents in (CGPA)
highlighting word

The contribution of highlighting

words on the aspect of:
 Spelling
 Vocabulary development
 Writing
 Reading Comprehension

Figure 1 A Schematic Diagram of Conceptual Framework of the Study

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

It is the purpose of the study to know the effects of Highlighting words in reading

among selected students of Mindanao State University- Iligan Institute of Technology.

Specifically, this study will seek to answer the following questions:

1. What are the profiles of the respondents in terms of:

1.1 Age

1.2 Sex

1.3 College level/year

1.4 Academic Status

1.5 Civil Status

2. What is the respondents’ perception on the influence of highlighting words on their

academic performance?

2.1. Helps to be more evaluative

2.2.Tends to better performance

2.3. Become more memorable

2.4. Effective for the re-study

2.5. Easy to Identify important details

3. What is the respondents’ practices on the influence of highlighting words on their

academic performance?

3.1. Use highlighting every study session

3.2. Buy highlighting marker in school supplies store

3.3. Hardly concentrate without highlighting

3.4. Use light colors of highlighting markers (e.g. Green and yellow)
 3.5. Always bring highlighting marker in the bag.

4. What is the contribution of highlighting on the respondents’ studies according in terms

of:

4.1 Spelling

4.2 Vocabulary development

4.3 Writing

4.4 Reading comprehension

5. What is the CGPA of the respondents?

6. Is there a significant relationship between the perception of highlighting words and

CGPA of respondents?

7. Is there a significant relationship between the practices of highlighting words and CGPA

of respondents?

8. Is there a significant relationship between the contributions of highlighting words and

CGPA of respondents?
Null Hypothesis:

Tested at 0.01 level of significance

H01: There is no significant relationship between highlighting word and CGPA of the

respondents.

H02: There is significant relationship between highlighting word and CGPA of the

respondents.

Scope and limitation of the Study

This study is concerned on the Highlighting Words in Reading: as perceived by

MSU-IIT students on their Academic performance on the selected college students during

the first semester of the academic year 2017-2018.The respondents are nursing students and

biology major students of MSU-IIT, and the selection will undergo purposive sampling.

This study will only answer the specific questions presented in the statement of the

problem. The Data to gather is by used of a researcher’s made questionnaire. The data will

be measured by means of likert scaling. Thus, the Methodology deployed here is the

Descriptive-correlation type of research

Significance of the Study

Finding of this study will be beneficial to the following:

Students this study would give them sense of hopeful when they are reading a school

material and they would like to make it easier in grasping details and information, this will

give them an insight on how to overcome the challenges of reading.

Teachers this study would give them sense of motivation to encourage their students to use

this study tool while their students are having hard time to study their school materials.

Parents this would give valuable insights to support and encourage more their children to

strive hard and use this kind of technique.

School Administrators the finding of the study will serve as the feedback information to

them for encouraging and supporting the students for the next school year to use this kind of

technique.

Public the finding serves as basis to the advantage or if there is disadvantage of using

highlighting markers.

Future Researcher this study will serve as a guide and reference to the future researchers

who may be intended to conduct other studies about Highlighting words in reading in wider

scope.

Definition of Terms

For clearer understanding of the terms use in this study, the following terms defined

either conceptually and/ or operationally.

For clearer understanding of the terms use in this study, the following terms defined

either conceptually and/ or operationally.

Acquire. An obtain learning or develop skill through your daily life. In this study,

this refers to the get the information out of the school material.
 Highlighting: Refers to a marker that a student stroke it on his textbook or notebook

and from a black color will change into another color. In this study, this refers to the use

color pen while reading the school materials.

Reading Comprehension. Is understanding language of the author of a printed

passage and the ability to anticipate meanings in lines of print so that the reader is not

concerned with the mechanical details but with grasping ideas form groups of words that

convey meaning. In this study, this refers to get the literal and figurative meaning of the

printed school material.

Spelling: Forming of words by ordering letters. ( Meriam Dictionary). In this study,

this refers when respondents read something difficulty because the word is unfamiliar to

him/her.

