GRAMMATICAL COMPETENCE IN FILIPINO LANGUAGE OF GRADE 8 STUDENT

I. Context and Rationale

The Filipino Language is one of the languages used as medium of instruction inside

the classroom. A language that every student should be proficient as it is part of their day-

to-day living, serves as an avenue for knowledge, and for enhancing their skills. As

pursuant to the Bilingual Policy (1974), the subjects in Elementary and Secondary are

divided into two groups. One group will be taught in Pilipino (Filipino) language while the

other group will be taught using the English language. This means that, there will be two

major language of instruction aside from the auxiliary language to be used inside the class

that depends on the specific subjects’ area. This aims to achieve competence in both

Filipino and English at the National Level (Espiritu, nd).

Furthermore, according to the Article XIV, Section 6 of 1987 Constitution, the National

Language of the Philippines is Filipino and the government should take steps to initiate

and sustain the use of Filipino as medium of official communication and as a language of

instruction. Using Filipino as medium of instruction in different subject area in schools is

an effective way to enrich students’ skills in communication using this language

(University of Southern Mindanao, 2022).

Communication does not only take on the ability of the students to communicate

verbally, it also includes the ability to express oneself effectively through writing. In the

communicative competence of Dell Hymes (1972), it consists four competences which

includes the Linguistic competence of a person. Linguistic competence refers to the

knowledge of grammar and vocabulary in which this serves as the basic building blocks
of a language. However, it is saddened to know that the Grade-8 students of LNU-ILS

lacks of grammatical competence particularly in making sentences and vocabulary.

The issue regarding of the lack of competence in Filipino Language of students are

still evident inside the classroom. Carefully looking at the Filipino Curriculum Guide,

specifically in the Core Learning Area Standard of Grade level One (1) to Six (6), it is

stated that student should be able to use the Filipino Language to easily understand and

explain the knowledge of the lesson content, use the appropriate and proper words to

express one’s own thoughts, feelings or experiences with full respect for the culture of the

giver and receiver of the message. This means that learners at this level should already

know how to express their ideas both verbally and written about their lessons content at

the same time their critical thinking skills is being develop at this level. Meanwhile, in the

Core Learning Area Standard of Grades Seven (7) to Ten (10), student should

demonstrate communicative competence, critical thinking, and literacy understanding

and appreciation using technology and various types of regional, national, Asian and

global literary works to acquire cultural literacy. By this, learners at this level should

already demonstrate the communicative competence as early as Grade 7 as this skill was

introduced or start to develop during at the elementary level. Therefore, immediate

intervention is needed to address the lack of grammatical competence in Filipino

language among Grade 8 learners of LNU-ILS as it will largely affect their acquisition of

knowledge and performance in class.

According to UNESCO, the common sets of 21st Century skills or competence

consists of collaboration, communication, Information and Communication Technology

(ICT) literacy, and social or cultural competencies. If the grammatical competence

problem of the learner will not be address properly then the institution would not be able

to produce and achieve holistic and well-rounded learners. The world is vastly changing

and learners should be able to cope up by molding them and see to it that they possess

the 21st Century Skills and knowledge that is expected them to learn.

Moreover, according to Gleason, as mentioned by Garcia et al. (2008), language is a

systematic framework of spoken sounds that are arranged and selected arbitrarily to be

used in the communication of people belonging to a culture.

By definition, a characteristic of any language is having a system: a system of sounds

and meanings. When the language system is violated, it will result in false or vague

statements that greatly affect the flow of communication. Every language has rules to

follow called grammar or grammar. A student therefore must know these rules so that he

can use the language correctly in expression, whether oral or written. Therefore, the

cultivation of the student's grammatical ability is necessary because it is important for the

student's communicative ability.

Thus, this research aimed to improve the student understanding of Filipino grammar.

This study might be useful for other teachers who have the problem on student grammar

mastery, and literary works can be used as solution to increase it.

II. Research Questions

In this study, the researcher sought to address or to know the factors that contribute to

poor grammar competence of Grade 8 students using Filipino language. Through this

research the writer sought to investigate:

1. What is the level of grammar skills in Filipino language of Grade VIII students?
 2. How does the prepared intervention and strategies help to improve the

grammatical competence of the participants using Filipino language?

