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CHAPTER 2

Reviews of Related Literature and Studies

This chapter includes the ideas, finished thesis, generalization or

conclusions, methodologies and others. Those that were included in this chapter
helps in familiarizing information that are relevant and similar to the present
study.

Related Literature

Local

Viewing

The mass usage of visual media in today's world led to the inclusion of
viewing to the macro skills. Viewing refers to perceiving, examining, interpreting,
and construction of meaning from visual images. Barrot (2010).  With the
inclusion of viewing in the macro skills and proliferation of multimedia technology,
it is imperative that both speakers and listeners critically assess audiovisual
inputs and make meaning from them (Curriculum Planning & Development
Division, 2010).

Isidor (2013) The Filipino educator has been targeting the development of
the macro skills of students, they should not be focusing only on the listening,
speaking, reading and writing but as well as the viewing skills of students. It is
necessary for them to enhance the said skills to help students in improving and
strengthening their viewing comprehension skill and make use of it in every class
discussion.
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International
Viewing is one of the most important skills in communication because it is
a way of portraying information in the record, thus, giving more emphasis on the
importance of mental faculty that allows a perceiver to give details about a target
that is difficult to get to normal senses due to time, distance or shielding. Also,
viewing involves interpreting images for which word stand, and connecting visual
images in videos, computer programs, and websites with accompanying printed
or spoken words (B.D. Roe, E.P.Ross 2010)

TV programmes in particular have been shown to be an effective source

of comprehensible input and of natural, contextualized spoken dialogue
(Vulchanova, Aurstad, Kvitnes & Eshuis, 2015), having the additional semantic
support provided by the images (Rodgers, 2013). Also, compared to other
sources of comprehensible input such as reading, TV can provide a large amount
of input in a short time, and it is already consumed in large quantities across the
EU, with 81% of the population watching it daily (European Commission, 2017).
This figure goes up to 88% in Spain, a traditionally dubbing country, where the
foreign language soundtrack of films and TV programmes is replaced by a native
language soundtrack. Therefore, most of this input is in Spanish (Almeida &
Costa, 2014) rather than in the original version (OV), generally English.
Compared to other European countries – in which learners are frequently
exposed to English through television, movies or newspapers (e.g. Vulchanova
et al., 2015).

Viewing

Viewing is a process that supports oracy and literacy, it broadens the

ways in which students can understand and communicate their ideas. It
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enhances both listening and reading skills when students attend to non verbal
communication and visual elements of performance, video television, film,
multimedia presentations, visuals accompanying print, textual techniques, variety
of media and etc.

According to the English Language Arts (2007), students encounter

thoughts, ideas, and feelings by viewing, as well as listening and reading. By this,
students should be given opportunities to view a variety of formats including
visuals, drama, and media. As students view visual messages, they need to use
a range of viewing skills and strategies to make sense of the visual images, and
accompanying oral print and language. Students need to make sense of it and
respond personally, critically, and creatively.

Viewing Comprehension

Comprehension can be assessed, in non-reading contexts by presenting

stories in different media. Stories can be presented using pictures (Paris & Paris,
2003), aurally, or via television (van den Brock, Lorch, & Thurlow, 1996), Viewing
comprehension is based on the presentation of short instructional videos
followed by one or more comprehension questions concerning the preceding
video stimulus.

Using a variety of media such as television and print to assess

comprehension skills transfer across these media. This transfer of skills is
plausible for several reasons. First, television and print require similar cognitive
processes to comprehend (e.g., making connections, sequencing events,
generating inferences). Second, research indicates that similar structural story
factors predict what children (both in kindergarten and elementary school)
remember from both televised and written narratives (Lorch & Sanchez, 1997;
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van den Brock, 1996; van den Broek, 1997). Tan So Hwi (2010), adapted the
Barrett's Taxonomy of Comprehension in assessing the viewing comprehension
of the students. Barrett's Taxonomy discusses the different levels of
Comprehension namely: literal, reorganization, inferential, evaluation and
appreciation.