Vocabulary. An alphabetical list of words and phrase supplied with definitions or

translations. In this study, this refers to the unfamiliar words on the printed school materials

that the respondents could confirm it in dictionary to get its meaning.

Writing. are words or other symbols that considered as the product of a writer’s skill

(Meriam Webster). In this study, this refers to the skill of author when he wrote the printed

school material and then how the respondents do adjust to this writing skill.
 Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter includes literature and studies, foreign and local (such as printed books,

journals thesis and dissertation as well as online resources like ebooks, e-journals from

reliable information sources)that is related to the study. Some related studies are also

presented to support the present investigation.

Related Literature

Highlighting calls readers' attention—or "cues" them"—to actions they must take or

to information they must consider carefully. Highlighting cues readers when they are to

press something, enter something verbatim, or pay special attention to something

( McMurrey, 2017).

There’s an art to identifying what to summarize. An art of Highlighting is to be able

to read over a large chunk of text, put it into context with your goals (or emphases, or your

instructor’s emphases, or other) and then using that to find the shortest sentences possible

that yet say as much as possible: that’s the art. A skill that can (unfortunately) only be

developed by practice and more practice. Obviously, honing your skills at identifying what’s

important or interesting will increase your productivity manifold. Becoming adept at quickly

identifying the essence of texts will help you understand the rest of what you’re reading

more easily, simultaneously making it easier to remember. We live in a time where

information is basically overflowing – effective summarization is vital to get an overview of

what’s available out there. And then to gain deeper understanding of the material you wish

to inspect further (Thorisson, 2007).

 READING

The three reading theories such as the bottom-up, top-down and interactive are

discussed in this chapter.

Weir and Urquhart (1998) considered reading as a cognitive activity which largely

takes place in the mind while the physical manifestations of the activity such as eye

movements are comparatively superficial. Following are some of these models familiar to

many teachers of reading: The bottom-up model, the top-down model and the interactive

model.

The Bottom-Up Model

The bottom-up model is to “decode meaning from the printed page, recognize

linguistic signals, and use linguistic data processing mechanisms to impose some sort of

order on these signals” (Brown, 1994, p. 284). Weir and Urquhart (1998) also mentioned

that bottom-up analyses begin with the text, or bits of the text. For example, in Gough’s

(1972) model, the reader begins with letters, which are recognized by a SCANNER. The

information gained is passed to a DECODER, which converts the string of letters into a

string of systematic phonemes. This string is then passed to a LIBRARIAN, where eith the

help of the LEXICON, it is recognized as a word. The reader then fixated on the next word,

and proceeds in the same way until all the words in a sentence have been processed.

Reading is, therefore, considered as a process of exact identification of letters, words, and

ultimately sentences. In a text, the smallest units of language are identified first, and these

are chained together to form the next highest unit and so on (Wang, 1998). Therefore, this

model is data-driven and it is so-called bottom-up processing.

 As Rayner and Pollatsek (1989) pointed out, in Gough’s model, a word should take

longer to recognize than a single letter. But in fact experiments have shown that this is not

the case, words can be recognized more quickly than individual letters. It appears that at the

word-recognition stage, letters are processed in parallel. Moreover, readers have been shown

to use syntactic information to deal with ambiguous words. Kolers (1969) also mentioned

higher level information is being used in word recognitiono which may conflict with the

direction of the bottom-up model. Thus, the bottom-up model was criticized because its

view of reading comprehension is in rigid, word-by-word fashion (Wang, 1998). The

criticisms also came from several psycholinguistics such as Coady (1979), Lynch and

Hudson (1991), and Goodman (1970). They argued that reading involves more than word

perceptions. Lynch and Hudson (1991), for instance, pointed out that this model slows the

readers down in a way that they cannot comprehend larger language units. Therefore,a

model that emphasized a process from higher-level comprehension came in.

The Top-Down Model

The bottom-up model starts with the smallest text unit and one might expect the top-

down model should begin with the largest unit, the whole text. But, as Weir and Urquhart

(1998) mentioned it is impossible to see how a reader can begin by dealing with the text as a

whole, then proceed to smaller units of the text, paragraphs and then sentences, words and -

letters. The term ‘top-down’ is not used to offer an absolute opposite to ‘bottom-up’ but

refer to approaches in which the expectations of the reader play a crucial and even dominant

role in the processing of the text.

