University of Cagayan Valley

THE GRADUATE SCHOOL

Tuguegarao City

NAME : HEIDI MAE R. BAUTISTA

COURSE : Master of Arts in Education-English Major

REFLECTIVE ESSAY

‘’The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realizes, the less I
know.’’, this quote by Michael Legrand sum up the realizations I gained about our past
topics on Thesis Writing. Learning and knowing new ideas differently from what I know
will surely be a useful learning experience for me in writing my thesis. Ideas and
concepts discussed were indeed novel to me and I am very much excited to use these in
accomplishing and improving my thesis writing.

Looking back from my first experience writing thesis , that was during my college
time, I realized that I still have many things to know, develop and improve not only
because it is a must for me to write for compliance in my Master’s Degree but most
especially because I also wanted to give quality education with my students since I was
assigned teaching Inquiry, Investigation and Immersion Research of my Grade 12 class.
As a result of what I have learned, it seems that I need to start all over again or at least
refresh my knowledge so that I can do more differently.

In general, I realized that considering the resources, time, knowledge and sources
is very important in choosing a research topic. First, I must consider my daily
companions’ expertise who will be available in helping and supporting me throughout
my thesis writing. Second, manageable financial requirement and doable thesis in
prospective timeline should be considered as well. Next, availability of students is also
one of the thoughts to be measured. And lastly, think of a topic that you love to know
and explore and has something to contribute in the body of knowledge. And if these
could be done and considered, surely, I have already a good start writing my thesis.

In addition, my new learnings in Research Gaps will make a big difference in

making my thesis. I can say this because honestly it is literally new in my definition of
terms in writing thesis. It is only now that I realized and found out that there are further
study suggestions included in many researches and review articles that needed to be
done and be addressed for present and future purposes. And with this new learning, I
ended up reading and spotting research gaps that could help me think and choose of my
thesis writing topic.

Moreover, my new learnings in writing my working title and doing the literature
Matrix are also good things I gained in improving and making my thesis writing.
Knowing how to identify the effective titles from ineffective is very helpful in writing my
working titles. And doing the Literature Matrix will enable me to quickly compare and
contrast articles in order to determine the scope of research across time and will help
me more easily to spot differences and similarities between journal articles about my
topic.
Furthermore, my new knowledge in structuring the Introduction of my thesis
writing is also another realization that I should follow and improve. And to properly
write it, I must include an opening paragraph, brief review of previous research on my
proposed study topic, a problem statement, a purpose statement, a specific research
questions or research objectives and the discussion of the main contribution of the
proposed study topic. Indeed, that in writing the Introduction, it is somewhat and
somehow a process that needed steps to follow in order to make a well-crafted one.

‘’Those people who develop the ability to continuously acquire new and better
forms of knowledge that they can apply to their work and to their lives will be the
movers and shakers in our society for the indefinite future.’’ I will end my essay with this
quote by Brain Tracy to inspire and motivate others to continue acquire knowledge and
apply it as well to contribute something in the society.
 University of Cagayan Valley
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
Tuguegarao City

NAME : HEIDI MAE R. BAUTISTA

COURSE : Master of Arts in Education-English Major

ACTIVITY 1: NARROWING DOWN THE TOPIC

Instructions: In my recorded lecture, I have tasked you to trim down specific

topic for your research paper. Specifically, you will need to edit this graphic
organizer and show me the relationship of the broad, narrowed down, and main
topic that you want to delve into your paper.

BROAD TOPIC
-Learning Styles

NARROWED TOPIC
-Preferred Language Learning Style of the students at Pattao
National High School-Maddalero Extension

MAIN TOPIC
-Language Learning Style Preferences
in the New Normal Education of Pattao
National high School-Maddalero
Extension
 1. State your reason why you are choosing that topic. Use the three criteria to
describe your reason/s.

