SOUTHERN LEYTE STATE UNIVERSITY – MAIN CAMPUS

SAN ROQUE, SOGOD SOUTHERN LEYTE

RESEARCH PROJECT PROPOSAL ON

Instructional Activities in English Classes

In Relation to Development of Linguistic

Abilities

BY:

Michael L. Tacle Jr.

2011126-1

PROFESSOR/INSTRUCTOR:

Josefina O. Carpentero

A Research Project Proposal in Partial Fulfillment of the requirement for the IC-FR 200
FUNDAMENTALS OF RESEARCH

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ABSTRACT

This study examines the instructional activities teacher’s implement as whether or not

these lead to the development of linguistic intelligence. This research study uses quantitative

design to gather data by conducting surveys using a researcher-made checklist and Linguistic

Intelligence Test with the chosen participants of English Instructors in Southern Leyte State

University - Main Campus. The results indicated that the instructional materials used to enhance

linguistic intelligence are oral communication which includes collaborative dialogues, question

and answer, think-pair-share, storytelling, debate, role playing, reciting poetry aloud, buzz

session and singing some folksongs. Written works which includes writing new verses, writing

essays on the topic, writing personal journal, writing self-reflection, writing new verses,

observing natural surroundings in preparation to writing, and creating reader’s theater with

writing. Based on the findings of this study, the researchers conclude that every linguistic ability

namely; phonology, morphology, semantics and syntax uses different instructional materials to

enhance linguistic intelligence. In addition, with the limitations set in this study, the following

future studies are recommended; studies that may venture on finding out whether affective

filters affect children’s LI, studies to focus on the effects of the development of Linguistic

Intelligence, investigate instructional activities that could develop the students’ Multiple

Intelligence, study about other ways that develop the students’ Linguistic Intelligence, and study

that is experimental in nature to determine the specific instructional activities that directly

develop linguistic intelligence of learners.

Keywords: instructional activities, linguistic abilities, oral communication, written works,

language structure

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 INTRODUCTION

Rationale of the Study

Reading and writing activities are instruments to develop linguistic abilities of language

learners. This study looks into the instructional activities teacher’s implement as whether or not

these lead to the development of linguistic intelligence. Gardner (1983) described linguistic

intelligence as sensitive to spoken and written language and the ability to use language and

learn new language. Those who have strong verbal-linguistic intelligences can learn a concept

more easily and they are great at reading, writing, memorizing words, learning languages,

speaking and telling stories (Kowald, 2013). And since they are good at spoken and written they

can also easily understand a passages of written and spoken text (Razmjo, 2008). However

several scholars (Szalontai & Csiszar, 2013) stated that there are several who have innate ability

to easily use spoken and written languages so as understanding concept of written and spoken

text. The public has never before demanded so much of schools and teachers but teacher and

schools do have responsibilities and obligation to respond to the need of the students in

developing linguistic intelligence, such as creating the conditions in which intelligence was most

likely to grow (Trapp, 2001). Teacher must realize that one type of teaching method is not

sufficient in developing the intelligence (Sulaiman & Sulaiman, 2010). This context set the need

for the teachers to use variety of activities to help the students learn the language and develop

the four skills namely: listening, reading, writing, and speaking.

According to the result of the study of Nur Ihsan Hali (2017), there are several models of

educational verbal-linguistic intelligence that can be developed through the study of literature.

They involve activities such as arguing, discussing, interpreting, submitting reports, talking, and

writing about literary works. Moreover, according to the results of the study done by Tamilselvi

and Geetha (2015), choral speaking, declaiming, storytelling, retelling, speaking, debating,

presenting, reading aloud, improving vocabulary, emergent/creative writing, writing and

reading reports/essays, taking and giving dictation, giving and listening to verbal instructions

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(oral and/or written), lecturing, impromptu speaking, dramatizing, dialogue and discussion,

publishing, telling jokes, listening to tapes, doing crossword puzzles, book making, non-fiction

reading, researching, listening, process writing, writing journals comes to the development of

verbal/ linguistics intelligence. Note taking, riddles, worksheets, listening to lectures, word play

games, listening to talking books, reading books, discussions, storytelling, journal keeping,

debates, memorizing and writing are activities that enhance linguistic abilities of language

learners (Yoones Taase, 2012).