3. What issues or concerns that affect the grammatical competence in Filipino

language of the selected participants in Grade 8 class?

III. Proposed Innovation, Intervention and Strategy

Innovation

This research aims to know the grammatical competency of the students towards

Filipino language. The researchers present set of ideas that should be considered to

achieve the students correct and sufficient grammatical knowledge about the language.

One of the components of the English language is grammar or structure, which is

frequently regarded as a crucial element (Ameliani, 2019; Aniuranti & Rizkina, 2019;

Effendi et al., 2017; Handayani & Johan, 2018; Yuliyanto & Fitriyati, 2019; Nawira et al.).

As a result, every learner needs to acquire a solid understanding of grammar.

Communication may suffer, according to Harmer's (2003) argument, if grammar rules are

applied carelessly. According to Utomo & Ahsanah (2020), learning grammar helps

students build better language structures and send messages that are meaningful.

According to Wang (2010), structure is always crucial to the teaching and learning of

foreign languages. Therefore, grammar is an essential component of both language

learning and communication.

Due to the importance of grammar, every language teacher must create an

effective teaching process that supports the achievement of teaching objectives.

Furthermore, teachers must resolve the issue that arose during the learning process.

They may employ teaching strategies, methods, techniques, or media. According to

Agustin (2017), every teacher must have a solid foundation in terms of the function and

nature of the structure, as well as several teaching competencies, and ELT teachers must

choose the most appropriate and comprehensive teaching approach. In short, every

teacher must understand grammar concepts and be equipped with the most effective

teaching methods.

Intervention and Strategy

The researchers chose to conduct action research in response to this issue. Since it

is the duty of language teachers to facilitate an efficient learning process, it is extremely

important. The researcher made a choice to make use of written works. They were

selected due to several factors. First of all, literature can be used as a grammar teaching

tool. Khatib et al. (2011) list nine different literary works' virtues. One of them is for

grammar instruction. They point out that readings from works of literature can help

students improve their command of complex grammar concepts as well as grammatical

structure. Collie & Slater in Floris (2004) also note that literary works often display many

original writing features at a very difficult level, such as "the structure and function of

sentences, the variety of possible structures, and the different ways of connecting ideas."

Second, literary works may be able to make students feel more at ease, motivating them

to study more. Khatib and colleagues (2011) mention how many students are highly

motivated if they have the opportunity to investigate the literary text. Third, because of its

authenticity, literature may be effective as a teaching medium. Floris (2004) asserts that

literary texts frequently address universal themes and values ranging from personal
concerns to social issues such as death, love, pollution, and ethnic conflicts. That is why

they are genuine. Authenticity is also required in language teaching, according to Khatib

et al. (2011). As a result, literary works can absolutely be used as teaching media.

Moreover, teachers can help their students become more grammatically proficient in

the area of subject-verb agreement.

To elaborate, Lastimosa (2017) stated that there are various ways to improve the

proficiency of Filipinos, particularly students, and to nurture its current status. She goes

on to say, "To further discuss, Lastimosa (2017) stated that there are various ways to

improve the proficiency of Filipinos, primarily students, and how to maintain its current

state She believes that Filipinos should disseminate information about the language. It is

necessary because many citizens will benefit from new knowledge and improvements to

the language as a result of this act, and many will treasure it.

She also explains how to use Filipino everywhere, especially when communicating

within the community, and how social media can help everyone appreciate their native

language. Most importantly, Lastimosa (2017) encourages all Filipinos prior to students

to practice their abilities or capabilities in writing literary pieces in Filipino. Try to write

poems or short stories in the "Pambansang Wika" to expand your vocabulary.

 REFERENCES

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The 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines.

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Hymes, D. H. (1972). On Communicative Competence. In J.B Pride & J. Holmes (Eds),

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Filipino Curriculum Guide. https://www.deped.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2019/Filipino-

CG.pdf

UNESCO. Twenty-First Century Skills. https://ibe.unesco.org