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Preface
This issue captures studies in the field of language and science teaching, and
educational management. These studies are the concerted efforts of the faculty and
graduate students.
The study of Cherry May Dioso-Ahon and Velma S. Labad entitled, ‘Teachers’
literacy beliefs, reading instructional practices and students’ reading proficiency’, sought
to find out whether relationships exist among teachers’ literacy beliefs, reading
instructional practices and students’ reading proficiency.
Edilhynie M. Jambangan and Velma S. Labad’s study entitled, ‘Structural
equation model predicting students’ reading attitude and performance’, aimed to find out
whether a structural equation model could be developed that would best explain the Grade
7 students’ performance in English.
Rijane Mae A. Labad and Juse Lyn P. Hiponia’s study entitled, “Teachers’
interaction behaviour: Influence on students’ attitude and achievement in grade 7
science”, revealed that the teachers’ gender and overall interaction behaviour is the
predictors of students’ attitude towards science and achievement in grade 7 science.
The study entitled, ‘Reading comprehension, academic optimism and
motivational differences of students in engineering and science education program’,
written by Anne Georgette E. Bustamante, was conducted to determine the root cause of
underachievement among students in engineering and science education program.
The study entitled, “Students’ socioeconomic status, depth of vocabulary
knowledge and reading comprehension” by Velma S. Labad found among others that
students whose monthly income is quite low performed better in the depth of
vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension tests.
Anna Mae S. Aquino and Velma S. Labad’s study entitled, ‘The effectiveness of
VSTF method in improving students’ reading comprehension’, made use of quasi
experimental research design to determine the effectiveness of VSTF method in
improving students’ reading comprehension.
Velma S. Labad’s study entitled, “Secondary students’ depth of vocabulary
knowledge, reading strategies and reading comprehension”, aimed to find out
whether relationships exist among students’ depth of vocabulary knowledge, reading
comprehension strategies and reading comprehension.
The study entitled, “Farm tenants’ children and their school engagement: A
case study” by Marjun B. Rebosquillo and Emmie M. Cabanlit, aimed to explore the
farm tenants’ children and their school engagement in a public elementary school.

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Velma S. Labad’s study entitled, “The Role of Cooperating Teachers on the
Preservice Teachers’ Early Careers”, revealed that the cooperating teachers’ role could
be summed up into being a guide, role model, friend, resource person/experienced
professional.
The study of Alfel E. Obguia and Velma S. Labad entitled, “Students’ Vocabulary
Learning Strategies their Vocabulary Knowledge, Reading Skills and Comprehension”,
aimed to determine which variables could best predict students’ reading comprehension.

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Table of Contents
Page
Teachers’ Literacy Beliefs, Reading Instructional Practices
and Students’ Reading Proficiency …………………………………….
Cherry Mae Dioso-Ahon & Velma S. Labad
Structural Equation Model Predicting Students’
Reading Attitude and Performance …………………………………….
Edilhynie M. Jambangan & Velma S. Labad
Teachers’ Interaction Behavior: Influence on Students’ Attitude
and Achievement in Grade 7 Science ………………………………….
Rijane Mae A. Labad & Juse Lyn P. Hiponia
Reading Comprehension, Academic Optimism
and Motivational Differences of Students
in Engineering and Science Education Program ……………………….
Anne Georgette E. Bustamante
Students’ Socioeconomic Status, Depth of Vocabulary Knowledge
and Reading Comprehension …………………………………………..
Velma S. Labad
The Effectiveness of VSTF Method in Improving
Students’ Reading Comprehension ………………………………………..
Anna Mae S. Aquino & Velma S. Labad
Secondary Students’ Depth of Vocabulary Knowledge
Reading Strategies and Comprehension ………………………………..
Vema S. Labad
Farm Tenants’ Children and their School Engagement: A Case Study ………..
Marjun B. Rebosquillo & Emmie M. Cabanlit
The Role of Cooperating Teachers on the Preservice Teachers’ Early Careers
Velma S. Labad
Students’ Vocabulary Learning Strategies their Vocabulary Knowledge
Reading Skills and Comprehension ……………………………………
Alfel E. Obguia & Velma S. Labad
1
27
49
74
94
117
143
169
202
222

Teachers’ Literacy Beliefs, Reading Instructional Practices
and Students’ Reading Proficiency
Cherry May Dioso-Ahon
Velma S. Labad
Abstract
The study was conducted to determine the relationship
between teachers’ literacy beliefs, reading instructional practices and
students’ reading proficiency. It involved 53 grade three teachers and
371 grade four pupils within the schools of Tugbok District, Davao
City. Results of the study revealed that grade three teachers’ literacy
beliefs were categorized as phonics and skills oriented. In terms of
reading instructional practices, majority of the teachers’ belief were
categorized as combination oriented. Grade four pupils’ reading
proficiency was in the ‘interpretive’ level. Teachers’ literacy beliefs
do not have any effect with their reading instructional practices. In
terms of teachers’ demographics characteristics, only the age can
affect the NAT reading performance of the pupils. All other
demographic characteristics are not factors on students’ reading
proficiency. The following recommendations were advanced: (a)
DepEd should conduct seminar/workshops to enhance and re-orient
the literacy orientation of the teachers especially the newly inducted
teachers, and (b) teachers should provide more reading activities to
their pupils to improve their reading comprehension.
Keywords/phrases: literacy beliefs, instructional practices, reading proficiency
Introduction
Teachers hold beliefs about how children best learn how to read. With the
2000 Report of the National Reading Panel (NRP), the implementation of No Child
Left Behind (NCLB) in 2002, and the current expectations of Race to the Top
(RttT), the role of the teacher has been emphasized and considered to be one of, if
not the most important influences on children’s learning. A major report of the
National Council of Teachers of English (1998) regarding the prevention of reading
difficulties in young children highlights the value of teachers and teaching in
promoting literacy achievement.
Moreover, teachers’ cognition demonstrated that their thought processes
influence their actions in the classroom (Clark & Peterson, 1986). Teachers’
thinking, planning, interactive decision making (the very act of instructing and
assessing their students), and implicit beliefs are interwoven facets that impact their

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classroom practices every day. By extension, then, their implicit theories and beliefs
about assessment inform their thinking and planning and, consequently, shape their
classroom assessment [and teaching] practices (Bliem & Davinroy, 1997).
In the United States, classroom teachers are not always aware of the research
for averting reading problems, nor do they always have in-depth content knowledge
for teaching reading (Brady, Gillis, Smith, Lavalette, Liss-Bronstein, Lowe, North,
Russo & Wilder, 2009). According to Moats (1997, p.7), “a chasm exists between
classroom instructional practices and the research knowledge base on literacy
development”. When teachers lack this content knowledge, there may be serious and
lasting experiences for children, most particularly for those who do not have strong
literacy learning experiences in their homes. These children have to rely on school
for early reading experiences. Without knowledgeable teachers who can provide the
essential emergent reading experiences, these children are at considerable risk for
reading failure (Knight-McKenna, 2009).
In Hong Kong, Chinese kindergarten teachers provide their students with
step-by-step instructions, reading drills, copying exercises, and even homework (Li,
& Rao, 2000, 2005) as part of their literacy instruction. Teachers’ beliefs regarding
literacy bestow that it is their responsibility to transmit these literacy skills to their
students (Li, & Rao, 2010).
Philippine education has a problem in terms of literacy. The functional
literacy of Filipino pupils left much to be desired, constraining learning in later
grades. Few of the factors are the teachers and their quality of instruction given to
the students. In addition, the lack of professional training of the more than 27,000
teachers hampered the Philippine education. Teachers should go beyond the
traditional quantitative pen-and-paper measures in gauging students’ performance
(Bautista, Bernardo, & Ocampo, 2008).
The problems cited highlight the need to conduct the study. When teachers
make decisions on what to teach and how to teach, it is largely influenced by their
beliefs. Despite the types and amounts of knowledge that teachers hold, it is their
beliefs that are more likely to dictate their actions in the classroom (Hall, 2005).
This study aimed to determine the relationship between teachers’ literacy beliefs and
their reading instructional practices and whether it contributes to the reading
proficiency of the pupils. The reading proficiency of the students is a burning issue
today in the Philippine educational system. A research that could pave the way for
the solution to the present dilemma is needed, thus, this study.
The findings of the study will benefit both the teachers and the pupils. It is
important for the teachers to assess one’s literacy beliefs as well their reading
instructional practices. Knowledge of these can help them seek professional

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development and improve their quality of instruction, thus giving quality education
to their pupils.
Theoretical Framework
This study is anchored on the theory of ideological becoming of Bakhtin,
(1981 in Labad, & Andoy, 2012). Bakhtin (1981) argued that “the ideological
becoming of a human being is the process of selectively assimilating the words of
others” (p. 341). This theory focuses on how people develop their beliefs systems
(how they think things will and should be) through dialogic and social processes.
Bakhtin (1981) maintains that belief systems develop when people make choices
based on the discourses available to them. This theory is offered in the light of the
present study’s assertion that the teachers’ theoretical beliefs could influence their
reading instructional practices. The teachers’ theoretical beliefs could be phonics,
skills or whole language. These orientations could shape how the teachers teach
reading.
Another theory is the social learning theory by Bandura (1977 in McLeod,
2011). This theory posits that behavior is learned from the environment through the
process of observational learning. Moreover, Bandura (1977 in McLeod, 2011)
believes that humans are active information processors and think about the
relationship between their behavior and its consequences. Observational learning
could not occur unless cognitive processes were at work. In the present study, the
teachers’ beliefs are what they have learned from others. This could be the teachings
they received from the higher institutions where they earned their degrees. Or from
the in-service trainings they have attended.
Research Problem
This study aimed to determine the relationship between teachers’ literacy
beliefs and their reading instructional practices. It also aimed to find out whether the
teachers’ literacy beliefs and their reading instructional practices could promote
students’ reading proficiency. Specifically, it sought to answer the following
questions:
1) What are the literacy beliefs of grade III teachers?
2) What are the reading instructional practices of grade III teachers?
3) What is the reading proficiency level of grade IV pupils in NAT reading
performance and reading comprehension?
4) What is the profile of the demographic attributes of grade III teachers in: (a)
age, (b) educational qualification, (c) years of experience in teaching reading,
and (d) trainings attended related to teaching reading?

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5) Is there a significant relationship between teachers’ literacy beliefs and
reading instructional practices?
6) Are there significant relationships between teachers’ literacy beliefs and
reading instructional practices on students’ reading proficiency in NAT
reading performance and reading comprehension?
7) Will the demographic characteristics of the teachers, their literacy beliefs and
reading instructional practices have a moderating effect with students’
reading proficiency in NAT reading performance and reading
comprehension?
Null Hypotheses
This study formulated and tested the following null hypotheses at α=0.05
level of significance (2-tailed).
Ho1 Teachers’ literacy beliefs are not affected by their reading instructional
practices.
Ho2 Teachers’ literacy beliefs and reading instructional practices are not factors on
students’ reading proficiency.
Ho3 Teachers’ demographic characteristics, their literacy beliefs and reading
instructional practices do not have moderating effects on students’ reading
proficiency in NAT reading performance and reading comprehension.
Method
Research Design
This study made use of descriptive-correlation research method. Descriptive
research method describes the phenomena being studied. Data are gathered and
descriptive statistics are used to analyze the data (Lomax & Li, 2013). In this study,
literacy beliefs, reading instructional practices and demographic characteristics of
the grade III teachers and the grade IV students’ reading proficiency were given
descriptions. Moreover, it used correlation research method. Correlation research
method is used to determine the relations among two or more variables.
Furthermore, it investigates a range of factors, including the nature of the
relationship between two or more variables and the theoretical model that might be
developed and tested to explain these resultant correlations (Lomax & Li, 2013). In
this study, it sought to determine if there is an existing relationship between
teachers’ literacy beliefs, reading instructional practices and students’ reading
proficiency as measured by the national achievements tests results, as well as the
result of the researcher-made reading comprehension tests.

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Respondents
The study was participated by a total of 53 grade III teachers and 371 grade
IV pupils from 21 elementary schools within Tugbok District, Davao City. The
student respondents were chosen because in the third grade, they were taught how to
read. They are expected to know the fundamentals of reading and apply their reading
skills across the curriculum. Moreover, reading skills as well as proficiency should
be developed in this stage; these skills could predict future academic performance
(Fletcher & Lyon, 1998).
In this study, the researcher used purposive sampling for the grade III
teachers. The individuals to be included in the sample were taken by the researcher
based upon a variety of criteria which may include specialist knowledge of the
research issue, or capacity and willingness to participate in the research (Oliver,
2006). Besides, the sample being investigated is quite small (Lund Research Ltd,
2012). The grade III teachers were in direct contact with the student respondents of
the study, thus they were determined as the teacher respondents.
With regards the grade IV pupils, proportion random sampling was used. To
obtain proportional number of respondents, the researcher used a lottery strategy to
have an equal number of respondents that will represent each school within Tugbok
District. The quantity of students’ sample is based on Slovin’s (1960) formula. The
calculation was made to obtain the appropriate sample size of the 2,440 grade IV
students’ population.
Instruments
The following instruments were utilized in the study: (1) Theoretical
Orientation to Reading Profile (TORP) (DeFord, 1985), (2) Reading Instructional
Practices (RIPS) (Luciano, 1996), and a (c) researcher-made reading
comprehension test.
Theoretical Orientation to Reading Profile (TORP) was designed, developed
and validated by DeFord (1979, 1985). It has 28 items and used a Likert scale.
Construct validity was used by DeFord (1985) to determine whether the instrument
measures the theoretical beliefs it claims to measure. Data results indicated that the
TORP has a reliable measure of r=.98, of differences in theoretical orientation to
reading instruction. The TORP categorizes theoretical orientations to reading into
three broad groups: phonics, skills, and whole language. Total score on the TORP
may range from 28 to 140. The score places the respondent along the numeric
continuum as follows: scores from 28 to 64 are representative of a phonics
orientation; scores ranging from 65 to 111 are representative of skills orientation;
scores from 112 to 140 are representative of a whole language orientation (DeFord,
1985).

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The Reading Instruction Practices Survey (RIPS) was crafted by Luciano
(1996). RIPS is a self-reported questionnaire consisting of 25 Likert-like items using
a response choice of “never use”, “occasionally use”, “frequently use”, and “use
daily”. It also contains demographic information items concerning years of teaching
experience, years teaching first grade, highest degree obtained, and most recent
reading workshop experience. The demographic information items were rephrased
to fit to the present study. These were age, educational qualification, years of
experience in teaching reading, and trainings attended related to teaching reading.
The pilot study for the RIPS was conducted by Luciano (1996). The goal of
the pilot process was to validate the RIPS items and create a final instrument with
which to measure reading instructional practices that would discriminate between
those teachers who use a skills/phonics approach and those who provide more
integrated instruction within the context of real literature. It used a statistical test of
internal consistency (Cronbach alpha) and an item analysis to examine the teacher
responses to the pilot survey. Raw scores on the pilot surveys ranged from 29 to 56.
The overall score range between 47 to 56 represents phonics/skills practices, 39 to
46 belongs to combination of whole language and phonics/skills and below 38 score
has a whole language instructional practice (Luciano, 1996).
Lastly, a researcher-made reading comprehension test was administered to
the grade IV students. The selections used in the tool were adapted from Angeles
(2003). In determining its content validity, the researcher sought the knowledge of
the experts. Validation sheet, the reading comprehension tests and the table of
specifications were presented to three grade IV teachers of San Roque Elementary
School, San Roque District, Davao City. The test was also administered to 30 grade
IV pupils of the same school to get its reliability. The test yielded a KR 20 of 0.67.
This result confirmed that the test was reliable. To determine the student’s reading
comprehension level, the following were used: scores 1-10, literal level, 11-20,
interpretive level, and 21-30, evaluative level (Zintz, 1980).
To determine the demographic characteristics of the teachers, the following
was used: in terms of age, teachers were classified: below 40 years old, 40-50 year
old and 50 years old and above; while, in educational qualification, they were
classified as BEEd-Generalist or Others (those teachers who have a
specialization/major); in the years of experience in teaching reading, the respondents
were grouped: 0-10 years of experience, 11-20 years of experience, and 21 years of
experience and above; and for the trainings attended related to teaching reading,
teachers were categorized as follows: below 100 hours of trainings attended, 101-
200 hours of trainings attended, and 201 hours of trainings attended and above. The
following systems were also used in the study of Saguimpa (2012), Gentapa, (2012)
and Masig (2013).

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Data Gathering Procedure
The following steps were observed in the gathering of data:
Seeking permission from the Dean of the College of Education. A letter
asking permission to conduct the study was written addressed to the Dean of the
College of Education. Further, it also sought an endorsement for the Schools
Division Superintendent.
Seeking permission from the Schools Division Superintendent. A letter
asking permission to conduct the study was written addressed to the Schools
Division Superintendent (SDS), Division of Davao City. The researcher also
requested that she be given photocopies of the result of the National Achievement
Test (NAT) for school year 2012-2013. The SDS granted the researcher’s request.
Seeking permission from the Tugbok District Supervisor. A letter of
permission and an endorsement letter were given to the Tugbok District Supervisor
requesting that the researcher will be allowed to conduct the study to the Grade III
teachers and Grade IV pupils within the elementary schools of Tugbok District.
Seeking permission from the principal. Letters asking permission to be
allowed to administer the tools to grade III teachers and grade IV pupils were
written addressed to the principal of every school.
Sending of letter invitation to the parents of the students. Letter invitations
wer sent to the students’ parents requesting them to allow their children to
participate in the study. They were informed about the rationale of the study and that
their children’s participation is voluntary. Participation means their children will
take a reading comprehension test and it will last for forty five (45) minutes. Only
those who have returned the letter invitations with their parent’s signature were
included as participants. The students were likewise informed that they were invited
to participate in the study and that their parents have returned and signed the
parents’ consent form. However, they were informed that their participation would
be voluntary. Those who expressed to be excused were ushered to the library and the
librarian gave them books to read.
Administration of questionnaire. The researcher personally administered the
three (3) questionnaires. The TORP and the RIPS were administered to the teachers
while the reading comprehension test was administered to the pupils.
Retrieval and tabulation of data. The researcher collected the questionnaires
on the same date of the administration. The Theoretical Orientation to Reading
Profile (TORP) and the Reading Instructional Practices Survey (RIPS) were tallied
and added the point values to get its orientation. Further, the reading comprehension

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tests were checked and the NAT result was encoded. The data were classified and
organized and were subjected to statistical analysis.
Data Analysis
The following statistical tools were used to analyze the data:
Mean and standard deviation were used to determine the demographic profile
of the respondents in terms of teachers’ literacy beliefs, reading instructional
practices and students’ reading achievement.
Pearson product moment correlation was used to find out whether there is an
existing relationship between teachers’ literacy beliefs and their reading instructional
practices, and teachers’ literacy beliefs, reading instructional practices and students’
reading proficiency.
Regression analysis was used to determine the moderating effect of the
independent variables on students’ reading proficiency.
Results and Discussion
Literacy beliefs profile of grade III teachers
Presented in table 1 is the literacy beliefs orientation profile of the grade III
teachers using the Theoretical to Reading Profile (TORP) instrument by DeFord
(1985). It can be gleaned from the table that 38 teachers or 71.7 percent were
phonics oriented while 15 or 28.3 percent were skills oriented. This shows that most
of the grade 3 teachers within Tugbok District, Davao City were phonics oriented.
According to Dechant (1993) teachers who work primarily from a phonics
orientation are most likely to plan for and create the kind of learning environment
where prescribed directions are given by the teacher.
Table 1. Literacy beliefs profile of grade III teachers (n=53).
Literacy Frequency Percent
beliefs
Phonics 38 71.7
Skills 15 28.3
This result coincides with the study of Lenski, Wham, & Griffy (1998)
which pointed out that literacy instruction for the majority of the teacher respondents
is characterized by traditional reading methods, direct instruction, and the
assumption that literacy learning is the result of mastering particular skills. In
contrast, students from teachers whose beliefs were congruent with a skills
orientation tended to base their perceptions on reading skills according to their

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acquisition of “sight words”, “accurate reading”, and even a “general sense of being
smart”. These responses are compatible with a skills orientation that emphasizes
accuracy on word recognition (DeFord, 1985).
The result implies that none of the teacher respondents has a whole language
orientation. This is a manifestation that the teacher respondents correspond to the
traditional or eclectic literacy viewpoint in teaching. They believe that this is the
best way for the students to learn.
Reading instructional practices of grade III teachers
Presented in table 2 is the reading instructional practices profile of the grade
III teachers utilizing Luciano’s (1996) Reading Instruction Practices Survey (RIPS).
It shows that in the phonics or skills orientation, there were 14 or 26.4 percent, 35
teachers or 66 percent were combination oriented while 4 or 7.5 percent of the
teacher respondents have a whole language orientation.
Phonics oriented teachers believe that children need training in both
phonemic awareness, by which they develop an awareness of individual sounds, and
in cueing strategies, through which they learn to decode the text and comprehend the
material. This instruction is traditionally taught before the reading of authentic texts.
Phonics materials include a controlled set of words that the students have previously
been taught how to decode (Kelly, 1997).
Table 2. Reading instructional practices profile of grade III teachers (n=53).
Reading
instructional Frequency Percent
practices
Phonics/skills 14 26.4
Combination 35 66.0
Whole language 4 7.5
The work of Linehan (2012) indicated that no method is superior to another
as they relate to reading rate (words record correctly per minute). He posited that no
single approach to reading instruction should be used exclusively over another.
Instead, his study proposes a “balanced” or “comprehensive” approach to emergent
reading instruction, which includes the best of both phonics and meaning based
methods taught with a varying intensity. Intensity is appropriated to provide the
necessary balance of skill instruction to the individual and unique students who seek
to make sense of reading.
On the other hand, teachers who are whole language oriented have a
philosophy to literacy education that emphasizes natural development of literacy
competence. Immersion in real literature and daily writing is favored over explicit

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teaching of basic reading skills. Skills instruction occurs in whole-language
classrooms on an as-needed basis only, and then only in the context of reading and
writing, rather than as a focal point of instruction (Pressley, 2002).
Findings of the study show that majority of the DepEd grade 3 teachers were
combination oriented. They believe that there is no single method or single
combination of methods that can successfully teach all children to read. In essence,
this finding relates to the pronouncement made by the International Reading
Association (IRA, 1999). The association advanced that teachers should have a
strong knowledge of multiple methods for teaching reading and a strong knowledge
of the children in their care so they can create the appropriate balance of methods
needed for the children they teach.
Reading proficiency level of grade IV pupils in reading comprehension
Presented in table 3 is the result of the test conducted to determine the
students’ reading proficiency level in reading comprehension utilizing the
researcher-made reading comprehension test. It shows (Table 3) that there were 62
pupils or 16.7 percent who were in the “literal” level, 201 or 54.2 percent were in
the interpretive and 108 or 29.1 percent pupils in the “evaluative” level. The result
shows that there are still pupils who have difficulty understanding the text in a literal
sense. They still have problems in understanding the information that are directly
stated in the selection (Caminade, Cordero, & Poe, 2007). But majority of the
respondents were in the interpretive level. The grade four pupils were able to
understand by reading between the lines and making inference in order to derive
ideas that are not directly stated in the texts (Burns, Roe, & Smith, 1999).
Table 3. Reading proficiency level of grade IV pupils (n=371).
Reading
proficiency Frequency Percent
level
Literal 62 16.7
Interpretive 201 54.2
Evaluative 108 29.1
However, the result was still overwhelming knowing that there were 108
pupils or 29.1 percent who were classified in the evaluative level. In this level, the
reader makes use of the skills which belong to the literal and interpretive levels. The
reader at this level, “takes the product of literal, what the author has said, and the
interpretive, what the author meant by what is said, and applies it in some
pragmatic exercises” Herber (1970). However, overall result simply implies that
pupils should develop higher level of reading comprehension. Reading

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comprehension enables students to pursue their studies and to meet their interests in
all fields of knowledge (Hussein, 2011).
Reading proficiency level of grade IV pupils in NAT reading performance
Presented in table 4 is the school’s NAT reading performance result of the
grade four pupils SY2012-2013. It can be gleaned from table that School I
(MPS=77.72) and School J (MPS=80.38) have the passing mean percentage score of
75.00. Children who belonged to the other schools of Tugbok District got an MPS
below the passing rate. The trend shows that MPS was only 55.01 percent. This
finding is not only exclusive of the schools within Tugbok District but true to all
schools of Davao City. The NAT reading performance of Davao City is very low.
The result is similar with the NAT 2007 result which revealed that the
reading and comprehension skills of grade three pupils had improve from a
composite MPS (Mean Percentage Score) of 49.2 percent in English and 60.2
percent in Filipino (World Data on Education, 2010). However, 60.2 percent was not
good enough when the passing rate is only 75 percent (Andoy & Labad, 2012).
Table 4. Reading proficiency level of grade IV pupils in NAT reading performance
(n=55).
National
School Achievement Tests
in Reading
MPS
A 52.01
B 38.07
C 51.21
D 56.58
E 74.33
F 53.33
G 69.52
H 40.42
I 77.72
J 80. 38
K 72.75
L 59.80
M 36.91
N 55.04
O 65.05
P 34.95
R 56.27
S 36.00
T 48.65
U 65.00
V 31.18