Literal comprehension refers to the literal recognition, recall or verification

of details, main ideas, and sequence of events, comparisons, cause effect
relationships, and character traits. Reorganization comprehension requires
students to synthesize, analyze. and/or organize information stated in a
selection. Inferential comprehension is demonstrated when students use the
ideas and information explicitly stated in a viewing material, students’ intuition
and personal experiences as bases in making intelligent guesses and
hypothesis. Students may infer supporting details, sequence, comparisons,
cause and effect relationships, character traits, figurative language and predicting
outcomes. Evaluation comprehension deals with judgments and focuses with
reality or fantasy, factor or opinion, adequacy or validity, appropriateness, worth,
desirability, and acceptability. It also refers to judging the language and effect of
the material in the light of appropriate criteria. It requires responses which
indicate that an evaluative judgement has been made by comparing ideas.
Appreciation comprehension deals psychological and aesthetic. It refers to
responses to content, plot or theme sensitivity to various literary genres,
identification with characters and incidents, reaction to author's use of language,
and response to generated images.

Types of Viewing
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Visual Literacy

Visual literacy can be defined as the ability to construct meaning from

visual images (Giorgis, Johnson, Bonomo, Colben, & Al, 1999) The seader uses
the critical skills of exploration, critique and reflection in order to make meaning
from images. According to Lapp (1999), we can use the term "intermediality to
describe the combined literacies needed to read in a multi-media world. They
stress the importance of active reading based on information visualization and
the importance of visual communication to capture attention, reinforce
knowledge, and increase audience responses. Visual literacy is about
interpreting images of the present and past and producing images that effectively
communicate the messages to the audience.

The writer John Debes in 1968 was the first one who used the term “visual
literacy”. In a definition given by Messans1995) states that vissal literacy is the
gaining of knowledge and experiences about the workings of the visual media
coupled with a heightened conscious awareness of the workings. Visual literacy
includes the group of skills, which enable individual to understand and use
visuals for intentionally communicating with others. Ausburn, 1978). Visual
literacy is what is seen with the eye and what is seen in the mind. A visually
literate person should be able to read and write visual language, and must have
the ability to successfully decode and interpret visual images and to encode and
compose visual communications.

Visual literacy involves developing the set of skills needed to be able to

interpret the content of visual images, examine social impact, of those images
and to discuss purpose, audience and ownership. It includes the ability to
visualize internally. communicate visually, and read and interpret visual images.
Visual literacy also involves making judgment of the accuracy, validity and worth
of images. A visually literate person is able to discriminate and make sense of
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visual objects, and images: create visuals: comprehend and appreciate the
visuals created by others, and visualize objects in their mind's eye.

Critical Viewing

Research has found out that average students spend an average of 6-7
hours a day in using media (video games, computers, videos with the average
television viewing at 3-4 hours each day. This made some research body
suggest to teach children to become critical viewers, give them the ability to
analyze the construction of isolated images, give them the ability to think critically
about the composition of the picture, and enhance their ability to read word and
worlds (Duval Comisline, 1999).

People continue to regard television viewing is a passive a process, while

others see its potential in developing new literacies and reinforcing traditional
literacy. In The Harvard Education Letter (1990), it was reported that video
screen is helping children develop new kind of literacy, visual literacy in particular
that they will need to thrive in a technological world. In a television or film, the
viewer must mentally integrate diverse camera shots of a scene to construct an
image of a whole.

Television can be used in developing reading skills and promoting

traditional literacy, it is essential that educators recognize television as a unique
medium, and in order to understand it fully people must be conversant with its
codes, conventions, and characteristics. Jack Solomon said that television
images lull people into thinking that they are real, that they aren't iconic signs at
all but realities. Since people see them, people trust them, often failing to realize
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that, like all signs, they have been constructed with a certain interest behind
them.

According to Arthur (1999), video can give students realistic models to

imitate for role-play, can increase awareness of other cultures by teaching
appropriateness and suitability, can strengthen audiovisual linguistic perceptions
simultaneously; can widen the classroom repertoire and range of activities; can
help utilize the latest technology to facilitate language learning can teach direct
observation of the paralinguistic features found in association with the target
language, can be used to help when training students in ESP related scenarios
and language, can offer a visual reinforcement of the target Language and can
lower anxiety when practicing the skill of listening.