In the study undertaken by Pérez, Duque, and García (2018), the Scribblenauts saga, a

video game which require a broad knowledge of vocabulary in the specific language needed to

play can prove useful to reduce the difficulty of expression, which derives from having a limited

vocabulary in other languages. It should also be stressed that spoken as well as written

language, together with narrative elements, constitute the foundations for play action shaping

in RPGs (Role-Playing Games), thus contributing an improvement in this ability. In addition,

writing journals, reading a text by a student or by a teacher, peer editing, discussing, word

games, and storytelling are activities that develop linguistic intelligence (Zebari1, Allo, &

Mohammedzadeh, 2018). In the study conducted by Sacidi and Mazuochi (2013), memorizing

different songs and poems, take turns in reading aloud different parts of a favorite play are

activities that aid learner’s develop verbal/linguistic intelligence. Playing games like scrabble,

completing crossword puzzles with vocabulary, writing feature articles, writing short stories,

writing a letter to the editor in response to articles, studying the habits of good speakers, and

participating in debates are the learning activities and project ideas that aids to linguistic

intelligence (Connell, 2005). Armstrong (1996) recommends a different way to bring out the

linguistic intelligence on every learner. These techniques include storytelling, brainstorming,

tape recording, journal writing, and publishing. In addition McKenzie (2005) stated that wordle,

dub cubs, cricklers, voicethread, and interactive constitution are activities that develop LI.

Reviews of literatures suggest that a number of studies have been carried out to study

instructional activities in relation to development of linguistic intelligence throughout the world

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yet without particularizing English classes. Moreover, most of these studies have been

conducted to foreign countries, thus implicating that there are no or very few studies regarding

this context is found in the Philippine locale. The scopes of most of the existing studies focus on

multiple intelligence based planning of English Foreign Language class, and efficacy in teaching

through multiple intelligence instructional strategies. With regards to this, we pursue this study

and use quantitative design to gather data by conducting surveys using a researcher-made

checklist and Linguistic Intelligence Test with the chosen participants of English instructor in

Southern Leyte State University - Main Campus

Methodology

In this study, qualitative design will be used in which data will be gathered by conducting

surveys using a researcher-made checklist. The chosen participants are the English instructors

of Southern Leyte State University - Main Campus. The duration of this study is November and

December, 1st Quarter of A.Y. 2022-2023.

A researcher-made checklist (see Appendix 1, pg. 13), a list of English instructional

activities based from Lunenberg & Lunenberg (2014), would be used to gather the data. For the

preliminary preparation for the observation, the researcher chose Southern Leyte State

University. These school were chosen with the reason that they are also students of this

University where. Formal letters were given to the Deans of different department/colleges and

instructors to allow the survey. Prior to the data gathering, a checklist was given to the English

teachers. This checklist contains possible English Instructional Activities that the teachers use.

The duration of this survey is November and December, 1st Quarter of A.Y. 2022-2023.

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 Presentation, Analysis and Interpretation of Data

This chapter discusses the presentation of findings, the analysis and interpretation of

data gathered from the respondent’s responses to the checklist given by the researchers of the

study. The interpretations were based on the specific objectives considered in this study.

Instructional activities in English classroom can help develop the linguistic intelligence

of the learners. English instructor must implement different activities that could lead to the

development of the learners’ Linguistic Intelligence more frequently.

Table 1: Phonology

Instructional Activities Always Sometimes Never

Role Playing

Reciting Poetry aloud

Clapping to accentuate the rhythm of the

words
Singing folksongs

Writing new verses

Debate

Think-Pair-Share

Completing crossword puzzles using

vocabulary words
Creating reader’s theatre with writing

Writing essays on the topic

Observing natural surroundings in

preparation to writing
Buzz session

Collaborative writing

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 Alphabet game

Mine field

Bull Ring

Marble Shoot

Hula-Hoop Relay

Chicken Shoot

Collaborative Dialogues

Constructing a sentence together

Prolepsis

Question and Answer activity

Story Telling

Writing personal journal

Writing self-reflection

Oral communication is most frequently used Instructional Activities inside an English

classroom because most of the activities involve dialogues, Q and A, buzz session, role playing

debate, think-pair-share and storytelling. These activities also are more observable in an

English classroom since these are easy to administer.

According to Evans (2015), oral communication skills are fundamental to the

development of literacy and essential for thinking and learning. It is the glue that puts all the

components of a language together. Through talk, students not only communicate information

but also explore and come to understand ideas and concepts; identify and solve problems;

organize their experience and knowledge; express and clarify their thoughts, feelings, and

opinions. According to Simmonds (2008) questioning in lessons is an important aspect of

teaching because it drives learning, creates a language rich environment, reviews learning,

encourages engagement and motivation, and develops critical thinking.