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Demographic attributes profile of grade III teachers
Presented in table 5 is the demographic attributes profile of the teachers in
terms of age, educational qualification, years of experience in teaching reading, and
trainings attended related to reading. Part A of table 5 shows the age of the
respondents. There were 27 or 50.9 percent who were below 40 years old, 16
teachers or 30.2 percent who were in between 40 to 50 years old, and 10 teachers or
18.9 percent who were 51 years old and above. This indicates that there are several
young or newly-hired teachers who are currently teaching in the public elementary
school.
The profile of teachers in the United States affirms the proportion of
teachers’ ages who are teaching in the public school. The proportion of teachers
under 30 years of age rose dramatically from 2005 to 2011, while the proportion of
teachers 50 and older dropped reversing a trend toward an older teaching force that
began in the 1990’s. More than one in five (22 percent) teachers in 2011 was under
the age of 30, compared with only 11 percent in 2005 and in1996. The proportion of
teachers 50 and older dropped from 42 percent in 2005 to 31 percent in 2011.
Clearly, the older teachers are retiring and being replaced once again by teachers in
their 20s and 30s (Feistritzer, 2011).
Table 5. Demographic attributes of grade III teachers (n=53).
Demographic attributes Frequency Percent
A. Age
below 40 27 50.9
40-50 16 30.2
52-below 10 18.9
B. Educational qualifications
BEED-Gen. 44 83.0
Others 9 17.0
C. Years of experience in teaching reading
0-10 27 50.9
11-20 16 30.2
21-above 10 18.9%
D. Training attended related to teaching reading
Below 100 45 84.9
101-200 6 11.3
201-above 2 3.8
In terms of educational qualification (Part B, Table 5), 44 teacher
respondents or 83 percent were BEEd-Generalist while 9 or 17 percent belonged to
other specialization. The result implies that majority of the DepEd grade four
teachers within Tugbok District, Davao City graduated with a BEEd-Generalist
degree. The Magna Carta for Public School Teachers (1966) stated that a minimum

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educational qualification for teacher-applicants in the kindergarten and elementary
grades would be a bachelor’s degree in elementary education (BSEEd). Therefore,
reading as a specialization in the elementary education is a new curriculum and has
not been established and offered before.
The years of experience in teaching reading is also shown in part C, table 5.
The table shows that 27 teachers or 50.9 percent had 0-10 years of experience, 16
teachers or 30.2 percent had 11-20 years of experience, and 10 or 18.9 percent
teachers had 21 years of experience and above. The result showed that there were
several DepEd grade four teachers who had less experience in teaching reading.
Experience may or may not be a factor in constructing teachers’ belief. But Kagan
(1992) believes that as the teacher’s experience in the profession increases, the
knowledge grows richer and more coherent and forms a highly personalized
pedagogy or belief system that constrains the teacher’s perception, judgment and
behavior.
The study of Garofalo (1991 in Al-Jarf, 2007) also found that teachers with
zero to five years of experience placed more emphasis on the basal reader. Another
study conducted by Yala and Wanjohi (2011) and Adeyemi (2010) found that
teachers’ experience and educational qualifications were the prime predictors of
students’ academic achievement. But the result of the study contradicted with the
study of Rivkin, Hanushek, and Kain (2005) who found that teachers’ teaching
experience and educational qualifications were not significantly related to students’
achievement.
The demographic variable on trainings attended related to reading (Part D,
table 5) showed that 45 teachers or 84.9 percent had below 100 hours of trainings
attended, 6 teachers or 11.3 percent had 101-200 hours, while there were only 2
teachers or 3.8 percent who had 201 hours and above. It shows that majority of the
teacher respondents had less number of hours in reading. Newly-hired teachers need
to have more trainings and workshops. Lange (1990) describes that teachers’
development is a “process of continual, intellectual, experiential and attitudinal
growth of teachers” which is vital for maintaining and enhancing the quality of
teachers and learning experiences.
Moreover, the professional development of a teacher such as workshops,
which is one of the most common and useful forms of professional development
activities for teachers (Richards, Galo, & Renandya, 2001), are intensive short-term
learning opportunities that are designed to allow teachers to attain specific
knowledge and skills which they can later apply in their classrooms (Richards &
Farrell, 2005). Workshops can be beneficial in a number of ways: they can provide
input from experts, provide teachers with the opportunity for hands-on experience
with the topic, raise motivation, offer practical classroom applications, develop
collegiality, support innovations and are flexible in organization. Richards and

14 | P a g e
Farrell (2005) recognize that workshops are ideal formats for introducing an
educational innovation and preparing teachers for the change.
However, in the survey conducted by Sandholtz (2002) she found that out of
the 22 activities of professional development included in the survey, the activities
that the teachers considered most valuable to them were summer projects and
conferences, while school-based activities such as school and district in-services
were considered to be the least valuable. This survey found support with the study of
Gaies and Bowers (1990) who noted that professional development which is limited
to workshops and seminars do not answer the individual needs of individual
teachers. They (Gaies & Bowers, 1990) argue the need to include clinical
supervision as part of the program. This would involve a series of three stage cycles:
pre-observation consultation between the teacher and the supervisor, the observation
itself and post-observation analysis and discussion. In the present study, this could
be offered as alternative for the less number of hours attended for trainings and
workshops on reading. The principal and reading supervisors should conduct more
clinical supervision to augment the meager opportunity for trainings and conferences
among reading teachers.
Relationship between teachers’ literacy beliefs and reading instructional
practices
Presented in table 6 is the relationship between teachers’ literacy beliefs and
their reading instructional practices. Result revealed that there is no significant
relationship between teachers’ literacy beliefs and their reading instructional
practices having a p value of 0.654. Thus, Ho1 is accepted. This means that teachers’
literacy beliefs cannot affect their reading instructional practices or vice versa.
Table 6. Relationship between teachers’ literacy beliefs and reading instructional
practices (n=53).
Literacy beliefs
RIPS Pearson correlation 0.063
Sig. (2-tailed) 0.654
Several possibilities can explain the mismatch between teachers’ beliefs and
their actual practices. Even though teachers may have wanted to teach reading
strategies explicitly in their practices, their unfamiliarity with the right way to do
this may have led them to teach differently. In other words, teachers may lack the
procedural knowledge (Mohammed, 2006) since the respondents were grade three
teachers, they considered phonics as the best strategy that would suit to the level of
their pupils.

15 | P a g e
Another explanation for the mismatch between beliefs and practices may be
attributed to the contextual factors and classroom life (Fang, 1996). Contextual
factors, like too little weekly time, big classes, students with multiple levels of
motivation and English competence, final assessments, teachers’ workload, teachers’
motivation, parents’ and managers’ demands may also have acted as barriers that
prevented teachers from enacting their beliefs. It is also likely that teachers
presented themselves in a more favorable light in answering the questionnaire, as it
is human nature to portray oneself in the most positive manner (Mohammed, 2006).
Moreover, Munby (1982) offered an explanation of the mismatch of the two
(beliefs and practices). He agreed that when teachers’ beliefs in a specific area are
inconsistent with their practice in that area, it may be that “different and weightier”
(p. 216) beliefs are the cause. He goes on to argue that it is important to think of
connections among beliefs rather than beliefs as independent sub-systems.
Inconsistent findings can become clearer and more meaningful when educational
beliefs are conceptualized carefully and implications seen against the background of
a teacher’s broader belief system.
Furthermore, Readence, Konopak, and Wilson (1991) found the relationship
between beliefs and instructional practices of both elementary and secondary school
teachers varied from highly consistent to highly inconsistent. Their results offer
further support to the contention that, although there is some congruence between
teacher practices and their belief systems about reading, the relationship is not
always strong (Duffy & Anderson, 1984).
However, Woolfolk, Hoy, Hoy, and Davis (2009) asserts that teachers’
beliefs hold influence on their thoughts and their instructional decisions. In turn,
instructional decisions that teachers make influence the learning experiences they
plan for students and hence the students are given the opportunity to learn.
Similarly, Clark and Peterson (1986) has also shown that teachers’ decisions related
to practice are the result of teacher thinking and planning for instruction.
Conversely, Duffy and Anderson (1984) found teachers’ practices were often
determined by the nature of teaching and classroom life. Their study showed that
differences in the degree of consistency between beliefs and practice might also be
derived from the diverse contexts in which teachers work and the constraints that
these impose (e.g. some imposed constraints night be school climate, curriculum
expectations, or local policies and procedures). In an earlier study, Duffy (1977)
investigated teacher beliefs and practice utilizing data gathered from postobservation
interviews and research field-notes. Duffy’s (1977) study involved
research with eight participating teachers; findings indicated that four of the
teachers’ belief systems, to varying degrees, were inconsistent with their classroom
practices. Results also suggested that the teachers whose practice departed from
beliefs they held might have been constrained by mandated curriculum materials,

16 | P a g e
resources, time available, habits, and student abilities. It was concluded that these
constraints interposed between theory and action and thus, accounted for the
discrepancies observed in the study. This finding is quite true in the current study.
In addition, the lack of alignment between teachers’ beliefs and practices
could be explained in light of factors such as teacher’s inexperience, lack of support,
restricted time for instruction, administrative and classroom life constraints, social
realities (Fang, 1996; Schawn & Olafson, 2002), and the imbalance caused by a shift
in beliefs (Lenski, et al., 1998).
Relationship between teachers’ literacy beliefs and reading instructional
practices on students’ reading proficiency
Presented in table 7 is the result of the test conducted to determine the
relationship between teachers’ literacy beliefs and reading instructional practices on
students’ reading proficiency. The result revealed no significant relationship
between teachers’ literacy beliefs and their reading instructional practices on
students’ reading proficiency in terms of reading comprehension, having a p value of
-0.068 which is not significant at α=0.05 level. Thus, Ho2 is accepted. This means
that teachers’ literacy and reading instructional practices are not contributory to
students’ reading proficiency specifically on their reading comprehension.
Table 7. Relationship between teachers’ literacy beliefs, reading instructional
practices on students’ reading proficiency in reading comprehension
(n=371).
Reading
comprehension
RIPS Pearson correlation -0.068
Sig. (2-tailed) 0.188
Relationship between teachers’ literacy beliefs and reading instructional
practices on students’ reading proficiency in NAT reading performance
Presented in table 8 is the result of the test conducted to determine the
relationship between teachers’ literacy beliefs and reading instructional practices on
students’ reading proficiency in NAT reading performance. Result revealed that
there is a significant but negative relationship between teachers’ literacy beliefs and
reading instructional practices on students’ reading proficiency in NAT reading
performance having a p values of -0.171 and -0.160 both significant at α=0.01 level
of significance. Thus, the second null hypothesis is rejected. This means that
teachers’ literacy beliefs and reading instructional practices are factors on students’
reading proficiency in NAT reading performance.

17 | P a g e
Table 8. Relationship between teachers’ literacy beliefs and reading instructional
practices on students’ reading proficiency in NAT reading performance
(n=371).
NAT reading
comprehension
RIPS Pearson correlation -0.171 **
Sig. (2-tailed) 0.001
Literacy Pearson correlation -.0160 **
beliefs
Sig. (2-tailed) 0.002
** . Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
The result implies that the higher the literacy beliefs or reading instructional
practices of the teacher, the lower the NAT reading performance of the pupils. This
may be attributed to the following reasons: (1) If teachers’ beliefs or reading
instructional practices is high, it is not effective to the level of the pupils and (2)
National Achievement Test (NAT) is in a form of summative test. It may be difficult
for the pupils to recall all the lessons learned within a year of schooling.
The result contradicts with the study of Fang (1996) which stated that
teachers’ beliefs and instructional practices influence children’s conceptions of
literacy. Also, the study conducted by Borg (1999) concluded that teachers were
guided by their beliefs. The study revealed a relatively strong relationship between
the teachers’ beliefs and their classroom practices which asserts that English
teachers teach in accordance with their theoretical beliefs and that differences in
theoretical beliefs may result in differences in the nature of literacy instruction
(Borg, 1999).
Moderating effect of the moderator variables
on students’ reading comprehension
Presented in table 9 is the moderating effect of teachers’ demographic
characteristics on teachers’ literacy beliefs, reading instructional practices and
students’ reading comprehension. The result shows no significant moderating effect
between teachers’ demographic characteristics on teachers’ literacy beliefs, reading
instructional practices and students’ reading comprehension. Therefore, Ho3 is
accepted. This means that the demographic characteristics of the teachers cannot
contribute in the improvement of the literacy beliefs and reading instructional
practices of the teachers and the reading comprehension of the pupils. Furthermore,
the result implies that teachers’ demographic characteristics are not factors on
teachers’ literacy beliefs, reading instructional practices and students’ reading
comprehension.

18 | P a g e
The result affirmed the study of RAND Research (2010) which states that
while the teacher is an important determinant of a student’s achievement, there was
no direct connection between the traditionally assumed measures of teacher
effectiveness and student achievement over time. This implies that teacher as one of
the school-based factors may or may not be effective enough and must adopt more
effective way to help students and to provide a quality education. The study of Yala
and Wanjohi (2011) also found that teachers’ educational level and teaching
experience were not statistically significant in explaining students’ academic
achievement.
Table 9. Moderating effect of the moderator variables on students’ reading
comprehension.
Unstandardized Standardized
Moderator variables
Coefficients Coefficients
B Std. Beta t Sig.
Error
Age .058 .066 .066 .870 .385
Educational qualifications .057 .095 .032 .602 .548
Years of experience in teaching
reading
-.030 .061 -.035 -.493 .623
Trainings attended related to
teaching reading
.095 .075 .068 1.267 .206
Reading instructional practices -.063 .064 -.052 -.980 .328
Theoretical orientation to
reading
.040 .082 .027 .482 .630
Multiple correlation (R) .116 a
R 2 .013
Moderating effect of the moderator variables on students’
national achievement tests in reading (NAT)
Presented in table 10 is the moderating effect of the teachers’ demographic
characteristics on teachers’ literacy, reading instructional practices, students’ reading
comprehension and students’ NAT Reading performance. The result shows no
significant moderating effect among teachers’ demographic characteristics
differences on teachers’ literacy beliefs, reading instructional practices and students’
NAT reading performance in educational qualification, years of experience in
teaching reading and trainings attended related to teaching reading, but did prove to
be significant in terms of age on teachers’ literacy beliefs, reading instructional
practices and students’ NAT reading performance. This shows that Ho3 is accepted
but proves to be rejected in age (ß=-.240), which is significant at α=0.01 level of
significance. This implies that only teachers’ age affects the NAT reading

19 | P a g e
performance of the pupils. However, it can be noted that the relationship is inverse.
This means that the older the teacher is, the lower the NAT reading performance of
the students. Two other variables that registered a moderating effect is the literacy
beliefs and the reading instructional practices, the ß values (-.184, -.243), shows that
they have a negative correlation both having p values of 0.01 level of significance.
This indicates that if one’s literacy belief and instructional practices is high, the
NAT result is low.
The result finds support in the study of Albarillo (2011) where he found that
age was the most important predictor of reading skills. It tends to decline as the
teachers grow older. They read less the longer they stay in the service. It is
specifically noticeable among teachers who do not exert effort to deepen their
professional studies. Albarillo (2011) further argued that those teachers who are 40
years old and above need a special reading intervention program. And to prevent a
decline in reading skill, all teachers ought to do graduate-level work.
Table 10. Moderating effect of the moderator variables on students’ national
achievement tests in reading.
Unstandardized Standardized
Moderator variables
Coefficients Coefficients
B Std. Beta t Sig.
Error
Age -4.377 1.290 -.240 -3.392 001 **
Educational qualifications 3.359 1.838 0.91 1.828 .068
Years of experience in teaching
reading
-1.415 1.194 -.079 -1.185 .237
Trainings attended related to
teaching reading
2.420 1.458 .084 1.660 .098
Reading instructional practices -4.608 1.247 -.184 -3.696 .000 **
Theoretical orientation to
reading
-7.290 1.600 -.243 -4.556 .000 **
Multiple correlation (R)
.365 a
R 2 .133
Likewise, Harris, and Sass (2006 in Buddin & Zamarro, 2008) examined
how teacher qualifications and in-service training affected student achievement in
Florida. They found small effects of experience and educational background on
teacher performance. In addition, they found that a teacher’s college major or
scholastic aptitude (SAT or ACT score) is unrelated to their classroom performance.
The results contradicts the findings of the study conducted by Yala and
Wanjohi (2011) and Adeyemi (2010) where they found that teachers’ experience and
educational qualifications were the prime predictors of students’ academic

20 | P a g e
achievement. However, this was contradicted with the study of Rivkin, et al. (2005)
who found that teachers’ teaching experience and educational qualifications were
not significantly related to students’ achievement. This finding is echoed once again
in the present study.
Conclusions
Based on the foregoing findings, the conclusions reached were:
1) Generally, grade four teachers within the schools of Tugbok District, Davao City
are believers of phonics and skills orientation.
2) The students’ reading proficiency is quite good having attained the interpretive
level.
3) Demographic characteristics of the teachers do not contribute to the improvement
of the reading proficiency of the students.
4) Teachers’ literacy beliefs and their instructional practices need to be threshed out
in the context of DepEd’s educational system.
Recommendations
Based on the above conclusions, the researcher recommends that:
1) The Department of Education should conduct seminar/workshops that would
orient, reorient and enhance teachers to the holistic or constructivist approach in
teaching the pupils.
2) Teachers should give more reading activities to the pupils to improve their
reading comprehension.
3) A study should be conducted to investigate further the relation between teachers’
age and students’ NAT reading performance. Likewise, a similar study on
teachers’ literacy beliefs, reading instructional practices and students’ reading
proficiency should be conducted to enrich the literature on the topics and for
comparison purposes.
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Structural Equation Model Predicting Students’
Reading Attitude and Performance
Edilhynie M. Jambangan
Velma S. Labad
Abstract
This study was conducted to find out what structural equation
model could be developed that would best explain the Grade 7
students’ performance in English. Three questionnaires were used to
obtain the needed data such as the questionnaire on teacher
interaction, the students’ attitude towards reading and the students’
English performance on cognitive skills and content knowledge.
These instruments were given to the randomly selected Grade 7
students in three private secondary schools of Davao City. The result
revealed that among the eight teacher interaction behaviors, only
three could be used as predictor of students’ English performance and
attitude towards reading. This finding could help school
administrators to plan on the kind of trainings their teachers need.
Teachers could also identify and design the most fitting classroom
strategy in helping the students perform well in class.
Keywords/phrases: reading attitude, cognitive skills, content knowledge, structural
equation model
Introduction
Students’ content knowledge in English is of equal importance to their
reading comprehension. Anderson (1982 in Martohardjono et al. (2005) revealed
that poor readers exhibit deficiencies in the content knowledge of a language. The
basic life skill of reading is a cornerstone for success in both school and life
(Anderson, Hiebert, Scott, & Wilkinson, 1985). For a successful academic life,
reading comprehension skill stands out in every field (Memis & Bozkurt, 2013). To
master language is to master its four skills, namely listening, speaking, reading, and
writing. Today, many teachers realize that the skill students need more is reading
(Dublin 1982 in Hussein, 2012). According to Rivers (1981 in Hussein, 2012)
reading gave the students the opportunity to share the thinking of the great minds of
another culture and so to widen horizons of their knowledge and understanding.
Thiele and Herzic (1983 in Hussein, 2012) go beyond this. They consider reading
comprehension as a dominant factor in determining whether a learner will be able to
master the foreign language or not. They wrote that reading comprehension is a prerequisite
for the acquisition of knowledge and may play a dominant role in

28 | P a g e
determining whether a person will ultimately succeed in mastering a foreign
language or not.
However, reading continues to be one of the skills that is causing problems
for the majority of the students in the American public school systems (Garza,
2008). Statistics show that only 29% of all eigh th graders are able to comprehend at
or above a proficient level, while 43% read at a basic level, and 27% are only able to
comprehend at a below-basic level (Lee, Grigg, & Donahue, 2007).
This problem also exists in the Philippines’ Department of Education
(DepEd). The reading comprehension of the students deteriorates. The evidence is
the low result of mean percentage score (MPS) in the National Achievement Test
(NAT). The overall MPS for the school year 2011-2012 in the high school is only
48.9%, far from the MPS of 75% goal of DepEd.
Researchers and all the people involved in the academe struggled to find
solutions to the dilemma. They trained and retrained the teachers, revisit and
redesign the curriculum, investigated the different teaching methods, strategies and
techniques to find out which could promise a solution to the perennial problem. The
teaching learning process is once again put in the spot light. Yet, the teacher was
identified to be the most responsible person in creating effective teaching and
learning situation (Marzano, 2003).
Researchers argued that teacher-student interpersonal behavior is a key factor
when teaching and learning is concerned and that it has the potential to impact the
learning environment in any country (Yu & Zhu, 2011). It has also been shown that
positive teacher-student interpersonal relationships provide a strong platform to
ensure that students are engaged in the learning process (Brekelmans, Sleegers, &
Fraser, 2000; Wubbels & Levy, 1993 in AIDhafir, 2015). Evidences confirm a
relationship between teacher-student interpersonal behavior and the attitudes of
students towards the subject, motivational level and academic achievement
(Brekelmans, Brok, Tartwijk, & Wubbels, 2005). These effects were found
regardless of the nature of the subject taught (AIDhafir, 2105). However these
studies were all conducted abroad; replicating these studies locally need to be done,
thus, this investigation.
Teacher training institutions, school administrators and teachers shall benefit
from this study. The teacher training institutions shall gain insights on how they are
going to shape the pre-service teachers’ interaction behaviors which shall have an
impact on students’ learning. The students shall imbibe the right attitude towards
learning as their teachers set the tone through their interaction behaviors. The school
administrators shall be able to redesign their criteria in hiring teacher applicants to
include the interaction behaviors and to retrain the in-service teachers to enhance
their interaction behaviors.

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Theoretical Framework
This study was anchored on the social cognitive theory, Maslow’s
humanistic theory, (Maslow, 1943), the work of Bruner (1977), Vygotsky (1978),
Rogers (1980), Bandura (1986), Maslow (1987) and the Constructivist theory.
The social cognitive theory was based on the three facets of environment,
people, and behavior (Arievitch & Haenen, 2005). The founding principles of this
theory were that learning was socially manifested and that students learned through
the teacher as the essential model and facilitator within the social learning
environment (Arievitch & Haenen, 2005 in Britt, 2013). The researcher suggested
that this interpersonal interdependence was built on the preface that students learn in
social interaction (Arievitch & Haenen, 2005 in Britt, 2013).
Motivational theory, Maslow’s (1943) humanistic theory indicated that
human interactions and behaviors were working toward goal attainment and that one
could have obtained several needs at one time by one single action, of the five
groups: (1) Self-actualization– morality, creativity, problem solving; (2) Esteem–
included confidence, self-esteem, achievement and respect; (3) Belongingness–
included love, friendship, intimacy, family, and social interactions; (4) Safety–
included security of environment, employment, resources, health, and property and
(5) Physiological – included air, food, water, sex, sleep, and other factors towards
homeostasis. This transcribed to learning and the classroom indicated that if basic
needs are not met, learning is impeded. The third rung of belongingness was
important in this research because the relationships in the classroom were formed
from the basic needs of safety and of the physical needs being met (Maslow, 1943).
Constructivist theory, according to this theory, the learner was viewed as the
constructor of his own learning, building upon prior learning experiences in a social
learning environment. The work of Bruner (1977), Vygotsky (1978), Rogers (1980),
Bandura (1986), and Maslow (1987), all contributed to the constructivists’ theory of
learning within the social interactions with peers or with adult guidance as a learning
experience that built upon prior knowledge.
Meanwhile, the relationship between students’ English performance and
attitude towards reading was patterned after Yildiz’s (2013) structural equation
model that posits a structural relationship between reading comprehension, reading
motivation, fluent reading and academic success. This study also made use of
Bastug’s (2014) structural model that explained the relationships among reading
attitude, reading comprehension and academic achievement.