I chose the above-written topic because I, together with my co-teachers

and some experts in my workplace, find it very interesting to study the other
learning style preferences of the students particularly with the Language or
English subject which is my field of specialization since the Self-learning Module
is the only modality we are using in school in this new normal Education. One
thing more, aside from my co-teachers, I have also the supports of the parents
who play the role of being a teacher in their homes. I believe I could manage the
financial requirement since they are just around the community where I stay.

This topic is doable in a prospective timeline since the students who will
be my respondents are always available in their homes and will be assisted by
their parents.

What I love about my chosen topic is its contribution among the teachers,
parents, learners and the school as well. The result of this study will give an idea
for the school management, teachers and parents on what other modalities and
strategies to be used aside from the Self-learning Modules which will depend on
the preferred language learning styles of the students in this new normal of
education. And with this, learners will get more motivation to continue valuing
education amidst the crisis we are facing as of today.

2. What sources did you consult? Provide a paragraph (from each source) that talks
about your prospective topic.

On the article ‘’Learning Style Preferences: A Practical Approach for Classroom

teachers’’ by Linda H. Smith and Joseph S. Renzull talks about my prospective topic. It
stated there that:

Theory into practice 23(1), 44-50,1984

‘’The wide range of individual differences surely must mean that there is no single
method for nurturing creativity; ideally the experiences we provide should be tailor-
made, if not for individual students, at least for different types of students. We should
remember that the same fire that melts the butter hardens the egg.(MacKinnon, 1978,
p.171)

Another article which talks about my prospective topic is the ‘’Learning Styles:
Implications for ESL/EFL Instruction’’ by Shumin Kang states that:

‘’Educators should employ instruments to identify student’s learning styles and

provide instructional alternatives to address their differences. Teachers should plan
lessons to match student’s learning styles while at the same time encouraging students
to diversify their learning style preferences.’’
 The article on ‘’The Importance of Learning Styles in Education’’ by Nahla M.
Moussa in Auburn University also talks on my prospective topic which also states that:
‘’Learning styles research is based on the theory that individuals have different
stimulus sense modalities from which they prefer to absorb, retain and process new
information (Cassidy & Eachus,2000; Dunn,1983; Harrison, Andrews, &
Saklofske,2003). The information gained from learning styles research provides
researchers with knowledge that can be helpful in improving the overall quality of
learning as well as the learning environment.

ACTIVITY 2: PROPOSED WORKING TITLE

Instructions: Write your proposed working title in relation to your narrowed

down topic, which you accomplished in activity 1.

Language Learning Style Preferences in the New Normal Education: A basis for
Alternative Learning Modalities
 ACTIVITY 3: LITERATURE MATRIX (TRIAL 1)

Instructions: In my recorded lecture, I have mentioned about the importance of a literature matrix before writing your
manuscript. Your task is to make a literature matrix (trial) in relation to your topic. Here are the steps that you need to
undergo:
1. Look for credible journal articles (empirical studies) from the databases that you know. (five articles for masteral
and seven articles for doctorate students)
2. Be sure that these papers are somehow related to your chosen SPECIFIC TOPIC.
3. Dissect each of the articles using the matrix.

Research Topic:
Learning Style Preferences

SAMPLE:

