LANGUAGE-LEARNING STRATEGIES AND

WRITING PERFORMANCE OF GRADE 12

HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL
SCIENCE LEARNERS

PSYCHOLOGY AND EDUCATION: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL

Volume: 14
Pages: 821-829
Document ID: 2023PEMJ1296
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10036449
Manuscript Accepted: 2023-23-10
Psych Educ , 2023, 14: 821-829, Document ID:2023 PEMJ1296, doi:10.5281/zenodo.10036449, ISSN 2822-4353
Research Article

Language-Learning Strategies and Writing Performance of

Grade 12 Humanities and Social Science Learners
Evelyn S. Lopez*
For affiliations and correspondence, see the last page.
Abstract
The researcher investigated the relationship between language-learning strategies and writing
performance of Grade 12 Humanities and Social Science learners. Seventy-nine (79) learners from
Nagpayong High School served as the respondents of this study that utilized descriptive-correlation
design. The adopted research instruments were Oxford’s Strategy Inventory for Language Learners
and the CUNY Assessment Test in Writing. To ensure the accuracy and facilitation of data analysis,
percentage and arithmetic mean, and Spearman rho correlation were utilized through the help of
SPSS (Statistical Product and Service Solution) software.It was found out that the majority of the
Grade 12 Humanities and Social Sciences Strand learners utilized a variety of language-learning
strategies, especially metacognitive and social strategies. Despite some errors in writing mechanics,
the results of their writing assessment were still within the competent category.It was concluded that
among all the strategies, cognitive and compensation strategies were found to be related to the
respondents’ writing performance.Among the recommendations were the following: (a) students’
practicing memory strategies in language learning; (b) teachers’ consideration of multisensory
activities to strengthen recall of lesson; (c) curriculum developers’ creating worksheets and activities
for implicit and explicit learning---most especially in writing mechanics; and (d) teachers’ promoting
awareness of the use of the language strategies, especially compensation.

Keywords: e-learning activities, social sciences, grade 12, writing

Introduction d evelop ed until a desirab le outcom e or a

The main objective of education is to equip learners
with the necessary skills to survive life, specifically
academic and career life. It is undeniable that in the
Philippines, one must be proficient in the English
language to land a good job as most companies require
applicants to undergo a series of interviews and written
tests in English. English has to be used correctly in
both spoken and written communication since it is
critical for securing employment, especially in the
corporate world. Writing, however, is not a piece of
cake for everyone.
Writing, according to Azizi (2017), is a complex
process, and competent writing is considered the
highest yet the last language skill to be acquired. It
involves activating a complicated set of materials
consisting of content knowledge, linguistic knowledge
(vocabulary, grammar, and text structure), and
strategic understanding (provision of relevant
information). Because of its complexities, teaching
writing has never been an easy task for teachers as
writing involves words and ideas that must flow with
logic in orderly arrangement and organization. This is
upheld by Al-Mekhlafi (2011), who asserts that
writing is a challenging activity not only for second
language (L2) learners but also for native speakers of a
language. Just like any other learned skill, the writing
skill requires continuous practice to be properly
comprehensible piece of writing for both the writer
and the reader is achieved. This allows the writer to
move forward by trial and error until he can finally
refine his writing. The role and responsibility of the
learner becomes even more important when it comes
to learning how to apply certain conventions of writing
in a formal learning environment.
A study conducted by Novariana et al. (2018) revealed
several internal and external problems in writing of
senior high school students: low motivation, wrong
choice of words, lack of vocabulary, difficulty of
arranging words in appropriate order, wrong spelling,
wrong grammar, tendency to be passive learners in
classroom activities, lack of practice, and no feedback
on their writing. She concluded that learners with low
writing ability should gain awareness of these
problems because self-assessment would greatly
promote writing skills. This finding steered the
researcher to discern the significance of initiative and
self-awareness in the learning process.
In line with language learning, many researchers have
worked on defining and classifying language-learning
strategies over the years, but the one that has earned
great significance is the work of Oxford. Language-
learning strategies, according to Oxford (2009), are
specific actions enhancing language skills since these
active and self-directed actions are independently
taken tasks (as cited in Cainoy, 2013). Former