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Research Problem
This study aimed to determine the relationship between English teachers’
interaction behavior and students’ English performance and their attitude towards
reading. Specifically, this research sought answers to the following questions:
1) What is the students’ perception of their teachers’ interaction behavior in terms
of: leadership, understanding, uncertain, admonishing, helping/friendly, student
responsibility/freedom, dissatisfied and strict behaviors?
2) What is the profile of the students’ attitude towards reading?
3) What is the students’ academic performance in English in terms of: content
knowledge and cognitive skills?
4) Is there a relationship between the students’ English performance in content
knowledge and cognitive skills and their attitude towards reading?
5) What structural equation model could be developed that would explain students’
performance in English in both the content knowledge and cognitive skills and
their attitude towards reading?
Hypotheses
The hypotheses formulated and tested at α=.05 level (2-tailed) of
significance were:
Ho1 Students’ reading attitude has no significant relationship to their English
performance in both the content knowledge and cognitive skills.
Ho2 No structural model could be developed that would best explain students’
performance in English in both the content knowledge and cognitive skills and
their attitude towards reading.
Method
Research Design
The descriptive correlational research design was used in this study.
Descriptive research attempts to describe, explain and interpret conditions of the
present. Its purpose is to examine a phenomenon that is occurring at a specific
place(s) and time. It is concerned with conditions, practices, structures, differences
or relationships that exist, opinions held processes that are going on or trends that
are evident. While correlational research describes what exists at the moment
(conditions, practices, processes, structures, etc.). It aimed to determine the nature,

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degree and direction of relationships between variables or using these relationships
to make predictions (Creswell, 2002).
The present study aimed to describe the teachers’ interaction behaviors as
perceived by the students; the students’ English performance in both the content
knowledge and cognitive skills and their attitude towards reading. It also described
the relationships between teachers’ interaction behavior and students’ attitude
towards reading. It explored whether a model could be developed that would best
explain the students’ English performance in both the content knowledge and
cognitive skills and their attitude towards reading, thus the used of descriptive
correlational research.
Respondents
The respondents of the study were the Grade 7 students of the following
Presentation of Mary (PM) schools in Davao City: Holy Cross of Mintal, Inc., Holy
Cross College of Calinan, and Saint Peter’s College of Toril, Inc. The student
respondents were identified through random selection with the help of the guidance
personnel of each school. Twenty-five percent of the total grade 7 population in each
school was chosen.
The researcher has identified the respondents through simple random
sampling where the researcher gave random numbers based from the students’
groupings (sections) in each school. Only twenty-five percent of the total population
of the grade 7 students in each school: Holy Cross College of Calinan, Holy Cross of
Mintal, Inc. and Saint Peter’s College of Toril, Inc. was selected.
In Holy Cross College of Calinan, there were 148 grade 7 students in 3
sections; 12-13 randomly selected respondents were chosen from each group. In
Holy Cross of Mintal, Inc., there are 264 grade 7 students in 6 sections; 11 randomly
selected respondents were chosen from each group. While in Saint Peter’s College
of Toril, Inc., which has 312 grade 7 students in 7 sections; 11-12 randomly selected
respondents were chosen from each group.
Research Instruments
The study made use of two adopted questionnaires, the Questionnaire on
Teacher Interaction behavior (QTI) and The Rhody Secondary Reading Attitude
Assessment Survey.
The QTI (Australian model) developed by Fisher and Rickards (1998) has
eight sections as follows: (leadership, understanding, uncertain, admonishing,
helping/friendly, student responsibility/freedom, dissatisfied, and strict behaviors).
The original version of the QTI developed in the early 1980s in the Netherlands had

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77 items (Wubbels, Creton, & Hooymayers, 1985). Later, an American version of
the QTI was developed that had 64 items (Wubbels & Levy, 1991). Then, an
Australian version of the QTI with only 48 items was developed by Fisher and
Rickards (1998) which is adopted in this study.
Australian version of the QTI. The Australian version of the QTI has 48
items which are arranged in cyclic order in blocks of four. Items 1 to 24 assess the
four scales called leadership, understanding, uncertain and admonishing behaviors,
and items 25 to 48 assess the scales called helping/friendly, student
responsibility/freedom, dissatisfied and strict behaviors. Students would respond to a
five-point scale ranging from “never” to “always”. This questionnaire was already
used to study Mathematics and Science classes.
Reliability and validity of the QTI. On the QTI used for Mathematics classes,
Cronbach alpha reliabilities were reported in two units of analysis which were the
student and the class. It was expected that the results for classes are higher than
individual unit of analysis. QTI scales ranged from 0.62 to 0.88 when the individual
student was used as the unit of analysis, and from 0.60 to 0.96 when the class was
used as the unit of analysis. A further cross-validation information supporting the
internal consistency of the QTI, with either the individual student or the class as the
unit of analysis was also done.
Another characteristic of the QTI is its capability to differentiate between
students’ perceptions in different classrooms. This means that the students’
perception on their teachers’ interaction behavior was relatively similar, while mean
perceptions vary from class to class. It was found that each QTI scale differentiated
significantly (p=< 0.001) between classes; the eta-squared statistic, representing the
proportion of variance explained by class membership, ranged from 0.14 to 0.43.
These results indicate that the QTI is able to distinguish between the perceptions of
students in different Mathematics classroom.
To gather the needed data for the study, the students will respond to a five
point Likert type scale where 4 means “always” and 0 means “never”. They
answered according to their perceptions of their teacher’s interaction behavior. The
description of scales and sample items for each scale of the QTI are shown below:
Scale
name
Description of scale
(The extent to which the teacher...)
Sample item
Leadership ...leads, organizes, gives orders, determines
procedure and structures the classroom
situation.
This teacher talks
enthusiastically about his/ her
subject.

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Helping/friendly
Understanding
Student
responsibility/
freedom
Uncertain
Dissatisfied
Admonishing
Strict
...shows interest, behaves in a friendly or
considerate manner and inspires
confidence and trust.
...listens with interest, empathizes, shows
confidence and understanding and is open
with students.
...gives opportunity for independent work,
gives freedom and responsibility to
students.
...behaves in an uncertain manner and
keeps a low profile.
...expresses dissatisfaction, looks unhappy,
criticizes and waits for silence.
...gets angry, express irritation and anger,
forbids and punishes.
...checks, maintains silence and strictly
enforces the rules.
This teacher helps us
with our work.
This teacher trusts us.
We can decide some
things in this teacher’s
class.
This teacher seems
uncertain.
This teacher thinks that
we cheat.
This teacher gets angry
unexpectedly.
This teacher is strict.
The Rhody Secondary Reading Attitude Assessment Survey (Tullock-Rhody
& Alexander, 1980). Test-retest reliability of the Rhody Secondary Reading Attitude
Assessment Survey scale was determined to be 0.84. Validity of the survey was
established by including items constructed from secondary students’ comments, a t-
test score of 4.16 discriminating between students perceived as having a positive
attitude and those having a negative attitude; and by acceptable correlations between
items retained on the final scale and the total scale (Tullock-Rhody & Alexander,
1980). The survey included 24 statements that allowed students to respond to a five
point Likert type scale. A very positive score received a score of five, and a very
negative score received a score of one (Tullock-Rhody & Alexander, 1980).
The students were asked to choose their answer with the corresponding
descriptor:
1 Strongly disagree
2 Disagree
3 Undecided
4 Agree
5 Strongly agree
The third instrument used in the study is the researcher made English
performance questionnaire. This is a 40 item test on English performance that
assessed students’ content knowledge and cognitive skills. The first twenty items
assessed students’ knowledge on the proper use of pronouns, verbs, verbals,
modifiers, conjunctions, parallelism and paragraph sequence. While the next twenty

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items assessed students’ cognitive skills (reading comprehension). Items 1-14 which
assessed the students’ knowledge on pronouns, verbs, verbals, modifiers, and
conjunctions were crafted observing a multiple type test format. Items 15-20 which
assessed the students’ knowledge in paragraph sequencing asked students to
sequence the sentences logically. The second part of the test assessed students’
reading comprehension. It made use of two selections where each selection was
followed by 10 multiple choice type questions. It assessed students’ reading skills
such as recognizing cause and effect, recalling facts and details, drawing conclusion
and making inferences, identifying author’s purpose, interpreting figurative
language, making predictions, summarizing and understanding sequence.
The latter tool was patterned after the Center for Educational Measurement
(CEM) test which is composed of content knowledge and cognitive skills questions.
The questionnaire was validated by the English grade 7 teachers. It was later piloted
to a group of grade 7 students. In order to test its reliability, Kuder and Richardson
Formula 20 (KR20) was used. The correct answer scores 1 and the incorrect answer
scores 0. The tool was reliable since it has ρ=0.70. A reliability of .70 indicates 70%
consistency in the scores that are produced by the instrument.
Data Gathering Procedure
The following procedure was followed in gathering the needed data.
Seeking permission to conduct the study. Letter permission was sent to the
school directors of the Presentation of Mary (PM) Schools in Davao City.
Administration of the instrument. The researcher personally administered the
questionnaires to the students of the PM schools in Davao City namely, Holy Cross
College of Calinan, Holy Cross of Mintal, Inc. and Saint Peter’s College of Toril.
Retrieving, checking and encoding the data for statistical treatment. After
the students had accomplished the survey questionnaires and the English
performance test, the papers were immediately collected. The data were collated and
processed.
Data Analysis
The following statistical treatments were used:
Mean and standard deviation. These statistical tools were used to determine
the students’ attitude towards reading profile.
Pearson product moment correlation. This was used to find out if
relationship exists between students’ English performance in both content
knowledge and cognitive skills and their attitude towards reading.

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Stepwise regression analysis. This was use to find out if a model could be
developed that would best explain the students’ English performance in both the
content knowledge and cognitive skills and the students’ attitude towards reading.
Results and Discussion
Students’ perception of their teachers’ interaction behaviors
Presented in table 2 are the teachers’ interaction behaviors as perceived by
their students. The responses used the scaling zero to four where zero means “never”
and four means “always”. The teachers’ interaction behaviors which were rated
moderate by their students are: leadership (M=3.00, SD=.64); understanding
(M=2.97, SD=.62) and helping/friendly (M=2.69, SD=.65). The following teachers’
interaction behaviors were rated low by their students: admonishing (M=1.8,
SD=.74); student responsibility (M=1.64, SD=.71) and strict (M=2.06, SD=.63).
While uncertain (M=1.42, SD=.74) and dissatisfied (M=1.32, SD=.79) teachers’
interaction behaviors got a very low descriptive rating from the students.
Table 2. Students’ perceptions of their teachers’ interaction behavior (n=181).
Std. Descriptive
Mean Deviation Equivalent
Leadership 3.00 .64 Moderate
Understanding 2.97 .62 Moderate
Uncertain 1.42 .74 Very Low
Admonishing 1.80 .74 Low
Helping/friendly 2.69 .65 Moderate
Student
responsibility
1.64 .71 Low
Dissatisfied 1.32 .79 Very Low
Strict 2.06 .63 Low
Profile of students’ attitude towards reading
The level of students’ attitude towards reading is significant to their
academic success (Bas, 2012). Attitude is referred to as a persons’ evaluation on
objects, people or issue. In this study, it refers to the feelings and beliefs an
individual has with respect to reading (Clark & Rumbold, 2006). This particular
attitude is labeled as ‘low’, ‘moderate’, and ‘high’.
Table 3 shows the profile of students’ attitude towards reading. The survey
allowed students to respond to a five point Likert type scale. A very positive
response received a score of five, and a very negative response received a score of
one. The students’ attitude towards reading got a mean score of 3.13 (SD=.376),

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with a descriptive equivalent of moderate. This implies that the students’ attitude
towards reading is moderate.
Table 3. Students’ attitude towards reading profile (n=181).
Std. Descriptive
Mean
Deviation Equivalent
Attitude 3.13 .376 Moderate
Students’ English performance in content knowledge and cognitive skills
Presented in table 4 is the result of the test conducted to determine the
English performance of the grade 7 students in content knowledge and cognitive
skills. The assessment used had 20 item content knowledge question and another 20
item cognitive skills question. The content knowledge questions assessed the
students’ knowledge in nouns, verbs, adverbs, modifiers, pronouns, and sequencing
of events, while the cognitive skills assessed the students’ reading comprehension
skills. The scores were translated based on the K to 12 computation where the
number of the actual score is divided by the number of items multiplied by 100.
Table 4. Students’ English performance in content knowledge and cognitive skills
(n=181).
Mean
Std.
Deviation
Equivalent
(%)
Descriptive
Equivalent
Content 9.49 3.00 45% B
Cognitive 8.40 3.88 40% B
A–Advance (90% above); P–Proficient (85%-89%); AP–Approaching Proficiency (80%-84%);
D–Developing (75%-79%); and B–Beginner (74% below)
It can be gleaned from table 4 that the students’ English performance in
content knowledge is in the beginning level (M=9.49, SD=3.00). While in the
cognitive skills, the students are likewise in the beginning level (M=8.40,
SD=.3.88). Based on the K to 12 computation the students got 45 percent in content
knowledge and 40 percent in the cognitive skills. The students who belong to this
level are struggling on fundamental knowledge or skills which were not taught
accurately to them (DepEd, Department of Education, 2012). These results show
that the students need help especially on the fundamental knowledge and skills to
advance both in the content knowledge and cognitive skills.
Students’ English performance and their attitude towards reading
Shown in table 5 is the relationship between students’ English performance
in both the content knowledge and cognitive skills and their attitude towards

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reading. It shows that the students’ English performance in content knowledge and
attitudes towards reading has a very low (r=-.066) degree of relationship and has no
significant correlation (p=.379) at α=.05 level of significance. Meanwhile, the
students’ English performance in cognitive skills and attitude towards reading has
likewise a very low (r=-1.94) degree of relationship, however it has a negative
significant correlation (p=.009), at α=.01 level. This indicates that an increase in one
variable predicts a decrease in the other one. Thus, if there is an increase on
students’ cognitive skills, there is a decrease on their reading attitude. Moreover a
decrease of students’ cognitive skills expects an increase of their attitude towards
reading.
Table 5. Students’ English performance in content and cognitive skills and their
reading attitude (n=180).
Attitude
Degree
of relationship
Remarks
Content Pearson r -.066 Very low Not
Sig. (2-tailed) .379
Significant
Cognitive Pearson r
-.194 ** Very low
Sig. (2-tailed) .009 Significant
** . Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
The result sustains the findings of the study of Ro and Chen (2014) where
they pointed out that even if a learner has positive attitudes towards reading, it is not
an assurance of his full engagement in reading. Since reading attitude is defined as
the students’ evaluation towards reading, it does not come to say that this will
include their frequent inclination to the reading process (Yamashita, 2004). This
pronouncement was reinforced by Parker (2004) who said that reading ability has no
relationship to reading attitude.
Structural equation models that best predict students’ performance in English
both in content knowledge and cognitive skills
In order to identify variables that could best predict students’ performance in
English, a stepwise regression analysis was performed. Presented in table 6 is the
stepwise regression analysis of teachers’ interaction behaviors as perceived by their
students and the students’ English performance in content knowledge.

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Table 6. Teachers’ interaction behavior and students’ English performance in
content knowledge.
Model
Unstandardized
Coefficients
Standardized
Coefficients t Sig.
B Std. Error Beta
3 (Constant) 9.592 .994 9.651 .000
Dissatisfied behavior -.548 .309 -.144 -1.775 .078
Student responsibility -1.181 .355 -.280 -3.327 .001
Helping/friendly .954 .347 .210 2.750 .007
R square =.153 F=10.62 p=.000 DV-Content knowledge
Shown in table 7 is the first model which has dissatisfied, student
responsibility and helping/friendly behaviors as the predictors of students’
performance in English content knowledge. The R-square value of .153, suggests
that approximately 15.3 percent of the variation of students’ content knowledge can
be explained by the model. The goodness of fit test was found significant (f=10.62,
p=.000), at α=.01 level.
The unstandardized coefficients were -.548 (dissatisfied behavior), -1.181
(student responsibility/freedom), and .954 (helping/friendly). Thus, the model could
be explained through the equation:
Ŷ(content skills [CK]) =9.592 - .548(Dissatisfied Behavior [DB]) – 1.181(Student
Responsibility [SR]) + .954(Helping/Friendly [H/F)+e
This shows that students’ performance in content skills decreases by .548 if
the teacher displays a dissatisfied behavior inside the classroom. Dissatisfied
behavior of teachers can be through showing discontent or always looking glum
especially when students don’t meet the teachers’ expectations. These teachers just
wait for silence and question and or criticize students when failures arise. If teachers
are like this, the students will create doubts in themselves whether they will learn or
not.
When the students perceived their teachers as allowing them to be on their
own or give them freedom/responsibility most of the time, there is a decrease of
1.181 in students’ performance in content knowledge. This happens when the
teachers give them the opportunity for independent work and just wait for the class
to let off steam. This might mislead students in the course of learning since there is
little or an absence of assistance especially when they encounter difficulties in
understanding the rules of grammar. There is also a tendency that they will not be
corrected if they commit errors.
There is an increase of .954 in students’ performance in content knowledge if
the teachers show a helping/friendly behavior in the classroom. This is manifested

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by assisting and showing interest to students’ learning. The teachers are considerate
to students’ shortcomings, they provide inspiration, encourage confidence, and trust
their learners. If failures occur, the teachers can manage the class’ frustrations by
lessening the mood through cracking jokes. Most of all, teachers who can inspire
and encourage confidence and trust to students are ideally more effective facilitators
of learning.
The result implies that if teachers envision a higher degree of student
achievement in content knowledge, they should exhibit a helping/friendly behavior
and reduce or eliminate dissatisfied behavior and too much freedom/responsibility to
their learning. This finds support in the findings of Listyani (2014) where students
prefer teachers who are nice and friendly in order to find joy in learning (Liando,
2010). Moreover, Goh and Fraser (1995) also emphasized that helping friendly
behavior promotes good student achievement. Teachers’ dissatisfaction behavior
predicts students’ stress (Cecen, 2013). Fisher (1998) and Wubbels’ (2002) studies
emphasized that too much students’ freedom/responsibility decreases students’
performance in content knowledge.
Figure 1 presents the illustrated model on teachers’ interaction behavior and
students’ content knowledge.
DB
SR
ß -.548
ß -1.181
CK
HF
ß .954
Figure 1. Structural equation model that best explains students’ content knowledge
in English.
Table 7 shows the second model which has student responsibility,
helping/friendly and dissatisfied teachers’ interaction behaviors as the predictors of
students’ cognitive skills.

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Table 7. Teachers’ interaction behaviors as predictors of students’ cognitive skills.
Model
Unstandardized
coefficients
Standardized
coefficients
B Std. error Beta t Sig.
3 (Constant) 9.572 1.261 7.592 .000
Student -1.704 .450 -3.13 -3.784 .000
responsibility
Helping/friendly 1.022 .440 .174 2.323 .021
Dissatisfied -.845 .391 -.172 -2.158 .032
R square=.182 F=13.085 p=.000 DV-Cognitive skills
The R square value of .182, means that approximately 18.2 percent of the
variance on students’ cognitive skills can be explained by the model. The goodness
of fit test was found significant, (f=13.085, p=.000) at α=.01 level.
The unstandardized coefficients were -1.704 (students responsibility), 1.022
(helping/friendly) and -.845 (dissatisfied behavior). This could be explained through
the equation:
Ŷ (cognitive skills [CS]) = 9.512 – 1.704 (Student Responsibility [SR]) + 1.022
(Helping/Friendly [H/F]) - .845 (Dissatisfied Behavior [DB]) + e
The model manifests that when teachers give students freedom/responsibility
in the course of their learning, there is a decrease of 1.704 in students’ performance
in cognitive skills. Cognitive skills focus on reading skills. If not properly guided,
students will just lose interest in reading. This could happen when students are not
properly assessed on their reading levels. If students are asked to read materials
which do not fit for them, they will lose interest and will conclude that all reading
materials are boring. Thus, providing them with materials fit to them is a good
strategy to improve their reading skills (Abeberese, Kumler, & Linden, 2013).
Meanwhile, when teachers display a helping/friendly behavior, there is an
increase of 1.022 in the students’ performance in cognitive skills. Reading activities
should have clearly stated objectives. Teachers should make the students aware of
the aims or purposes why they should read. Students need to be guided on what
particular reading techniques they should use to complete the task. A follow-up
activity should be provided to check if students have achieved the goal. Thus, when
students receive a higher level of support from their teachers, they will also promote
peer acceptance and classroom engagement (Pianta, Hamre, & Allen, 2012).
On the other hand, if students perceived their teachers to display dissatisfied
behavior, there is a decrease of .845 in their performance in cognitive skills.
Teachers’ dissatisfaction behavior nurtures students doubt about themselves. They
will lose confidence and wait what will happen next. Teachers who possessed this

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behavior expect that students would respond to anger, lectures, random punishments
and threat. This classroom interaction decreases students’ motivation and increases
behavioral problems (McClowry, Rodriguez, Tamis-LeMonda, Spellmann, Carlson,
& Snow, 2013). Students lose hope and will never intend to participate in any
reading activities when they perceived that their teachers do not appreciate or have
doubts on their reading ability.
Thus, to help students in their cognitive skills that involved different reading
strategies, reading teachers should display a helping/friendly behavior. They should
motivate and trust their students that the latter would improve their cognitive skills.
Teachers should not consider using punishments but instead, they should use
consequences when students’ misbehave. Moreover, teachers should be proactive
and not reactive. They should learn how to accept students’ mistakes and limitations
and should find ways to augment students’ interests in reading.
Just like the first model, the result implies that teachers’ helping/friendly
behavior promotes students’ achievement (Wubbels, 2002). This also suggests that
teachers assist students in finding out what reading material best suit to them
(Abeberese et al., 2013). Meanwhile, displaying dissatisfaction behavior through
punishment or unspoken action will send students away which will create distance
from the teacher (Dogarel & Nitu, 1997) of which can motivate or demotivate the
learners (Liando, 2010). This is similar to Wubbels (2002), finding where he
advanced that student freedom/responsibility posits a negative effect on students’
performance in cognitive skills. This was supported by Gambrell and Marinak
(2014) who said that a teacher should take part in reinforcing and guiding and
modeling to read (Skinner & Belmont, 1993).
Figure 2 presents the illustrated model for teachers’ interaction behavior and
students’ cognitive skills.
SR
H/F
ß -1.704
ß1.022
CS
D
ß-.845
Figure 2. Structural equation model that best explain students’ cognitive skills.
Shown in table 8 is the third model which has student responsibility and
helping/friendly teachers’ interaction behaviors as the predictors of students’ attitude
towards reading. The R-square value of .084, implies that approximately 8.4 percent

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of the variance of students’ attitude towards reading could be explained by the
model. The goodness of fit test was found significant (f=8.169, p=.000) at α=.01
level.
Table 8. Teachers’ interaction behavior as perceived by their students and students’
reading attitude.
Model
Unstandardized
coefficients
Standardized
coefficients
B Std. error Beta t Sig.
(Constant) 2.715 .118 23.026 .000
Student
.103 .040 .195 2.608 .010
responsibility
Helping/friendly .094 .043 .165 2.203 .029
R square=0.84 F=8.169 p=.000 DV-Reading Attitude
The unstandardized coefficients were .103 (student responsibility) and .094
(helping/friendly). Thus, this could be explained through the equation:
Ŷ (reading attitude [RA]) = 2.715 + .103(Student Responsibility [SR]) + .094
(Helping/Friendly [H/F])+ e
The result indicates that the students’ attitude towards reading increases to
.103 if their teachers provide them opportunity to be responsible to freely choose the
materials they will read. This is giving students the opportunity to read the materials
of their personal choice and the time and place where they read them (Cullinan,
2000). It is also best for teachers to find ways to promote reading as a recreational
activity aside from academic responsibility.
Meanwhile, there is also an increase of .094 if the teachers are perceived to
be helping/friendly to students. The best way to do this is for the teachers to adopt
reading assessment methods that will make the students aware of their reading
comprehension levels. Helping students on their reading difficulties would best aid
them to enjoy reading based on their own pace and comprehension level. Moreover,
the presence of the teacher is one of the simple yet essential helping skills (Dogarel
& Nitu, 1997).
Hence, the result shows that to motivate students to read, teachers play a big
role in helping and providing them the avenue of recreational reading. They should
show students that they are willing to help and assist them when they find reading
difficult. Likewise, teachers should also show students that they themselves enjoy
reading. It was found out that learners pay attention to adult models and observe
behavior that later on they will imitate (McLeod, 2011). Yet, among the models,
Goh and Fraser (1995) and Wubbels (2002) labeled student freedom/responsibility

43 | P a g e
as negative predictor of students’ performance. However in this third model, it
pointed out that giving students freedom/responsibility could positively affect
students’ attitude towards reading.
Figure 3 presents the illustrated model of teachers’ interaction behavior and
students’ attitude towards reading.
SR
H/F
ß.103
ß.094
RA
Figure 3. Structural equation model that best explains students’ attitude towards
reading.
Conclusions
Based on the results the following conclusions are advanced:
1) The teachers’ interaction behavior can predict students’ reading attitude and
English performance. The students content and cognitive skills can be improved
if they feel their teachers are ready to help and assist them. While students’
reading attitude will boost if students’ receive support and freedom to choose
topics and reading materials which caught their interest.
2) The students’ attitude in reading has a significant relationship to students’
English performance particularly on the cognitive skills. However, it appeared
that if there is an increase of reading attitude, there is a decrease of cognitive
skills. It could be that these students have positive attitude in reading but has no
full engagement on the reading process.
3) The structural equation model developed to predict students’ English
performance in content knowledge and cognitive skills and reading attitude
pointed out helping/friendly behavior as the common teacher interaction
behavior which helps students in their overall achievement.
Recommendations
In the light of the results of this study the researcher recommends the
following:
1) School administrators should see to it that their teachers will be provided with
trainings/faculty development programs that enhance not only their teaching
skills but also their interpersonal relationship especially in handling 21 st century

44 | P a g e
learners. These teacher preparations and development programs can upkeep
teachers in using evidence-based classroom approaches to manage better the
students’ classroom behavior.
2) The Presentation of Mary schools should hold a bridge program for students who
will be entering Grade seven. It may be in a form of remediation that focuses on
the fundamental concepts in English subject in order to link the learning gaps.
Thus, program implementers (teachers) must be equipped to spot difficulties and
assist on students’ needs. It is also important for educators to demonstrate the
usefulness and relevance of reading.
3) Academic heads should integrate a good reading intervention program in the
English curriculum to help students who are not motivated to read and those who
have positive reading attitude but are not fully engaged in the reading processes.
Listening to the students’ voices may also minimize negative attitudes and
resistance to reading by allowing them to choose the reading materials they like.
4) Future researchers should engaged further studies with regards to other factors
that affects students’ reading attitude and English performance in terms of their
reciprocity based from the result of the study.
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Teachers’ Interaction Behavior: Influence on Students’
Attitude and Achievement in Grade 7 Science
Rijane Mae A. Labad
Juse Lyn P. Hiponia
This paper was presented during the 3 rd International Research Conference on Higher Education
(IRCHE) on December 2-5, 2015 at Travelers Hotel and Convention Center, Subic Bay, Olongapo
City.
Abstract
This study was conducted to determine the relationship
between teachers’ attributes, interaction behavior, attitude towards
science and academic achievement of Grade 7 students. It made use
of the descriptive-correlation research design. Data tools used were
the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI), Test of Related
Science Attitudes (TOSRA) and a researcher made test questionnaire.
A total of 265 students participated in the study. The findings of the
study led the researcher to draw the following conclusions: (1)
Teachers’ gender and field of specialization have significant
differences on students’ perceived teacher interaction behavior. (2)
Teachers’ gender, field of specialization and overall interaction
behavior have significant differences on students’ attitude towards
science. (3) Teacher attributes– gender, highest educational
attainment, length of service, field of specialization, and overall
teacher interaction behavior have significant differences on students’
achievement; (4) There is a significant relationship between teachers’
gender and overall interaction behavior. Likewise, significant
relationships are established among teacher attributes– gender,
highest educational attainment, length of service, and field of
specialization, and teachers’ interaction behavior and students’
achievement in science; (5) The result of multiple regression analysis
identified that teacher’s gender and teachers’ interaction behavior are
best predictors of students’ attitude towards science. Additionally,
teacher attributes and interaction behavior are predictors of students’
achievement in grade 7 science.
Keywords/phrases: achievement, teacher’s interaction behavior, students’ attitudes
toward Science

