Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

Introduction

A learner needs better skills and functional literacy. In comparison with a child with

poor reading skills and who is not often diagnosed with reading disabilities, any learner with

sufficient reading skills is more likely to succeed in school. Poor reading is shown by poor

understanding, misunderstanding, and other pronunciations. Without an adequate early

intervention, the academic, social, and psychological developments of the child may be affected.

A proper and accurate diagnosis of a reading problem must therefore be made as soon as possible

(Stipek, 2016).

Multi-sensory means more than one; many meanings; one of the five vision, hearing,

smell, instruction, and touch powers through which the person is aware of something. Our basic

natural sense, vision, audio, taste, smell, and touch, teaches us to find out about information.

According to Ginder (2018), for most of us people naturally learn multisensory, we can learn

better by sight and feeling, and even less by hearing, alone. Multi-sensory teaching is extremely

effective for all, regardless of age, but it is critical for children with learning disabilities. Because

these problems create varying deficits, in the way in which senses collect information in the brain

processes, it is also important to know that the students easily and effectively capture information

based on their style of learning. It aims to discover their own learning style whether they see,

hear, and move and when they grasp it.

Amstrong (2018) said that a leaning style is the answer to many needs. Teachers need

to know a variety of different techniques to be a most effective educator for all students. In the

process of learning, multi-sensory approach uses more than one meaning to improve the learning
process. The pupils' ability to learn and their retention of the lessons have both increased in

various ways and in most school, teaching is done in visual or auditive mode (visual or auditive).

The VAKT Method is also called a multi-sensory approach. The acronym VAKT, for: Visual,

Auditory, Kinesthetic, and Tactile, has been summarized in four modes of learning. The best way

to teach is to use more of the whole senses of the student, in particular touch and movement

(kinesthetic). The brain tactiles and kinesthetic memories, as well as visual and auditory, will be

attached to the student.

The various learning preferences of students must be taken into consideration by

teachers. Visual, auditory, and tactile learning methods are all possible. Yet, cognitive styles can

also be sequential or global, verbal, or non-verbal. These different learning styles are crucial in

assisting teachers in determining the best way to impart knowledge to each student and ensure

that they understand the material. To come up with a good academic performance, teachers need

to have a mastery of repertoire of approaches, methods, teaching techniques, procedures, and

routines automatically in the context of teaching (Randi, 2017).

Every institution has a leading academic achievement. Experts within or outside of an

institution have always been concerned with the increase or decrease in pupils or students

because schools and teachers are becoming increasingly responsible for the performance of

students. Academic achievement was loosely defined as a student’s previous learning in school.

This often varies from school to school because it is linked to the curriculum of school. The focus

is often on common areas such as reading or learning. Moreover, it is very important to have

different approach or techniques to enhance the capability of the students to learn, especially in

reading. The good conduct of the assessment of student skills is another focus of research in

schools. The evaluation of academic achievement is essential and important in the development
of an institution. When student academic achievements are assessed, their skills are always

considered because what they have achieved depends heavily on their ability to do so. It has been

argued that it is unlikely that education decision-making would promote academic competences

without valid assessment of academic skills (Martens & Witt, 2018).

Reading is said to be one of the most important and complex knowledge and over the

years it has led to extensive studies. Reading is defined as an interaction process involving

printing, vocabulary and understanding. Its five main components include phonemic

consciousness, phonics, fluency, language and understanding. Reading is, in addition to hearing,

talking, and writing, one of the most important skills in learning a language. It is much easier to

read in one's own language than the language learned, since the language and structure are

mastered (Baddeley et al., 2018).

Haris (2017) said that reading is complex. Their components also include finding,

understanding, reflecting, thinking, assessing, analyzing, assessing, synthesizing, organizing, and

application. This would mean that, when you read, you think about the meaning you convey and

integrate your own knowledge to understand the meaning of the writer's symbols. Reading is the

meaningful interpretation of printed and written verbal symbols. In beginners' mind, reading is

mainly a matter of learning to recognize the printed symbols representing language and to

respond to the content of the text he read intellectually and emotionally.

Moreover, studies tend to focus more on the habits of reading than their reading

problems, it is important to help students enhance their reading capacities and researchers should

not neglect the emotional aspect of reading experience such as reading anxiety (Fisher et al.,

2018).
 Reading anxiety is a fear or concern that students experience while reading their

target language. When it comes in reading, anxiety is to be feared when students do read tasks.

Anxiety reading can lead to physical and cognate reactions for students. Physical reactions can

include the release of adrenaline and symptoms of sweat, shakiness, heart squirt, swift breathing,

and stomach discomfort. Cognitive responses can include overwhelming fear, poor self-esteem,

feelings of helplessness and public humiliation expectations (Jalongo & Hirsh, 2017).

Learning with understanding is a complex cognitive ability that requires the

integration with the reader of text information to result in a mental image." (Giovanni & Cristina,

2017). As part of reading, understanding reading is best understood if one is adept with the

various cognitive processes as current models indicate that such processes play an important role

in understanding abilities (Meneghetti et al., 2017).

According to Van den Broek (2018), reading comprehension stressed that short-term

and longer-range memory is a factor in a reader's understanding skills. To build a consistent

representation, the readers need to use their prior knowledge to store and manipulate information

during their memory during the text procession. Inference also plays an essential role in

understanding the interpretation of the text as understanding goes beyond literally creating and

processing an integrated mental representation of what has been read (Bowyer-Crane &

Snowling, 2017).