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Research Article
research, such as those of Banares (2018), Sukami
(2018), and Habok and Magyar (2017) have revealed
that language-learning strategies have a significant
relationship to English proficiency; thus, frequent use
of these strategies help students become better English
language learners. Very limited studies, however, can
be found about the use of these language-learning
strategies for specific language areas, such as listening,
speaking, and writing.
At Nagpayong High School, many students are
identified to have difficulties in understanding English
because of lack of vocabulary, poor grammatical
knowledge, poor self-efficacy in using the English
language, and overuse of the mother tongue in English
classes. These are evident during classroom
presentations and more so in written outputs. English-
language teachers, as well as teachers of Filipino,
bewail students’ poorly written outputs and plagiarized
works. This problem could also impact students’
academic performance across many disciplines, and if
not addressed, it might further contribute to their
difficulty of landing a job in the future. Since the
writing skill, like any other skills, requires practice for
its development, the researcher wants to explore what
self-initiated effort students have to enhance their
language skills and how this effort helps their writing
performance.
Having the previously stated writing problems in
mind, the researcher had become interested in
investigating the students’ language-learning strategies
and how the strategies could possibly affect their
language performance, specifically in writing. She,
then, was driven to find out the language-learning
strategies of Humanities and Social Science (HUMSS)
students and the relationship of these strategies to their
writing performance, hence, this study. She hopes that
this research could provide educators with insights into
the teaching techniques that might likely help improve
students’ writing performance and strengthen their
self-regulation acknowledgment of language-learning
strategies that could aid their advancement in writing.
Research Questions
This study aimed at ascertaining the relationship
between the use of language-learning strategies and
the levels of writing performance of Grade 12 learners
at Nagpayong Senior High School. To accomplish this,
it answered the following questions:
1. How do the respondents assess their use of the
following language-learning strategies:
1.1 Memory;
1.2 Cognitive;
Evelyn S. Lopez
1.3 Compensation;
1.4 Metacognitive;
1.5 Affective; and
1.6 Social?
2. What are their levels of performance in writing in
terms of the following categories:
2.1. Critical Response to the Writing Task and the
Text;
2.2. Development of the Writer's Idea;
2.3. Structure of the Response;
2.4. Language Use: Sentences and Word Choice; and
2.5. Language Use: Grammar, Usage, and
Mechanics?
3. Is there any significant relationship between the
respondents' use of language-learning strategies and
their levels of writing performance?
Literature Review
Several other language researchers defined “language-
learning strategies” or presented arguments on how
“language-learning strategies” should be defined.
Bialystok (1978, as cited in Banares, 2018), for
example, defined it as maximizing accessible
information to enhance competence toward the target
language.
Baňares (2018) discovered in her study of senior high
school students at Antipolo National High School that
the students highly used memory-related strategies in
learning English as a second language. She explained,
however, that the students often used memory
strategies in the early stages of language learning for
learning new words and sentence patterns, but they
needed such strategies much less when their
vocabulary bank and knowledge of language structures
became wider.
Strakova (2013) noted cognitive strategies that she
found effective in a case study conducted among
elementary students. She observed that even if offered
dictionaries, students preferred learning the meaning
of a word independently and acquired better
understanding when vocabulary lessons were
presented through games, such as grouping or
categorizing terms, using words in context, semantic
mapping, association through Total-Physical-
Response, summarizing, and sequencing.
Similarly, Ljungberg’s research (2011) on
compensation strategies in learning grammar and
vocabulary for two groups of students tagged as EO
(English only learners) and EML (English modern
language learners) reported that the commonly used