50 | P a g e
Introduction
Science plays an enormous role in everyone’s life. From discovering cures
for diseases, to creating innovative technologies, to teaching how to think critically,
science has become an indispensable feature of modern society. Controversial issues
such as global warming, evolution, vaccination, HIV/AIDS, and the right to one’s
own DNA information are only a few of the issues being debated. Biology in
particular has generated its share of controversies, including evolution, cloning and
genetic engineering, global warming, premature species extinction, animal rights
and animal suffering, human overpopulation, and the right to determine the timing
and means of one’s own death, to name a few (Leonard 2010 in Movahedzadeh,
2011).
However, despite all these issues, a concern for many countries is the falling
numbers of students choosing to pursue the study of science (Narmadha &
Chamundeswari, 2013). One of the major causes for concern is the enduring ‘swing
away from Science’ in many countries. Since only those students, who take Science,
or Science and Mathematics, are able to pursue further in scientific education and
scientific careers, the decline in the number of Science-based students as a
proportion of all students eligible for higher education in the country has raised
concerns about the nation’s economic future (Roberts, 2002). At the core of such
concerns is recognition that the nation’s standards of ‘achievement and
competitiveness, is based on a highly educated, well trained and adaptable
workforce’, and that the low uptake of Mathematics and Science and the negative
attitudes towards these subjects poses a serious threat to economic prosperity
(Narmadha & Chamundeswari, 2013).
For instance, the UK Government (Department for Education and
Employment 1996 in Osborne, 2003) suggested that there will be a 12% increase in
the demand for science and engineering professionals by the year 2006 and
suggested that if these projections are fulfilled and not met it is likely that the pool
on which employers can draw will (a) be severely curtailed and (b) not necessarily
of the best quality. Moreover, there is also the concern that the caliber of entrants to
higher education in science and engineering is poor (Higher Education Funding
Council 1992 in Osborne, 2003).
On this very note, Oludipe and Oludipe (2010), advance that Integrated
Science plays vital role in Nigerian Science Education Programme, because it
prepares pupils at the Junior Secondary School level for the study of core Science
subjects at the Senior Secondary School level which in turn brings about students’
interest in Science oriented courses at the tertiary institutions. Despite government’s
efforts to encourage Science teaching and learning among Nigerian students right
from the Junior Secondary School level, the enrolment of students in core Science

51 | P a g e
subjects and Science oriented courses at the Senior Secondary School level and
tertiary institutions level respectively, is not encouraging.
It is therefore in the interests of society, and the responsibility of educators,
to improve students’ attitude towards Science, and to prepare students to live in a
highly scientific and technological society. The future of the society will be
determined by citizens who are able to understand and help shape the complex
influences of Science and technology on this world (Ungar, 2010).
In the Philippines, Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chair Patricia
B. Licuanan reports that only a few students dare sign up for courses that
government deems critical for development, including disciplines in the sciences,
mathematics, agriculture and forestry. She said that such trend could spell trouble
for the country’s development, with the Philippines facing a dearth in qualified
professionals in critical fields. Quismundo (2012) quoted Licuanan as saying, “With
science and technology courses seriously under-subscribed, the human resources
needed for research and development will not be available. This will have a negative
impact on national development and global competitiveness”.
The main reasons of conducting studies related to attitude are its potential to
predict future behaviors like subject and career preferences of students (Osborne,
Simon & Collins, 2003), and due to the correlation that exists between attitude and
academic achievement (Osborne & Collins, 2000). Since positive attitudes have
been found to correlate positively with achievement in sciences, teachers should
strive to develop positive attitude towards science in their students (Akporehwe &
Onwioduokit, 2010). On this note, the researcher felt the need to uncover issues
related to students’ attitude towards science, teachers’ interaction behavior and how
these influence the students’ achievement in Integrated Science 1.
Theoretical Framework
This study is anchored primarily on Doyle’s (1986) multi-perspective
conception of teaching, specifically, interpersonal perspective on teacher behavior.
Moreover, this study is also anchored on Ajzen and Fishbein (1980) theory of
reasoned action.
A multi-perspective conception of teaching. According to Shuell (1996) the
typical classroom is consists of a teacher and 20 to 30 pupils working together in a
relatively small room. In such an environment it is inevitable that the individuals
involved and what they learn are influenced by a variety of (interpersonal,
emotional, cultural) factors in addition to the cognitive factors associated with
classroom learning. In this context, the teacher is one of the elements contributing to
the opportunities for pupils to learn. Studying teaching in this multi-factor classroom

52 | P a g e
environment implies a multi-perspective conception of teaching (Brekelmans, Brok,
van Tartwijk, & Wubbels, 2005).
In a classroom where a teacher is lecturing, one can analyze the effects of the
behavior of the teacher on the relationship with his or her students: are the students
impressed by this teacher, do they see him or her as someone that really understands
their problems? It can also be analyzed on what type of learning activities this
teacher is eliciting: do students have to rehearse information or do they have to
organize characteristics or objects? Or one can focus on the values that are
communicated by the teacher: for instance, does his or her behavior show respect for
differing opinions (Brekelmans, et al., 2005)?
The example illustrates different facets of teaching that operate
simultaneously. It is important to study these facets both separately and in their
interconnections. In essence, this is multiple perspectives, each focusing on different
facets of the behavior of the teacher. The different perspectives are connected to
different competency areas of teachers. Important perspectives are: a subjectspecific
perspective that analyses teaching from the specific situation of the subject
matter, a learning activities perspective that describes teaching in terms of the way
the teacher elicits learning activities with pupils, an interpersonal perspective that
describes teaching in terms of the relationship between teacher and pupils, a moral
perspective describing teaching in terms of the values a teacher is communicating to
pupils, and an organizational perspective focusing on the teacher as a member of the
school organization (Doyle, 1986; Brekelmans, et al., 2005).
A model for the interpersonal perspective on teacher behavior. When pupils
meet a teacher in a new class, they will be relatively open to any impression the
teacher can make relatively because the context of the classroom will raise certain
(stereotypical) expectations for the role of the teacher. After the first lesson the
pupils will have tentative ideas about the pattern of relationship with this particular
teacher, based on experiences during the first lesson. The second lesson the teacher
may behave differently and pupils may consequently adjust their ideas about the
teacher. After a few lessons in a new class tentative ideas about the teacher will have
stabilized and pupils can tell what kind of teacher someone “is”. This stability of
perceptions equally applies to the teacher’s ideas about the pupils. The first day
(Brooks, 1985; Brekelmans, et al., 2005) or few lessons set the tone for the rest of
the year. Once the tone is set, it is difficult to modify. Both pupils and teachers resist
against changes (Blumenfeld & Meece, 1985; Doyle, 1983; Brekelmans, et
al., 2005).
To describe these kinds of processes, the systems approach to
communication (Watzlawick, Beavin & Jackson, 1967) distinguishes different levels
of communication. The lowest level consists of messages, one question, assignment,
response, gesture, etc. The intermediate level is that of interactions, chains of several

53 | P a g e
messages. When the interactions show recurrent patterns and some form of
regularity one has arrived at the pattern level. It is this pattern level that is important
in describing the rather stable interpersonal relationships that determine the working
atmosphere of classrooms.
When studying teaching from an interpersonal perspective, both cognitions
(emotions, knowledge, feelings, etc.) and actions of teachers are considered. The
present study focuses on teachers’ actions (interactions), especially the perceptions
of students of these actions. In line with the systems approach to communication
(Wubbels, Créton & Hooymayers, 1985) a pragmatic orientation is being used to
study communication, i.e. the effect of communication rather than the
communication itself is the object of the present study. It is important to gauge the
effect of teachers’ actions and how students perceive the behavior of their teachers,
since students react upon what they observe and interpret from their teachers’
behavior (den Brok, 2001; Shuell, 1996). Students’ perceptions of teacher behavior
may form a vantage point to obtain more insight in the factors that affect students’
learning processes (Brekelmans, et al., 2005).
On this premise, the behaviors of the teachers considered are those contained
in the QTI, namely: (a) leadership, (b) understanding, (c) uncertain, (d)
admonishing, (e) helping/friendly, (f) student responsibility, (g) dissatisfied, and (h)
strict.
This study is also anchored on Ajzen and Fishbein (1980) theory of reasoned
action. This theory is based on the assumption that human beings are rational and
make systematic use of available information. People consider the implications of
their actions before they decide whether or not to perform a given behavior. The
theory of reasoned action attempts to explain the relationship between beliefs,
attitudes, intentions and behavior. According to this theory, the most immediate
determinant of behavior is behavioral intention. The direct determinants of people’s
behavioral intentions are their attitudes towards performing the behavior and the
subjective norm associated with the behavior (Montano & Kasprzyk, 2002 in Tlou,
2009).
The attitudinal component refers to a person’s attitude towards performing
the behavior under consideration (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980). People’s likelihood of
performing a given behavior will be strong if they hold a favorable attitude towards
the performance of that behavior. The first determinant of behavioral intention,
attitude towards the behavior, is determined by a person’s beliefs regarding the
outcomes or attributes of performing the behavior weighed against evaluation of
these outcomes or attributes. These beliefs, which underlie a person’s attitude
towards a given behavior, are termed behavioral beliefs (Montano & Kasprzyk, 2002
in Tlou, 2009). Thus, a person who holds a belief that positively valued outcomes
will result from performing a behavior will have a more positive attitude towards the

54 | P a g e
behavior than one who has a strong belief that negatively valued outcomes will
result.
The second determinant of behavioral intention, subjective norm, refers to a
person’s perception of the social pressures to perform or not to perform a particular
behavior. The subjective norm is determined by whether important referents approve
or disapprove of the performance of a behavior, weighted by his/her motivation to
comply with those referents. These beliefs, which underlie a person’s subjective
norm, are termed normative beliefs. Thus, a person who believes that important
referents think that s/he should perform a particular behavior and is motivated to
comply with those referents’ wishes will hold a positive subjective norm. The theory
of reasoned action assumes a causal chain that links behavioral and normative
beliefs to behavioral intention, and behavior via attitude (towards behavior) and
subjective norm. This means that people are likely to perform a behavior when they
evaluate it positively and believe that significant others think they should perform it
(the teachers’ interactions) (Montano & Kasprzyk, 2002 in Tlou, 2009).
Research Problem
This study sought to determine whether relationships exist among teachers’
interaction behavior, students’ Science related attitudes and their Grade 7 Science
achievement. Specifically, it sought to answer the following questions:
1) What is the profile of the teachers’ interaction behavior with reference to: (a)
leadership, (b) understanding, (c) uncertain, (d) admonishing, (e)
helping/friendly, (f) students responsibility, (g) dissatisfied, (h) strict and (i)
overall teachers’ interaction behavior?
2) What is the profile of Grade 7 Science teachers with reference to the following
attributes: (a) gender, (b) highest educational attainment, (c) length of service as
Grade 7 Science teacher and (d) field of specialization?
3) What is the scale of students’ Science related attitudes with reference to: (a)
social implications, (b) normality of Scientists, (c) attitudes to scientific inquiry,
(d) adoption to scientific attitudes, (e) enjoyment of Science lessons, (f) leisure
interest in Science, (g) career interest in Science and (h) overall students’ Science
related attitudes?
4) What is the achievement level of students in Grade 7 Science?
5) Is there a significant relationship between the teacher interaction behavior and the
students’ Science related attitudes?
6) Is there a significant relationship between the teacher interaction behavior and the
students’ grade 7 Science achievements?

55 | P a g e
7) Is there a moderating effect when students’ science related attitudes are factored
with teachers’ interaction behavior and teachers’ attributes?
8) Is there a moderating effect when students’ achievement in grade 7 Science are
factored with teachers’ interaction behavior and teachers’ attributes?
Null Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses were formulated and tested at α=.05 level of
significance:
Ho1 There is no significant relationship between teacher interaction behavior and-
Ho1a students’ attitudes towards Science, and
Ho1b Grade 7 Science achievement.
Ho2 There is no moderating effect when students’ science related attitudes are
factored with teachers’ interaction behavior and teachers’ attributes.
Ho3 There is no moderating effect when students’ achievements in grade 7 Science
are factored with teachers’ interaction behavior and teachers’ attributes.
Method
Research Design
The descriptive correlational research design was used in this study.
Descriptive research attempts to describe, explain and interpret conditions of the
present. Its purpose is to examine a phenomenon that is occurring at a specific
place(s) and time. It is concerned with conditions, practices, structures, differences
or relationships that exist, opinions held processes that are going on or trends that
are evident. While correlational research describes what exists at the moment
(conditions, practices, processes, structures, etc.). It aimed to determine the nature,
degree and direction of relationships between variables or using these relationships
to make predictions (Creswell, 2002).
The present study aimed to describe the relationships between teachers’
interaction behavior and students’ Science related attitudes; and teachers’ interaction
behavior and students’ grade 7 Science achievements. It also explored whether
teachers’ attributes could have a moderating effect on both the students’ Science
related attitudes and grade 7 Science achievements.
Respondents
The respondents of the study were the grade 7 students from both public and
private schools. Three private schools and three public schools were invited to

56 | P a g e
participate in the study. Quota sampling was used to determine the sample size of
each school for student respondents. The initial plan of the researcher was to invite
50 student respondents per school. While for the teacher respondents, universal
sampling design was used.
The total expected respondents of the study were 300 grade 7 students.
However, two of the chosen private schools have a population of less than 50.
Private high school A had a total of 42 grade 7 students and 1 grade 7 Science
teacher. Private high school B had 47 grade 7 students and also 1 grade 7 Science
teacher. In this case, the researcher had invited the whole class for both schools and
their grade 7 Science teacher. However, on the day of the administration of the
questionnaire, there were students who were absent. And when the questionnaires
were retrieved, there were those that were not fully accomplished and were
eventually expunged from the records.
In the case of private high school C, there were 4 grade 7 Science teachers
who participated. Fourteen students per science teacher were invited or a total of 52.
However, when the questionnaires were retrieved, there were three questionnaires
that were not fully accomplished, thus expunged from the record. The total student
respondents for private high school C were 49.
Public national high school A and B has 9 grade 7 Science teachers each; C
has 10. There were 47 student respondents who fully accomplished the
questionnaires from public national high school A and another 47 from public
national high school C. Public national high school B had 45 student respondents.
The total grade 7 student respondents were 265. The overall teacher respondents
were 34.
Instruments
This study had utilized three research instruments. The first tool is the
Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction (QTI). The QTI originated in the Netherlands
and was used to gather students’ and teachers’ perceptions of interpersonal teacher
behavior. It was developed by a team of Dutch educational researchers at the
University of Utrecht for their research in secondary classrooms (Wubbels &
Hooymayers, 1992 in Fraser, Aldridge & Soerjaningsih, 2010). This tool has eight
sectors circumrotating the eight different facets of teacher behavior, namely,
Leadership, Helping/Friendly, Understanding, Student Responsibility/Freedom,
Uncertain, Dissatisfied, Admonishing and Strict behavior. Each scale of teacher
behavior consisted of roughly 10 items, making a total of 77 items, based on a fivepoint
rating scale with responses varying from Always to Never (Wubbels, Creton &
Hooymayers, 1985 in Fraser, Aldridge & Soerjaningsih, 2010).

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In 1991, an American version of the QTI was developed, comprising a total
of 64 items, with eight items for each of the eight scales based on the same response
format. The QTI was translated from Dutch into English and used in the USA in a
validation study (Wubbels, 1991 in Fraser, Aldridge & Soerjaningsih, 2010). This
American study established the reliability and the structural validity of the translated
Dutch version of the QTI in an American setting, and also compared the
interpersonal teacher behaviors of Dutch and American secondary teachers. The
Dutch and English versions of the QTI displayed similar internal structure and
validity.
A short version was then developed, in English, for use at the secondaryschool
level (Wubbels, 1993 in Fraser, Aldridge & Soerjaningsih, 2010). This short
form of the QTI contains a total of 48 items, with six items for each of the eight
scales of teacher behavior. The short form was designed especially for use by
teachers to obtain feedback from their students concerning teachers’ interpersonal
relationships with students in their classes. This short version shall be utilized in this
research.
A five point Likert type scale measured the teacher interaction behavior
which ranges from 4 which were interpreted as always and 0 as never. Each
statement has no “right” or “wrong” answers. The only correct responses are those
that are true to the students. Teachers’ interaction behaviors as perceived by their
students are described based on the following ranges:
Scores Interpretation
4 Always
3 Often
2 Sometimes
1 Rarely
0 Never
The description of scales and sample items for each scale of the QTI are
shown below:
Scale name
Description of scale (The extent to which the
teacher...)
Sample item
Leadership
Helping/friendly
Understanding
...leads, organizes, gives orders, determines
procedure and structures the classroom
situation.
...shows interest, behaves in a friendly or
considerate manner and inspires confidence
and trust.
...listens with interest, empathizes, shows
confidence and understanding and is open
with students.
This teacher talks
enthusiastically about his/ her
subject.
This teacher helps us with our
work.
This teacher trusts us.

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Student
responsibility/
freedom
Uncertain
Dissatisfied
Admonishing
...gives opportunity for independent work,
gives freedom and responsibility to students.
...behaves in an uncertain manner and keeps a
low profile.
...expresses dissatisfaction, looks unhappy,
criticizes and waits for silence.
...gets angry, express irritation and anger,
forbids and punishes.
Strict ...checks, maintains silence and strictly
enforces the rules.
We can decide some things in
this teacher’s class.
This teacher seems uncertain.
This teacher thinks that we
cheat.
This teacher gets angry
unexpectedly.
This teacher is strict.
The second is the Test of Science-Related Attitudes (TOSRA) by Fraser
(1981). Prior permission was sought and was granted. TOSRA was used to measure
students’ attitude towards science. It has five subscales: (1) Social Implications of
Science, which features the students manifestation of favorable attitudes towards
science and scientists; (2) Enjoyment of Science Lessons, which features statements
of enjoying science learning experiences; (3) Leisure in Science, which features
statements that showed development of interest in science and science related
activities; and (5) Career Interest in Science, which features statements that develop
interest in pursuing a carrier in science. A five point Likert type scale measured the
science related attitudes which ranges from 5 which was interpreted as strongly
agree and 1 interpreted as strongly disagree. Each statement has no “right” or
“wrong” answers. The only correct responses are those that are true to the students.
Respondent’s attitudes towards learning science are described based on the
following ranges (Eupena, 2012):
Mean Interpretation
Scores
4.50–5.00 Strongly agree
3.50–4.49 Agree
2.50–3.49 Uncertain
1.50–2.49 Disagree
0.50–1.49 Strongly Disagree
The Test of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA) and Questionnaire on
Teacher Interaction (QTI) underwent pilot testing in one private secondary school of
Davao City. Thirty (30) grade 7 students took part of the reliability test. TOSRA
yielded a Cronbach alpha of .832, while QTI had .812. Further, these tools were
also content validated by 3 science teachers (one of the three teachers was the
subject coordinator) in the same private secondary school were pilot testing was
conducted. The three Science teachers certified that the tool is valid in content and
form.

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For scale allocation and scoring for each item, the following table is used
(Fraser, 1981):
Social
implications
of Science
Normality
of Scientists
Attitude
to Scientific
Inquiry
Adoption of
Scientific
Attitudes
Enjoyment
of Science
Lessons
Leisure
Interest
in Science
Career
Interest
in Science
1 (+) 2 (–) 3 (+) 4 (+) 5 (+) 6 (+) 7 (–)
8 (–) 9 (+) 10 (–) 11 (–) 12 (–) 13 (–) 14 (+)
15 (+) 16 (–) 17 (+) 18 (+) 19 (+) 20 (+) 21 (–)
22 (–) 23 (+) 24 (–) 25 (–) 26 (–) 27 (–) 28 (+)
29 (+) 30 (–) 31 (+) 32 (+) 33 (+) 34 (+) 35 (–)
36 (–) 37 (+) 38 (–) 39 (–) 40 (–) 41 (–) 42 (+)
43 (+) 44 (–) 45 (+) 46 (+) 47 (+) 48 (+) 49 (–)
50 (–) 51 (+) 52 (–) 53 (–) 54 (–) 55 (–) 56 (+)
57 (+) 58 (–) 59 (+) 60 (+) 61 (+) 62 (+) 63 (–)
64 (–) 65 (+) 66 (–) 67 (–) 68 (–) 69 (–) 70 (+)
For positive items (+), responses SA, A, N, D, SD are scored 5, 4, 3, 2 1, respectively. Omitted or
invalid responses are scored 3.
The third tool is the researcher made science achievement test. It comprised
40 items. The items were distributed according to the following topics: scientific
method with 10 items; matter with 16 items; living things and their environment
with 19 items. The instrument underwent pilot testing. It yielded a KR 20 of .76
which is considered high; therefore the tool is reliable. The same tool was subjected
to validity check. Three Grade 7 teachers certified that the tool was valid in content
and form.
range:
Achievements in Integrated Science 1 are described based on the following
Data Gathering Procedure
Mean Scores Interpretation
75-100 High
74-50 Average
50-below Low
The following steps were observed in gathering the data:
Seeking permission to conduct the study and securing endorsement letters.
Letter permission was written addressed to the Dean of the College of Education,
asking permission to conduct the study. Further, the researcher also requested
endorsement letters from the Dean of the College of Education for the following
offices: Schools Division Superintendent, Presidents/School Administrators of the 3
identified private secondary schools.

60 | P a g e
Requesting consent from grade 7 students and their parents. Letter invitation
was written addressed to the identified grade 7 students and their parents securing
their consent to participate in the study. Only those who voluntarily gave their
consent were included as respondents in the study.
Administration of the research instruments. The researcher personally
administered the questionnaires and achievement test. Prior arrangement with the
adviser was made for the schedule of the tests.
Checking, recording and tallying of the tests in the master data sheet. The
tests were checked, recorded and tallied in the master data sheet for computerization.
Data Analysis
The following statistics were used to analyze the gathered data:
Mean and standard deviation to find out students’ attitude towards Science
as well as the Science teachers’ interaction behavior as perceived by their students.
Frequency to determine the students’ academic achievement level in
Integrated Science 1.
Pearson correlation to test if a relationship exists between teachers’
interaction behavior and students’ Science related attitudes; and teachers’ interaction
behavior and students’ grade 7 Science achievements.
Regression analysis to determine whether the teachers’ attributes has a
moderating effect on students’ Science related attitudes and grade 7 Science
achievements.
Results and Discussion
Profile of grade 7 Science teachers’ attributes
The first sub-problem in this study calls for a description of teacher attributes
in the grade 7 level, namely: gender, highest educational attainment, length of
service and field of specialization.
Table 2 shows the summary of the science teacher attributes’ in the grade 7
level of the chosen schools in Davao City. Frequency results revealed that, first;
there are more female science teachers in the grade 7. Of the 34 total numbers of
teachers, 25 of whom are female and only 9 are male. Second, most of the teachers
are pursuing post-graduate studies. 18 out of 34 teachers have master’s degree units,
4 have earned their master’s degree and 2 are earning their doctor’s degree. Third,
most of the teachers have been teaching for 0-10 years, that is 23 out the 34 total

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teachers. Ten (10) teachers have been teaching for 11-20 years and only 1 of the
teachers have been teaching for 21 years and above. Lastly, most of the grade 7
science teachers’ field of specialization is on general science. Other teachers’
specializations of grade 7 teachers include biology and physics.
Table 1. Profile of grade 7 Science teachers’ attributes.
Teachers attributes f %
A) Gender
1) Male 9 26.50
2) Female 25 73.50
B) Highest educational attainment
1) Bachelor’s degree 10 29.40
2) Master’s degree candidate 18 52.90
3) Master’s degree 4 11.80
4) Doctor’s degree candidate 2 5.90
C) Length of service as Grade 7 Science
teacher
1) 0-10 years 23 67.60
2) 11-20 years 10 29.40
3) 21-above 1 2.90
D) Field of Specialization
1) BSEd-Bio 4 11.80
2) BSEd-Physics 2 5.90
3) Others 28 82.40
Profile of teachers’ interaction behavior
Table 3 shows the profile of teachers’ interaction behavior as perceived by
their students. Teachers’ interaction behavior as used in the QTI items are divided
into eight scales that correspond to the eight behavior types, namely; leadership,
understanding, uncertain, admonishing, helping/friendly, student responsibility,
dissatisfied, and strict. Teachers in the grade 7 level are characterized by high rating
in leadership (M=3.9162, SD=0.65654) and understanding (M=3.2491,
SD=0.74763) and displays less uncertain and dissatisfied behaviour in the rest of the
scales as shown in table 2.
Of the 265 respondents, 144 or 54.3 percent of the students perceive their
teacher as often showing leadership behavior. This shows that most teachers are
regarded by students as someone who often acts confidently, notices what’s
happening in class, has determined procedures, structured classroom and capable of
holding students attention (Fisher et al., 1995; Waldrip & Fisher, 2002; den Brok,
Taconis, & Fisher, 2010). However, 1 student or 0.4 percent finds his/her teacher as

