1

Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

Communication is a vital activity by which people

relate to one another (Newstrom and Davis, 1993:92). It is

necessary to continue social interaction and is one of the

most valuable skills a person can possess. It is an

important aspect of human life especially in this modern

world where there is widespread social and psychological

changes.

The social needs of the people in recent years demand

more communication compared to those in the past.

Communication is defined as the expression, interpretation,

and negotiation of meaning (Bernstein, 1964:251). It is

important in school because it is the medium in the

transmission of learning from the teacher to the students.

Savignon (1998:12) stressed that actors in the

educational process are becoming clearly aware that failure

to communicate posed a problem to maximize learning in

school. When communication is effective, it tends to

encourage better performance among teachers and students in

the teaching-learning process. In recent years, competence

in communication has received much attention from education

 2

stakeholders as indicated by a variety of researchers

conducted on said topic. Said attention stems from a basic

assumption that most of the time, low achievement in school

results from the students’ inadequacy in communication,

especially in listening.

One of the aspects of communicative competence which

researchers fail to take into account is listening.

Listening is a cognitive process by which meanings is

attached to aural signal. It also involves sensation,

perceptions, comprehensions, applications and integrations

(Padilla, et.al. 2003: 45). Senatin and Centenera (2003:1)

defined listening as the ability to understand and recall

the spoken word.

Based on a workshop held, it was lamented that

developing listening skills is a “neglected” area in the

teaching of English toward communicative competence. This

is lamentable considering that of the total twenty-four

hours daily available to every human being sixteen hours

allotted to walking and eight hours allotted to sleeping

time, of the sixteen hours, at least eleven are dedicated to

communicating, and of these eleven hours normally the

greatest portion is spent in listening whereas only three

are spent in speaking, two in reading and one in writing.

 3

There is so much to be gained by listening, when

students consider the findings of research, they will

appreciate the importance of listening. A study in Ohio

State University disclosed that on the average a person

spends 70 percent of his waking hours involved in some kind

of communication, broken down as; writing-nine percent;

reading-16 percent; speaking-30 percent; and listening-45

percent. The student of English who is intent in pursuing

his course to its conclusion would have to face the fact as

early as now listening is an important skill he has to

cultivate (Cenatin, et.al., 2003:2).

These results indicated that there are rooms for

improvement of students’ academic performance. Hence, the

researchers intended to conduct a study which identified the

factors that influence the listening skills of the second

year education students of Samar College, Catbalogan City

during the school year 2011-2012.

Statement of the Problem

This study determined the factors that influence the

listening skills of the second year education students in

the subject, Speech and Oral Communication with Play

Production in Samar College during the school year 2011-

2012.
 4

Specifically, this study sought answers to the

following questions:

1. What is the profile of the student-respondents in

terms of the following:

1.1 age and sex;

1.2 average monthly family income;

1.3 academic performance in Speech and Oral

Communication with Play Production; and

1.4 attitude towards the subject, Speech and Oral

Communication with Play Production?

2. Based on a listening test, what are the listening

skills of the-student-respondents along the following:

2.1 word recognition;

2.2 vocabulary; and

2.3 comprehension?

3. Is there a significant difference in the listening

skills of the male and female student-respondents?

4. Is there a significant relationship between the

listening skills of the student-respondents in Speech and

Oral Communication with Play Production and the following

student-related variates:

4.1 age and sex;

4.2 average monthly family income;

4.3 academic performance in Speech and Oral

 5

Communication with Play Production; and

4.4 attitude towards Speech and Oral

Communication with Play Production?

5. Based on the findings of the study, what

implications can be drawn to improve the listening skills of

the student-respondents in Speech and Oral Communication

with Play Production.

Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses were tested in this

study:

1. There is no significant difference in the listening

skills of the male and female student-respondents.

2. There is no significant relationship between the

listening skills of the student-respondents in Speech and

Oral Communication with Play Production and the following

student-related variates:

2.1 age and sex;

2.2 average monthly family income;

2.3 academic performance in Speech and Oral

Communication with Play Production; and

2.4 attitude towards Speech and Oral Communication

with Play Production.