In deconstructing media representations, it requires relinquishing the

powerful and pervasive notion in our culture that, seeing is believing, and that
what people see is what they get. The process of reading television addresses
the following elements.

First is interpreting the internal content of the program. This involves a

narrative analysis or the ability to recall and recognize what happened and why,
with reference to genre codes and conventions. Second is interpreting the
internal construction of the frame. This process focuses attention on media form
and style. It includes the overall design and look of the picture and involves such
things as camera angles and the various shots used. Third is recognizing the
external forces shaping the program. This industrial/sociological approach looks
at issues such as media ownership and control in an attempt to understand how
these factors shape programing. A simple example would address the
relationship between media ownership and the depiction of women and
minorities in the media. The fourth one is comparing and contrasting media
representations with reality. This includes comparing television's depiction of the
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Vietnam War (Tour of Duty, China Beach) with documentaries or histories of the
war. It might also include studying incidents of violence on television compared to
the national crime statistics or examining the depiction of groups, races, religions,
and nationalities to detect stereotyping and bias. Fifth one is recognizing and
responding to the potential impact of television form and content. This focuses
attention on appropriate responses and viewing behavior including writing to
producers and sponsors, as well as using television more selectively.

Related Studies

Local

The study of Ismaili is related to the recent study since it focuses on

viewing comprehension. According to him, he found movies help enhance
students’ comprehension and learning skills in English classes. In addition, using
movies in the classroom is a delightful experience for the students who declare
that they appreciate the assigned activities in the classroom. Students were more
persuaded to see and hear real-life situations than to follow the activities in the
graded book. Their perception is that movies also provide a stable environment
for them (Ismaili, 2013). Truly, movies grasp the learners’ interest and it can
definitely affect their willingness to learn (Kusumarasdyati, 2004; Luo, 2004
Ismaili, 2013).

Kho Kay Yong, an educator at the University of Hong Kong published a

study entitled “Children’s Viewing and Representing Skills Through Digital”
reported on four case studies of primary school children in Hong Kong,
concentrating on their growing digital proficiency when engaging with digital text.
The study looks into how the respondents engaged with digital text in the setting
of their out-of-school technology use. Results showed that every respondent has
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emerged with a set of digital competencies in their receptive and productive

commitments to deal with data on screens. Kho Kay Yong’s study is related to
the recent study since Yong tested the viewing skills of the respondents that are
involved in digital technology. The recent study differs in the way that, this study
will determine the level of viewing comprehension of the students through
watching selected English movies while the study of Kho Kay Yong is more on
discovering the participants’ development in digital competencies.

Maria Diana S. Guieb and Ruth A. Ortega-Dela Cruz published a study

about the Viewing Teaching Techniques In Enhancing Viewing Comprehension
Skills Of Undergraduate Students In Literature. The study has a connection to
the previous one since Barret’s taxonomy of comprehension is being measured
through watching movies/videos.

International

The study of Avner Caspi. Paul Gorsky and Meima Prismas (2004),
entitled “Viewing Comprehension: Student’s learning preferences and strategies
when studying from video", examines how students at Open University of Israel
studied from video recordings of lecture. It was found out that reading
comprehension strategies are inappropriate for viewing comprehension,
presumed theoretical advantages associated with instructional video may in fact
be disadvantages, the medium does indeed influence the message, mismatching
medium and message may have deleterious results on student’s cognitive and
affective outcomes and surface-level orientations to study may hindered by
video.

The study of Avner Caspi. Paul Gorsky and Meima Prismas (2004), is
related to the present study since this study focus on the viewing comprehension
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of the participants. What makes it distinctive from the present study is that, it
studies the learning preferences of the students while studying from video, while
the present study aims to determine and compare the viewing comprehension
level of the participants.

A study conducted by Ulrich Schroeders, Oliver Wilhelm, Nina Bucholtz

(2010), entitled "Reading, listening, and viewing comprehension in English as a
foreign language: One or more constructs", evaluated a newly developed viewing
comprehension test of German high school students who completed reading,
listening, and viewing comprehension tests, all measuring the receptive
proficiency in English as a foreign language. Results showed that the viewing
comprehension task has similar psychometric qualities. The three
comprehension tests are very highly but not perfectly correlated with each other.