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rarely showing leadership and 33 (12.5 percent) students perceive teachers as
sometimes showing leadership behavior in class.
On understanding, 121 or 45.7 percent of the respondents perceive their
teachers as often understanding. 108 students (40.8 percent) observed their teachers
as always understanding in class. This means that most teachers in the grade 7 level
are teachers who often, if not always, listens with interest, empathizes, shows
confidence and understanding and is open with students (Fisher et al., 1995; Waldrip
& Fisher, 2002; den Brok et al., 2010).
Table 3. Profile of teachers’ interaction behavior as perceived by students.
Scale Mean
Std.
Deviation
1) Leadership 3.91 .656
2) Understanding 3.24 .747
3) Uncertain 1.34 .933
4) Admonishing 1.49 .900
5) Helping/Friendly 2.77 .563
6) Student
1.84 .745
responsibility
7) Dissatisfied 1.30 .908
8) Strict 2.04 .686
On teachers’ uncertain behavior, 109 of the student respondents or 41.1
percent observe that their science teachers rarely display a hesitant behavior.
Uncertain behavior is when a teacher acts in an uncertain manner and keeps a low
profile, often apologizes and admits that he/she is wrong (Waldrip & Fisher, 2002;
den Brok et al., 2010). Though, 5 students or 1.9 percent of the respondents has a
different observation and rated their science teachers as always behaving uncertain
in class.
One hundred twenty eight (128) or 48.3 percent of the respondents perceive
their teachers as rarely admonishing in science classes. This shows that teachers
rarely gets angry, express irritation and anger, forbids and punishes students
(Waldrip & Fisher, 2002; den Brok et al., 2010). But, 10 students or 3.8 percent of
the respondents perceive their students as always showing admonishing behavior in
class.
On teachers’ helping/friendly behavior, 189 students or 71.3 percent perceive
their teachers as sometimes helping/friendly. This teacher behavior is noticeable
when teachers show interest, behaves in a friendly or considerate manner, be able to
make a joke and inspires confidence and trust in science classes (Waldrip & Fisher,
2002; den Brok et al., 2010). 7 students or 2.6 percent of the student respondents

63 | P a g e
perceive their teacher as never helping/friendly and twelve or 3.8 percent observed
that teachers are always helping/friendly in class.
On teachers promoting student responsibility, 133 or 50.2 percent perceive
that their science teachers are giving opportunity for independent work, gives
freedom and responsibility to students sometimes in class (Waldrip & Fisher, 2002;
den Brok et al., 2010). 2 students or 0.8 percent observed that their teachers never
showed this behavior in class and only 5 students (1.9 percent) feel that their teacher
always displays this behavior in their class.
Teachers dissatisfaction behavior is when teachers looks unhappy, criticizes
and waits for silence (Waldrip & Fisher, 2002; den Brok et al., 2010). 117 of the
student respondents or 44.2 percent perceive their teachers as showing this behavior
rarely in class and 2 students, 0.8 percent, perceive their teachers always display a
dissatisfied behavior in class.
On teachers’ strict behavior, 158 respondents or 59.6 perceive their teachers
as showing a strict behavior sometimes in class (Waldrip & Fisher, 2002; den Brok
et al., 2010). This means that teachers checks, maintains silence and strictly enforces
the rules sometimes in class. 3 student respondents, 1.1 percent, observe that their
teachers are always strict in their class. Similarly, 3 students, 1.1 percent, also find
their teachers as never strict in class.
Profile of students’ science related attitudes
Table 4 shows the profile of students’ science related attitudes. Results of
item analysis show two trends: social implications and enjoyment of science lessons
gained means of 3.61, and 3.80, respectively, which implies that grade 7 students
have a favorable attitude towards these two scales. Moreover, normality of
scientists, attitude to scientific inquiry, adoption of scientific attitude leisure interest
in science and career in Science had an average mean range of 3.08 – 3.44, which
implies that students have uncertain attitude to these science related attitude scales.
Table 4. Profile of students’ science related attitudes.
Scale
Mean
Std.
Deviation
1) Social implications 3.61 .560
2) Normality of Scientists 3.08 .418
3) Attitude to Scientific Inquiry 3.08 .418
4) Adoption of scientific attitudes 3.10 .469
5) Enjoyment of Science lessons 3.80 .715
6) Leisure interest in Science 3.44 .555
7) Career in Science 3.37 .640

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In students’ attitude towards social implications, 148 of the 265 respondents
rated agree on this scale and 8 respondents rated strongly agree. Frequency results
imply that most of the grade 7 students have favorable attitudes towards social
benefits and problems which accompany scientific progress (Fraser, 1978). 107 of
the students also have neutral attitudes towards social implications of science. For
this particular scale the mean is 3. 6113 and the standard deviation is .56059.
In students’ attitude towards normality of scientists, the mean is 3.0830, and
the standard deviation is .41821. Frequency reveals that 217 student respondents
rated uncertain on this scale. This implies that most of the grade 7 students have
unsure favorable attitudes towards scientists given prominence in Science education,
namely, an appreciation that scientists are normal people rather than the eccentrics
often depicted in the mass media (Mead & Metraux, 1957; Fraser, 1977b).
In students’ attitude towards scientific inquiry, 217 of the respondents also
have uncertain attitude towards this scale. This frequency result means that most of
the students are not sure regarding attitude towards scientific experimentation and
inquiry as ways of obtaining information about the natural world (Fraser, 1978 &
Taylor, et al., 1994). 35 students have favorable attitude towards scientific inquiry
and rated agree on this scale. However, there were also 17 students who rated
disagree. For this scale the mean is 3.0830, and standard deviation is .41821.
In students’ attitude towards adoption of scientific attitude, the mean is
3.1019 and the standard deviation is .46972. Frequency reveals that 207 respondents
rated uncertain on this scale. This means grade 7 students are also not sure on
specific attitudes as open-mindedness, willingness to revise opinions, etc., as being
of considerable importance in the work as scientists (Cohen, 1971). Although there
were 41 respondents who agreed and one respondent who strongly agree on the
importance of adopting scientific attitudes, there were 16 students who disagreed on
this attitude scale.
In students’ attitude towards enjoyment of science lessons, 140 students rated
agree and 40 students rated strongly agree. This favorable positive result implies
that students’ finds enjoyment in Science learning experiences (Klopfer, 1971). 80
respondents are uncertain about enjoying science learning experiences, 4
respondents have disagreed and 1 student also rated strongly disagree that their
science learning experience are not enjoyable. On this scale, the mean is 3.8075 and
the standard deviation is .71559.
In students’ attitude towards leisure interest in Science, the mean is 3.4491
and the standard deviation is .55583. Frequency reveals that 136 of the student
respondents have rated uncertain on this scale. Although there were 121 respondents
who rated agree and 2 respondents who rated strongly agree on this scale, this result

65 | P a g e
suggests that most grade 7 students are not sure in terms
Science and science-related activities (Klopfer, 1971).
developing interest in
In students’ attitude towards career in science, 152 of the respondents rated
uncertain on this scale. This means that students are not sure regarding the
development of their interest in pursuing a career in Science (Klopfer, 1971). 90
respondents have rated agree and 11 respondents have rated strongly agree on this
scale implying that these respondents have interest in pursuing science related
careers. There were also 12 students who had rated strongly disagree on this scale
which suggest their disregard of interest in science relate careers. The mean is 3.37
and the standard deviation is .640.
Profile of students’ grade 7 Science achievement
Table 5 shows the profile of grade 7 students’ achievement in science.
Percentage equivalent of the raw scores of the students were determined and used in
the grouping of the students’ achievement. The grouping of the students’
achievement scores were as follows: (a) Low– 50 and below; (b) Average– 50-74;
(c) High– 75 and above.
There were 126 (47.5 percent) of the 265 respondents who have low
achievement scores, 77 (29.10 percent) of the students have average achievement
scores in science and only 62 (23.40 percent) of the total respondents have recorded
high achievement scores. Results show that most of the grade 7 students are low
achievers in science.
Table 5. Profile of students’ grade 7 Science achievement
f %
Low 126 47.50
Average 77 29.10
High 62 23.40
Mean 1.75
Std.
deviation
.808
Correlations between teachers’ interaction behavior
and students’ grade 7 science achievements
Table 6 shows the correlations between teachers’ interaction behavior and
students’ grade 7 science achievements. It can be gleaned from the table that the
overall teachers’ interaction behavior has a perfect correlation (p=-.278 which is
significant at α=.01 level of significance) with students’ grade 7 science
achievement. However, it can also be noted that the correlation is negative, this
means that the higher the teachers’ interaction behavior, the lower the students’

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grade 7 science achievements can be. The other variables that has a perfect but
negative correlations are uncertain (p=1.255), admonishing (p=-.276), student
responsibility (p=-.226), dissatisfied (p=-.339), and strict (p=-.279). The only
variable that has a positive correlation with students’ grade 7 science achievements
is leadership (p=.147, which is significant at α=.05 level of significance). On the
other hand, two variables, namely- understanding (p=.100) and helping friendly
(p=.098) did not correlate with students’ grade 7 science achievements.
This result confirms that of the study conducted by She and Fisher (2001). In
this study they found out that students’ cognitive achievement scores were higher
when students perceived their teacher as using more challenging questions, as giving
more nonverbal support, and as being more understanding and friendly.
Table 6. Correlations between teachers’ interaction behavior and students’ grade 7
science achievements.
Variable
r with students’
grade 7 science Sig.
achievements
• Leadership .147 * .017
• Understanding .100 .105
• Uncertain -.255 ** .000
• Admonishing -.276 ** .000
• Helping/friendly .098 .113
• Student
responsibility
-.226 ** .000
• Dissatisfied -.339 ** .000
• Strict -.279 ** .000
• Overall teacher
interaction behavior
-.278 ** .000
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (two-tailed).
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (two-tailed).
Correlations between teachers’ interaction behavior
and overall students’ science related attitudes
Presented in table 7 is the correlation between teachers’ interaction behavior
and students’ overall related science attitudes. The table shows that all the variables
correlated significantly with the overall science related attitudes. However, five of
the variables are negatively correlated, these are uncertain (p=-.282), admonishing
(p=-.194), student responsibility (p=-.166), dissatisfied (p=.-318), and strict (p=-
.318). This means that when a teacher always displays a hesitant behavior
(uncertain), always gives opportunity for independent work, gives freedom and
responsibility to students (student responsibility), always gets angry (admonishing),
looks unhappy, criticizes and waits for silence (dissatisfied), always checks,

67 | P a g e
maintains silence and strictly enforces the rules (strict), the students have less overall
science related attitudes. It can be noted that the four variables– uncertain,
admonishing, dissatisfied, and strict while student responsibility
The result echoes the findings of Khine and Fisher (2001 in Koul & Fisher,
2004). Their study showed that students enjoyed the science lessons more when their
teachers displayed greater leadership, understanding and are helping and friendly.
On the other hand, teachers’ uncertain, admonishing and dissatisfied behaviors were
negatively associated with the enjoyment of science lessons.
Table 6. Correlations between teachers’ interaction behavior and students’ overall
science related attitudes.
Variable
r with students’
overall science Sig.
related attitudes
• Leadership .210 ** .001
• Understanding .241 ** .000
• Uncertain -.282 ** .000
• Admonishing -.194 ** .002
• Helping/friendly .186 ** .002
• Student responsibility -.166 ** .007
• Dissatisfied -.318 ** .000
• Strict -.156 * .011
• Overall teacher interaction
behavior
-.199 ** .001
* . Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (two-tailed).
** . Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (two-tailed).
The effect of the moderator variables on students’
grade 7 science achievements attitudes
The fifth sub-problem calls for a regression analysis to test whether the
teachers’ attributes and overall interaction behavior could predict students’ grade 7
science achievements. Table 7 shows the result of the statistical test. The R-square is
.212. This means that the teachers’ attributes– gender, highest educational
attainment, length of service as grade 7 science teachers, field of specialization, and
overall teachers’ interaction behavior could only contribute 21.2 percent of the
students’ grade 7 science achievements. Further the F value is 13.958 which is
significant at α=.01 level of significance.
The significance mostly resided among the following moderating variables–
gender, length of service as grade 7 Science teacher, field of specialization, and
overall teachers’ interaction behavior. On gender the beta coefficient is .172, with

68 | P a g e
the p value of 2.753, which is significant at α=.01 level of significance. Length of
service has a beta coefficient of .215, with a p value of 3.505, significant at α=.01
level of significance.
The field of specialization attribute has a beta coefficient of .176, with a p
value of 3.086, significant at α=.01 level of significance. And the last, overall
teachers’ interaction behavior has a beta coefficient of -.222, with a p value of -
3.950, significant at α=.01 level of significance.
The highest educational attainment attribute does not have any moderating
effect with the students’ grade 7 science achievements. The beta coefficient is -.111,
with the t value of -1.702, which is not significant at α=.05 level of significance.
This means that
Table 7. Moderating effect of the moderator variables on students’ grade 7 science
achievements.
Unstandardized Standardized
Model
Coefficients
Coefficients
B Std. Beta t Sig.
Error
(Constant) .295 .369 2.662 .008
Gender .214 .107 .172 2.753 .006
Highest educational attainment -.118 .069 -.111 -1.702 .090
Length of service .344 .098 .215 3.505 .001
Field of Specialization .170 .055 .176 3.086 .002
Overall teacher interaction behavior -.303 .077 -.222 -3.950 .000
The effect of the moderator variables on students’ science related attitudes
Table 8 shows the moderating effect of the teachers’ attributes and teachers’
overall interaction behavior on students’ science related attitudes. The R-square is
.079. This means that the teachers’ attributes – gender, highest educational
attainment, length of service as grade 7 Science teacher, field of specialization and
the overall teachers’ interaction behavior could only moderate .07 percent to the
overall students’ science related attitudes. The F value is 4.469, significant at α=.01
level of significance. Table 8 also shows which of the teachers’ attributes could have
moderating effect to students’ science related attitudes. It can be gleaned from table
8 that length of service (beta coefficient is -.039), and field of specialization (beta
coefficient is .079) do not have moderating effects for the development of students’
science related attitudes. On the other hand, gender (beta coefficient is .183), highest
educational attainment (beta coefficient is .165), and overall teachers’ interaction
behavior (beta coefficient is -.170) have moderating effects on the development of
students’ science related attitudes. However, the moderating effect of overall
teachers’ interaction behavior is negative.

69 | P a g e
Table 8. Moderating effect of the moderator variables on students’ science related
attitudes.
Unstandardized Standardized
Model
Coefficients
Coefficients
B Std. Beta t Sig.
Error
(Constant) 3.010 .244 12.315 .000
Gender .192 .071 .183 2.708 .007
Highest educational attainment .107 .046 .165 2.340 .020
Length of service -.038 .065 -.039 -.589 .556
Field of Specialization .047 .036 .079 1.291 .198
Overall teachers’ interaction behavior -.143 .051 -.170 -2.806 .005
Conclusions
Based on the findings, the following conclusions are drawn:
1) Teachers’ gender and field of specialization has a significant difference on
students’ perceived teacher interaction behavior of grade 7 students. This implies
that students observed that their teachers tend to behave more positively, in
leadership, understanding and helping/friendly, if their science teachers have
majors in general science.
2) Teachers’ gender, field of specialization and overall interaction behavior has a
significant difference on students’ attitude towards science. This implies that the
abovementioned variables contribute to the development of students’ positive
attitude towards science.
3) All teacher attributes, gender, highest educational attainment, length of service,
field of specialization, and overall teacher interaction behavior has a significant
difference on students’ achievement in grade 7 science.
4) There is a significant relationship between teachers’ gender and overall
interaction behavior. Also, there is a significant relationship between all teacher
attributes, gender, highest educational attainment, length of service, and field of
specialization, and teachers’ overall interaction behavior and students’
achievement in science.
5) The result of multiple regression analysis identified that teachers’ gender and
overall interaction behavior are best predictors of students’ attitude towards
science. Additionally, all teacher attributes and overall interaction behavior are
predictors of students’ achievement in grade 7 science.

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Recommendations
On the bases of the foregoing conclusions the following implications are
offered:
1) School administrators should employ and assign grade 7 teachers whose major is
General Science. Through this, more positive and favorable attitude will be
developed among students and higher academic achievement will also be
expected among grade 7 students.
2) Grade 7 teachers have to display strong leadership behavior and lesser strict,
uncertain, dissatisfied and strict behaviors in class in order to promote positive
attitude towards science and better student achievement in grade 7 science.
3) Teachers should strive to develop positive attitude towards science among grade
7 students in order to have higher achievement in this subject.
4) School administrators should see to it that teachers would stay in their school.
They should be nurtured and their needs should be satisfied so that they will stay
in their job.
5) Research should be conducted to determine the difference and/or the relationship
of students’ gender among the variables used in this study.
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Reading Comprehension, Academic Optimism and Motivational Differences
of Students in Engineering and Science Education Program
Anne Georgette E. Bustamante
Abstract
The main objective of the study was to determine the root
cause of underachievement among ESEP (Students in Engineering
and Science Education Program) students. This involved 393
achieving and underachieving students who were chosen using
purposive sampling. It utilized discriminant analysis to determine the
factor variables that could discriminate the academic performance of
achievers from underachievers. Findings showed that high critical
thinking skills, high standards and motivational supports from parents
and peers were the explanatory variables of the academic
performance of the achievers. Lacking in these four variables would
cause underachievement. It is therefore recommended that in the
screening of ESEP students, those with high critical reading
comprehension, high standards and motivational supports from
parents and peers must be preferred for they are the ones most likely
to achieve in school.
Keywords/phrases: motivation, academic optimism, reading comprehension
Introduction
The educational arena today is battling with different facets of concerns. One
facet is with the students’ achievement. Students, in regular classes and in special
curriculums alike, settle on low levels of achievement, if not underachievement. The
students are always perceived to perform in congruence to the competency expected
at their level. Glaring truth is students are not achieving up to their potential.
In the international arena, Kyrgyz Republic, in particular, showed trend of
underachievement as revealed by NSBA (The National Sample Based Achievement
Test). Moreover, in 2006 and 2009 rounds of PISA (Program for International
Student Assessment), Kyrgyz Republic ranked last in Math, Science and Reading
(Hou, 2010).
In Philippine context, TIMMS assessed the performance of students with
special advanced preparation in Math and Science. Performance of Philippine High
Schools with special curriculum as reported by 2008 TIMMS– Advanced indicated
that Philippines had scored the lowest percentage. In terms of mean scale of students

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with benchmark level, only 1 percent of Filipino students reached the advanced
level. In comparison with other countries, Philippines in general performed
relatively less well (Ogena, Laña, & Sasota, 2010).
Further, NAT results of elementary and high school students from 2005-
2010 showed a declining achievement level. The Mean Percentage Score (MPS) of
students dropped from school year 2007-08, which posted an MPS of 49.26 percent
to 47.40 percent in 2008-2009, and down to 46.30 percent in 2009-10 (Ronda,
2011). Indeed, Quijano (2010) emphasized that the reason for such poor
performance in NAT is the students’ reading problems.
In Davao City division, low achievement alerted the people in the academe.
In the National Elementary Achievement Test in Mathematics, Davao City ranked
151 st (Harrow, 2011). Also, in some national high schools in Davao City,
underachievement had been the dilemma of teachers handling Science and Math
oriented classes. Highly potential students did not perform proficiently. They
showed inconsistency between potential, performance and academic grades.
This situation had encouraged the researcher to conduct the study to delve on
the root cause of underachievement among students and to unearth the relationship
between reading comprehension skills, academic optimism and motivational support
from parents, teachers and peers and academic performance of students under the
Engineering and Science Education Program (ESEP).
Results of the study could serve as an avenue for the people in the academe,
school administrations and educators to better understand the causes of
underachievement. Furthermore, this study could identify first, those at risk of
underachievement thus measures may be devised, pedagogical practices may be
improved to reverse and to minimize, if not to eliminate, underachievement. Second,
this could help determine those students who have high potentials and to serve them
accordingly. Third, for the parents to realize their significant influence to the
education of their children, so, they will know how to properly guide their kids.
Fourth, for the students to be enlightened that achieving success starts within
themselves and that they can positively influence others to better achieve in school.
Lastly, the study could contribute in the enrichment of the existing literatures about
Engineering and Science Education Program, the topics on critical thinking skills,
optimism and motivational supports.
Theoretical Framework
The study is anchored on schema theory of Rumelhart (1980), self-efficacy
theory of Bandura (1982), achievement motivation theory of Atkinson and
McClelland (1953), social development theory of Vygotsky (1978) and model of
overlapping sphere of influences of Epstein (1995).

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Rumelhart’s (1980) schema theory emphasizes the importance of general
knowledge and concepts that form schemata. Schemata can represent knowledge at
all levels– from ideologies and cultural truths to knowledge about the meaning of a
particular word, to knowledge about what patterns of excitations are associated with
what letters of the alphabet. The schemata represent all levels of experiences, at all
levels of abstractions. Notably, for comprehension to take place, the reader must
make sense of the text through the prior knowledge or schema. In this study,
schemata are the reader’s bank of knowledge from life’s experiences that the readers
use to derive meaning of the printed text. With schemata, the reader is able to have
full grasp of the text from all levels of reading comprehension. Schemata are
powerful instrument in learning.
Self-efficacy theory of Bandura (1982) refers to self-judgement of one’s
ability to perform a task within a specific domain. Possessing high self-efficacy is
vital for it dictates how one faces tasks and challenges. In this study, self-efficacy is
the belief of the perfectionists to meet high standards and execute taxing tasks and
heavy workloads even beyond their ability in ESEP program. With high selfefficacy,
students optimize their potentials, endure and persevere to achieve the
optimum level of performance.
Moreover, achievement motivation theory of Atkinson and McClelland
(1953) explains the influence of motive to achieve and the motive to avoid failure in
a situation where performance is evaluated against some standard of excellence. It
focuses primarily upon the resolution of the conflict between two opposed
tendencies that are inherent in any achievement– oriented activity. Tendency to
undertake an activity is the product of motive, expectancy and incentive. Tendency
to achieve success is the product of the motive or need to achieve success, the
strength of expectancy that success will be the consequence of a particular activity
and the incentive value of success at that particular activity. The tendency to avoid
failure is a product of the motive to avoid failure, the expectancy of failure and the
incentive value of failure. This should be the strongest when a task is one of
intermediate difficulty, but the difference in strength of tendency to avoid failure
that is attributable to a difference in the difficulty of the task will be substantial only
when motive to avoid failure is relatively strong. In this study, motive to achieve is
the strong desire to meet reasonable standards and the motive to avoid failure is the
optimism to avoid discrepancy or continue despite failure. In education where tasks
and workloads are taxing, motive to achieve compels the learner to do intended
performance leading to achieving desired results. Learners’ performance and
persistence are predicted by their motive to achieve.
The social development theory of Vygotsky (1978) posits that learning is
influenced by the social environment. Social interaction plays a vital role in
development. Learning takes place during interaction with the people around– the

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parents, teachers and peers. Social environment refers to the persons directly involve
in the learners’ learning environment. In this study, the motivational support from
the parents, teachers and peers are the key factors for academic performance. Parents
shape the belief values and interests in schooling at home. Teachers play significant
role in shaping social interactions that foster growth and development in students.
Adult, teachers or high-ability peers intertwine in the ways to facilitate school
achievement.
Lastly, Epstein’s (1995) model of overlapping sphere of influences asserted
the significance of the interpersonal relationship between home, school and
community. It postulated that schools, families and communities are the three major
contexts that directly affect the students learning, development and success. In this
study, the positive relation of the parents at home, teachers in school and friends,
classmates and peers in the school community are the contributing factors to
produce learning. The constant interactions and communications of the three
influence the students to value education, to work hard and to stay in school. All
work together for academic success.
Research Problems
This study is guided with the following research problems:
1) What is the reading comprehension level of the students, in terms of: (a) literal,
(b) inferential, (c) critical comprehension?
2) What profile of academic optimism is highly dominant among ESEP students?
3) What is the level of motivation of ESEP students, in terms of: (a) parental
support, (b) teachers’ support, and (c) peers’ support?
4) Which explanatory factor could best explain the differences in academic
performance defined as achiever and underachiever?
Null Hypothesis
The hypothesis formulated and tested at α=.05 level of significance was:
Ho No factor could best explain the differences in the academic performance
defined as achievers and underachievers.
Method
Research Design
The study utilized descriptive correlational design using discriminant
analysis. Descriptive research provides accurate status of a phenomenon by
describing the relationship that exists among variables (Johnson & Christensen,

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2010). Moreover, correlational method tests the statistical relationships between the
independent and dependent variables. Descriptive– correlational was employed to
categorize the level of critical thinking skills, the prevalence of academic optimism
and the level of support extended by parents, teachers and peers of both achievers
and underachievers and correlate these to achievement and underachievement of the
students. On the other hand, discriminant analysis uses a set of independent
variables to separate/predict cases based on defined categorical dependent variable
(Singh, 2007). Discriminant analysis was utilized to determine the factor variables
that discriminate the academic performance of achievers from underachievers.
Respondents
Achieving and underachieving Engineering and Science Education Program
(ESEP) students of two secondary schools in one public secondary high school of
Davao city division participated in the study. School A and B were chosen to be the
study locale for these are the only two secondary schools in Davao City division that
implements Engineering and Science Education Program (ESEP). The achievers
were bona fide grades 7, 8, third year and fourth year ESEP students from School A
and School B in school year 2013-2014.
The underachievers were also bona fide students of Schools A and B who got
low grades in the first two quarters and those who were dislodged from ESEP in
S.Y. 2012-2013. Purposive random sampling was employed in determining the
sample size for both achievers and underachievers. For the achievers, the top
achieving students from the class were chosen. On the other hand, the
underachievers were the low achieving students based on their grades, and the ones
dislodged from the program for not attaining the grade requirement were chosen.
The sample size was determined using Slovin’s formula.
Table 1 shows the distribution of achieving respondents from School A and
from School B. From the total sample size, 51 percent was from School A and 49
percent was from School B. From 321, 31 percent or 98 was from grade 7, 24
percent or 77 was from grade 8, 25 percent or 80 was from third year and 20 percent
or 66 was from fourth year.
Table 1. Distribution of achieving respondents by school (n=165).
Year Level School A School B Percent
Grade 7 56 42 31%
Grade 8 35 42 24%
Third Year 46 34 25%
Fourth Year 28 38 20%

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Table 2 shows the distribution of underachiever respondents, the
underachievers in School A and B. From the total of 76, 15 were the underachievers
of School B and 2 were from School B in school year 2012-2013. In the current
school year, 38 were the underachievers from School A and 21 from School B in all
year levels.
Table 2. Distribution of underachieving respondents.
Year Level School A School B
2012-2013 2013-2014 2012-2013 2013-2014
Grade 7 11 21 1 10
Grade 8 4 7 1 8
Third Year 0 4 0 0
Fourth Year 0 6 0 3
Total 15 38 2 21
Research Instruments
In the collection of data, the following research instruments were used.
Reading comprehension questionnaire. A researcher-made questionnaire was
used to measure the students’ reading comprehension levels. There were four sets of
multiple choice reading comprehension questionnaires. Each was anchored on
Barrett’s taxonomy in reading comprehension. There were three stimuli where
questions were based from. The 15 items on literal, inferential and critical
comprehension were prorated in each set. The sets were validated by experts. The
experts certified that the instruments are valid in content and form. The instruments
were piloted (to grades 7, 8, third year and fourth year honours class students). The
sets underwent reliability test. Examination of reliability yielded KR-20 of .91, .84,
.95, and .86 for grades 7, 8, third year and fourth year reading comprehension
questionnaires, respectively. It indicated that the instruments have high level of
reliability. Thus, the instruments were reliable and acceptable. The following is the
basis in the analysis and interpretation of the test scores in reading comprehension.
Test Verbal
Score Description
Qualitative Description
5 High Fully meets competency requirement.
3-4 Average
Meets enough of the competency requirement to adequately
perform the task.
0-2 Low
Insufficient range/significantly below standards of skills
appropriate for the level.
Almost Perfect Scale– Revised. This is an adapted instrument, the Almost
Perfect Scale– Revised (APS– R), developed by Slaney, Trippi, Ashby and Johnson

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(1996) was used to determine the prevalence of perfectionism and the kind of
perfectionism. The kind of perfectionism defines the students having optimism.
Prorated in the set are the 3 sub-scales for standards, order and discrepancy of 7, 4
and 12 items respectively. High standards and order tell if the students are
perfectionist or non-perfectionist. Discrepancy tells whether the students are
adaptive perfectionists or maladaptive perfectionists. The 23– item instrument
utilized a 7– point Likert scale as follows Strongly disagree (1), Disagree (2),
Slightly disagree (3), Neutral (4) Slightly agree (5), Agree (6) and Strongly agree
(7). The following is the basis for the analysis and interpretation of APS–R.
Subscales
High
Standards
and Order
Discrepancy
Average
Mean
Verbal
Description
Qualitative Description
3.5 and up Perfectionist Characterized by high
standards.
3.4 and
below
Nonperfectionist
Characterized by no high
standards.
Maladaptive Characterized by unattainable
Perfectionist high standards, overly
3.5 and up
concerned about mistakes
and pleasing others, highly
critical, likely to
3.4 and
below
Adaptive
Perfectionist
procrastinate.
Characterized by high
personal standards,
unwillingness to
procrastinate, high selfesteem
and self-efficacy,
persist with great enthusiasm
and take positive coping
actions.
Motivational differences questionnaire. This is an adapted instruments used
to measure the level of support extended by the parents, teachers and peers.
Parental support questionnaire. The instrument was developed by Donher-
Chavez. It utilized 5– point Likert scale ranging from Strongly disagree (1),
Disagree (2), Neutral (3), Agree (4) and Strongly agree (5). The instrument has 10
items which were anchored on Epstein’s 6 typologies of parental involvement. The
following is the basis of the analysis and interpretation of motivation support from
parents.