 Goodman (1970) then offered a top-down model of the reading process. He held that

readers process from higher-level conceptual encoding to lower-level perceptual

information, which operates in the opposite direction from the bottom-up processing

(Wang,1998). Goodman (1970) described reading as “a psycholinguistic guessing game,

involving an interaction between thought and language” (p.498), and he also viewed the

construction of meaning of a text is “a cyclical process of sampling, predicting, testing, and

conforming”. Goodman thought of reading as a process of hypothesis verification and the

readers use selected data from the text to confirm their guess. Weir and Urquhart (1998, p.

42) further discussed Goodman’s view of the reading process ‘was developed as a reaction

to the bottom-up model, not against theorists like Gough, but against a pedagogical

tradition, which stressed a strict bottom-up approach to the teaching of reading.

In Goodman’s study, he found the subjects sampled the text, employing text redundancy to

reduce the amount of data needed and using their language knowledge, either syntactic or

semantics, to guide their guesses. Therefore, his view of the reading process is often

classified into the top-down process, in which the readers’ expectations are brought to the

text, and that is reader-driven. Unlike the bottom-up model, the reading process is seen to be

cynical instead of being sequential, and the readers move from their own hypothesis to the

text and back to the hypothesis again.

Goodman contributed a lot in the theory of reading process. First, he offered an

alternative to reading researchers who may not be satisfied with the letter to letter, word to

word bottom-up model. Learning reading may become more exciting. Secondly, Goodman

suggested the readers’ hypothesis to the text, which may fit what Chomsky (1965) described

that human language users impose existing ‘rules’ or expectations on the data degenerated.
Finally, his model meshed well with notions that texts always being incomplete and being

completed by the readers by referring to their background knowledge. Goodman also had

considerable influence on L2 reading theory. For example, Hosenfeld (1984) claimed that

the good reader is a good guesser. However, there was criticism concerning the claim that

good readers guess more, and use the context more than poorer readers. Nicholson (1993)

found that it was the poor and average readers who may benefit from contexts not the older

and better ones. In fact, it is accepted that at least at the level of word recognition and lexical

access, some form of bottom-up process is followed.

Carrell and Eisterhold (1983), and Eskey (1988) also challenged the views that

reading comprehension involves either bottom-up or top-down processing. They pointed out

that the model of the reading comprehension process involves both bottom-up and top-down

models, and then proposed that in comprehending a text, the two models are employed

interactively and simultaneously.

The Interactive Model

The bottom-up model is sequential, and one stage is completed before another is

begun. In the interactive model, which was first proposed by Rumelhart (1977), a pattern is

synthesized based on information provided simultaneously from several sources. Weir and

Urquhart (1998) further described Rumelhart’s model. Once a Feature Extraction Device

has operated on the Visual Information Store, it passed the data to a pattern synthesiser

which receives input from Syntactical, Semantic, Lexical and Orthographic Knowledge, all

potentially operating at the same time. Carrell and Eisterhold (1983) also explained that the

bottom-up model ensures the reades’s anticipation about the text while top-down processing
helps to resolve ambiguities or to select interpretations of the text Besides, Carrell (1988)

believed that efficient readers shift from one process to the other while low-proficiency

readers tend to depend on one model of processing.

Stanovich (1980) then suggested the interactive-compensatory model, which refers

to the idea that a weakness in one area of knowledge or skill can be compensated for by

strength in another area. Alderson and Urquhart (1985) also mentioned that background

knowledge might make up for inadequate language skills. This model is very attractive but

as Rayner and Pollatsek (1989) pointed out, the main weakness is that it is very good at

explaining results but comparatively poor at predicting them in advance. This may be due to

the fact that each reader must be viewed as potentially different, with different strengths and

weaknesses.