The study of Ulrich Schroeders, Oliver Wilhelm, and Nina Bocholtz (2010),
is related to the present study since it focuses on viewing comprehension.
However, the study evaluates the viewing comprehension test completed by the
participants, while present study evaluates the viewing comprehension
performance of the participants.

A study entitled “Children’s Viewing and Representing Skills Through

Digital” by Kho Kay Yong (2012), reported on four case studies of primary school
children in Hong Kong, focusing on their emerging digital competencies when
engaging with digital text. The study investigated how the participating children
engaged with digital text in the context of their out-of-school technology use.
Results showed that each have developed a set of digital competencies in their
receptive and productive engagements to deal with information on screens.

The study of Kho Kay Yong (2012), is related to the present study since
Yong tested the viewing skills of the students that are involved in digital
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technology. The present study differs in a sense that, this study will determine
the viewing comprehension of the students through video, while the study of Kho
Kay Yong is more on observing the participants development in digital
competencies.

Another study conducted by Paul van den Brock (2001), entitled "The Role
of Television Viewing in the Development of Reading Comprehension" explored
the relation between early television viewing and later reading achievement. The
results of recent research suggest that there is considerable overlap between the
comprehension processes that take place during reading and those in rereading
television viewing.

The study of Brock (2001), is related to the present study since both
studies highlighted the importance of viewing skills for comprehension, uses
television viewing as an instrument for the assessment. What makes it different
with the present study is that it explores the sole of television viewing to the
reading comprehension of the participants, while the present study only focuses
on the viewing comprehension of the participants.

A study of Tip Robertson (2011) entitled “Reading While Watching Video:

The effect of Video Content on Reading Comprehension and Media Multitasking
ability” examines to what extent video content affects students’ reading
comprehension in media multitasking environments. Two different videos were
used: one, a situational comedy, the other, an in-depth news report. Results
indicate that the two videos affected reading comprehension differently, with the
news report interfering more severely than the comedy, but also more easily
ignored when necessary.
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The study of Robertson (2011), is relatively related to the present study

since ictuses video as an instrument, while the present study will focus on
viewing comprehension. It differs in the present study in a sense that it explores
the effect of video in the reading comprehension of the participants, while the
present study only determines and compare the level of viewing comprehension
of the participants.

In a study conducted by Pezdek and Hartman (1983), entitled "Children's

television viewing: attention and comprehension of auditory versus visual
information", it examines the relationship between children's attention and
comprehension of auditory and visual information on television. The major results
were that the children effectively distributed their attention such that they could
process auditory and visual information from television while performing other
activities. Further, the children were sensitive to which segments required visual
attention and which did not, and they were able to spontaneously adjust their
pattern of visual attention appropriately. These results indicate that children
utilize a fairly sophisticated cognitive processing strategy while watching
television.

Isidor, Movelyn O. (2013). VIEWING COMPREHENSION.

Barrot, Jessie (2010). Key Concepts in Teaching Macroskills (Curriculum Planning &
Development Division, 2010).
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Rodgers, M. P., & Webb, S. (2017). The effects of captions on EFL learners’
comprehension of English-language television programs. Calico Journal, 34(1), 20-38.

Khoo,. (2012) A Study of Childrens Viewing and Representing Skills Through Digital
Text. English language - Study and teaching (Primary) - China - Hong Kong.

Ismaili, M. (2013). The effectiveness of using movies in the EFL classroom–A study
conducted at South East European University. Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary
Studies, 2(4), 121.

Ortega-Dela Cruz, R. A., & Guieb, M. A. S. (2017). Viewing teaching techniques in

enhancing viewing comprehension skills of undergraduate students in literature.
International Journal of Languages' Education, 1(Volume 5 Issue 2), 271–279.
https://doi.org/10.18298/ijlet.1762

Paris and Paris, 2003, Viewing Comprehension

Van den Broek, Lorch and Thurlow, 1996, Viewing Comprehension

Lorch and Sanchez, 1997, Written Narratives about Viewing Comprehension

Giorgis, Johnson, Bonomo, Colbert et.al, 1999, Types of Viewing: Visual Literacy