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Research Article
compensatory strategies by the EO learners were
guessing and playing by the ear while those of the
EML learners were trying to recall the rules or
analyzing context. His findings also revealed that
compensatory techniques were not only used for
achieving understanding but also for avoidance.
In the qualitative study conducted among 20 freshmen
at the Faculty of Computer Technologies and
Engineering in International Black Sea University,
Georgia, Goctu (2017) inferred that student enhanced
their writing performance and raised their satisfaction
through metacognitive writing strategies. The students
gained advantages not only in writing but also in
transferable skills, which made the metacognitive
strategies-based teaching of academic writing
especially useful.
Meanwhile, Wennerstrom (2010) considers writing a
complex skill, where the writer negotiates a variety of
structural forms. Writing, especially scholarly essays
or articles, gets the writer engaged in using particular
rhetorical structures and specific cohesive devises. It
also requires the writer to employ a range of linguistic
features and grammatical structures that offer different
uses in academic writing categories.
Boals (2012) contends that the generation of meaning
and the sequencing of activities in producing text is
what defines writing. Specifically, it involves
generating, arranging, and developing ideas in
sentences through drafting, shaping, rereading the text,
editing, and revising.
Furthermore, Abdul and Burhanuddin (2019), who
correlated learning strategies and speaking ability of
Grade 12 students, used questionnaire and speaking
test as tools. Results showed that the students applied
all six strategies proposed by Oxford, namely,
memory, cognitive, compensation, metacognitive,
affective, and social strategies in mastering their
speaking ability, with metacognitive strategy as the
most-frequently used one. There was a very high level
of correlation between students’ learning strategies and
their speaking ability. In other words, students who
had a better balance in using all kinds of learning
strategies were the ones who excelled in speaking.
Methodology
In this study, the researcher used the descriptive-
correlation method of research. This is a general
procedure employed in studies whose chief purpose is
to describe the phenomenon and find relationships
Evelyn S. Lopez
between or among variables. It is a design that both
describes the nature and the relationship of a situation
as it exists at the time of the study and explores the
course of a particular phenomenon.
According to Espinosa (2016) descriptive method
involves the collection of data to either test hypothesis
or describe the variables in the study while correlation
attempts to determine the level of relationship between
two or more quantifiable variables. The correlation
between two variables does not mean, however, that
one variable causes the other, but it can be used to
predict their values.
Participants of the Study
The population of 152 students consists of Grade 12
HUMSS students of Nagpayong Senior High School
enrolled in School Year 2019-2020. Based on the 152
population each section was proportionately assigned
the number of respondents to be included in the study.
The computed sample of 109, however, was reduced to
79 actual respondents because during the data-
gathering period, circumstances, such as students’
deployment for work immersion and research-writing
activities, affected the number of respondents per
class.
Instruments of the Study
The instrument used in this study, which was adopted
from two different sources, consisted of two parts: a
survey questionnaire and a writing test.
The first part is the Strategies Inventory for Language
Learners (SILL), developed by Rebecca L. Oxford
(1990, as cited in Park, 2011). The inventory is based
on the observation that successful language learners
tend to use “good strategies” more often than less-
successful learners, and that awareness of the
strategies can enhance language learning.
The second part is the standardized writing assessment
test adopted from The City University of New York
(CUNY) Assessment Test in Writing (CATW). It is a
writing test that measures the ability to do college-
level writing in English and assesses readiness for
introductory college courses. The CUNY Assessment
Test in Writing uses an analytic scoring rubric to
evaluate students’ writing compositions.
Procedure
In the process of data gathering, the researcher did the
following steps:
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Research Article