 6

Theoretical Framework

In this study, the researchers anchored their

investigation on the theories of Hymes, Hermosa and

Glasserfeld. The intentional cognitive architecture of

communicative competence of Hymes (1971:26) emphasized the

agent’s perspective in communication rather than that of the

receiver’s perspective. For him, an agent is defined as an

intentional, conscious organism that lives in a situation

and strives to make it more to her liking.

The theory further stressed that although the agent’s

knowledge of the situation can never be completed, he can

improve it by zooming in (or out) of the environment and by

reasoning from previous knowledge. The situation evolved

according to the agent’s knowledge and interest as well as

to the changes he perceives in the world. The agent has to

be situated-that is, his mind/brain has to be coupled to the

dynamics of the world (Tirassa, 1997: 25).

The ability to listen maybe influenced by the innate

ability to communicate by the agent of communication, but

also by factors that exist in the world, a student is an

agent who may be able to listen and acquire the highest

level of communicative competence in listening by zooming in

(or out) of the environment.

 7

The study was also anchored on the theory of Hermosa

(2002:18) which emphasized that knowledge of the nature of

each learner is important before deciding on what to teach

to the learner. This means that the teacher has to establish

the specification requirements or needs of the learners

before selecting or choosing the listening skills to be

developed.

As applied to the study, by drawing up a profile of the

listening needs of the students based on their listening

skills and the factors which influence these abilities, the

teacher can more validly specify the particular listening

skills to be focused on. As such, an assessment of the

factors which may influence the listening skills of the

students should be conducted.

This study also rested on Von Glasserfeld’s (1989)

“Constructivist Learning Theory”. According to this theory,

learning is not a passive process but is an active mental

reconstruction of ideas in which learners make meaning out

of their own experiences. This has led many educators to

believe that the best way to learn is by having students

construct their own knowledge instead of having someone

construct it for them. In other words, students would learn

best by trying to make sense of something on their own with

the teacher as a guide or provider to help them along the

 8

way. This theory further stressed that one of the first

things a teacher must do when considering how to teach

students is to acknowledge that each student did not learn

in the same way because of individual difference. This meant

that if the teacher chooses just one style of teaching

(direct instruction, collaboration learning, inquiry

learning, etc.), then the students would not be maximizing

this learning potential. Obviously, a teacher cannot reach

every student on the same level during one lesson, but

implementing a variety of teaching approaches throughout the

course would allow all students the chance to learn in at

least one way that matched their learning style.

Conceptual Framework

The following is the schematic representation of the

study. At the bottom is a structure that contains the

respondents of the study - the second year education

students of Samar College, Catbalogan City, which was the

locale of the study. It also shows that the study was

conducted during the school year 2011-2012. The bottom frame

was connected by an arrow to another structure which

contained the research process.

 9

IMPROVED LISTENING SKILLS OF

EDUCATION STUDENTS

Results/Findings of the Study

LISTENING SKILLS FACTORS INFLUENCING

OF RESPONDENTS THE LISTENING SKILLS
F F
E RESPONDENTS’ PROFILE E
 Word (Based on the
E Recognition Questionnaire) E
D  Vocabulary  Age and Sex D
B  Average monthly B
 Comprehension
A family income A
C (Based on the  Academic C
K Listening Skills performance in K
Test of 40-items) Speech and Oral
Communication with
Play Production
 Attitude towards
the subject, Speech
and Oral
Communication with
Play Production

Second Year Education Students

Samar College
SY 2011-2012
Figure 1. The Conceptual Framework of the Study
 10

The study correlated the listening skills of the

student-respondents in Speech and Oral Communication with

Play Production as to word recognition, vocabulary and

comprehension as seen in the structure at the left and the

factors which influence their listening skills like the

personal variates of the student-respondents such as, age

and sex, average monthly family income, academic performance

in Speech and Oral Communication with Play Production, and

attitude towards the subject, Speech and Oral Communication

with Play Production.

