STUDENTS’ LEAST MASTERED LEARNING

COMPETENCIES IN ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC

PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES: INPUTS FOR
DEVELOPING EVALUATING DIGITIZED
MULTIMODAL LEARNING MATERIALS

PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL

2023
Volume: 12
Pages: 629-632
Document ID: 2023PEMJ1091
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.8264909
Manuscript Accepted: 2023-18-8
Psych Educ, 2023, 12: 629-632, Document ID:2023 PEMJ1091, doi:10.5281/zenodo.8264909, ISSN 2822-4353
Research Article

Students’ Least Mastered Learning Competencies in English for Academic

Professional Purposes: Inputs for Developing Evaluating
Digitized Multimodal Learning Materials
Maribeth B. Besmonte*
For affiliations and correspondence, see the last page.
Abstract
This study used the descriptive type of research with the survey questionnaire as the data gathering
instrument. The developed digitized multimodal learning materials were evaluated by the 15 English
experts and 15 English teachers who were purposively chosen by the researcher of this study. The
first data-gathering instrument of this study was a checklist of competencies from which the five
least mastered competencies of the students in English for Academic and Professional Purposes
(EAPP) were determined. The second instrument was the survey questionnaire composed of
indicators to evaluate the developed digitized multimodal learning materials in terms of the following
criteria: authenticity, automaticity, clarity, comprehensibility, usefulness, meaningfulness, and
technicality. The four-point Likert scale was used to determine the level of acceptability of the
developed digitized multimodal materials. The weighted mean was used to determine the
respondents’ evaluation of the digitized multimodal materials while the t-test was used to determine
the significant difference in the evaluations of the two groups of respondents on the developed
digitized multimodal learning materials in English for Academic and Professional Purposes for
Grade 12 students.

Keywords: digitized, multimodal, english for academic and professional purposes

Introduction narration, and other similar patterns in text and in

English for Academic and Professional Purposes
(EAPP) is one of the subjects offered in the Senior
High School curriculum. This is a 3-unit course that
aims to teach students to communicate effectively in
diverse academic and professional situations. It further
aims to prepare the English language students to be
more confident and competent in communication both
orally and in written forms. It also helps the students
develop their linguistic, social, and academic skills
through highly contextualized and meaningful
classroom activities in a collaborative and safe
learning setting. Specifically, English for Academic
and Professional Purposes shall develop. The students’
knowledge and skills in English so they can converse
with an acceptable degree of fluency in the various
academic and non-academic types of discourse. This
subject shall also help the students have a transition
from high school to university life.
At Our Lady of Fatima University, Antipolo Campus,
this researcher has encountered difficulties in teaching
the subject, English for Academic and Professional
Purposes. As a faculty member of the said university,
she believes that learning materials should be available
on hand so that students enrolled in the subject shall be
exposed to well-planned and developed learning
materials. As remarked by Urbano (2021), majority of
the senior high school students have difficulty
identifying various patterns of development such as
comparison and contrast, definition, description,
evaluating the coherence, organization, grammar, and
mechanics of a text. In addition to the comments of
Urbano, this researcher has also experienced that it is
difficult to teach the subject, English for Academic
and Professional Purposes, if no learning activities
which are related to the real-life situations of the
learners are readily available. Further, she has also
observed that students have difficulty in academic
writing. This was the foremost reason of this
researcher in conducting the present study so that she
could determine the difficulties encountered by the
students.
As students of the Senior High School Department of
Our Lady of Fatima University, they should be aware
that English for Academic and Professional Purposes
is more than just speaking and writing. They must
know that EAPP requires critical thinking skills. They
must develop their skill to judge, criticize, evaluate
and corroborate information. They must know how to
acknowledge the ideas and works of others.
(https://ecile7eapp-what-is)Relative to the foregoing
observations the researcher and other language
enthusiasts, Pablo and Lasaten (2018) reported that
majority of the senior high teachers were dissatisfied
with the quality of the students’ written output. Most
students claimed that they are aware of the importance
of coherence in writing academic texts but they find it
difficult to achieve a good written output. The findings
of Pablo and Lasatens’ study is an indication that
students should be taught to prepare an outline so as to