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Average Verbal
Mean Description
Qualitative Description
5 High Fully extended motivational support through
parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning
at home, decision making and collaborating with
community.
3-4 Average Adequately extended support through parenting,
communicating, volunteering, learning at home,
decision making and collaborating with
community.
0-2 Low Insufficiently extended motivational support like
parenting, communicating, volunteering, learning
at home, decision making and collaborating with
community.
Student evaluation of educational quality. The instrument was developed by
Marsh (1982). It has ten items anchored on Gurney’s (2007) five key factors in good
teaching. It utilized 5 point Likert scale ranging from Very poor (1), Poor (2),
Moderate (3), Good (4) and Very good (5). The following is the basis of the analysis
and interpretation of motivation support from teachers.
Average
Mean
Verbal
Description
Qualitative Description
5 High Fully extended motivational support through the
quality of teaching manifested in learning
experience, enthusiasm/dynamism of the teachers,
teaching strategy and close relationship with the
teachers.
3-4 Average Adequately extended motivational support
through the quality of teaching manifested in
learning experience, enthusiasm/dynamism of the
teachers, teaching strategy and close relationship
with the teachers.
0-2 Low Insufficiently extended motivational support
through the poor quality of teaching resulting to
poor learning experience, enthusiasm/dynamism
of the teachers, teaching strategy and close
relationship with the teachers.
Intimate friendship scale. The scale was developed by Sharabany (1974 in
Allgood, 2008). This tool was utilized in the study of Allgood (2008). The ten-item
instrument utilized 5 point Likert scale. It is inversely rated where Strongly agree is

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(1), Agree (2), Neutral (3), Disagree (4) and Strongly disagree (5). The following is
the basis of the analysis and interpretation of motivation support from peers.
Average
Mean
Level
Qualitative Description
1 High Fully extended psychosocial, psychological
and emotional motivational support.
2-3 Average Adequately extended psychosocial,
psychological and emotional motivational
support.
4-5 Low Insufficiently extended psychosocial,
psychological and emotional motivational
support.
The motivational support questionnaires– parental support, student
evaluation of educational quality, and intimate friendship scale have three different
authors. The researcher requested permission to use the tools to which the two of the
authors have responded positively.
Data Gathering Procedure
In gathering the data needed, the following steps were followed.
Asking permission. Letter permission to conduct the study was sent to the
Schools Division Superintendent (SDS). The SDS granted the request. Letter
permission was also sent to the School Principals, and to the parents of the
respondents.
Administration and retrieval of the research instruments. The researcher
administered the instruments herself. General directions were read and explained
properly. When done, the researcher retrieved and collected the accomplished
instruments.
Data Analysis
Tallying. Responses were tallied accordingly and with confidentiality.
Mean and standard deviation. These were used to identify the level of
critical thinking skills, prevalence of perfectionism and academic optimism, and the
level of support extended by the parents, teachers and peers.
Discriminant analysis. This was used to determine the variables that
discriminate/ separate the academic performance of achievers from underachievers.

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Results and Discussion
Level of students’ reading comprehension
Reading comprehension is making sense of the printed text. Failure to do
such means there is no reading at all. Table 3 shows the result of the level of critical
thinking skills of students in terms of literal, inferential and critical reading
comprehension. In can be observed that the literal comprehension of students has a
mean score of 3.16, inferential comprehension has a mean score of 2.18, and critical
comprehension has a mean score of 2.42. The mean score in the literal
comprehension denotes that the students are at the average level. This means that in
literal comprehension the students have enough competency requirements to answer
questions at literal level. They have enough competencies to recall or retell fact
explicitly stated in the text.
Table 3. Level of students’ critical thinking skills (n=393).
Reading comprehension
Std. Verbal
Mean
levels
Deviation Description
Literal comprehension 3.16 1.06 Average
Inferential comprehension 2.18 1.07 Low
Critical comprehension 2.42 1.18 Low
The mean percentages in inferential comprehension and the mean percentage
in critical comprehension entail the students are at the low level. This implies that
students have insufficient skills in inferring information from text and in getting
implied meaning. This finding is also true with in analysing written text, making
judgment and evaluating the author’s point of view.
This is similar to the study conducted by Tizon (2011) who found out that
majority of the students have average literal ability and that students performed low
in interpretative level and evaluative/critical level. In addition, Hashim et al., (2006)
found that the reading comprehension skill of Malay Language (ML) for the Phase II
pupils in literal comprehension category level was at average level, low level in
inferential and critical/creative comprehension categories.
Moreover, Piamonte (2009) revealed that literal reading comprehension and
critical reading comprehension of Special Program in the English Language and
Literature (SPELL) students are at average and low levels respectively. The result
further revealed that the student find critical reading comprehension as the most
difficult reading comprehension level. Generally, students are good in the lowest
level of comprehension. They have adequate competency if comprehension test
warrants what are explicitly stated in the reading text. However, they struggle if the
comprehension test requires higher order thinking skills.

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Students’ academic optimism
Academic optimism is unwillingness to procrastinate despite
disappointments or failures. It is a positive expectancy that dictates high self-esteem
and high self-efficacy. Presented in table 4 is the mean score of students in terms of
high standards, order and discrepancy. The first two subscales test tells whether the
students are perfectionists or non-perfectionists. As revealed in the results, the
average mean in high standards is 5.10, order is 5.22 and discrepancy is 4.18.
Table 4. Profile of academic optimism of students (n=393).
Subscales Mean Std. Deviation Verbal Description
High Standards 5.10 .824 Perfectionist
Order 5.22 .856 Perfectionist
Discrepancy 4.18 .881 Maladaptive Perfectionist
Having the average score above 3.5 on high standards and order means
students are perfectionists. Perfectionists have high standards. They strive to get
things done perfectly. They have the drive for excellence. This finding is consistent
with Chan (2011), in his study using APS– R where he found out that gifted students
score significantly higher on high standards and on order. According to Schuler
(1999 in Thoresen, 2009) 87.5% of 7 th and 8 th graders showed strong tendencies
toward perfectionism. Robert and Lovett (in Thoresen, 2009) found higher levels of
perfectionism among gifted junior high school than among non-gifted academic
achievers and non-gifted students.
The subscale discrepancy tests what kind of perfectionists the students are.
As revealed, the students are perfectionist and the average mean in subscale
discrepancy is higher than 3.5. It means that students are maladaptive perfectionists.
They possess high standards yet oftentimes too high to the extent of being
unattainable. They tend to get discouraged when errors are committed. When
perfection is not met they do not have the optimism to continue, they tend
procrastinate.
In the study of Chan (2011) 26% were classified as maladaptive
perfectionists. They scored high on standards, order and discrepancy. In addition,
according to Winter (2013) fifteen to twenty percent of gifted and talented
experience negative aspects of perfectionism. The students are perfectionists,
specifically the negative form of perfectionism. They possess high standards which
are a must to conform to the culture of the program. Being highly– potential and
advanced, they are used to achieving high, when failures come; they have the
tendency to get discouraged, to procrastinate.

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Level of motivational support from parents, teachers and peers
Presented in table 5 are the differences of motivational support from parents,
teachers and peers. As clearly illustrated in table 5, the level of parental support is
3.74, 4.14 for teachers and 1.93 average mean percentages for peers’ support.
Having the average mean of 3.74 means that parental support given is at average
level.
Table 5. Level of motivational support of students (393).
Motivational
Standard Verbal
Mean
support
Deviation Description
Parental Support 3.74 .637 Average
Teachers’ Support 4.14 .443 Average
Peers’ Support 1.93 .582 High
The result implies that parents are fairly involved in the educative processes
like making communication lines between school and home open, acting as
volunteers in school activities, guiding students in homebound activities, being
active member/leader in parents’ organization and working/linking with the
community for the students’ learning and for the school.
The result is similar to the study of Rafiq (2013) whose data revealed that
parents of the majority respondents were moderately involved in their children’s
academic activities. Moreover, a survey in 2007 reported that vast majority of the
parents are fairly involved in their child’s school life (Department for Children,
School and Families, 2008).
The level of support from the teachers is 4.14, at average level. This simply
implies that teachers are perceived to be average in warmth, supportiveness,
teaching skills, guidance skills, management skills, evaluation skills, personal and
social competence. This is comparable with the study of Madill, Gest and Rodkin
(2011) who measured the perceived warm, caring relationship with teachers among
3 rd and 5 th graders. It was found out that teacher supportiveness is at average level.
From peers, the average level of support is 1.93 and it is high. It means that
friends are perceived to have highly supported the co-students. The peers have given
sufficient psychosocial motivation. This is supported by the study of Weist, Wong,
Cervantes, Craik, and Kreil, (2001) wherein the students from regular education,
alternative education and special education reported high level of autonomy support
from friends and peers. Students perceived friends and peers to be supportive,
encouraging and the like.

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Discriminant analysis on the academic performance of the students
Table 6 shows the discriminant analysis showing the significant predictor
variables. The data illustrate the p values of critical thinking skills which is .038,
high standards .006, parental support .002 and peer support .001 which are lesser
than α

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This is consistent with Cromley, Snyder-Hogan, and Luciw-Dubas (2010)
who found out that the ability to comprehend science text help uplift performance
and achievement in Science subject. Furthermore, Tuohimaa, Aunola, and Nurmi
(2008) found that the ability to read is strongly correlated with performance in Math
word problems, solving math problems requires comprehension and reasoning.
Ponkshe (2013) also found out that students perform well in academics if they have
the ability in English reading comprehension.
Another significant variable is high standards. Having high standards means
being perfectionist. Perfectionist strives to get things done perfectly. High standards
push one to reach the peak of one’s potential and the level of performance. This
finding is supported by the Stoeber and Rambow (2007) who found out that among
adolescent students, the drive for perfection is associated with positive
characteristics, adaptive outcomes, and the drive for excellence. Thus, it is positively
related with hope for success, motivation for school and school achievement.
Further, perfectionistic strivings are also positively linked with higher levels of
motivation for attending school and for exam preparation, number of hours spent
studying so with higher self-esteem and life’s satisfaction (Stoeber & Rambow,
2007, in Stoeber & Childs, 2011).
Motivational support from parents revealed to be one significant variable.
Parental involvement like communicating with the school, volunteering in school
activities, learning at home, decision-making and collaborating with the community
significantly influence academic performance. Parents and family members make
significant contribution to a child’s school achievement for success and achievement
in school is basically a by– product of personalities, belief values and motivation
which are shaped by the parents at home (Kabilius, 2011).
This is further supported by Berns (2007) who concluded that parental active
involvement in a child’s educational process is a strong predictor of academic
achievement and academic success. Simon (2001) also revealed that students’ grades
are positively influenced by parenting and home learning activities.
The motivational support from peers is inversely rated. The lower the level
of support the higher is the achievement. This is because the higher the attachment
and the motivational support the higher is the susceptibility to peer pressure.
Negative peer pressure and unhealthy competition cause lower level of achievement.
According to Winter (2013), gifted and talented face troubles like lack of
friendships, challenges with social skills, strives to connect and make sound
relationship with classmates. In the same way, perfectionism is associated with
troubles in making and keeping friends.
Meyer, Weir, McClure, Walkey, and Mckenzie (2009) reported that friends
and classmates could also have negative influence on students’ motivation and

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achievement. Peers could distract students with social demands and unhealthy
competition. There is difficulty in getting motivated to work hard and to achieve if
the student is surrounded with poorly motivated and low achieving ones.
Also shown in table 6 the predictor variables are greater than α>.05, p-values
of literal comprehension skills is .069, inferential comprehension is .062, order is
.268, discrepancy is .212 and teachers’ support is .119. These posit that probability
values of literal comprehension, inferential comprehension, order, discrepancy and
teachers support are not significant. This means that the four do not define the
academic performance of achievers and underachievers.
Reading comprehension in literal and inferential level revealed to be not
significant variables for academic performance. Having literal and inferential
comprehension is not significant variables contradicts earlier literature. According to
Jude and Ajayi (2012) learner should be taught to develop literal reading
comprehension in order to use it as input to gain higher comprehension levels. This
is further supported by hierarchal theory of Chapman (1974 in Jude & Ajayi, 2012)
who postulated that learning simpler skills leads to learning more complex ones.
That is, attainment in literal comprehension skills leads to the attainment of the
higher levels of comprehension.
Pretorius (2000) also found out that reading ability– making inferences is
strongly correlated with academic performance across all disciplines. The better the
students are in making inferences the better are their performances in the academe.
Likewise, Imam, Maripaz, and Jamil (2012) found out that getting the main idea and
making inferences seemed to have connection with achievement in mathematics.
Aside from high standards, the subscale order also defines perfectionism.
Having it as not a significant variable is not consistent with previous literature.
Order, aside from high standards, was found to have positive relationship with
general self-efficacy (Shcherbakova, 2001; Sinden 1999 in Khani, Abdi, &
Nokhbezare, 2013). Also, Parker (2000, in Thoresen, 2009) posited that healthy
perfectionism is positively associated with high personal standards, high self-esteem,
order and organization, and high grade point average.
Subscale discrepancy defines perfectionists who are highly critical, overly
concern in committing mistakes. As, revealed it is not a significant variable for
academic performance. Rice, Lopez, and Richardson (2012) found out that the
performance of maladaptively perfectionistic women was significantly low in
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)– related courses.
Results further indicated that these women are at risk of performance
disappointments in STEM courses. Moreover, maladaptive form of perfectionism
has been associated with a wide range of problems (Blatt, 1995 in Rice, Lopez, &
Richardson, 2012).

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According to Adderholdt-Elliot (1989, in Thoresen, 2009) some factors that
cause underachievement are procrastination, fear of failure and all or nothing mind
set. Also, maladaptive perfectionism leads to anxiety, low self-esteem and
underachievement (Adelson, et al., 2007 in Thoresen, 2009).
As revealed in the result, motivational support from teachers is not
significant. This does not coincide with earlier studies. Klem and Connell (2004)
found out that the more the students feel that they are supported by teachers the
more they get engaged in schooling resulting to better academic gain and
achievement. Teacher motivation plays a vital role in students’ academic success for
it directly affects academic achievement (Hayden, 2011).When students felt that
they are supported and accepted and that they are treated fairly, attendance becomes
well and scores become higher (Larson, 2012).
High critical reading comprehension skills, high standards in academic
optimism, high level of motivation from parents and low level of peer motivation are
characteristics underachievers do not have. With p values of .038 in critical reading
comprehension, .006 in high standards, .002 in parental support and .001 in peer
support, probability values are significant at α

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2) English teachers should devise lessons and activities that would enhance critical
reading comprehension of ESEP underachievers.
3) Guidance counsellors must conduct periodic counselling and related activities to
boost the moral, to uplift self-esteem and to enrich self-efficacy.
4) Parents’ involvement in the educational process must be heightened through PTA
meeting, parents’ forum and other school-related activities.
5) Future researches should consider coming up with an action research to reverse
underachievement.
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Students’ Socioeconomic Status, Depth of Vocabulary
Knowledge and Reading Comprehension
Velma S. Labad
Abstract
Poverty is one of the important factors related to the level of
literacy. PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment)
research shows that the socioeconomic status of families has a
statistically significant impact on the academic achievement of pupils
living in poverty (Babuder, & Kavkler, 2014). It is on this premise that
this study was conducted. The Philippine government system has poured
billions of pesos to improve its quality of education. The 4Ps (Pantawid
Pampamilyang Pilipino Program) has been institutionalized. But after
almost 8 years of 4Ps implementation, how did it go along with
students’ academic performances. This study aimed to find out whether
socioeconomic characteristics of students would affect their
performances in reading comprehension and depth of vocabulary
knowledge tests. Specifically, the study determined to uncover whether
significant differences existed on students’ reading comprehension and
depth of vocabulary knowledge when these students are grouped
according to their socioeconomic characteristics. It made use of
descriptive correlation research design involving 3035 secondary
students. Three research instruments were utilized. The data gathered
were treated using Pearson product moment correlation and analysis of
variance. Results revealed that those students’ whose monthly income is
quite low, whose parents are professionals, or who have earned units in
college, and have less number of siblings in the family performed better
in the two tests. Future researcher should replicate this study improving
the statistical treatment or using other research design to uncover the
findings’ departure from existing body of knowledge that the more
affluent the family is the better is their children’s academic performance.
Keywords/phrases: reading comprehension, depth of vocabulary knowledge,
socioeconomic status
Introduction
Reading comprehension is one of the most essential skills that should be
developed and nurtured in a child. It is fundamental to success in academic life and
beyond. The ability to read for various purposes is a precursor of a successful learning
in schools, colleges, and universities. It is a survival skill in the 21 st century for students
or professionals (Al Noursi, 2014). Similarly, Dagget and Hasselbring (2007, p. 1),

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consider reading as ‘the key enabler of learning for academic proficiency’. This means
that a failure to develop effective reading can have adverse effects on learning across the
curriculum, attitudes toward life, and performances in the workplace (Meniado, 2016).
There are different variables or components influencing the reading
comprehension performance of students. One of these is vocabulary knowledge (Koda,
2005 in Meniado, 2016). This vocabulary knowledge could be breadth and depth of
engagement in reading (Trehearne & Doctorow, 2005). Nergis’ (2013) study found out
that depth of vocabulary knowledge influenced academic reading comprehension. One
other consistently observed phenomena in the field is the impact of students’
socioeconomic status on achievement. Students whose parents have a higher level of
education, a more prestigious occupation, or greater income tend to have higher
achievement than students whose parents have a lower standing on such socioeconomic
status (SES) indicators (Sirin, 2005).
Eni-Olorunda, and Adediran (2013) posited that English language
comprehension pose a serious challenge to all students and this no doubt likewise pose a
serious concern to stakeholders in education. Studies have been conducted on several
intervention strategies by many scholars, yet, comprehension deficit still persists. One
argument advanced is on the socioeconomic status of students. The study of Geske and
Ozola (2008) found that socioeconomic factors in the family, among others, emerged as
significant factors affecting comprehension.
Along this line, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), the
Philippines’ version of the conditional cash transfer, was implemented in the country
since 2008. The 4Ps has two components: health and education. Under the health
component, the program provides PhP6,000 annually (PhP500 per month) to each
family beneficiary for their health and nutrition expenses. Under the education
component, it provides PhP3,000 per child for one school year (i.e., 10 months) for
meeting educational expenses. Each family beneficiary shall receive for up to a
maximum of 3 children under the educational grant (Reyes, Tabuga, Mina, & Asis,
2013). But after almost 8 years of 4Ps implementation, how did it go along with
students’ academic performances specifically on their depth of vocabulary knowledge
and their reading comprehension? This is the primary question addressed in this study.
Theoretical Framework
This study is anchored primarily on Becker and Tomes (1986) model of human
investment which proposes that the amount, timing, and nature of resources allocated to
child effects attainment. Likewise, this is also anchored on the socialization and role
model perspectives which assert that parents or older siblings transmit patterns of
behavior. Other theories are similarly considered such as, Bronfenbrenner’s (1994)
ecological systems theory and Coleman’s (1988) model of family background which
focuses on both the resources available to individuals or family units and how these
resources are transmitted (Havenman, & Wolfe, 1995). Finally, this study also
considered the resource dilution model.

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Human capital is generally measured using parental education and refers to the
provision of tacit knowledge, social competence, and a cognitive environment
that promotes a child’s learning. Social capital refers to approximated resources, such as
time and individuals, available for support and intellectual tasks; as well as social norms
and values (Coleman, 1988). Theories have been proposed to account for this
phenomenon, but there is little consensus about which explanation is the most powerful.
One reason is that, in spite of the stability of the phenomenon, there is also considerable
variation in strength of effects across educational systems and learning domains
(Barone, 2006). This is one endeavor, the present study wished to find out.
The resource dilution model is based on the assumption that parental resources
are finite and have to be shared between children within a family. Every additional
sibling means a reduction in the share allocated to each child, thus reducing one of the
foundations of their intellectual development. Financial resources, invested by parents in
a child’s education for example, appear to be more vulnerable to the number of siblings
(Downey, 1995, 2001; Steelman, Powell, Werum, & Carter, 2002). According to the
resource dilution model, parental resources available do not decline linearly with every
additional child. Rather, the decline in parental resources as the number of children
within a family increases comes closest to the theoretical equation y=1/x (Downey,
1995), where x represents the total number of children in the family and y represents the
parental resources available such as financial resources for education.
Conceptual Framework
Figure 1 shows the conceptual paradigm of the study. The independent variable
is the secondary students’ socio economic status which includes: (a) parents’
educational attainment (father and mother), (b) family income, (c) number of siblings,
and (d) birth order in the family. The dependent variable is the students’ depth of
vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension performances.
According to American Psychological Association (APA in Ghaemi, &
Yazdanpanah, 2014), socioeconomic status is commonly conceptualized as the social
standing or class of an individual or group, and it is often measured as a combination of
education, income and occupation. In the present study, students’ socioeconomic status
is about the respondents’ parents (father and mother) educational attainment, income,
number of siblings, and birth order.