Multi-sensory approach, reading anxiety, and reading comprehension are vital factors

to consider in formulating effective reading methods and strategies. It also aims to create the

awareness on how the students could learn to read better and eliminate their anxiety in reading

and develop the reading comprehension with the use of multi-sensory approach. They also serve

as a blueprint on how a language teacher will determine his teaching techniques and strategies to
help the students achieve good reading performance and reduce their anxiety in reading specially

in class.

Considering the about premises, the researcher decided to conduct a study to

determine if there is a significant relationship between the perceived level of effectiveness of

using multi-sensory approach, level of reading anxiety and level of reading comprehension

among the Grade 6 learners in Balibago Elementary School.

Theoretical/Conceptual Framework

This research has been primarily anchored on the perspective of Barrett’s Taxonomy of

Comprehension.

Barrett's Taxonomy of Comprehension discussed the different levels of comprehension

namely: literal, reorganization, inferential, evaluation and appreciation. The theory assumes that

learners move from the literal understanding to another, until the learner fully understands and

appreciates the cognitive and aesthetic aspects of the material. This theory measures the learners'

level of comprehension.

Barrett's taxonomy also referred to questions related to comprehension and would be far more

detailed than the ones mentioned above. Barrett proposed five main categories: literal, (2)

reorganization, (3) inferential, (4) evaluation, and (5) appreciation.

Literal comprehension required the recognition or recall of ideas, information, and

happenings that were explicitly stated in the materials. Reorganization required the student to

analyze, synthesize, and/or organize. Inferential comprehension was demonstrated by the student
when he used a synthesis of the literal content of a selection, his personal knowledge, his

intuition, and his imagination as a basis for conjectures or hypotheses. Evaluation was

demonstrated by the student when he made judgments about the content of a reading selection by

comparing it with external criteria, e.g.., information provided by the teacher on the subject,

authorities on the subject, or by accredited written sources on the subject, or with internal criteria,

e.g., the learner's experiences, knowledge, or values related to the subject under consideration.

Appreciation involved all the previously cited cognitive dimension of reading, for it dealt with

the psychological and aesthetic impact of the selection on the reader. Appreciation called for the

student to be emotionally and aesthetically sensitive to the work and to have a reaction to the

worth of its psychological and artistic elements.

The Barrett Taxonomy of Comprehension was originally designed to assist classroom

teachers in developing comprehension questions and/or test questions for reading and especially

useful for classroom questioning in other content areas as well. The first two categories, literal

comprehension, and reorganization, dealt with the facts as presented orally or in the books the

students had read, and thus resulted in closed questions that had a single correct response. The

remaining categories would always involve the student's own background of experience. As a

result, it would be possible to have as many different, but correct, responses as there were

students present, since each would bring to school a different background of home, family,

friends, and learning. These categories therefore led to the development of open-ended questions.

Also, this study presupposed under The Multiple Intelligence Theory "confronts the

classical perspective of intelligence that most of us have absorbed overtly (from psychology or

educational books) or implicitly (by living in a culture with a strong but potentially limited view

of intelligence)," according to its authors (Gardner 2011). To fulfill the various needs of various
students, several instructional styles are employed in education. It takes the viewpoint that the

mind consists of eight distinct intelligences, some of which are stronger than others and control

how we learn and acquire knowledge. Naturalist, verbal/linguistic, musical/rhythmic,

visual/spatial, bodily/kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal are the eight intelligences.

Verbal/linguistic intelligence is the first of the eight intelligences. Language is essential to this

kind of intellect, whether it be spoken, written, or another format. Strong verbal/linguistic

intelligent individuals learn better while utilizing language frequently. On the other hand,

visual/spatial learning emphasizes, as its name suggests, visual learning. These students benefit

greatly from the use of graphs, images, maps, and their own creations of visuals and artwork to

comprehend information. Those with musical/rhythmic disabilities benefit from using songs or

chants. Those with great mathematical/logical intelligence, on the other hand, prefer to focus on

puzzles and problem solving. Naturalists thrive when they can be outside watching or conducting

scientific experiments, and activities based on movement or using manipulatives are very helpful

for learners who need bodily/kinesthetic learning. It is best for both interpersonal and

intrapersonal learners to be able to work independently and collaboratively, respectively. The

kinds of activities that go along with each intellect are only a few examples. Each person's

intelligence has unique strengths and shortcomings (Howard, 2011).

This study also utilized the Dale's Cone of Experience integrates several theories about

instructional design and how people learn. According to Edgar Dale, learning is enhanced by

doing rather than hearing, reading, or observing something. These days, "learning by doing" is

referred to as "action learning" or "experiential learning." Dale's research indicates that learning

from information conveyed by vocal symbols, i.e., hearing spoken words, is the top way that is

least effective. The bottom-most strategies are the most effective because they entail direct,
deliberate learning opportunities, such field or hands-on experience. Direct, intentional

experiences are closest to reality or everyday life in general.

The study also denotes that the cone of experience is a graphic tool used to illustrate how

different audio-visual media interact with one another and occupy distinct "positions" within the

learning process. The cone's usefulness in choosing educational materials and activities is just as

applicable today.