First, the researcher asked permission to conduct the

study from the Division’s office of Pasig City and the
principal of Nagpayong High School. After the
permission had been granted, the researcher
collaborated with the “Reading and Writing” teachers
of Nagpayong High School for them to facilitate the Table 1. Learners’ Use of Memory Strategies
Writing Assessment of the HUMSS students.

The teachers were asked to allot two days of their

“Reading and Writing” classes schedule for the
distribution of the research instruments. Day 1, for the
explanation of the purpose of the study and answering
the Language-Learning Strategies questionnaire,
which was filled out for 15-20 minutes; Day 2 was for
the writing test that was given 90 minutes to answer.
After the respondents were done with the test, the
researcher randomly picked out names of students who
were able to accomplish and submit both questionnaire
and writing test. The writing tests were, then, sent to
the pair of evaluators, and the responses for language-
learning strategies were coded by the researcher and
subsequently sent to IDSA for statistical treatment.
Lastly, the results were analyzed, interpreted, and
presented.

Ethical Considerations

The researcher herself explained and gave the

informed consent to each participant before the
conduct of the study. She ensured them that the
information would be used with utmost confidentiality
and within the purpose of the study only. As presented in the table 2, among the 14 statements
indicating the respondents’ use of cognitive strategies,
11 are rated as “Generally true,” but the one with the
Results and Discussion highest weighted mean of “4.03” is the 15th statement,
“I watch TV shows and/or movies with English as
medium of communication”; by comparison, the
Respondents’ Assessments of Their Use of indicator with the lowest weighted mean of “3.16” is
Language-Learning Strategies the 16th one, “I read English for pleasure”
(“Somewhat true”). As expected, the overall mean for
The table 1 reveals that although five of the nine cognitive strategy is “3.58” (“Generally true”).
statements are assessed as “Generally true,” the first
statement, “I think of the relationships between what I
already know and new things I learn in English,” has
the highest mean of “3.81.” The statement with the
lowest mean, however, is the sixth one, “I use
flashcards to remember new English words,” with a
mean of “2.57,” verbally interpreted as “Generally not
true.” Overall, the weighted mean for the respondents’
answers is “3.37” (“Somewhat true”).

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Research Article

Table 3. Learners’ Use of Compensation Strategies

Table 2. Learners’ Use of Cognitive Strategies

Table 4. Learners’ Use of Metacognitive Strategies

The table 3 shows the compensation strategies

employed by the respondents. Among the five
indicators rated “Generally true,” the 29th one, “If I
can’t think of an English word, I use a word or phrase
that means the same thing,” has the highest weighted
mean of “3.81” while the 27th, “I read English without
looking up every new word in the dictionary,” gets the
lowest weighted mean of “3.28” (“Somewhat true”).
The overall mean for compensation strategy is “3.55”
(“Generally true”).

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The table 4, which contains the metacognitive

Table 6. Learners’ Use of Social Strategies
strategies, is another table with the majority of its
indicators rated by the respondents as “Generally
true”; hence, its overall mean of 3.84 is “Generally
true.” The 31st indicator, with the highest weighted
mean of “4.24” described as “Always true,” is “I
notice my English mistakes and use that information to
help me do better.” The indicator getting the lowest
weighted mean of “3.06” (“Somewhat true”) is the
34th, “I plan my schedule so that I have enough time
to study English.”

Table 5. Learners’ Use of Affective Strategies

In the table, all six indicators of the social strategies

used by the respondents are interpreted as “Generally
true,” with the 46th indicator, “I ask English speakers
to correct me when I talk,” registering the highest
weighted mean of “3.94,” and the 49th, “I ask
questions in English,” the lowest (3.54). The overall
mean is 3.73.

Respondents' Levels of Performance in Writing as

Regards Critical Response to the Writing Task and
the Text; Development of the Writer's Idea;
Structure of the Response; Language Use:
Sentences and Word Choice; and Language Use:
Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics

The table 7 shows the respondents’ levels of writing

performance, where most of the respondents (29
learners or 36.71%) have score levels in the range of
As can be gleaned from the table, the next table that
56-71, with 58.65 as the computed mean, interpreted
presents the results regarding the affective strategies,
as “Consistent demonstration of competence, errors do
both 40th and 43rd indicators are highlighted. The
not interfere with coherence.’’
40th, “I encourage myself to speak English even when
I am afraid of making mistake,” has the highest This suggests that the respondents’ level of writing
weighted mean of “4.00” (“Generally true”), and the performance is “Competent” (as confirmed in Table 9
43rd, “I write down my feelings in language-learning
below) or acceptable in the standard of the school.
diary,” the lowest weighted mean of “2.94”
This also means that learners are equipped with the
(“Somewhat true”). Overall, the mean for affective
necessary writing skills; despite this, however, they
strategies is “3.52,” verbally interpreted as “Generally
need some improvement because errors are still
true.”
evident in their writing.