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Independent Variable
Dependent Variable
Socio economic status
• parents’ educational
attainment (father and
mother)
• family income
• number of siblings
• birth order
Students’ performance in
• vocabulary knowledge
• reading comprehension
Research Questions
Figure 1. Schematic diagram showing the variables of the study.
This study aimed to find out whether secondary students’ socioeconomic status
could have an effect on the depth of their vocabulary knowledge and reading
comprehension performances. Specifically, the study aimed to find answers to the
following questions:
1) What is the profile of the socioeconomic status of secondary students in terms of: (a)
parental education (father and mother), (b) income, (c) number of siblings, and (d)
birth order?
2) What is the level of the students’ performance in reading comprehension and depth
of vocabulary knowledge?
3) Are their significant differences in students’ performance in reading comprehension
and depth of vocabulary knowoledge when grouped according to their
socioeconomic status in terms of: (a) parental education (father and mother), (b)
income, (c) number of siblings, and (d) birth order?
Null Hypothesis
The following null hypothesis were formulated and tested at α

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Method
Research Design
The study made use of descriptive-correlation research design. Descriptive
research attempts to describe, explain and interpret conditions of the present. Its purpose
is to examine a phenomenon that is occurring at a specific place(s) and time. It is
concerned with conditions, practices, structures, differences or relationships that exist,
opinions held processes that are going on or trends that are evident. While correlational
research describes what exists at the moment (conditions, practices, processes,
structures, etc.). It aimed to determine the nature, degree and direction of relationships
between variables or using these relationships to make predictions (Creswell, 2002 in
Jambangan, & Labad, 2015).
The study describes the socioecomic attributes of the students. These attributes
are the following: (a) parents’ (both mother and father) education attainment, (b)
income, number of siblings, (c) birth order. Likewise, it dwelt into the decription of the
students’ depth of vocabulary knowledge and their reading comprehesion. It further
investigated whether relationships existed among the students’ socioeconomic status,
depth of vocabulary knowledge and the reading comprehension. Finally, it investigated
the differences of the students’ depth of vocabulary knowledge and reading
comprehension when grouped according to their socioeconomic status.
Respondents
The respondents of the study were the secondary students of one of the public
high schools of Davao City. Universal and convenience sampling was employed. The
use of convenience sampling technique is discouraged due to its inability to generalise
research findings, the relevance of bias and high sampling error. Nevertheless
convenience sampling is the only option available in the study at hand. The seconday
school is ‘convenient’ because access to the respondents is easily negotiated through
existing contacts (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2012).
There were over 7000 student populace, however only 3035 students have
completed all the 3 questionnaires and have returned signed informed consents from
their parents as well as their own informed assents. Moreover, the other variable
considered is whether the student is a beneficiary of 4Ps.
Ethical Considerations
Considering that the respondents are secondary students, proper permissions
were sought. Request and explanation letters about the study were written addressed to
all parents. They were informed that their children’s participation of the study is
voluntary. The tests shall be conducted inside the school premises particularly in the
classrooms of their children on three successive noon breaks (between 12:00-12:30).
They were assured that prior to the conduct of the examination, their children will be
provided light snacks. Should by any reason, they decide to withdraw the participation
of their children, they are free to do so. They were further informed that the tests has no
bearing on the scholastic performance of their children. The only benefits that will

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redound to the students is on their knowledge of the metacognitive and cognitive
reading strategies, word associate and reading comprehension tests. Moreover, they
were assured that the result of the tests as well as the information obtained in the
socioeconomic questionnaire shall be kept strictly confidential and the data will only be
used to answer the questions posed in the study. They were requested further to return
the informed consent duly signed should they decide to allow their children to
participate in the study.
Equally, the students were informed that even if their parents have given their
informed consent for them to participate in the study; they are free to leave the room
should they desire not to participate in the study. They were duly informed that they will
take three tests- metacognitive and cognitive reading strategies, word associate and
reading comprehension tests. This will be done on three consecutive noon breaks
(between 12:00-12:30). They will be given light snacks prior to the administration of the
tests. However, even if they have taken the first test and decide later not to continue the
test, they are free to do so and nothing could be considered against their standing in
school.
Research Instruments
Three sets of instruments were used in the study. The first instrument is the
questionnaire on the socioeconomic status of the respondents. It asked the following
information: (a) father and mothers’ educational attainment, (b) income, (c) number of
siblings, and (d) birth order of the family.
The second questionnaire is the depth of vocabulary knowledge. The test
developed by Read (1998) was used. Access to the test is open and available at
https://goo.gl/KL4RzT. This test has been utilized by many researchers, thus, the test’s
reliability is properly established. A sample test is shown:
The third questionnaire was the reading comprehension test. The test was
comprised of 4 reading passages. It is followed by a question with four choices to
choose from. The students were instucted to circle the letter of the best answer. It was a
20 item test. A sample question is shown:

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The reading comprehension test was presented to 3 experts in the field of
teaching reading among secondary students. The experts returned the questionnaire with
their comments and suggestions. These were incorporated in the revised reading
comprehension test. To get the reliability of the test, this was piloted to 30 secondary
students in one of the public secondary schools of Davao City. Using KR20, it yielded a
KR20=.70 which is enough measure to ascertain the reliability of the tool.
Data Gathering Procedure
Asking letter permissions. Letter permissions were written; first letter was
addressed to the Dean of the College of Education with subsequent request for a letter
endorsement for the Schools Division Superintendent (SDS) of DepEd, Davao City.
Second letter was addressed to the SDS with ensuing request for an endorsement letter
to the school principal. Third letter was addressed to the school principal with succeding
request for an endorsement letter addressed to the teacher advisers. Fourth letter was
addressed to the teacher advisers with further request for an endorsement letter
addressed to the respondents’ parents. Fifth letter was addressed to the parents to allow
their children to participate in the study.
Drafting of the schedule. Schedules were draft to accommodate the various
activities of the school and to observe the restriction of the SDS that no interruptions of
classes should be allowed in the conduct of the study. The schedules were finalized
alloting 2 successive noon breaks (between 12:00-12:35).
Administration of the questionnaires. The socioeconomic questionnaire was sent
to the respondents’ parents ahead. Only those who returned the questionnaire were
initially considered as respondents of the study. They were informed of the time and
room schedule of the test.
On the first day, light snacks were distributed first and then the word associate
tests were administered. It took the students 30 minutes to finish the test. And on the
second and final day, the same procedure was followed, light snacks preceded before
the administration of the reading comprehension test. The test was done in 35 minutes.
Checking, tallying, collating and recording of the data. The word associate and
reading comprehension tests were checked and scored. Data were encoded in excel for
easy encoding in the SPSS. The recording observed rigid matching of the respondents
scores in the word associate and reading comprehension tests. Likewise, it strictly
observed that the socioeconomic status of the students perfectly matched with that of the
students’ scores in the two other questionnaires.

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Statistical Design
The following statistical design were used to treat the data:
Frequency, mean and standard deviation were used to get the profile of the
secondary students in terms of: (a) socioeconomic status, (b) metacognitive and
cognitive reading strategies, (c) word associates and reading comprehension tests.
Pearson product moment correlation was used to determine the relationships
among students’ reading comprehension, depth of vocabulary knowledge and
socioeconomic status.
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the action to be done on
the null hypotheses formulated.
Results and Discussion
Secondary students’ demographic attributes profile
Figure 1 shows the educational
attainment of the respondents’ fathers. As
can be noted majority are high school
graduates (37 percent). The professionals
are only 19.5 percent; whilst, 13.2 percent
are elementary graduates. Some (29.8%)
have earned units in college but failed to
finish a degree. This result suggests that
indeed only very few could finish
schooling and become professionals.
Majority would leave school after high
school graduation.
As shown in figure 2, majority
(42.8%) of the respondents’ mothers are
high school graduates. The professionals are
only 15.7; whilst, those who have earned
elementary diploma are only 11.7 percent.
Those who have earned units in college are
29.8 percent.
The respondents’ monthly income
is shown in figure 3. As can be noted, 52.9
percent earned 9000 below; and only 4.0
percent have a monthly income of 40000
above. This result is not surprising
considering that majority of the
respondents’ parents are only high school
graduates.
40
30
20
60
10
40
20
0
0
37.5%
13.2%
42.8%
29.8%
11.7%
29.8%
19.5%
15.7%
Elem grad
HS grad
Some college
Professional
Figure 1. Profile of the educational attainment
of the respondents’ fathers (n=3035).
Elem grad
HS grad
Some college
Professional
Figure 2. Profile of the educational attainment of
the respondents’ mothers (n=3035).
60 9000 below
52.9%
10000-19000
40 13.6% 20000-29000
4.0%
30000-39000
20 4.9% 40000 above
24.5%
0
Figure 3. Profile of the respondents’ family
monthly income (n=3035).

102 | P a g e
Figure 4 presents the number of
siblings in the family. As shown, a
typical family has 2 to 4 (66.5%) siblings.
This is followed by 5 to 7 siblings
(20.5%). There are families who have 8
and above siblings (4.6%) and there are
also families who only have a child
(8.4%).
The respondents’ birth order is
presented in figure 5. As presented
majority are middle child (35%). The
eldest represent 32.2 percent; whilst, the
youngest are 32.3 percent of the
respondents.
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Figure 4. Profile of the respondents’ number of
siblings (n=3035).
35
34
33
32
31
30
8.4%
32.7%
66.5%
35.0%
20.5%
8 above siblings
4.6%
32.3%
only child
2-4 siblings
5-7 siblings
Youngest
Middle
Eldest
Figure 5. Profile of the respondents’ birth order
in the family (n=3035).
Profile of the secondary students’ depth
of vocabulary knowledge
and reading comprehension performance
Figure 6 shows the secondary
students’ profile of their reading
comprehension performance. It can be noted
that majority (59.1%) of the respondents
have ‘low’ reading comprehension.
Although, there are 39.9 percent who have
‘average’ reading comprehension. Only
1% has attained the ‘high’ level reading
comprehension. The result suggests that
secondary students have difficulty
understanding the reading passages.
The students’ performance on the
depth of vocabulary knowledge is presented
figure 7. They have ‘average’ (70.8%)
performance in this test. The rest of the
population bordered between ‘high’ (15.4%)
and ‘low’ (13.8%) performances.
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
80
60
40
20
0
59.1%
70.8%
13.8%
39.9%
1.0%
15.4%
Low
Low
Average
High
Figure 6. Profile of the respondents’ reading
comprehension performance (n=3035).
Average
High
Figure 7. Profile of the respondents’ depth of
vocabulary knowledge (n=3035).
in

103 | P a g e
Significant relationships of students’ reading comprehension
depth of vocabulary knowledge and their socio economic status
As can be gleaned in table 1, the mothers (r=.121, α

104 | P a g e
Roscigno (2000) likewise, found that parent education correlated with student
reading comprehension in grades 1-8. Guthrie, Schafer, and Huang (2001) and Snow et
al. (1991) report similar results when examining the reading comprehension skills of
students in grade 4. Gill (1997) also notes a significant correlation between parent
education and reading comprehension in grade 6, but Snow et al. (1991) did not find
this relationship in grades 2 or 6. The small sample (N=32; 11 second graders, 12 fourth
graders, and 9 sixth graders) employed by Snow et al. (1991) may explain the variation
in their outcomes. Though, Poe, Burchinal, and Roberts’ (2004) investigation of the
relation between mother’s education and grade 2 reading achievement (including
comprehension) in a sample of African American students also reported a correlation
which was not significant.
On the other hand, Rauh, Parker, Garfinkel, Perry, and Andrews (2003) report
that having a mother with less than a high school education resulted in a significant drop
in student’s reading percentile. While there is research suggesting a significant
relationship between parental education and reading comprehension, the nature of that
relationship has been shown to vary based on the sample and measures employed
(Lindo, 2007; Sirin, 2005). The present study manifested weak relationships among
secondary students’ reading comprehension and depth of vocabulary knowledge and
their parents’ (mother and father) educational attainment. It can be noted that majority
of the respondents’ parents (37% for the fathers and 42.8% for the mothers) are high
school graduates; whilst, 19.5 percent of the fathers and 15.7 percent of the mothers are
professionals.
Family income (r=.050, α

105 | P a g e
assumed that families with many children have fewer financial resources to provide
educational opportunities for their children. This echoed the argument of Zajonc (1975
in Guo, & VanWey, 1999), the chief architect of the highly influential confluence
model, where he wrote,
If the intellectual growth of your children is important to you, the model predicts
that you should have no more than two (children) … because the larger the family, the lower
the overall level of intellectual function (p.43).
Nevertheless, the number of siblings in the family does not manifest relationship
with reading comprehension (r=-.029, α˃.05). This means that whether the family has 8
or more siblings, their reading comprehension is not affected. However, Steelman’s
(1985) review on this point presented a large body of research that shows that
the number of children in a family is negatively related to intellectual ability. The result
of the present study is a departure to the existing body of knowledge. Although
knowledge to date suggests that an inverse relationship exists between the number of
siblings and second language skills among bilingual children according to the resource
dilution model, no evidence exists confirming this assumption (Keller, Troesch, &
Grob, 2015). Ortiz’s (2009) study found no association between the number of children
and knowledge of English language skills, in the present study, no relationship exists
between the number of children and their reading comprehension.
It is also revealed in table 1 that birth order in the family (r=.007, α˃.05; r=.021,
α˃.05) is not correlated with reading comprehension and depth of vocabulary
performance. To date no conclusive finding is revealed on this account. Ortiz (2009)
assumed better second language skills for later-born children, but failed to demonstrate
evidence in a group of Latino preschool children in the USA. No effect of birth order on
knowledge of the second language emerged either in David and Wei’s (2008)
longitudinal study with 13 French- and English speaking children nor in Caspar and
Leyendecker’s (2011) study with 88 Turkish-German-speaking children. Bridges and
Hoff (2014) also examined older siblings’ influence on language skills in a total of 87
English–Spanish bilingual toddlers in the USA assessing English and Spanish language
skills using caregiver report measures. In contrast to the previous findings, in their
study, children with an older sibling showed more advanced English language skills.
Indeed, there are studies that showed that first-born children are read to more
often than later born children (Raikes, Pan, Luze, Tamis-Lemonda, Brooks-Gunn,
Constantine et al., 2006; Westerlund, & Lagerberg, 2008), that these children receive
more linguistic input from their mothers, and that the children are more often explicitly
encouraged to express themselves (Jones, & Adamson, 1987; Hoff-Ginsberg, 1998).
Some studies revealed a negative effect of birth order, there are also studies that found
no differences in standardized language tests or even suggested that later-born children
are at an advantage (Jenkins, & Astington, 1996; Oshima-Takane, Goodz, &
Derevensky, 1996; Hoff-Ginsberg, 1998; Bornstein, Leach, & Haynes, 2004;
Westerlund, & Lagerberg, 2008). For example, Oshima-Takane et al. (1996) showed
that later-born children used personal pronouns earlier, which the authors attributed to

106 | P a g e
more frequent triadic interactions with the mother and the elder sibling. Hoff-Ginsberg
(1998) reported disadvantages in vocabulary and grammar in later born children, but
also noted a developmental advantage in conversational skills.
Furthermore, it has been repeatedly reported that older siblings constitute a
facilitator to the local language (e.g., Shin, 2002) and that second-born children
accordingly have been expected to experience more favorable conditions of acquisition
and have better second language skills. This advantage might be particularly true for
children with an older sibling in school age. To become an effective language partner,
older siblings need to possess a certain level of second language skills. In school age,
children improve their second language skills and thus pose a significant source of
language exposure to the younger sibling (Bridges, & Hoff, 2014).
In addition, at school, older siblings learn the importance of local language skills
and bring that knowledge into the home. Younger siblings might profit from the insights
and second language skills of their older siblings and thus, improve their local language
skills (Wong Fillmore, 1991; Shin, 2002). These two approaches, the resource dilution
model as well as elder siblings as facilitators for the second language acquisition of their
younger siblings, explain the issue on different levels and are not mutually exclusive.
Thus it is conceivable that while the processes of interaction between siblings benefit
learning, the arrival of an additional sibling changes the relationship constellation and
the financial situation of a family to such an extent that the second-born child is placed
at a developmental disadvantage. To date, evidence for both lines of arguments is sparse
and mixed. This suggests a fertile ground for more research endeavors along this line.
Significant difference of students’ reading comprehension and depth
of vocabulary knowledge when grouped according to their socioeconomic status
Students’ reading comprehension and depth of vocabulary knowledge when
grouped according to their mothers’ education attainment. As can be gleaned in table 2,
a significant difference is established on students’ reading comprehension (F=15.718,
α

107 | P a g e
Table 2. Test of difference of students’ reading comprehension and depth of vocabulary
knowledge when grouped according to their mothers’ educational attainment
(n=3035).
Reading
comprehension
Depth
of vocabulary
knowledge
Mothers’ educ
Std.
N Mean
attain
deviation
F Sig.
Elem graduate 355 1.33 .479 15.718 .000
HS graduate 1299 1.37 .491
Some college 904 1.46 .527
Professional 477 1.51 .544
Elem graduate 355 1.87 .540 29.832 .000
HS graduate 1299 1.95 .517
Some college 904 2.07 .505
Professional 477 2.16 .611
Students’ reading comprehension and depth of vocabulary knowledge when
grouped according to their fathers’ education attainment. Similarly, table 3 presents the
test of difference of students’ reading comprehension and depth of vocabulary
knowledge tests when grouped according to their fathers’ educational attainment. It
registered a significant difference for both tests reading comprehension (F=11.509,
α

108 | P a g e
dialogical reading (Jordan, Snow, & Porsche, 2000). These language practices mirror
the language of books and school and foster good literacy skills (Tabors, Snow, &
Dickinson, 2001).
Table 3. Test of difference of students’ reading comprehension and depth of vocabulary
knowledge when grouped according to their fathers’ educational attainment
(n=3035).
Reading
comprehension
Depth
of vocabulary
knowledge
Fathers’ educ
Std.
N Mean
attain
deviation
F Sig.
Elem graduate 400 1.35 .489 11.509 .000
HS graduate 1139 1.37 .497
Some college 903 1.43 .514
Professional 593 1.51 .542
Elem graduate 400 1.89 .524 20.005 .000
HS graduate 1139 1.98 .504
Some college 903 2.02 .537
Professional 593 2.14 .593
The findings are consistent with Muola’s (2010 in Koskei, & Ngeno, 2015)
report that parental educational attainment correlated significantly with academic
achievement. Educated parents become more involved in the education of their children
and they can assist in school work. Educated parents also purchase books and other
learning materials/resources for their children who create school conditions to
successful performance but these learning conditions are absent in the poor uneducated
and rural family. Children whose parents’ educational attainment is low are unprepared
for school. They often lack readiness to learn, physical strength, and mental mindset
(Pellino, 2006 in Koskei, & Ngeno, 2015). This finding is similar with the result of the
present study. Secondary students whose parents are professionals and those who have
college credits score better in the depth of vocabulary knowledge and reading
comprehension tests.
Students’ reading comprehension and depth of vocabulary knowledge when
grouped according to their family income. Table 4 shows the significant difference of
students’ depth of vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension when grouped
according to the family income. Significant differences are manifested both on
students’ reading comprehension (F=3.056, α

109 | P a g e
from higher income households. Willms (2007 in Ferguson et al., 2007) established that
children from lower socioeconomic status (SES) households scored lower on a receptive
vocabulary test than higher SES children. As Ozola (2008) revealed the socioeconomic
position of a family considerably influences students’ reading literacy achievements.
But this reversal of the existing finding is not surprising, in the study conducted
by Zimmer, Chayovan, Lin, and Natividad (2014) where they tested the relationship
between socioeconomic status and physical functioning among older adults in Taiwan,
Thailand, and the Philippines. The socioeconomic indicators used were limited to
education and income. Results revealed among others that income has strong
associations in Taiwan and Thailand and only a moderate association in the Philippines.
Although what was tested was the physical functioning, it could be argued that the same
could be applied in the cognitive aspect. This means further that there are other
variables that could account for the findings, like family genetic heritage. Parental
cognitive ability tends to be correlated with offspring’s cognitive ability (Guo, &
VanWey, 1999). The study of Obasi (1999) also found no significant influence of
socioeconomic status on students’ academic performances. Although the result was
attributed to a faulty instrument used for data collection. He still maintains that parents’
socioeconomic status has a significant influence on students’ academic performances in
social studies.
Table 4. Test of difference of students’ reading comprehension and depth of vocabulary
knowledge when grouped according to the family income (n=3035).
Reading
comprehension
Depth
of vocabulary
knowledge
Monthly
Std.
N Mean
income
deviation
F Sig.
9000 below 1607 1.39 .498 3.056 .016
10000-19000 743 1.43 .517
20000-29000 414 1.47 .537
30000-39000 149 1.48 .540
40000 above 122 1.41 .543
9000 below 1607 1.96 .529 7.297 .000
10000-19000 743 2.06 .526
20000-29000 414 2.07 .561
30000-39000 149 2.10 .542
40000 above 122 1.99 .623
Students’ reading comprehension and depth of vocabulary knowledge when
grouped according to the number of siblings in the family. As presented in table 5,
whether the students have more number of siblings or the only child, their reading
comprehension (F=1.433, α˃.05) is comparable. This finding is inconsistent with the
pronouncement of Ozola (2008) where he argued that usually children from families
with one or two children have better achievements in reading literacy.

110 | P a g e
Table 5. Test of difference of students’ reading comprehension and depth of vocabulary
knowledge when grouped according to the number siblings (n=3035).
Reading
comprehension
Depth
of vocabulary
knowledge
Number
Std.
N Mean
of siblings
deviation
F Sig.
only child 254 1.44 .521 1.433 .231
2-4 siblings 2019 1.42 .512
5-7 siblings 621 1.38 .512
8 above siblings 141 1.41 .509
only child 254 2.07 .557 3.823 .010
2-4 siblings 2019 2.02 .547
5-7 siblings 621 2.00 .512
8 above siblings 141 1.88 .494
Parcel, Nickoll, and Dufur (1996) propose that having siblings is expected to
have a negative effect on development in that siblings serve to dilute the
financial support available to the child. Snow and Dickinson (1991) also report that the
size of students’ household at age 3 is negatively correlated with reading comprehension
in grade 4. Moreover, students’ academic achievement (including reading
comprehension) is significantly predicted by household composition (Patterson et al.,
1990). A family’s composition is only one piece of the puzzle. Also of importance are
the parent practices and involvement in the child’s life. Parcel et al. (1996) note parents’
interactions with their children, and the time and attention parents provide, serve to
build children’s social capital. However, in terms of the depth of their vocabulary
knowledge (F=3.823, α

111 | P a g e
Table 6. Test of difference of students’ reading comprehension, and depth of
vocabulary knowledge when grouped according to their birth order in the
family (n=3035).
Reading
comprehension
Depth
of vocabulary
knowledge
Birth
Std.
N Mean
order
deviation
F Sig.
Youngest 993 1.42 .511 2.041 .130
Middle 1061 1.39 .505
Eldest 981 1.43 .522
Youngest 993 2.01 .547 1.827 .161
Middle 1061 1.99 .518
Eldest 981 2.04 .555
Conclusions and Recommendations
The study concluded that those students’ whose monthly income is quite low,
whose parents are professionals, or who have earned units in college, and have less
number of siblings in the family performed better in the two tests. The implications of
the study point to the fact that the 4Ps beneficiaries are moderately helped in terms of
academic performance, specifically in terms of reading comprehension and depth of
vocabulary knowledge. It could be argued that the result is not impressive; however, the
program is just 8 years old. In the long run when these student beneficiaries finish their
schooling the impact would start to manifest. Among others, two conditions of the
program are for the students to stay in school and stay healthy (this includes the
mothers, especially those who are pregnant and are breastfeeding) by regularly visiting
the centers. This is an encouragement for the beneficiaries to strive to meet these
conditions otherwise; they will be out of the program. Future research should replicate
this study choosing the qualitative research design so that the respondents could freely
expressed their opinions regarding how they perform in school and how the program
helped them.
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The Effectiveness of VSTF Method in Improving
Students’ Reading Comprehension
Anna Mae S. Aquino
Velma S. Labad
Abstract
This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of VSTF
method in improving students’ reading comprehension. Specifically,
it aimed to find out if significant differences exist between (a)
students’ pre-posttest performances across Barrett’s (1976) reading
comprehension taxonomy– literal, reorganization, inferential,
evaluative and appreciation; (b) students’ main gain scores of the
control and experimental group and (c) students’ reading
comprehension when grouped according to their learning styles. The
study made use of quasi experimental research design which involved
30 participants split into halves for the control and the experimental
group. The experimental group was exposed to the VSTF method
while the control group used the traditional block format type.
Results revealed that: (a) students’ dominant learning style is visual;
(b) VSTF method and the traditional block format type could
promote students’ reading comprehension in inferential, evaluative
and appreciation reading comprehension levels, while the VSTF
method is effective in promoting the literal and reorganization levels
of reading comprehension; (b) students’ reading comprehension
levels are not affected by their learning styles. The study
recommended that the VSTF method should be used in students’
engagement in any reading activities. Future researchers may
replicate this study finding other variables like testing the VSTF
method with the students in higher years, extending the duration of
the conduct of the experiment and involving more participants.
Keywords/phrases: reading comprehension, visual syntactic text formatting
Introduction
The transition to digital reading has come. Smart phones, tablets, and e-
readers have gravitated magazines and book reading to digital media. A preference
for digital reading is especially prevalent among the young, who also tend to be the
principal audience of English as a second or foreign language programs around the
world (Park, Warschauer, Collins, Hwang, & Vogel, 2013).

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In today’s information economy, over 60% of US jobs require proficient
reading skills. The economic value of wages for workers to spend time reading is
over $2 trillion a year. And, over the past 30 years, the difficulty of reading material
in US jobs has increased by several grade levels, but the reading proficiency of US
students has not changed over this period. The US Department of Labor estimates
that poor reading in the workplace costs US businesses over $225 billion a year, in
waste, accidents, lost opportunities, and injuries (Sum, Kirsch, & Taggart, 2002).
Although the reading material for the top 70 percent of US jobs is at a 9 th grade
level, 70 percent of high school seniors cannot read above a 7 th grade reading level
and 30 percent still read no better than a targeted 4 th grade reading proficiency level
(National Center for Educational Statistics, 2003).
This problem also exists in the Philippines’ Department of Education
(DepEd). The reading comprehension of the students deteriorates. The evidence is
the low result of mean percentage score (MPS) in the National Achievement Test
(NAT). The overall MPS for the school year 2011-2012 in the high school is only
48.9%, far from the MPS of 75% goal of DepEd.
This dilemma challenges the school administrators and teachers. To address
the problem, a change in the curriculum, the K to 12 program of DepEd was
implemented to deliver quality education to the 21 st century learners. Most of the
activities of the K to 12 program use the multimedia. Thus, teaching strategy must
also utilize technology to engage the learners in the activities of the lesson.
Fortunately, new tools and methods are available to enhance access to digital
information– for example, online dictionaries, audio guides to word pronunciation,
and the ability to modify presentation of online text. Some web pages are now being
encoded with information to categorize and structure their information, with the goal
of creating a “semantic web” that promises to give readers new power to access,
organize, and analyze digital information (Walker, Schloss, Fletcher, Vogel, &
Walker, 2005).
A new method of formatting electronic text harnesses the digital attributes to
help solve the reading deficiency of students which is an important education and
economic challenge. Computer-based parsing engines apply algorithms that analyze
each sentence, using both visual and linguistic criteria to determine optimal
positions for segment breaks and indentation patterns. Computer databases and
algorithms can also highlight verbs in each sentence. Several million computer
calculations are performed for each sentence in a text. This software transforms a
shapeless linear text string into an integrated, multidimensional image that cues
sentence structure, dynamically supporting the reader’s visual inspection, lexical
processing, and interpretation of the text (Walker et al., 2005).