Operational Framework

This study was anchored on Barrett’s Taxonomy of Comprehension, and Howard

Gardner’ Multiple Intelligence as well as Edgar Dale’s Cone of Experience. It discussed the

different levels of comprehension namely: literal, reorganization, inferential, evaluation and

appreciation. This assumes that learners move from the literal understanding to another, until the

learner fully understands and appreciates the cognitive and aesthetic aspects of the material. It

also measures the learners' level of comprehension. The Multiple Intelligence Theory "confronts

the classical perspective of intelligence that most of us have absorbed overtly (from psychology

or educational books) or implicitly (by living in a culture with a strong but potentially limited

view of intelligence),". To fulfill the various needs of many students, several instructional styles

are employed in education. Meanwhile, Dale’s Cone of Experience integrates several theories

about instructional design and how people learn. According to Edgar Dale, learning is enhanced

by doing rather than hearing, reading, or observing something. These days, "learning by doing" is

referred to as "action learning" or "experiential learning." As a result, it would be possible to

have as many different, but correct responses as there were students present, since each would

bring to school a different background of home, family, friends, and learning. These categories

therefore led to the development of open-ended questions.

 The study has its dependent and independent variables. The independent variable is the

level of effectiveness of multi-sensory approach as perceived by the students with its dependent

variables which is the respondents’ level of reading comprehension. The respondents’ level of

reading anxiety is also an independent variable to the level of effectiveness of multi-sensory

approach as perceived by the students.

Operational Model

Figure 2. The operational model of the study showing the relationship among variables.
Statement of the Problem

This study aimed at determining the perceived level of effectiveness of using multi-sensory

approach to reading anxiety and in reading comprehension of the Grade 6 learners at Balibago

Elementary School. Specifically, this research sought to answer the following questions:

1. What is the level of effectiveness of multi-sensory approach as perceived by the

respondents?

2. What is the respondents’ level of reading anxiety?

3. What is the respondents’ level of reading comprehension?

4. Is there a significant relationship between the perceived level of effectiveness of multi-

sensory approach and the respondents’ level of reading anxiety?

5. Is there a significant relationship between the perceived level of effectiveness of multi-

sensory approach and the respondents’ level of reading comprehension?

6. Is there a significant relationship between the respondents’ level of reading anxiety and

level of reading comprehension?

7. Based on the findings of the study, what action plan can be proposed using multi-sensory

approach for improved reading skills among the grade 6 learners? (IGNORE THIS AND ITS

REPRESENTATION IN THE OPERATIONAL MODEL)

Statement of Hypothesis

Based on the identified problems, the researcher formulated the following null

hypotheses:

Ho1: There is no significant relationship between the perceived level of

effectiveness of multi-sensory approach and the respondents’ level of

reading anxiety.

Ho2: There is no significant relationship between the perceived level of

effectiveness of multi-sensory approach and the respondents’ level of

reading comprehension.

Ho3: There is no significant relationship between the respondents’ level of

reading anxiety and level of reading comprehension.

Assumptions of the Study

This investigation rested on the following assumptions:

1. Multisensory learning approach is a teaching method that contributes to

improved reading competence.

2. Addressing reading anxiety or reading problems is very vital in formulating

effective reading strategies.

 3. Reading comprehension entails the ability to process text and understand its

meaning.

4. The respondents answered the questionnaire objectively.

Scope and Delimitation

This study aimed at determining the perceived level of effectiveness of using multi-

sensory approach, level of reading anxiety and level of reading comprehension. The study also

looked into the relationship of the three variables under study wherein the findings were used to

propose an action plan that maximizes the use of multi-sensory approach to lower reading

anxiety and increase reading comprehension. The respondents of the study were composed of 83

Grade 6 learners from Balibago Elementary School which is situated in the City of Santa Rosa,

Laguna. The study was conducted in the Academic Year 2022-2023.

Significance of the Study

The findings of this study were deemed significant to the following sectors:

Grade 6 Students. This study would help them learn how to read and eliminate their

difficulty in reading. It would also give them awareness of how the materials can help them to

develop and improve not just their comprehension but their other skills as well. It also develops

the interest in and appreciation of different literary works. It would increase their motivation to

learn new things, add clarity to the topics by their teachers, make learning more interesting and

fun and will thereby improve their overall academic performance.

 Teachers. Findings from the study would help to sensitize teachers and staff of schools of

their important roles in promoting the use of multi-sensory approach and other educational

reading resources in teaching and learning. Teachers may be able to use data from this research to

recalibrate present teaching methodologies and appropriate subjects to be learnt that match the

prerequisites efficiency, proficiency, and mastery.

Parents. This would give them encouragement and motivation on how they would assist

and be part of their children’s multimodal learning. It would provide a basis for them to

understand the need for their complimentary roles in encouraging and supporting the use of

multi-sensory approach that could help their children’s learning even in their own home.

English Language Teachers. This study would be of benefit to faculty members who

handle English subjects to integrate and utilize the different approach in teaching reading for the

students. This would provide data on gauging the student’s reading comprehension and eliminate

the reading anxiety. It also hoped that teachers would maximize the use of available educational

media to further improve students’ comprehension.

English Language Coordinators. This study would be a basis for the

English/Communication coordinators of the different high schools in the division of Sta. Rosa

City to integrate and implement efficiency and mastery of English language instruction.