To sum up, the interactive model emphasized that reading involves both the

applications of higher mental operation and lower text processing. Both bottom-up and top-

down approaches are important elements to complete the reading tasks. Also, different task

may require different models of the processes involved. Entwhistle et al. (1979) suggested

that either data driven or reader driven may be the preferred styles of particular classes of

readers. From the interactive point-of-view, reading comprehension is considered as an

interactive processing of the text and the readers’ background knowledge, both of which are

important elements of the reading components. Therefore, the review of the reading

components below may be beneficial to the display of different models for the reading

theory.
 MOTIVATION

Ryan and Deci (2000) define two types of motivation in their self-determination

theory: intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. “Intrinsic motivation is the inherent

tendency to seek out novelty and challenges, to extend and exercise one’s capacities, as well

as to explore and to learn” (p.70). Intrinsic motivation is a result of students’ interest in a

topic or activity and the pleasure they receive as they pursue that topic or activity. Examples

of intrinsic motivation are when students engage in reading a book for the pleasure, doing

art, playing games for enjoyment, or seeking out information on a certain topic they are

interested in (Unrau & Schlackman, 2006). When a person becomes intrinsically motivated

and engages in activities, he becomes absorbed and committed to what he is doing. Intrinsic

motivation comes from within a person and is caused by internal satisfaction (Crow, 2006).

To foster intrinsic motivation is one of the goals of teachers and librarians, so that students

will find enjoyment and fulfillment through Motivating Reluctant Readers 10

 reading (Cambria & Guthrie, 2010). Students who are intrinsically motivated will

continue to read long after they are out of school where there are no more grades or rewards

(Bokelman, 2005).

Extrinsic motivation comes not from within the individual, but from outside.

Students will become engaged in activities that they do not necessarily like, but they will

complete the assignment or job for the external rewards. These external rewards may be

money, grades, or recognition. These rewards bring satisfaction, although the student may

not like the tasks they are performing (Bokelman, 2005).

MEMORY

Memory is the basis of any psychological phenomenon. Without participation of

memory, we would feel and apprehend things over and over again as if we have felt them

for the first time, which would make impossible the cognition of the world. Memory ensures

integrity and unity of personality. Individuals and society canoot function without memory

(Yord, 2012). Memory itself probably cannot be developed; however, improvement in

remembering comes from correcting certain habits or thoughts so that we use our memory to

its’ fullest potential. Remembering is like seeing; improvement in either function does not

depend upon how much we use it but, rather, how we use it ( Pauk, Walter).

Moreover, Typographical cues are variations in typography used by writers to

distinguish particular levels o f information in text. These cues commonly take the form o f

boldface type, italic type, capitalization, underlining, and color variation. While several

studies have shown such cues to be effective in facilitating recall o f cued information

(Cashen & Leicht, 1970; Crouse & Idstein, 1972; Foster & Coles, 1977; Fowler & Barker,

1974; Glynn & DiVesta, 1979; Golding & Fowler, 1992; Klare, Mabry, & Gustafson, 1955;
Lorch, Lorch, & Klusewitz, 1995; Nist & Hogrebe, 1987), only one o f these studies

(Fowler & Barker, 1974) examined the effectiveness o f highlighting as a cue for directing

readers' attention. This seems surprising, considering the fact that highlighting has been

observed to be a study tactic used frequently by college students (Brennan, Winograd,

Bridge, & Hiebert, 1986; Cioffi, 1986; Peterson, 1992; Surber, 1992, 1994; Turner, 1992;

W ade & Trathen, 1989; Wade, Trathen, & Schraw, 1990).

Related Study

Abstract Use of highlighting is a prevalent study strategy among students, but

evidence regarding its benefit for learning is mixed. As Yue & et. Al (2014) examined

highlighting in relation to distributed study and students’ attitudes about highlighting as a

study strategy. The results indicate that under some conditions, highlighting can be a

beneficial study strategy for learning and argue for students being trained in how to optimize

the potential benefits of their highlighting behavior.