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 Those skills are very much essential in the future that is why nowadays performance

based curriculum is being used thus performance-based tasks are likely to be implemented by

most of the teachers. According to Edgar Dale cited by Ninja (2016), an American educationist,

created “The Cone of Experience”. It is a model that incorporates several theories related to

instructional design and learning processes. During the 1960s, Edgar Dale theorized that

learners retain more information by what they “do” as opposed to what is “heard”, “read” or

“observed”.

In a performance-based classroom most commonly used instructional activities are the

Oral-communication activities. Oral-communication as an output of most English classroom,

according to Rahman (2010), Speaking is the mode of communication most often used to

express opinions, make arguments, offer explanations, transmit information, and make

impressions upon others. Students need to speak well in their personal lives, future workplaces,

social interactions, and political endeavors, for it equips students with a set of skills they can use

for the rest of their lives. It happens in the process of before, while, and after learning, maybe in

a form of formal and informal assessment. Through talk, as the students communicate, they are

able to learn the speech sounds.

Instructional games include bull ring, and marble shoot. As gaming is so ingrained in

human culture and nature, the language of gaming whether for fun or for scientific endeavour is

similar. In education, games help in understanding the relationships between content, process

and context of a subject matter. Emphasis is on handling concepts, relations, and sharing of

explicit and tacit knowledge. Games are social systems. They are also models of existing or

imagined social systems, shaped by the players. While playing a game, people apply knowledge

and skills to triumph over difficulties set by fellow players or by socio-economic circumstances.

(Klabbers,2003).

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 Simple activities such as talking and engaging in conversation, playing word games,

singing songs, learning nursery rhymes, and poems all contribute to the development of

phonological awareness (Daffern,2018; Goswami, 2014; Mackenzie and Hemmings, 2014).Once

an early writer can hear the individual speech sounds in a word they are ready to visually match

to letters. Students will have varied phonological awareness knowledge.

Table 2: Morphology

Instructional Activities Always Sometimes Never

Role Playing

Reciting Poetry aloud

Clapping to accentuate the rhythm of the

words
Singing folksongs

Writing new verses

Debate

Think-Pair-Share

Completing crossword puzzles using

vocabulary words
Creating reader’s theatre with writing

Writing essays on the topic

Observing natural surroundings in

preparation to writing
Buzz session

Collaborative writing

Alphabet game

Mine field

Bull Ring

Marble Shoot

Hula-Hoop Relay

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 Chicken Shoot

Collaborative Dialogues

Constructing a sentence together

Prolepsis

Question and Answer activity

Story Telling

Writing personal journal

Writing self-reflection

Written work, according to Tornqvist (2008), is a concrete skill. There is no problem

with shy and unmotivated learners when implementing this in the classroom. It consumes less

time and easy to administer. Written works include writing self-reflection, writing personal

journal, writing essays on topic, and writing new verses.

According to Hyland (2015), writing is seen as a product constructed from the writer’s

command of grammatical and lexical knowledge, and writing development is considered to be

the result of imitating and manipulating models provided by the teacher. For many who adopt

this view, writing is regarded as extension of grammar- a means of reinforcing language

patterns through habit formation and testing learners’ ability to produce well-formed

sentences. This implies that through written works, morphology is enhance.

Oral communication includes storytelling, Q and A, dialogues, singing folksong, and buzz

sessions. For the development of morphology, oral communication is an aid for both reading

and spelling to provide opportunities to analyze words, and become familiar with common

morphemes, including their meaning and function. (Victoria, 2018)

Games include prolepsis, bull ring, mine field, hula hoop relay and marble shoot. Playing

games means being involved in symbolic acts that - dependent on their degree of playfulness -

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are valued for themselves. Training and education in industrialised societies stress the

instrumental utility of games. In such a context, games are used as tools, or means, to achieve

well-defined learning goals. Participating in games implies engaging in embodied experiences.

While playing, the participants interact with one another and with the reference system, which

can be represented in many different ways such as a board, a computer interface with icons that

represent a database, a spreadsheet, an information system, and/or a simulation model. Gaming

crosses existing knowledge domains. It is a trans-disciplinary field of research, education and

training, and links many areas of enquiry and professional practice. Games are used for

education, training and research. (Klabbers,2003). Thus games are not directly concerned with

morphological awareness.