School Administrators. This research would be immensely beneficial to the school

administrators for it would develop curriculum, programs and classroom reading activities that

were engaging and motivating to students as well as the teachers. This study would also help

them in making decisions whether to infuse multi-sensory resources in learning curriculum or to

modify existing teaching methods or materials.

 Researcher. Being an English language teacher, the results of this study would provide

the researcher vital information regarding the effective use of multi-sensory approach in reading

anxiety and reading comprehension in Balibago Elementary School that would help in the

proposal of an appropriate course of action to address challenges that may be identified through

this research undertaking.

Future Researchers. The findings may benefit the future researchers as they come up

with useful material or reference for doing further studies on reading comprehension. It also

served as an inspiration for future researchers to study the other aspects of listening that could

help students or discover reading barriers and anxiety that would hinder students’ learning. This

study would also provide pertinent information and ideas on the current materials used for the

effective approach in reading anxiety and reading comprehension for the students.

Definition of Terms

For a better understanding of the discussions of this paper, the following terms were

defined both conceptually and operationally:

Multi-sensory Approach. It is a term used in many schools as instructional strategies

that involve using more than one sense at once. A multisensory approach, which involves the use

of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic-tactile pathways, can improve memory and learning capacity

(Orton-Gillingham 2019). In the study, it was measured as perceived effectiveness using 4-point

Likert scale (very high, high, low, very low).

Reading. It refers to a deliberate process and decoding symbols that involves creating

word meanings. It also enables the reader to focus their attention and direct information towards a

specific objective (Pang, 2016).

 Anxiety. It is defined as a feeling that develops in response to general and unspecific

stimuli that are viewed as possibly dangerous in the future. It refers to a multifaceted condition

that involves cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and physical responses (Spielberger 2017).

Reading Anxiety. It is a difficulty of reading, or a reading problem student may have,

and it has become issue of concern for the nation, studies efforts on reading anxiety or reading

problems are very vital for educational growth and development (Saito 2017). In the study, it was

measured using 5-point Likert scale (very high, high, moderate, low, very low).

Comprehension. It refers to the way in which ideas are organized into categories or how

humans understand certain topics. It is the process of deriving meaning from written words,

visual images, and symbolic representations (Heilman 2017).

Reading Comprehension. It is the ability to process text, understand its meaning, and to

integrate with what the reader already knows. It is the capacity to read a text, analyze it, and

comprehend its meaning. When reading a manuscript, a reader looks for the key concept.

(Meneghetti, et al., 2017). In the study, it was measured using different levels of comprehension

(literal, reorganization, inferential, evaluation and appreciation). It was described as excellent

(20-25 points), very satisfactory (15-19), satisfactory (10-14), poor (5-9), very poor (0-4).

Literal comprehension. Refers to describe the first level of comprehension. It is

the ability to understand information which is directly stated in the text. Students can more

effectively locate information by using literal comprehension techniques (Pearson & Johnson

2017).

Reorganization. Requires the student to analyze, synthesize, and/or organize the

ideas in the reading context. It also refers to the reading talent of putting together two or more

textual fragments' worth of information to create a coherent thought (Goodman, 2018).

 Inferential comprehension. Means arriving at some conclusion from the

previously acquired knowledge application. It is also defined as the capacity to analyze written

information and comprehend the text's underlying meaning (Mullis & Martin 2015).

Evaluation. Deals with judgement and focuses on qualities of accuracy,

acceptability, desirability, worth or probability of occurrence. This entails motivating the reader

to create opinions, pass judgment, and generate ideas because of their reading (Chall & Jacob

2018).

Appreciation. Refers to a kind of reading comprehension that includes both

knowledge and the emotional response to literary techniques, forms, styles, and structures. The

reader has carefully considered the situation, completely comprehends the reading material's

literal meaning, and is able to apply the principles they have learned to similar or real-life

situations (Palinscar, 2017).

 Chapter 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter covers related information and studies reviewed which are relevant to the

present investigation. At the end of this chapter, a synthesis of the state of the art and gaps in the

review are presented.

State of the Art

The literature and studies that were reviewed were found to have bearing on

the present study. They served as bases for the conceptualization of the study’s research

problem, research design and research methodology.

Related Literature

People living with difficulties learning how to read can, however, benefit from a multi-

sensory approach involving physical movements and allowing them to use their senses to get

more deeply involved. When our brains stimulate a variety of channels, from visual to auditive,

kinetic and tactile (touch-based) learning, multi-modal learning takes place. Kinesthetic elements

create fine motor skills that can help concentrate attention. It can also improve auditory and

visual processing. This leads to greater integration and retention of knowledge. Even those who
are thought to be as intelligent as their peers but who struggle with reading are limited in their

ability to catch up with their contemporaries (Aja et al., 2017).

Bender (2017) stated that records show that every student finish primary school.

Consequently, even people with poor reading skills succeed in their studies. They struggle

academically because they are unable to read at the grade-level proficiency that is expected of

them. Most of the time during their formal education, they are subject to unfavorable

preconceptions of failure. Adoption issues arise as a result in their lessons.