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Research Article
Table 7. Levels of Writing Performance
Table 8. Levels of Writing Performance per Category
Based on the details in Table 9 below, the respondents’
levels of writing performance in four of the categories
fall within the range of 3.50-4.32, labeled as
“Competent.” The category “Critical Response to the
Writing Task and the Text” has been rated with the
highest weighted mean (WM) of 3.85
Significant Relationship Between Respondents' Use
of Language-Learning Strategies and Their Levels
of Writing Performance
On the whole, when the respondents’ writing
performance is correlated with their use of language-
learning strategies, memory (p-value: 0.15);
metacognitive (p-value: 0.25); affective (p-value:
0.31); and social (p-value: 0.94) have computed p-
values greater than the 0.10 level of significance.
Evelyn S. Lopez
Table 9. Spearman rho: Summary of Relationship
Between Respondents’ Use of Language-Learning
Strategies and Their Writing Performance
This indicates “failure to reject” the null hypothesis;
hence, “There is no significant relationship between
the respondents’ use of memory, cognitive,
metacognitive, and social language-learning strategies
and their writing performance.” In the use of the two
other strategies, however, the opposite is true because
the computed p-value of cognitive is 0.05 while that of
compensation is 0.09; both p-values are less than 0.10,
signifying the “rejection” of the null hypothesis;
consequently, “There is a statistically significant low
and positive relationship between the respondents’ use
of cognitive and compensation language- learning
strategies and their writing performance.”
Although findings manifest some overlapping of the
relationship between the use of strategies and the
writing categories, it is undeniable that writing is a
complex cognitive task since it involves the generation
of ideas while following writing rules and
simultaneously making sure that thoughts are
expressed clearly. Compensation strategies are
somewhat important in writing because these are
strategies that help writers fill the gap of knowledge
while expressing their thoughts.
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Conclusion
Based on the findings of the study, the following
conclusions are drawn: (1) As used by the respondents,
the majority of the six learning strategies are rated
“Generally true,” except memory strategies, which are
rated “Somewhat true.” (2) The respondents’ level of
writing performance per category in the majority of the
categories is “Competent,” except in the category
Language Use: Grammar, Usage and Mechanics,
which is “Adequate,” and most of their scores are
verbally interpreted as “Consistent demonstration of
competence, errors do not interfere with coherence.’’
(3) There is no significant relationship between the
respondents’ writing performance and their use of
memory, metacognitive, affective, and social
language-learning strategies, but there is a significant
low and positive relationship between their writing
performance and their use of cognitive and
compensation language-learning strategies.
Based on the conclusions of this study, the following
are hereby recommended: (1) Though rote-learning
has been considered an obsolete approach to acquire
knowledge, it is recommended that students practice
memory-related strategies since memory retention is
still vital to the learning process. Spelling, vocabulary,
and grammar rules or sentence structure have to be
remembered until automatization is achieved; thus,
repeated self-regulated exercises, such as writing and
using unfamiliar words should be practiced. (2)
Teachers may utilize memory techniques that involve
not only cognitive but also affective approach in
teaching. Providing mnemonics and personalization,
and engaging emotions during discussion are found to
make recall easy and enjoyable for learners. (3)
Curriculum developers and module writers might
consider creating (a) worksheets that promote
strengthened knowledge in structure and form for
implicit learning, and (b) classroom activities that
further enhance learners’ ability to use proper
mechanics in writing. Even though findings show that
respondents are competent writers, English teachers
could, nonetheless, aim for excellence to help alleviate
the quality of graduates and achieve global
competence. (4) Both teachers and learners might be
made aware of the role of compensation strategies in
the learning-teaching process. The ability to
personalize language in writing, such as simplification,
altering and coining words, and guessing are effective
in resolving limitations in communication, but these
should not be overused because they could promote
language errors, such as failure to use proper
terms—which is not permissible in academic writing.
Evelyn S. Lopez
Above all else, however, cognitive strategies must be
strengthened and taught; many researchers have
stressed the importance of cognitive skills in academic
writing. (5) The Department of Education might
consider implementing writing workshops that focus
on addressing problems of learners in vocabulary and
mechanics. (6) Future researchers may undertake
further studies on various cognitive and compensatory
strategies that students employ in writing and
speaking.
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ELT. English Language Education, 3(1). Affiliations and Corresponding Information

Wennerstrom, A. (2010). Discourse analysis in the language Evelyn S. Lopez
classroom Volume 2: Genres of writing. Ann Arbor. University of
Michigan Press. Retrieved f r o m : Nagpayong High School
http://www.teslj.org/wordpress/issues/volume8/ej30/ej30r7/. Department of Education – Philippines

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