REFERENCE What key concepts about What was/were  What was the What were the  What was the
(APA format) your topic were the research design of the findings/results of the conclusion derived?
Note: List the highlighted? objectives/researc study? study?  What did the study
references h questions of the  Who were the recommend?
alphabetically. What was the research study/ participants?
gap/ gap in literatures  What data gathering
reviewed by the author/s? tools were used?
1. Manzano, B. CONCEPT/S It is hoped that DESIGN There was a CONCLUSION
(2018). the current study To address the research moderate agreement AND/OR
Researcher Materials Evaluation would extend our questions, the current between the two IMPLICATIONS
and non- understanding of study used a descriptive groups of evaluators.
researcher RESEARCH GAP/S how researcher mixed method approach. Within each group, First, although it is
teachers’ and non- This means that this the findings showed desirable to have both
evaluation of No study yet has researcher- paper focused on that the non- the researchers and
ELT compared the evaluation teachers evaluate observing the researcher-teachers practitioners as
Materials: of ELT materials by ELT materials. measurable aspects of tend to agree more materials evaluators,
Converging researcher and non- Given the materials evaluation with each other than evaluation from non-
or researcher-teachers. exploratory the researcher- researcher-teachers
diverging? nature of the PARTICIPANTS teachers. may be sufficient to
Iranian current study, I The participants in this ensure that ELT
Journal of do not aim to study involved five non- The least agreement materials integrate the
Language generalize researcher-teachers (i.e., among evaluators principles and theories
Teaching findings but only not active in research) occurred when in language teaching
Research, to provide a and five researcher- evaluating the and learning because
6(2), 23–38. framework for teachers (i.e., active in coherence of the they can integrate both
future large-scale research). materials. This was theoretical and
studies on attributed to the fact practical knowledge
materials Researcher-teachers, on that coherence is not during evaluation.
evaluation. the other hand, are directly observable
defined as those who and requires Second, the findings
have been teaching in recursive reading revealed that there
ESL context for at least among evaluators. exists variability in
10 years in a university, attention that
with experience in evaluators pay to
evaluating ELT materials different aspects of
or textbooks, specialized materials.
in language teaching,
have been involved in RECOMMENDATIO
research projects, and NS
have published at least There might also be a
five research articles on need to revisit the
applied linguistics constructs for
and/or TESOL in the last evaluating materials
five years. since some of them are
sensitive to variability.
DATA GATHERING
TOOLS Future studies may
The sample materials include more
were subjected to participants of varying
evaluation using a two- cultural background
part questionnaire using multiple data
collection methods
such as interview, focus
group discussion, and
observation to obtain a
clearer picture of the
phenomena being
investigated.

Future researchers may

also explore the factors
that influence the
evaluation processes
and practices of both
the researcher and
non-researcher-
teachers.
 BEGIN HERE

REFERENCE What key concepts about What was/were  What was the What were the  What was the
(APA format) your topic were the research design of the findings/results of the conclusion
Note: List the highlighted? objectives/resear study? study? derived?
references ch questions of  Who were the  What did the study
alphabetically. What was the research gap/ the study/ participants? recommend?
gap in literatures reviewed  What data gathering
by the author/s? tools were used?
1. CONCEPT/S DESIGN CONCLUSION
AND/OR
IMPLICATIONS
RESEARCH GAP/S PARTICIPANTS

RECOMMENDATI
DATA GATHERING ONS
TOOLS
 ACTIVITY 4: SPOTTING RESEARCH GAPS

Instructions: Visit the three links below. Extract the research gap/s that were
addressed by each study. Do that by copying the paragraph/s that articulate the gap/s
and pasting them in each box.

1. LINK: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nevILkEdYmsHwnJSw6fSYl1UG-
6kfbRu/view?usp=sharing

The researcher recommended mandatory, research-based, embedded leadership training

with ongoing support for department leaders; and increasing the amount of department
meeting time spent discussing instructional strategies. Future research was recommended
to compare department leaders in assessed and non-assessed content areas, and to explore
the influence of age and years of experience on the practice of instructional leadership.

2. LINK:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qW3dlufnP9g00zT2ohroFVB9EJy8TEXd/view
?usp=sharing

Although this research was conducted on a small scale, the results indicate GLOBE
Leadership scales may provide avenue for collecting data that could be used to further
study the relationship between culture and leadership.
3. LINK:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/11abM-
djubZnRKkDlhSYV7VnZGFtOeuSy/view?usp=sharing

This academic culture of limited support adds to the struggle that adjunct faculty face in
their need to balance their professional identity as an educator, the need to develop their
teaching skills, and the need for more options to enhance students’ learning.
 ACTIVITY 5: WRITING THE INTRODUCTION (TRIAL 1)

Instructions: You now know the components of an introduction. Your task is to write
the first version of your introduction. Ensure that all the essential components are
present, including the objective/s and the research questions. Be wary of the parallelism
of the gap, objective, and research questions.