One of today's education's top priorities is to provide people with strong literacy skills

who can understand and analyze what they read. Because literacy is closely tied to a person's

working life, it can improve the quality of a person's life. Reading comprehension and academic

success are closely related. Researchers have seen that input from multiple channels can lead to

robust perception and improved processing for hard-working readers. When you read and write,

it means seeing words on a page, listening to them, reading letters in the air, and even moving

your hands on a keyboard, using a muscle memory in your fingers to guide spelling. A rich

reading curriculum does not only benefit students with physical problems and learning

difficulties. Many people learn better than others in one way. When teachers bring new material

to a wider audience of learners using multiple channels (Moreillan, 2017).

Froyen (2017) discussed that reading is one of the most important components for

continuing education, gaining new knowledge and skills, media, and in particular newspapers,

libraries, TV, radio, and computers. It is a vital tool for lifelong education. Learning improves

one's vocabulary, gives us an insight into other cultures and sites, improves focus and

concentration, builds self-esteem, improves memory, creativity, skills in reasoning and reduces

stress. A person must have a knowledgeable process that includes the ability to recognize words
in printed form, understand the meaning of the text and the combination of these two abilities so

that reading is automatic and accurate to become a fluent reader who understands the text.

Related Studies

Campbell (2018) stated in his study that one of the main challenges facing teachers is

teaching students literacy skills early or in difficulty. Although students meet at various rates

academic milestones, it may help them to prepare as many students as possible to be ready to

read with certain strategies. And new curriculum readings show that multisensory learning is one

of the best ways to do so. Multi-sensory activities are based on whole brain learning, the

conviction that multiple areas of the brain are the best way to teach concepts. You can help

students to improve their literacy skills by adding auditory or visual components to tasks like

photographic illustrations and online activities.

According to Ginder (2018), multi-sensory means more than one; many meanings; one of

the five vision, hearing, smell, instruction, and touch powers through which the person is aware

of something. Our basic natural sense, vision, audio, taste, smell, and touch, teach us to find out

about information. For most of us, people naturally learn multisensory, we can learn better by

sight and feeling, and even less by hearing, alone. He also stated that multi-sensory teaching is

extremely effective for all, regardless of age, but it is critical for children with learning

disabilities. Because these problems create varying deficits, in the way in which senses collect

information in the brain processes, it is also important to know that the students easily and
effectively capture information based on their style of learning. It is their learning style whether

they see, hear, and move and when they grasp it.

As stated by Amstrong (2018), leaning style is the answer to many particular needs.

Teachers need to know a variety of different techniques to be a most effective educator for all

students. In the process of learning, multi-sensory approach uses more than one meaning to

improve the learning process. In more than one sense the learning capacity of the students and the

retention of the learning material has been improved.

It is defined by the approach used by Orton-Gillingham (2019) which explicit, sequential,

systematic, and multi-sensorial that before No Child Left Behind (2002), stated that one of the

most popular programs for struggling readers, the Orton-Gillingham reading program is a variety

and reading programs are being studied. The OG approach is a systematic approach to teaching

reading with instruction in phonology and phonological consciousness based on the synths,

sequences, and multi-sensorial phonics as defined by Giess, et al., (2017). It also discussed in the

study that multisensory approach, through audible, visual, and kinesthetic modals, is the basis for

this reading program. It teaches basic concepts of orthodoxy, writing and reading on mastered

skills.

Magpuri-Lavell et al., (2017) stated that teachers teach skills in several senses, where the

teaching is extremely intensive with explicit rules of written language and the key content is

taught using the language of sound, syllable, word, phrase, and text.

Rose and Zirkel (2017) defined that progress is monitored and this guides the instruction to

reteach skills or increase the difficulty of new skills to be taught. According to the study of Davis

Orton (2018), he said that students can learn better by remembering the letters if they can see,

pronounce, and write letters. He also added that Orton was the first to bring together the notion of
mixing sounds to read a new word. Various functions such as auditory methods and visual

methods are involved in the multi-sensory approach. In the audio method the student is educated

to identify audio sonorities and point to letters when a student is listening, while the visual

method is designed to teach the student the identification of a specific letter from other letters.

Our evidence-based program breaks reading and writing into smaller skills that include letters

and sounds.

Reading has two fundamental components: Word acknowledgement and understanding

according to Gough & Tunmer (2019). To provide students with the best opportunity to learn

these abilities, classrooms must use the Structured Literacy approach, which is based on reading

science. That means the use of explicit, sequential, systemic, and multi-sensory approach to

teaching phonology, morphology, syntax, or more structured literacy.

According to the study of Keshta & Al-Faleet (2018), stated that the ability to understand

the meaning of new words is an essential ability to strengthen the understanding of reading and

listening. This can have a positive effect on university success as a whole and can develop skills

for applications in the true world. Language students therefore need effective means to enhance

opportunities in the long term to gain and retain new words. The problem with learning a second

or a foreign language is forgoing new words. One of the most effective techniques in teaching

LD students is the use of the multisensory approach. The IDAC defines the multi-sensory

approach as "learning through" "Learning through " "Visual, audible and kinesthetic touch

(pathways) to memory and learning improvement simultaneously. Connections are made

consistently between the visual (what we see), auditory (what we hear) and kinesthetic (what we

feel) routes of reading and spelling."