Table 3: Semantics

Instructional Activities Always Sometimes Never

Role Playing

Reciting Poetry aloud

Clapping to accentuate the rhythm of the

words
Singing folksongs

Writing new verses

Debate

Think-Pair-Share

Completing crossword puzzles using

vocabulary words
Creating reader’s theatre with writing

Writing essays on the topic

Observing natural surroundings in

preparation to writing

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 Buzz session

Collaborative writing

Alphabet game

Mine field

Bull Ring

Marble Shoot

Hula-Hoop Relay

Chicken Shoot

Collaborative Dialogues

Constructing a sentence together

Prolepsis

Question and Answer activity

Story Telling

Writing personal journal

Writing self-reflection

Oral language instruction or oral communication, involves the process of utilizing

thinking, knowledge and skills in order to speak and listen effectively. One of the five

components of effective oral language instruction is to teach and extend vocabulary and

conceptual knowledge. It is important for children to develop knowledge of word meanings

from an early age and to this end, they need to be actively engaged in vocabulary development.

Inclusions of oral communications are Q and A activity, think-pair-share, debate and role

playing.

Letting students do written works like writing personal journal, self-reflection, essays,

new verses, collaborative writing and creating reader’s theater with writing help them enhance

their linguistic ability in semantics. In the study of Boon Yih (2017), it stimulates students to

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express themselves in words, and encourage them to think critically and broadly. It is the

production of word association, sense relation, parts of speech, superordination, collocation,

and system of logic.

In the result of our study, it tells us that methods such as using games like marble shoot,

hula hoop relay, bull ring, mine field, and alphabet game are very occasionally used to teach and

learn vocabulary they are only used for a limited time. But in the study Derakhshan and Khatir

(2015), they concluded that learning vocabulary through games is one of the effective and

interesting ways that can be applied in classrooms. As to Gillespie (2009), educational games

are used frequently due to their benefits. They give students responsibility and the opportunity

of being active physically and mentally, they are student-centered, they easily grab students’

attention and increase their interaction.

Table 4: Syntax

Instructional Activities Always Sometimes Never

Role Playing

Reciting Poetry aloud

Clapping to accentuate the rhythm of the

words
Singing folksongs

Writing new verses

Debate

Think-Pair-Share

Completing crossword puzzles using

vocabulary words
Creating reader’s theatre with writing

Writing essays on the topic

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 Observing natural surroundings in
preparation to writing
Buzz session

Collaborative writing

Alphabet game

Mine field

Bull Ring

Marble Shoot

Hula-Hoop Relay

Chicken Shoot

Collaborative Dialogues

Constructing a sentence together

Prolepsis

Question and Answer activity

Story Telling

Writing personal journal

Writing self-reflection

Native English speakers learn syntax through repetition before they learn the parts of

speech and rules of grammar. That is in a form of oral communication like Q and A, dialogues,

and debate. As this concept is reinforced through classroom exercises, the students will utilize

the structure when creating their own sentences as they continue learning the language. This

utilization is in line with writing self-reflection, personal journal, essays, new verses, and

creating reader’s theater with writing.

Oral language is one of the most important skills your students can master-both for

social and academic success. Every social interaction gives students a new opportunity to

practice language. Some of your students might need a little guidance from you to engage in

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conversations, so spark interactions whenever you can. Ask questions, rephrase the student’s

answers, and give prompts that encourage oral conversations to continue. (Blakeslee, 2018)

Alphabet game, mine field, bull ring, marble shoot, and hula hoop relay are games. In our

study this method is rarely use to enhance syntax. Yet the findings of the study by Arikan and

Yolageldili, (2011) is according to the teachers, games are important and necessary part of

English language teaching and learning because they provide many instructional advantages.

Games are effective in teaching and practicing grammar. Grammar learning becomes enjoyable

and permanent as a result of games’ providing learners with a meaningful context for practicing

grammar communicatively.

Games increase learners’ proficiency in practicing grammar communicatively. With the

help of grammar games, students can develop their ability in using language as they are given a

chance to use language in the situations which have a purpose ( Deesri, 2007).

Conclusion

The results of the analyses and discussions for most female teachers who belong to the

age of 30-40, with the length of service of 10 years and master’s degree holder indicated that

every linguistic ability namely; phonology, morphology, semantics and syntax uses different

instructional materials to enhance linguistic intelligence.

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