As cited by Gaddy (1996) to the study, The Role of Color in Memory for Text,

Accoring to the study of Peterson (1992), 82 % of the students surveyed reported that they

always or usually highlighted when they studied. Moreover, Color enhancement has been

shown to be an effective method for increasing recall o f textual material (Dwyer & Moore,

1992; Hall & Sidio-Hall, 1994; Lamberski & Dwyer, 1983). Color may also make

particularly difficult reading materials, such as instruction manuals, look attractive and easy

to use (Angiolillo & Roberts, 1991). When Angiolillo and Roberts asked participants to

judge several instruction manuals in terms o f perceived ease o f use, most participants
reported that color was a beneficial addition to manuals, particularly when it was used to

“highlight types o f information” (p. 224). It is clear, as Weller and Livingston (1988) have

indicated, that two separate theories have emerged concerning the effects o f color on

perception and emotional response. One view shows warm hues (reds and pinks) to be

associated with anxiety and emotional arousal, and cool hues (blues and greens) to be

associated with calmness and relaxation (Goldstein, 1942; Jacobs & Blandino, 1992; Jacobs

& Hustmyer, 1974; Jacobs & Suess, 1975; Wilson, 1966).

According to the study of Geir et. al (2009) entitled, Harmful Effects of Preexisting

Inappropriate Highlighting on Reading Comprehension and Metacognitive Accuracy, they

investigated the impact of preexisting highlighting. Allowing students to highlight passages

as they would in normal reading or studying practice may lead to a better understanding of

how students encode information from previously highlighted texts. Students who are

skilled at identifying relevant information and highlighting it may benefit, whereas students

who highlight irrelevant information would be expected to show no benefit even though

they are using an active reading technique.

In the study conducted by Yue et al. (2014) entitled, Highlighting and Its Relation to

Distributed Study and Students’ Metacognitive Beliefs, Many students use highlighters and

believe them to be an important component of their studying. Furthermore, we found that

the benefit of highlighting was numerically greater when participants read the passage twice

without delay, suggesting that highlighting may be particularly beneficial when students

reread text passages immediately. The results of the present research suggest that

highlighting, far from being an ineffective study technique (Dunlosky et al. 2013), can
facilitate long-term retention—particularly when students, possibly owing to limited

available study time, engage in massed re-readings or study sessions. Thus, highlighting

appears to improve the retention of highlighted material without significant cost to the

retention of the non-highlighted material.

Furthermore, According to Carney (2013) in his study entitled, Highly Motivated

Children’s Perceptions of Reading, the respondents in the study who exhibited a positive

reading attitude read widely and extensively with varying reading activities and preferences.

Other factors that played a role in respondents’ perceptions of themselves as readers

included their positive and negative feelings toward the act of reading, their reading grades,

their ability to interact with literature as critical thinkers, their varying vocabulary and

reading levels, and the use of digital technologies. The meaning of reading to the

respondents in this study who were highly motivated to read was multifaceted centered

around the purposes of reading, including reading for the pure enjoyment of it, reading for

information, reading to fulfil outside requirements, reading to impress others, and reading

for internal gratification. Furthermore, reading is a pleasurable and personal experience

through exploration of known and unknown settings across genres, or categories, of

literature. Reading opens the door to knowledge, creating a space to learn about things of

interest and useful facts to help guide future learning and experiences. Reading involves

serving the reader with fulfilling various purposes that are motivated by both intrinsic

desires and extrinsic needs, with a higher concentration of intrinsic desires than extrinsic

needs.
 Chapter 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This part of the research contains the methodologies use in this study such as the

research design, research local,the respondents, data gathering procedure, research

instruments, and the statistical tools.

Research Design

The study will make use of descriptive-correlation type of research. Descriptive,

because it aims at describing the profile of the respondents in terms of age, sex, college

level/year, academic status, and civil status. It also describes the student’s perception,

practices, and contribution of highlighting words in the aspect of spelling, vocabulary

development, writing, and reading comprehension. A Correlational, for this identified the

significant relationship between highlighting word and the academic performance.

On the basis of problem statement number 1, 2, 3, and 4 the researcher will deploy a

descriptive type of research; while on the basis of problem statement number 5 the

researcher will use a correlation type of research.

Locale of the Study

The study will be conducted at Mindanao State University- Iligan Institute of

Technology in Iligan City.

The researcher was chosen this institution rather than other college universities

because she believes that the students of MSU-IIT are one of the most competent students in
University of Southern Philippines. Knowing they are competent, meaning they are using

some study tools that could help them to gain higher grades. In this study, the highlighting

word is a study tool among the students.