 According to Joshi et al. (2017), he stated that the idea that learning is helpful in reinforcing

memory has a long history of pedagogy. Educators have employed a range of multisensory

techniques from the earliest teaching guides of Montessori to enrich and make learning more

motivating for students. Multi-sensorial lessons simultaneously incorporate several brain learning

pathways to increase memory and learning opportunities. Instead of informing students, the aim

is to get the students to do the job and to do the learning.

As stated by the study of Rondale (2017), the main goal of the specific educational

program is to find programs, enhancing the quality of life for specific students, to enable them to

learn a second language which enables their efficiency within society. English language is known

as a dominant language throughout the globe, it is considered as the Internet language,

commercials, advertising, and business language.

Mohammadain (2018) stated that the complexity of teaching English to students as it

requires specific techniques and methods. Banks (2018) discussed the negative role of low

motivation, high anxiety, and negative behavior for learning a second language which affects

their ability to learn new skills in a new language, so it is worse for intellectually disabled

students to teach a second language because they are affected by several mental impairments.

According to Bradford (2016), he said that using a multi-sensory approach in the field of

education simply means learning the new task in more than one sense. In other words, the

multifaceted approach is named because the students are presented with all new skills through the

means vision, sound and kinesthetics.

Cameron (2017) spoke about the idea of a multi-sensory approach, by advising students to

link their hearing and reading out of what they see (printed material). Furthermore, she
recommended that teachers teach the students new information in various ways and meanings.

Another study stated that phonics is a major part of the multi-sensory approach (Mohler 2019).

Schneider and Evers (2016) recommended that using a multi-sensorial approach to English

learning, given their limited knowledge of English, to English language learners. A further study

in the same field was conducted by Abdul Khalik (2017) examining the effectiveness of

phonological awareness training to improve children's phonology.

As stated by the study of Troeva (2018) that reading is a lifelong skill, but it is not

consecrated in our genome. When compared to speech that can come automatically, most

children gain easy reading within their school years, and this is the primary mechanism for their

lifetime learning. For healthy intellectual growth, good reading habits are necessary. Children

usually use sensory perceptions to understand their immediate environment and broaden their

vision by reading.

Hulme & Snowling (2018) stated that the knowledge of letter-sound, phonemic awareness,

and fast self-automated naming abilities at the base of these are gabs which all require good

phonologic processing ability.

As stated by the study of Dalecki (2017), he said that multi-sensory education has been

developed by children who have been challenged by educators like Montessori (1912), John

Dewey (1966), Fernald and Keller (1921). It uses the four learning styles that the VAKT for

Visual acronym summarizes: Tactile and kinesthetic auditory: It is a method of teaching that

involves the use of most of the pupil's all senses since it enables the brain of the student to be

touched, kinetic and visual. The philosophy of John Dewey was that a teacher must continue to

be a facilitator or a motivator, encouraging children to find and develop their own resources and
that teacher techniques and tools should be designed to encourage children to participate actively

in their own education.

According to Preston (2018), Grace Fernald suggested a training procedure VAKT, with

syllables and word sections emphasized. Fernald developed a multisensory approach that traced

the distinct feature and found sometimes that the visual and auditory channels do not allow

children to learn by normal reading methods. She believed in supporting their learning by adding

kinesthetic and tactile methods.

Ginder (2018) stated that people learn multi-sense naturally. For most of us, we are learning

best vision and touch, and less by our own sense of hearing. Based on this information, most of

us would learn best through seeing and doing; the teacher draws "a" in the board of directors and

the students do it in their own papers. Not only do we show a kid how the round shape fits into

the circular hole, but we also give the children the toy and let them try it. We provide books with

soft furry hair that the child can touch, flowers that the child can smell. For all, whatever their

age, multisensory teaching method is very effective, but critical for children with learning

disabilities. As such disorders cause different deficits in the way information is collected by the

senses processed by the brain, it is important to know that if the information is understood

according to their learning styles, the students will easily and efficiently grasp the information,

whether they see, hear, and behave, whether they see, hear, and move. Learning style is a solution

to several specific needs.

Amstrong (2018) stated that teachers need to know a variety of different skills to be a more

effective educator for all students. In the teaching process, multisensory approach employs more

than one meaning to enhance student education. In more than one sense, the learning abilities of

the students have improved and the preservation of the learning materials.
 Ingham (2019) stated that we make the children polished if they have not learned the right

way to their learning needs. They develop awareness of the individual strengths of each child and

have sufficient flexibility to teach them about them. Not every child, irrespective of our efforts,

can learn the same. We cannot expect the results to change when we continue to teach them in

the same limited styles; the child will fail. Many examples of proven methods are literally more

effective for the teaching of any subject using several sensory technologies.

According to Richard (2017), he said that helping a child through more than one of the

senses with a multi-sensory teaching method promotes learning through multi-level engagement

of students. Because multisensory approaches are also known as VAK (Visual, Auditory,

Kinesthetic-tactile). Based on Bryant's report (2016) the idea that learning with all meaning is

helpful in strengthening memory has a long pedagogic history. Multisensory teaching techniques

and strategies are essential in a child’s learning progress and development.

Synthesis of the State of the Art

The series of studies and literature written on this chapter discussed the concepts and

narrative detail of relevant and related information of the study. The information gathered are vital

in investigating the perceived effectiveness of multi-sensory approach in reading anxiety and

reading comprehension among the Grade 6 learners in Balibago Elementary School.