The findings of this study would serve as inputs for an

intervention strategy to improve the listening skills of the

student-respondents in Speech and Oral Communication with

Play Production as seen in the uppermost frame.

Significance of the Study

Since the study focused on the factors that influence

the listening skills of the second year education students

in the subject, Speech and Oral Communication with Play

Production this study would be beneficial to the students,

teachers, school administrators, parents, and future

researchers.

To the Students. The findings of this study would

provide knowledge to students regarding the factors that

 11

influence the listening skills of education students. In

addition, the results of this study would enable them to

have self-assessment of their listening ability in word

recognition, vocabulary, and comprehension and if these are

affected by their age and sex, average monthly family

income, academic performance in Speech and Oral

Communication with Play Production, and attitude towards the

subject, Speech and Oral Communication with Play Production.

Having such knowledge, they would be able to improve their

listening skills.

To the Teachers. This study would be of great help to

the faculty members since they would know the listening

skills of their students; thus, they can choose and apply

appropriate methodologies and strategies of teaching to

develop their listening ability.

To the Parents. This study would benefit the parents

in terms of having ideas as to their children’s listening

abilities and the extent by which some factors affect their

listening skills.

To the School Administrators. The school administrators

would be able to propose educational reforms in terms of

listening program and activities that would enhance the

students’ listening skills.

 12

To the Future Researchers. The future researchers

would have bases for conducting researches that would

determine factors other than age, sex, average monthly

family income, academic performance in Speech and Oral

Communication with Play Production, and attitude towards the

subject, Speech and Oral Communication with Play Production,

which may influence the students’ listening skills.

Scope and Delimitation

This study determined the factors that influenced the

listening skills of the second year education students of

Samar College, Catbalogan City.

The respondents were 50 second year education students

of Samar College, Catbalogan City during the school year

2011-2012.

A questionnaire prepared by the researchers and a

listening test in the subject Speech and Oral Communication

with Play Production were used by the researchers to gather

the needed data of the study.

The study was conducted in Samar College, Catbalogan

City, during the school year 2011-2012.

Definition of Terms
 13

The following terms were defined conceptually and

operationally to give the readers clearer understanding of

the nature of this study.

Comprehension. It refers to the ability of students to

understand what they are listening to, interpret ideas and

inject meaning to spoken words (Belen, et,al., 2003:56).

Operationally, the term referred to the ability of second

year education students of Samar College to understand what

they are listening to, interpret ideas and to inject meaning

to spoken word as measured by the listening test of 10

items.

Factors. This term refers to the elements or causes

that produce a result (New International Webster’s

Comprehensive Dictionary, 1999:454). Operationally, this

referred to the causes or factors that influence the

listening skills of the student-respondents.

Listening. This term is defined as a cognitive process

that involves sensation, perception, comprehension,

application and integration (Padilla, et., al., 2003:45).

This term was used in this study in the same manner as it is

defined in the foregoing statement.

Listening Skill Test. Operationally, the term referred

to the skills which were considered by the second year

education students of Samar College as somehow difficult to

 14

assimilate or where they were deficient. This was a 40-item

multiple-choice type of listening test which focused in word

recognition, vocabulary, and comprehension. This test was

used to determine the listening skills of the student-

respondents of this study.

Speech and Oral Communication with Play Production.

This term refers to English 116, a general education

subject, of education students of Samar College. In this

study, the listening skills of the students are developed by

giving them test in vocabulary, word recognition and

comprehension.

Students. This term refers to the learners enrolled in

the course of study (New International Comprehensive

Dictionary, 1999:1244). In this study, the term referred to

the second year education students of Samar College,

enrolled during the school year 2011-2012, who were involved

as respondents of this research.

Vocabulary. It refers to the body of words used in a

particular language or in a particular sphere of activity

(wordnet: Princeton.edu). Operationally, it was used to

refer to one of the aspects of listening ability which was

measured through the listening test of 20 items.

Word Recognition. In this study, it referred to the

aspect of listening ability used as one of the variates of

 15

the study correlated with the student-respondents’ listening

abilities in Speech and Oral Communication with Play

Production.