Mindanao State University- Iligan Institute of Technology

Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology is dedicated to academic

excellence with a commitment for the holistic development of the individual and the society.

Founded in 1968 under the provision of Republic Act (RA) 5363, MSU-IIT is known for its

excellence in science and technology and its passion for extensive research and community

involvement.

MSU-IIT is located at the heart of Iligan City. Iligan is nestled in the midst of

luxuriant natural beauty of Northern Mindanao. It is a city truly blessed and nurtured by

Mother Nature. It is protected from typhoons by natural barriers; its terrain is hugged by a

long stretch of shoreline along the Iligan Bay.

Its mountains and lush forests hide numerous waterfalls in its embrace, earning for

itself the title “City of Waterfalls.” The most famous, enchanting and the most awesome of

these is the Maria Cristina Falls along the Agus River. Agus and Maria Cristina are sources

of hydro electric power for most of Mindanao’s requirements. Spring like Timoga and

Taytay are sources of cool and pristine water for swimming resorts that provide relief from

summer heat. The coastline as well offers beaches and picnic grounds.

The rich soil, even rainfall distribution, and ideal topography provide suitable

conditions for diverse agricultural ventures.

With all the natural wonders and blessing bestowed upon the city, the most prized asset of

Iligan is still the warm and vibrant hospitality of its people. Both natives and people of

different ethnicity all come together to make Iligan their home.

COLLEGE OF NURSING

Vision, Mission and Goals

Vision

A world class institution of higher learning renowned for its excellence in science

and technology and for its commitment to the holistic development of the individual and

society.

Mission

To provide quality education for the industrial and socioeconomic development of

Mindanao with its diverse cultures through relevant programs in instructions, research,

extension, and community involvement.

Goals

1. To continue offering high quality and relevant nursing and other health related

programs and produce globally competitive health manpower

2. To integrate research competencies in health courses aside from the required general

competencies of certain health degree

3. To develop health programs that will meet the health needs of the region in

particular and the country in general

 4. To conduct health research studies and make available research funding to concerned

population in order to spur health development

Objectives

1. To provide globally competitive nurse practitioners who possesses the critical

thinking skills, keen knowledge, and positive attitude

2. To prepare professional nurses who will provide comprehensive health care to the

public with commitment & compassion

3. To develop graduates who demonstrate creative thinking with research capabilities

that will improve evidence – based practices leading to the well – being of the

individual in particular and society in general

4. To conduct and sustain relevant, innovative research, through the use of the nursing

process, that would lead to the utilization of research finding

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

Vision, Mission, Goals, Objectives

Vision

The College of Education is envisioned as a center of excellence in teacher

training and advanced education in science, technology and research.

Mission

The college shall developing and preparing prospective teachers in their areas

of specialization and the professional advancement of educators, educational leaders

and other educational personnel.

 Goals

1. Prepare future teachers to teach the sciences, mathematics technological and

entrepreneurial specialization in the elementary and special education, secondary and

tertiary levels.

2. Prepare individuals to contribute to social, moral and economic developmental

and wise conversion of natural resources through vocational, scientific, and

technological education.

Objectives

1. Develp skills that will enable the graduate to guide young in strengthening good

moral character and cultivate the potentials for self-fulfillment and productivity.

2. Train teachers who shall interpret, transmit, enrich and conserve Philippine culture

and promote the economy.

3. Provide sufficient skills for students to become leaders in the field of education

and enable them to experience the frontiers of knowledge through research.

Bachelor of secondary Education Program Objectives

1. To provide relevant academic co-curricular and extra currilar program in Sciences,

Mathematics, Technology and livelihood, Music, Arts, Physical Education and

Health in the development of knowledge, skills and attitude of prospective secondary

teachers.
 2. To produce secondary teachers proficient in the use of state-of the art facilities and

techniques of instruction.

3. To turn out secondary teacher graduates who can undertake purposeful studies in

sciences, mathematics, technology and livelihood, Music, Arts, physical education

and health.

4. To train future secondary teachers in Sciences, Mathematics, technology and

livelihood, Music, Arts, Physical Education and Health who can provide effective

transfer of learning that spur economic activity and development.