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Psych Educ, 2023, 12: 629-632, Document ID:2023 PEMJ1091, doi:10.5281/zenodo.8264909, ISSN 2822-4353
Research Article
see the relationship of one paragraph to next the
paragraph.
Moreover, with the growing complexity of the modes
of teaching and with the introduction of new
technologically mediated modes of learning that will
suit the diverse learning styles of students, there is then
a need to meet the learners’ requirement of having
multimodal activities which are digitized to go with
the trend of technology. It is within this premise that
this researcher embarked on this study so that the
students of Our Lady of Fatima University will be
updated with the new trends of learning, hence this
study.
Research Questions
This study aimed to determine the least mastered
learning competencies of Grade 12 in English for
Academic and Professional Purposes (EAPP) which
served as inputs in developing and evaluating digitized
multimodal learning materials at Our Lady of Fatima
University-Antipolo Campus during the academic year
2022-2023. More specifically, it sought answers to the
following questions:
1. What are the five least mastered learning
competencies of Grade 12 students in English for
Academic and Professional Purposes (EAPP) which
could be developed into digitized multimodal learning
materials as perceived by the teacher respondents?
2. What is the evaluation of the English experts and
teacher respondents on the developed digitized
multimodal learning materials in terms of the
following criteria?
2.1 Authenticity;
2.2 Automaticity;
2.3 Clarity;
2.4 Comprehensibility;
2.5 Usefulness;
2.6 Meaningfulness; and
2.7 Technicality?
3. Is there a significant difference between the
evaluations of the two groups of respondents in terms
of the aforecited criteria?
4. What are the comments and suggestions offered by
two groups of respondents to further improve the
developed learning materials?
Literature Review
Multimodal Learning
The first concept is on multimodal learning. According
to Lawless (2019), multimodal learning uses several
Maribeth B. Besmonte
senses and action processes. For students who struggle
to learn, this method uses text and visuals for them to
understand the lesson better. Visual organizers, art,
movies, and images are some examples of multimodal
learning materials. Text-to-speech synthesizers,
singing, musical instruments, rhyming, and spoken
language games are audio sources. Singing the
alphabet song helps the students to memorize the
letters. Tactile inputs are manipulative, such as using
an abacus to learn math, sculpting clay, paint, and
paper to depict things and ideas, and utilizing puzzles
to learn state names and capitals. Finally, kinesthetic
encompasses all motor action and gestures, such as
jumping, singing, role playing, playing hopscotch and
other similar activities.
Muraina (2019) said that through the multimodal
approach, teachers are given the opportunity to help
students obtain a deeper knowledge of codes, find
effective ways to convey what they have learned, and
find a safe space for themselves. Audio, video and still
images and text which are highlighted and spoken
aloud are also examples of multimodal activities.
Lawless (2019) further explained multimodal learning
as using sight, voice, and touch to learn. This aids
comprehension and recall. Combining these
approaches gives students a diverse learning style.
Visual learning uses graphs, infographics, caricatures,
pictures, films, artwork, flow charts, and
diagrams—anything that grabs the student's attention.
One learns mostly via reading and writing. Effective
learning designs adapt media, modalities, engagement,
learner qualities, and pedagogy to complex situations.
Multimodal learning also involves visualizing and
verbal learning which can promote basic and higher-
order thinking.
In another vein, Picciano (2020) recommends that
lessons must be tailor-made for each student. To
accommodate diverse learners, teachers and
instructional designers can have combined or mixed
face to face and online methods. Multimodal learning
can be embedded so that the learning styles could be
focused. Gepila (2019) shared the view that people
generally agree that teaching and learning how to write
is the most challenging of the four major language
skill categories. It is incredibly challenging because it
is similar to instructing a toddler on how to swim.
Experimenting with the many styles of swimming is
necessary for a child who is serious about becoming a
proficient swimmer. As a result, there are a variety of
hypotheses, guiding concepts, and methodologies that
need to be considered. In the same manner, in order for
a child to learn how to write well, he needs to engage
in a variety of activities that are linked to writing. It is
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Research Article

essential to keep in mind that teachers of writing

should be familiar with the environment of learning
which includes aspects such as culture, literature, and
identity.
to the respondents as conducted the research.
2. The researcher vouched and enforced the safety and
Methodology the rights of their privacy and anonymity.

McCombes (2022) defined descriptive research as a

systematized body of knowledge that describes a target Results and Discussion
population, situation and phenomenon. It can use a
variety of research methods to distinguish the variables
Table 1. Distribution of Respondents
presented in a study. This is a process in choosing
characteristics, trends, frequencies and categories. This
study utilized the descriptive research since this
involved the perceptions of ten English teachers in
identifying the least mastered competencies of Grade
12 through percentage and ranking.

Participants Table 2. Five Least Mastered Learning Competencies

of the Grade 12 Students in English for Academic and
There were 15 English teachers and 15 experts from Professional Purposes (EAPP) as perceived by the
Our Lady of Fatima University-Antipolo and Quezon English teachers
City campus who evaluated the developed digitized
multimodal learning materials. The respondents were
chosen through purposive sampling. The teachers and
expert respondents were chosen because of the
researchers’ intention to produce digitized multimodal
learning materials for Grade 12.

Instruments of the Study

The researcher utilized a questionnaire checklist to

identify the least mastered learning competencies of
Grade 12 students. The survey questionnaire was also
utilized to elicit from the respondents their evaluations
of the developed digitized multimodal learning
materials.

Procedure The goal of this research is to determine the least

mastered competencies of Grade 12 students in
The researcher first requested from Our Lady of
English for Academic and Professional Purposes. The
Fatima University authorities for her to conduct the
analysis used descriptive qualitative research to know
research at Antipolo and Quezon City Campus. After
her request was approved, she then requested
the least competencies among English Teachers in
permission from the senior high school principal to senior high school department. It was evidently shown
allow her to administer the questionnaires about the that the students have difficulty writing an academic
multimodal learning materials to the English teachers. paper. The research put emphasis on enhancing writing
Likewise, the researcher personally retrieved the skills.
questionnaires from the teachers to ensure 100 percent
of return.

Ethical Considerations

1. The researcher aimed to protect and bring no harm

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Psych Educ, 2023, 12: 629-632, Document ID:2023 PEMJ1091, doi:10.5281/zenodo.8264909, ISSN 2822-4353
Research Article
Conclusion
The digitized multimodal learning materials in English
for Academic and Professional Purposes for Grade 12
can be developed based on the least mastered learning
competencies.
The respondents are very much satisfied with the
developed digitized multimodal learning material for
Grade 12 in terms of authenticity, automaticity, clarity,
comprehensibility, meaningfulness, and technicality.
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Affiliations and Corresponding Information
Maribeth B. Besmonte
Marikina Polytechnic College - Philippines
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