As such, Bender (2017) stated that records show that every student finish primary school.

Consequently, even people with poor reading skills succeed in their studies. They struggle

academically because they are unable to read at the grade-level proficiency that is expected of
them. Most of the time during their formal education, they are subject to unfavorable

preconceptions of failure. Adoption issues arise as a result in their lessons.

Based on the study of Campbell (2018), he stated in his study that one of the main

challenges facing teachers is teaching students literacy skills early or in difficulty. Although

students meet at various rates academic milestones, it may help them to prepare as many students

as possible to be ready to read with certain strategies. And new curriculum readings show that

multisensory learning is one of the best ways to do so.

On the other hand, it is defined by the approach used by Orton-Gillingham (2019) which

explicit, sequential, systematic, and multi-sensorial that before No Child Left Behind (2002),

stated that one of the most popular programs for struggling readers, the Orton-Gillingham reading

program is a variety and reading programs are being studied. The OG approach is a systematic

approach to teaching reading with instruction in phonology and phonological consciousness based

on the synths, sequences, and multi-sensorial phonics as defined by Giess et al. (2017). It

discussed in the study that multisensory approach, through audible, visual, and kinesthetic modals,

is the basis for this reading program. It teaches basic concepts of orthodoxy, writing and reading

on mastered skills.

Ginder (2018) said that multi-sensory means more than one; many meanings; one of the

five vision, hearing, smell, instruction, and touch powers through which the person is aware of

something. Our basic natural sense, vision, audio, taste, smell, and touch, teaches us to find out

about information. For most of us, people naturally learn multisensory, we can learn better by

sight and feeling, and even less by hearing, alone. He also stated that multi-sensory teaching is

extremely effective for all, regardless of age, but it is critical for children with learning disabilities.

It is also important to know that the students easily and effectively capture information based on
their style of learning. It is their learning style whether they see, hear, and move and when they

grasp it.

On the other hand, in effectiveness of Multisensory learning approach in teaching reading,

a study based on Montanaro (2016), defined the fact that English is the most widely used language

for the expression of knowledge in all professional domains and has become ever more important

in recent decades. Indeed, learning English as a second or a foreign language does not only have

benefits in working life, but also people can experience experiences that are more related to their

own mental, emotional, and cultural growth. To achieve a successful process in the learning of

English you have four skills: listening, reading, talking, and writing: you must learn their

vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation.

Joshi et al. (2017) indicated that the idea of learning is helpful in reinforcing memory has a

long history of pedagogy. Educators have employed a range of multisensory techniques from the

earliest teaching guides of Montessori to enrich and make learning more motivating for students.

Multi-sensorial lessons simultaneously incorporate several brain learning pathways to increase

memory and learning opportunities. Instead of informing students, the aim is to get the students to

do the job and to do the learning.

Bradford (2016) stated that using a multi-sensory approach in the field of education

simply means learning the new task in more than one sense. In other words, the multifaceted

approach is named because the students are presented with all new skills through the means vision,

sound and kinesthetics.

While in reading anxiety, according to Fisher et al. (2018), he defined that social anxiety,

or social phobia, is a type of anxiety that is frequent throughout infancy and adolescence. In this

study, social anxiety is defined as discomfort over appearing incompetent or inadequate in

performance contexts, and it is quite frequent in children and adolescents. The dread of being

laughed at or mocked by classmates or adults in contexts where the kid feels judged by others,

such as the academic and social context of school, is a prevalent symptom of this disease.

Van Ameringen, et al. (2018) discussed that anxiety disorders have been connected to

dropping out of school, which has a wide range of personal and social consequences, including

health issues, unemployment, criminal conduct, and incarceration.

Another study conducted by Eysenck (2019), anxiety-related performance issues are most

typically connected with challenging cognitive activities. Furthermore, Sellers (2016) discovered

that individuals who indicated high levels of anxiety on self-report instruments remembered much

less content on a foreign language reading comprehension test than those who claimed low levels

of worry.

To discuss reading, based on the study of Heilman (2017), is the process of making sense

of written ideas through meaningful interpretative interactions with other people. Understanding

what has been read is defined as reading with comprehension. Understanding the terminology,

perceiving the relationships between words and concepts, arranging ideas, recognizing the authors'

purpose, making judgments, and evaluating are all part of comprehension.

On the other hand, reading comprehension problem with paragraph, as stated by Kustaryo

(2018), involves several closely connected phenomena; the lacking prior knowledge such as: (1)

Recognition of words. Word recognition is a crucial part of comprehending a target or native

language. When students try to recognize words in the target language, they have difficulty. (2)

New word recognition. New words and previously taught terms are two factors that can make

learning vocabulary challenging. Learning new words, especially terms that are introduced to

pupils for the first time, is heavily influenced by their existing understanding of words. (3) There
is another factor. The student, the teacher, and the educational atmosphere are all potential

stumbling blocks for students learning a language. The teacher will require certain ways to help

the pupils comprehend the reading materials when teaching reading comprehension.

On the other context, reading comprehension, as discussed by Klingner et al. (2017), is the

interaction between readers and what they bring to the text, such as prior knowledge or

background, and the application of methods. Variables connected to the text, such as readers'

interest in the book and their grasp of the text genre, are also included in this procedure. This

means that the reader's experience with the text, as well as how they respond to and comprehend

it, is unique.