5. To produce secondary teachers in Sciences, Mathematics, technology and

Livelihood, Music, Arts, Physical Education and Health who are equipped with

entrepreneurial skills at par with international standards.

COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS

Vision and Mission

Vision

An internationally recognized national center for research and education in the

sciences and mathematics.

Mission

1. To maintain highly qualified faculty and staff committed to quality education,

relevant, research and extension.

 2. To continually develop curricular program in basic and applied sciences responsive

to the manpower needs for a balanced and sustainable development of southern

Philippines in particular and the ASEAN region in general.

3. To provide a scholarly environment necessary for the evolution of a distinctive

science culture.

4. To develop disciplined students who value hard work, honesty, excellence and

compassion for the common good of the country.

Respondents of the Study

The respondents of the study will be the students from MSU-IIT for selected college

students who are officially enrolled of the SY 2017-2018.

The following tables show the number of college students from MSU-IIT who are

officially enrolled in school year 2017-108. This was gathered to get a sample size of

respondents. The respondents are nursing students and biology major students of MSU-IIT,

and the selection will undergo purposive sampling.

Table 1. Research Respondents: The Number of enrollees from College of Nursing:

The Nursing students are usually used the Highlighting pen. So the researcher

believes that these students have their own perspectives on why they used this pen. That is

why, the researcher got this number of enrollees to determine the exact sample size of the

respondents.

Level Total Enrollees Sample

Second year 35 8
Third year 153 36
Fourth year 108 26
TOTAL 296 70
Table 2. Research Respondents: The Number of enrollees from College of Education Major

in Biology:

The Students from Biology Department of College of Education are usually used the

Highlighting pen. So the researcher believes that these students have their own perspectives

on why they used this pen. That is why, the researcher got this number of enrollees to

determine the exact sample size of the respondents.

Level Total Enrollees Sample

Third year 38 31
Fourth year 48 39
TOTAL 86 70

Table 3. Researcher Respondents: The Number of enrollees from College of Science and

Mathematics Major in Biology (General):

The students from Biology department of College of Ssince and Mathematics are

usually used the Highlighting pen. So the researcher believes that these students have their

own perspectives on why they used this pen. That is why, the researcher got this number of

enrollees to determine the exact sample size of the respondents.

Level Total Enrollees Sample

Second year 29 10
Third year 97 33
Fourth year 81 27
TOTAL 207 70
Data Gathering Procedure

In gathering the data, the researcher will seek the permission of the College deans in

each respective colleges to conduct the study. As soon as the consent will give, the

researcher selects college students randomly from the master list available. After identifying

the possible respondents, the questionnaires release. After that the researcher will retrieve

the distribute questionnaires. It follows by the data tabulation, interpretation and analysis.

Research Instrumentation and its validity

A survey research-made questionnaire construct arbitrary is the tool use in this

study. The self-made questionnaire contains queries about the effects of highlighting words

in reading. The questionnaire contains of close-ended questions. The first part dealt with the

profile of the respondent’s age, sex, college year level, academic status and civil status. The

second part deals on the perspective of the respondents on the effects of highlighting words

in reading.

The questionnaire will undergo a content validity by pilot testing it to similar

respondents. The result of the test will undergo and measured using alpha cronback.

Statistical Tools

The questionnaire covers the effects of Highlighting words in reading to MSU-IIT students

on the selected colleges.

Thus, the following statistical tools will be utilized:

1. Frequency and Percentage. This is used to sum up or describe the profile of the

respondents in terms of their age, gender, college year level, previous average grade,

daily allowance, scholarship/ grant, and parent’s occupation.

Formula:

P= F×100

Where:

P= Percentage

F= Frequency

= total number of respondents

2. Weighted Arithmetic Mean. This is use to determine the effects of Highlighting

words in reading to MSUans on the selected colleges.

Formula:

∑ 𝑓𝑥
X= ∑𝑓

3. Stratified Random Sampling. This is used to obtain the target sample from the

population divide into strata such the data of interest are fairly homogenous within a

given stratum.

Formula:

ni = (𝑁𝑖
𝑁
)𝑛, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑖 = 1,2, … . , 𝑘

where n is the total size of the stratifies random sample.

4. Pearson Product Movement Coefficient Correlation. This is used to obtain the

significant relationship between highlighting word and reading as well as its

highlighting activity and later recall in reading.

𝑁𝜀𝑦−(𝜀𝑥)(𝜀𝑦)
r= N√[ 𝑛(𝜀𝑥 2 )−(𝜀𝑦 2)][ 𝑛(𝜀𝑦 2 )−(𝜀𝑥 2)]

where, r- correlation x and y

Ey- is the summation off any of dependent variable

Ex- is the summation off any of the dependent variable

n- total number of the cases

 QUESTIONNAIRE

Highlighting Words in Reading: As Perceived by Selected MSU-IIT Students on their

Academic Performance
The Part 1- The Respondent’s Profile

Direction: Put a check to the correspondent answer.

Name (Optional): ___________________
Age: 16-18 21 above
19-20
College year level: Second year
Third year
Academic Status: Scholar
Paid
Civil Status: Single
Married

Part 2: A. Perception and Practice of Respondents in Highlighting Word.

LEGENDS
SD D N A SA
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

Perception – below are the questions pertaining to your perception on the uses of
highlighting
SD D N A SA

1. Highlighting text helps to process textual information at a

deeper and on a more evaluative level.
2. Highlighting text tends to result better test or examination
performance.
3. Highlighting text may become more memorable because it
stands out of the surrounding non-highlighted text.
4. Highlighting text also enhance the effectiveness of re-study
opportunity via encoding variability.
5. Highlighting words or phrases, reading comprehension
increases.
 LEGENDS
SD D N A SA
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

PRACTICES – below are questions pertaining to your practices on highlighting

SD D N A SA

1. I use highlighting marker every time I study.

2. I buy highlighting marker when I enter School Supplies Store.

3. I cannot concentrate studying when there is no highlighting marker

near me.
4. I preferred to use light highlighting colors (e.g. Green and Yellow)

5. I always bring my highlighting marker in my bag.

Part 3. Perspective on the contribution of highlighting words in reading.

Directions: Put a check mark in the indicated box of your response.
LEGENDS

SD D N A SA
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree
SD D N A SD

A. SPELLING
1. Through highlighting I develop my spelling Skills.

2. Through highlighting I can detect misspelled words.

3. Through highlighting I remember unfamiliar words.

4. Through highlighting I deploy doubt to unfamiliar words that

conform me into dictionary.
5. Through highlighting I came familiar with irregular pattern on how
the words transform it into its plural.
B. VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT
1. Highlighting develops my vocabulary

2. Highlighting also helps me to gain new unfamiliar words.

3. Highlighting deploys me doubt to unfamiliar words that conform me

into dictionary.
4. Highlighting makes me appreciate the meaning of a word.
5. Highlighting helps me to discover new words such as its synonyms
and antonyms.
C. WRITING

1. I develop my writing skills through highlighting.

2. Highlighting influences the way I construct my sentence composition.

3. Highlighting contributes to my writing skills based on the author’s

writing skills.
4. Highlighting contributes me to segregate the subject and the
predicate.
5. Highlighting contributes me to easily understand the main point or
idea of the sentence.
D. READING COMPREHENSION
1. Study shows that Highlighting helps reading comprehension.
2. It helps me to easily comprehend the essence of the sentence or
paragraph.
3. It helps me to easily remember the idea just by looking at the
highlighted word.
4. It helps me to get the literal meaning of the sentence.
5. It helps me to get the literal meaning of the sentence.

Part 4. Academic Performance

Directions: Put a check mark on the box below that best describes your response.

LEGENDS

SD D N A SA
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree
SD D N A SA
1. I recall more of the highlighted information and less of the non-
highlighted information which it contributes to my Academic
performance.
2. Highlighting is very useful and beneficial when and during I re-
study the text passages/paragraphs that improve my academic
performance.
3. I found that highlighting improved later cued recall of highlighted
information without impairing recall on non-highlighted information
from the text-passage that I gain higher grades.
4. Highlighting has no effect on my Academic Performance.

5. Highlighting stimulates me to memorize the information from

the book that I gain higher grades.