Gap/s Bridged by the Present Study

From the above review of related literature and studies, the following gaps were determined:

1.There were only a handful of studies conducted on the use of multi-sensory approach in

reading anxiety and reading comprehension as part of the learning process of the students and

teachers as well.

2. There were no studies yet conducted about the perceived effectiveness of multi-sensory

approach, level of reading anxiety, and level of reading comprehension among Grade 6

learners in Balibago Elementary School as the place of study.

3.There were few studies which focused on the interplay of the said variables in the

Philippine Context.
 In view of the gaps identified, the study determined the perceived level of effectiveness of

using multi-sensory approach to the level of reading anxiety and level of reading comprehension

among the grade 6 learners in Balibago Elementary School, City of Santa Rosa, Laguna.

Chapter 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the methods and procedure of the study. It discusses the method of

research utilized, the respondents of the study, the method of selection, which is the total

enumeration, the different sources of data, their construction, validation and scoring and the

statistical tests techniques used in data interpretation.

Research Design

This study employed descriptive-correlational research design. According to Bickman

and Rog (2017), descriptive-correlational research is the best method for collecting information
to demonstrate relationships and describe the phenomenon as it exists and are often done before

an experiment to know what specific things to manipulate and include in an experiment. The

research design was deemed appropriate because the present investigation aimed to determine

the relationship between the perceived level of effectiveness of using multi-sensory approach,

level of reading anxiety, and level of reading comprehension of the Grade 6 learners in Balibago

Elementary School.

Sources of Data

The study utilized the primary sources of data including the responses of the students in the

questionnaire and the scores they obtained in the reading comprehension test.

Population of the Study

The population of the study consisted of randomly selected Grade 6 learners of Balibago

Elementary School. There was a total of 105 learners distributed in three sections, having 35 each.

Using Slovin’s formula, the sample size was 83. The sections were purposively selected by the

researcher which the respondents of the study were represented by 28 each for the section of

Grade 6 Pearl and Diamond and 27 for the section of Grade 6 Amethyst. Stratified random

sampling, specifically proportional allocation was used in selecting the actual respondents.

Instrumentation and Validation

The study used a self-made survey questionnaire for the first part of the questionnaire on

the perceived level of effectiveness of the multi-sensory approach. The second part of the

instrument was a standardized questionnaire about reading anxiety which was adapted from the

study of Zemni and Alreface (2020). The third part of the instrument focused on the reading
comprehension of the respondents using the story through multi-sensory approach. The first and

third part of the questionnaire were validated by experts in reading education, research, and

statistics.

To ensure reliability of the research tool, the researcher measured the internal consistency

of indicators through Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Pilot testing was conducted with selected

learners in Balibago Elementary School who are not part of the actual survey. For perceived

effectiveness of multi-sensory approach, the Cronbach’s alpha value was .898 indicating a good

reliability index.

Evaluation and Scoring

To describe the perceived level of effectiveness of multi-sensory approach, the following

measures were used:

Categorical Responses
Assigned Numerical Verbal
Positive Negative
points Ranges Interpretation
Statement Statement
Strongly Strongly
4 3.25-4.00 Very High
Agree Disagree
3 2.50-3.24 Agree Disagree High
2 1.75-2.49 Disagree Agree Low
Strongly Strongly
1 1.00-1.74 Very Low
Disagree Agree

To describe the students’ level of reading anxiety, the researcher adopted the standardized

questions from the study of Zemni and Alreface (2020), the following measures were used:

Assigned Points Numerical Ranges Categorical Responses Verbal

Interpretations
5 4.21- 5.00 Strongly Agree Very High
 4 3.41- 4.20 Agree High
3 2.61- 3.40 Neutral Moderate
2 1.81- 2.60 Disagree Low
1 1.00- 1.80 Strongly Disagree Very Low

To describe the students’ level of reading comprehension, the following scale was used:

Numerical Ranges Verbal Interpretations

20-25 Excellent
15-19 Very Satisfactory
10-14 Satisfactory
5-9 Poor
0-4 Very Poor

Data Gathering Procedure

The researcher of this study sought permission and approval from the school head of

Balibago Elementary School to administer the collection of data through online and printed form.

The researcher presented a series of lessons using multi-sensory approach. Afterwards, the

researcher conducted a survey measuring the perceived level of effectiveness of muti-sensory

approach and the students’ level of reading anxiety. The researcher also conducted an assessment

to measure the students’ level of reading comprehension based on the lessons taught using the

multi-sensory approach. Upon retrieval of the results, the raw data were subjected for tabulation,

statistical analysis, and interpretation. Since the respondents of the study were minors, both

parental consent and respondent assent were sought by the researcher, assuring them of

confidentiality of information generated by the study.

Statistical Treatment of Data

The following statistical tests were used in the study:

 1. Weighted mean was used to describe the perceived level of effectiveness of multi-

sensory approach and the level of reading anxiety.

2. Percentage and frequency distribution were used to describe the respondents’ level of

reading comprehension.

3. Pearson r moment correlation coefficient test was used to determine the relationship

between the respondents’ a) perceived level of effectiveness of multi-sensory approach and

level of reading anxiety b) perceived level of effectiveness of multi-sensory approach and

level of reading comprehension and c) level of reading anxiety and level of reading

comprehension.