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In the Philippines, it is widely observed that most of the students prefer to
surf the net in doing their research than go to the library to read printed materials.
For them, net surfing is more accessible especially that most of the applications can
be downloaded easily. Thus, adopting Visual-Syntactic Text Formatting (VSTF)
using computers may enhance the interest of secondary students in reading and
would probably improve their reading comprehension, thus this study.
The result of this study is beneficial to the school administrators, teachers
and students. This may help them solve the problem on poor reading
comprehension. Reading using the VSTF method may motivate the students to read
especially during their leisure time since the parsing machine can be downloaded in
a computer or even in a mobile application.
Theoretical Framework
The study is anchored on the following theories and principles: The theory
underlying the VSTF method (representation of syntax structure in speech and its
transcripts and visual processing while reading block text), Right-Left Brain theory
of Sperry (1960), and the mental model theory of Gunning (1996). The concept of
the learning styles is anchored on the model developed by Fleming’s (1995)
VAK/VARK model.
Representation of syntax structure in speech and its transcripts. A wide
range of neurocognitive, linguistic, and psychological research affirms that an
important dimension for the representation of meaning in natural spoken language is
syntax. However, syntax is more complex than a simple, concatenated sequence of
one phrase after another; rather, it is hierarchical, much like a set of Russian dolls, in
which smaller dolls, or phrase groups, are “nested” inside ever-larger ones. The
human mind’s capacity to build sentences through the recursive process of nesting
language units inside other units, and thereby transforming them, is the essential
feature that enables human language to represent an infinite number of meanings
(Hauser, Chomsky & Fitch, 2002).
When natural language is spoken, it is produced, perceived, and interpreted
as a linear structure– through time which limits its capacity for conveying the
multidimensional, hierarchical structures of syntax. Nevertheless, this linear
structure can be enriched with prosodic cues, which in turn can denote syntactic
relationships to enhance the efficiency of a listener’s comprehension of a spoken
sentence. Prosodic cues, which give speech a highly differentiated acoustic structure
beyond the acoustic representations of the words themselves, are more subtle and
multidimensional than the simple pauses that occur at major phrase boundaries, and
have been shown to be powerful enough to enable listeners to accurately predict the
syntactic categories of about-to-be uttered phrases, based on prosodic patterns

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leading up to the not-yet-uttered phrase (Ferreira & Anes, 1994 in Walker et al.,
2007). The interaction between prosodic cueing and syntactic processing during
listening has been shown to dynamically affect the processes needed to attain
efficient sentence comprehension (Steinhauer, Alter & Friederici, 1999). Moreover,
when prosodic structure is experimentally stripped away from digital audio
recordings of speech, listeners’ comprehension drops (Cutler, Dahan & van
Donselaar, 1997 in Walker et al., 2007).
Up to the present time, the transcription of natural language sentences has
also been linear. Within such linear scripts, some specific cues, (such as punctuation
marks), denote syntactic boundaries; some (but not all) of these punctuation marks
correspond to pauses and prosodic variations in spoken language (Walker et al.,
2007). However, when sentences become longer and more complex, working
memory is overloaded, and the efficiency of comprehension can break down. (For
example: The parent of the student who got lost during the class field trip to the
capitol called the principal.) This “memory bottleneck” in language comprehension
appears to arise because “hierarchical linguistic relations must be recovered from a
linear input stream” (Grodner & Gibson, 2005).
Visual processing while
reading block text. Given the
conventions of writing natural
language in a one dimensional linear
sequence, as a direct “transcript” of
spoken language that is uttered
through one-dimensional time, it is
not surprising that conventions for
reading research have also been
predicated on the visual perception
of words aligned in linear sequences,
across multiple rows (Walker et al.,
2007). As the first steps in reading,
the visual perception and linguistic
interpretation of words written in
linear sequences, across multiple rows, are neurocognitive processes that interact in
unique ways compared to the perception and interpretation of natural scenes
(Rayner, Kambe, Duffy, 2000; Walker et al., 2007). In reading text in blocks of
rows of words, attentional processes are strained as fixations move from one word to
the next, trying to ignore those words that are above and below the targeted word,
but which compete for attention while having no logical relationship to the targeted
word (Horowitz & Wolfe, 1998; Vidyasagar & Pammer, 1999). Interpretation of the
next word in a sequence often encounters a “garden path” effect that requires
regression to previously viewed words (Rayner, Chace, Slattery & Ashby, 2006).

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Even the size of the parafoveal zone, (which otherwise has lower resolution
visual data that can help direct the landing spot for the next fixation), shrinks when
the difficulty of a viewed word, or the complexity of syntactic relationships that a
viewed word might have, increases– thus impeding the efficiency of reading all the
more (Walker et al., 2007).
However, in contrast to the linear-temporal medium of spoken language,
visible language media, including the formatting of words on a two-dimensional
display surface, are able to represent more dimensions of information than rows of
words, and are also able, at the same time, to follow conventions (e.g., left to right,
top to bottom) that still unambiguously maintain the linear sequence of the original
natural language sentence. Moreover, the dynamic perception of such “extra-linear”
structure that is built across the display’s additional dimensions is able to harness
more natural and more powerful mechanisms for perceiving natural scenes and
patterns (Bringuier, Chavave, Glaeser, Fregnac, 1999; Tabor & Tanenhaus, 1999;
Engbert, Nuthman, Richter, & Kliegl, 2005).
There is evidence that users of text already use such “extra-linear” structural
information to improve their comprehension of a document: they examine how
many pages it has, look at figures and chapter titles, and check the index– all before
reading any of the text in a serial, linear fashion. Moreover, even within passages, it
is known that first examining diagrams and tree structures of the concepts covered in
the text itself are activities that increase reading comprehension of the text (Walker
et al., 2007).
Another theory is that of Sperry’s (1960) right-left brain theory. Sperry
(1960) discovered that by cutting the corpus collosum (the structure that connects
the two hemispheres of the brain) could reduce or eliminate seizures. The results of
this experiment also revealed that the two sides of the brain performed different
tasks. The structure and functions of the mind suggest that the two different sides of
the brain control two different “modes” of thinking. This suggests that each of
individual prefer one mode over the other. Experimentation has shown that the two
different sides, or hemispheres, of the brain are responsible for different manners of
thinking.
Recent evidence from neurophysiologic investigations and functional
magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the brain suggests that syntactic processing
during reading dynamically collaborates with lexical and higher order cognitive
processes performed in separate brain regions (Friederici, Opitz, & von Cramon,
2002; Keller, Carpenter, & Just, 2001). Brain imaging research has also shown that
reading sentences with complex syntactic structure not only activates areas in the
left frontal cortex associated with working memory, but also activates large areas in
the right cerebral hemisphere associated with pattern recognition; these areas are not

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activated with syntactically simpler sentences of similar length and semantic content
(Caplan, Vijayan, Kuperberg, West, Waters, Greve, & Dale, 2001; Patel, 2003).
These brain studies suggest that assisting readers’ syntactic processing could free up
cognitive resources for higher level comprehension activities.
Finally, this study is also anchored on the mental theory of Gunning (1996).
This theory suggests a mind movie created in one’s head, based on the reading
content. Furthermore, this theory points out that the reader focuses on the main
character and creates a mental model of circumstances in which the character finds
himself. This answers the mental model which is constructed most often especially
when a student is reading a fiction. But the said model is reconstructed or updated to
reflect the new circumstances which depend on the given situation. Also Gunning
(1996) asserts that the items important to the main character is kept in the
foreground.
Research Problem
This study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of the use of the
VSTF method in improving the reading comprehension of the Grade 9 students of a
national high school. Specifically, this undertaking aimed to answer the following
questions:
1) What is the dominant learning style of the Grade 9 students of the experimental
and control group?
2) What is the reading comprehension level of the Grade 9 students of the
experimental and control group prior to the exposure of the VSTF method in
terms of: literal, reorganization, inferential, evaluation and appreciation?
3) What is the reading comprehension level of the Grade 9 students in the
experimental and control group after the exposure to the VSTF method in terms
of: literal, reorganization, inferential, evaluation and appreciation?
4) Is there a significant difference on the level of reading comprehension of the
Grade 9 students in the control and experimental group before and after the
exposure to VSTF method?
5) Is there a significant difference of the students’ reading comprehension mean
gain scores between the experimental and control group?
6) Is there a significant difference in the level of reading comprehension of students
when group according to their learning styles?

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Null Hypotheses
The null hypotheses formulated and tested at α=.05 level of significance (2-
tailed) were:
Ho1 There was no significant difference between the pre-posttest mean scores of the
experiment and control group before and after exposure to the VSTF method.
Ho2 There was no significant difference in the reading comprehension mean gain
score of the students between the experimental and control group.
Ho3 There was no significant difference between the students’ reading
comprehension level when they were grouped according to their learning
styles.
Method
Research Design
The researcher used the quasi-experimental called the non-equivalent group
pre-posttest. Quasi-experimental designs are used to compare two groups that are
likely to be different even before the study begins. They are commonly employed in
the evaluation of educational programs when random assignment is not possible
(Gibbons & Herman, 1997). The data were collected through evaluating the
differences of the two groups based on the results of the reading proficiency in the
pre-posttest. In this study, the researcher empirically assessed the differences in two
groups, thus, if the assessment finds that one group performs better than the other on
the posttest, the researcher can rule out initial differences and normal development
as an explanation for differences. This is to prove the significant difference between
the two groups particularly the experimental group which was exposed to group
strategy and the control group which was exposed to the traditional lecture method.
Moreover, Trochim (2006) added that the design has several important
characteristics. First, a pre-posttest were given to all participants. Second, the
design usually has two groups, one of which gets some program or treatment and
one which does not. Third, the two groups are not equivalent groups, that is, it was
expected that they differ prior to the study.

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The experimental model of the research design is:
Participants
O1 X1 O2
O3
Where:
X = experimental treatment
O1 = Pretest of the experimental group
O2 = Posttest of the experimental group
O3 = Pretest of the control group
O4 = Posttest of the control group.
X = Reading comprehension using VSTF Method
_ _ _ _ = nonrandom assignment of the subjects.
The respondents of the study were the Grade 9 students at a national high
school, SY2014-2015. The study involved only 30 respondents from the seven
sections of a national high school. Purposive sampling was used in identifying the
30 Grade 9 students. This sampling method is appropriate because the researcher
identified the participants on the Phil-IRI result of the national high school
(diagnostic reading comprehension) of the Department of Education Region XI for
Academic Year 2014-2015. These participants were all categorized as ‘frustration’
level students in terms of their reading comprehension. The design involved two
groups; the experimental and the control group which were both pretested. These
students were divided into two sections namely, computer room and acacia.
The 15 students were considered the experimental group and they stayed in
the computer lab. In this group, the teacher presented the lesson and gave instruction
based on the daily lesson log. This group used the Visual Syntactic Text Formatting
(VSTF) method during the reading instruction. For 20 day session, daily lesson was
strictly followed. Also, the respondents read the reading text in the computer
monitor where the texts are formatted based on the VSTF method.
On the other hand, the other 15 students were considered the control group
and they stayed at section acacia. There was no intervention given to them. Students
just read the reading text in block format printed paper. Daily lesson was followed
based on the lesson log. Reading comprehension class lasted for 20 days. Same
reading passages were given both to experimental and control group.
The frustration level is the level at which the student has weak
comprehension and word recognition. Leslie and Caldwell (2006) and Johns (2008)
describe a word recognition rate of 90 percent, Burns and Roe (2007) suggest a word
recognition rate of 85 percent. The reader is unable to function adequately at this
O4

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level because the material is too difficult (Burns & Roe, 2007). There may be many
unknown words, the reading rate is slow, and both fluency and expression are
lacking. Students are unable to deal effectively with information at this level and
retellings may be haphazard (Johns, 2008).
Instruments
In this study, the researcher used instruments to collect the data to answer the
research questions. The first tool was a 40 item researcher made test which was used
in the pre-posttest. There were 5 reading passages and in each passage it has 8
questions properly distributed along Barrett’s (1976) Taxonomy of reading
comprehension as shown in the table of specification.
To ensure the validity of the researcher made tool, this was presented to three
(3) reading experts. Likewise, the researcher made test was piloted to one of the
national high schools of Davao City. The tool was tested for its reliability using the
Kuder-Richardson Formula 20 (KR-20) and it was found reliable (KR-20=0.92).
This was administered to both groups before the conduct of the experiment and
considered it as a pretest. Four weeks after the treatment, the participant took the
same test and regarded it as a posttest.
To determine the reading comprehension levels of the respondents based on
the Barrett’s (1976) reading comprehension level, the following criteria was utilized.
Ordered intervals of the literal level of reading comprehension by Barrett
(1976).
Numerical Descriptive
value Equivalent
Interpretation
7.00-8.00 High Very proficient in recalling and reorganizing
ideas or details in the text.
4.00-6.00 Average Fairly proficient in recalling and
reorganizing ideas or details in the text.
0.00-3.00 Low Not proficient in recalling and reorganizing
ideas or details in the text.
This illustrates the ordered intervals of the literal level of the reading
comprehension. In each level, the numerical value represents the possible mean
score of this particular level including its interpretation. The highest numerical value
of 7.00-8.00 indicates a ‘high’ performance. This means that the respondents are
very proficient in recalling and reorganizing ideas or details in the text. The mean
scores that are between 4.00-6.00 indicate ‘average’ performance. This emphasizes
that the respondents are fairly proficient in recalling and reorganizing ideas or
details in the text. The mean scores that are between 0.00-3.00 indicate ‘low’

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performance. This means that the respondents are not proficient in recalling and
reorganizing ideas or details in the text.
Ordered intervals of the reorganization level of reading comprehension by
Barrett (1976).
Numerical
value
7.00-8.00 High
Descriptive
equivalent
4.00-6.00 Average
0.00-3.00 Low
Interpretation
Very proficient in analyzing, organizing and
synthesizing information.
Fairly proficient in analyzing, organizing and
synthesizing information.
Not proficient in analyzing, organizing and
synthesizing information.
This shows the ordered intervals of the reorganization level of the reading
comprehension level by Barrett (1976). The highest numerical value of 7.00-8.00
indicates a ‘high’ performance. This means that the respondents are very proficient
in analyzing, organizing and synthesizing information. The mean scores that are
between 4.00-6.00 indicate ‘average’ performance. This means that the respondents
are fairly proficient in analyzing, organizing and synthesizing information. The
mean scores that are between 0.00-3.00 indicate ‘low’ performance. This means that
the respondents are not proficient in analyzing, organizing and synthesizing
information.
Ordered intervals of the inferential level of reading comprehension by
Barrett (1976).
Numerical
value
7.00-8.00 High
Descriptive
equivalent
4.00-6.00 Average
0.00-3.00 Low
Interpretation
Very proficient in logical and relevant
inferences about characters or events.
Fairly proficient in logical and relevant
inferences about characters or events.
Not proficient in logical and relevant
inferences about characters or events.
This represents the ordered intervals of the inferential level of reading
comprehension level by Barrett (1976). The highest numerical value of 7.00-8.00
indicates ‘high’ performance. This means that the respondents are very proficient in
logical and relevant inferences about characters or events. The mean scores that are
between 4.00–6.00 indicate an ‘average’ performance. This means that the
respondents are fairly proficient in logical and relevant inferences about characters
or events. The mean scores that are between 0.00-3.00 indicate a ‘low’ performance.

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This means that the respondents are not proficient in logical and relevant inferences
about characters or events.
Ordered intervals of the evaluation level of reading comprehension by
Barrett (1976).
Numerical
value
7.00-8.00 High
Descriptive
equivalent
4.00-6.00 Average
0.00-3.00 Low
Interpretation
Very proficient in associating ideas from
judgments.
Fairly proficient in associating ideas from
judgments.
Not proficient in associating ideas from
judgments.
This illustrates the ordered intervals of the evaluation level of the reading
comprehension level of Barrett (1976). The highest numerical value of 7.00-8.00
indicates a ‘high’ performance. This means that the respondents are very proficient
in associating ideas from judgments. The mean scores that are between 4.00-6.00
indicate ‘average’ performance. This means that the respondents are fairly proficient
in associating ideas from judgments. The mean scores that are between 0.00-3.00
indicate ‘low’ performance which means the respondents are not proficient in
associating ideas from judgments.
Ordered intervals of the application level of reading comprehension by
Barrett (1976).
Numerical
value
7.00-8.00 High
Descriptive
equivalent
4.00-6.00 Average
0.00-3.00 Low
Interpretation
Very proficient in connecting personal
responses to the text.
Fairly proficient in connecting personal
responses to the text.
Not proficient in connecting personal
responses to the text.
This illustrates the ordered intervals of the application level of the reading
comprehension level of Barrett (1976). The highest numerical value of 7.00-8.00
indicates a ‘high’ performance. This means that the respondents are very proficient
in connecting personal responses to the text. The mean scores that are between 4.00-
6.00 indicate ‘average’ performance which simply implies that respondents are
fairly proficient in connecting personal responses to the text. The mean scores that
are between 0.00-3.00 indicate ‘low’ performance which means the respondents are
not proficient in connecting personal responses to the text.

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Another instrument used was the VAK Learning Styles Self-Assessment, a
standard questionnaire (Gunning, 1996). This instrument was used to determine if
the learning styles of the students affect their reading comprehension.
The researcher herself handled the experimental and the control group. The
treatment was done after class hours starting from 4:00 pm until 4:45 pm; 45 minute
was utilized in every session. The students were monitored closely and regularly
inside the computer laboratory for four weeks.
Data Gathering Procedure
In conducting the study, the researcher carried out the following steps:
Permission and approval for the conduct of the study. The researcher secured
letter of permission from the Schools Division Superintendent (SDS) to conduct the
study. Upon approval of the letter permission from the SDS, the researcher
approached the School Principal of a national high school and handed the letter
permission for the conduct of the study in the school. The request was subsequently
approved.
Administration of the pretest. The reading comprehension questionnaire was
administered to the participants to determine the level of reading comprehension of
the students prior to the intervention. Another set of questionnaire, the VAK
Learning Styles Self-Assessment Standard Questionnaire was also administered.
Conduct of the experiment. Upon completion of the pretest, the control group
was segregated from the experimental group. The researcher handled the
experimental group. The control group was informed about the 20 day session. They
were oriented about their time schedule and their section. A teacher was assigned to
handle them.
On the other hand, the experimental group was also oriented about their time
schedule. They were also informed that the meeting was at the computer laboratory
for 20 sessions. The session started after the class hours at 4:00pm and ended at
4:45pm. In every session they were engaged in reading using the VSTF method.
Administration of the posttest. After the experiment was conducted; posttest
was given to determine if there was gain in the mean percentage score after the
treatment.
Analysis and interpretation of data. The result of the pretest and posttest of
experiment and control group, as well as the result of the VAK test were gathered,
analyzed, and interpreted.

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Data Analysis
The statistical tools used in the study were:
Mean was used to measure the pretest, posttest and mean gain scores of the
experimental and control groups.
t test for correlated samples was used to test whether there is a significant
difference between the pretest and posttest mean scores of experimental and control
groups.
t test for independent samples was used to test the significance of the
difference between the mean gain scores of the experimental and the control group.
Results and Discussion
Participants’ dominant learning style
Table 2 shows the distribution of the participants’ learning style. The VAK
learning styles self-assessment questionnaire was used to determine the participants’
learning style. A VAK learning style is based on the student receiving vision,
hearing and touch (The Federal Aviation Administration, 2009 in Ghaedi & Jam,
2014). Miller (2001 in Ghaedi & Jam, 2014) described a VAK learning style as the
perceptual, instructional preference model which classifies learners by sensory
preferences. The Intel Corporation (2007 in Ghaedi & Jam, 2014) reported that this
theory has proven to be a popular and simple way to identify different learning
styles. Miller (2001 in Ghaedi & Jam, 2014) described a VAK learning style as the
perceptual, instructional preference model which classifies learners by sensory
preferences.
Table 2. Participants’ dominant learning style.
Grouping
Visual Auditory Kinaesthetic
learners learners learners
Experimental 6 6 3
Control 8 4 3
Overall 14 10 6
It can be gathered from table 2 that 6 of the participants in the experimental
group are visual and another 6 participants are auditory. There were only 3
participants who are more attuned to the kinaesthetic learning style. On the other
hand, in the control group, the dominant learning style of the participants is likewise
visual (8 participants), 4 participants are auditory learners and 3 students are

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kinaesthetic. As a whole, the dominant learning style for the experimental and
control group is visual, followed by the auditory and kinaesthetic learners,
respectively.
This result affirms the study conducted by Willis and Hodson (1999) where
they used the VAK theory. The result of their study revealed that 29% of elementary
and high school learners are visual learners, 34% are auditory, and the remaining
37% are kinesthetic learners. Similarly, a study by Lisle (2007 in Ghaedi & Jam,
2014) which used a VAK learning model in determining the learning style
preferences of adults who experience learning difficulties showed that (34%)
participants preferred a visual style, which was an equal proportion to those who
prefer an auditory style (34%). Of the remaining students, (23%) were kinesthetic
learners and (9%) had multimodal learning style preferences.
Pre-posttest mean scores of the experiment and control group
Tables 3 and 4 show the pre-posttest scores of the students in the control and
experimental group across Barrett’s (1976) five taxonomies of reading
comprehension– literal, reorganization, inference, evaluative and appreciation. The
pretest results reveal that in the literal reading comprehension level, the
experimental group got a mean score of 4.26 (SD=1.48), an average performance.
The control group got a mean score of 4.06 (SD=1.79), also an average
performance. The results suggest that the participants, both in the control and
experimental group are fairly proficient in locating or identifying explicit
information or situations in a reading passage. This is illustrated by their knowledge
in recognizing or recalling details and main ideas, sequencing, comparing,
examining cause/effect relationships and character traits.
Table 3. Pretest performance of students in the experimental and control group
(n=30).
Group Mean
Std. Verbal
Deviation Description
Literal Experimental 4.26 1.486 Average
Control 4.06 1.791 Average
Reorganizational Experimental 4.20 .861 Average
Control 4.93 1.279 Average
Inferential Experimental 4.60 1.502 Average
Control 5.73 1.099 Average
Evaluative Experimental 4.73 1.751 Average
Control 4.06 1.830 Average
Appreciation Experimental 3.26 1.751 Low
Control 4.53 1.684 Average

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In the reorganizational reading comprehension level, the control group got a
mean score of 4.93 (SD=1.27), an average performance. The experimental group got
a mean score 4.20 (SD=.86), likewise an average performance. This means that the
participants in the control and experiment are fairly proficient in organizing ideas
and information explicitly given in the reading passage. This is manifested by their
in knowledge in analyzing, synthesizing and organizing information that has been
stated explicitly.
In the inferential level of reading comprehension, the experimental group got
a mean score of 4.60 (SD=1.50), an average performance. The control group got a
mean score of 5.73 (SD=1.09), also means an average performance. These results
suggest that both groups are fairly proficient in thinking and imagining beyond the
printed page. This is illustrated by their knowledge in inferring supporting details
and main idea, sequencing, comparing, examining cause-effect relationships and
character traits, predicting outcomes, focusing on figurative language.
The evaluative reading comprehension level requires determining the
truthfulness of text; this is illustrated by their knowledge in judging reality or
fantasy, fact or opinion, adequacy or validity, appropriateness, desirability or
acceptability. In this level, the experimental group got a mean score of 4.73
(SD=1.75), an average performance. The control group got a mean score of 4.06
(SD=1.83), also an average performance. The result suggests that both groups are
fairly proficient in judging reality or fantasy, fact or opinion, adequacy or validity,
appropriateness, desirability or acceptability.
Appreciation reading comprehension level involves increasing sensitivity to
various types of literary genres; this is illustrated by manifesting emotional response
to plot or theme, identification with characters and incidents, reactions to the
author’s use of language, response to generating images. In this level, the
experimental group got a mean score of 3.26 (SD=1.75), a low performance. This
implies that the participants’ (experimental group) sensitivity to various types of
literacy genres is wanting. On the other hand, the control group got a mean score of
4.53 (SD=1.68), an average performance. This means that the participants are fairly
proficient in connecting personal responses to the text. This is exemplified by
manifesting emotional response to plot or theme, identification with characters and
incidents, reactions to the author’s use of language, responding to generating
images.
In general, the overall result of the pretest performance of the participants in
the experimental and control group showed an average proficiency across the
Barrett’s (1976) taxonomy of reading comprehension. The only exception is on the
appreciation reading comprehension level where the experimental group got a low
performance.

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The result suggests that both the control and experimental groups have
parallel reading comprehension (except for the experimental groups’ appreciation
level where they got low performance) at the onset of the experiment. Further, they
got an average performance in all reading comprehension levels, excepting the
experimental groups’ appreciation level. This goes to say that the participants have
been accustomed to academic reading. According to Harris and Hodges (1995 in
National Reading Panel, n.d.) the important theoretical idea of reading is that readers
construct meaning representations of the text as they read. In the present study, it
could be deduced that the participants are capable of constructing mental
representations of the text they are reading, at least in an average level. They can
construct memory representations of what they understood and put this
understanding to use, either to learn, to find out information, or to be entertained
(Pressley & Afflerbach, 1995 in National Reading Panel, n.d.).
Presented in table 4 is the result of the posttest performance of the students in
the experimental and control group. In the literal reading comprehension level, the
experimental group got a mean score of 6.66 (SD=1.54), an average performance.
The control group got a mean score of 5.40 (SD=1.80), likewise an average
performance. It can be gleaned from the table that the experimental group posted a
higher mean score than the control group.
In the reorganizational reading comprehension level, the experimental group
yielded a mean score of 6.46 (SD=1.12), an average performance. The control group
got a mean score of 5.40 (SD=1.38), also an average performance. Although the two
groups have an average performance, the experimental group posted a higher mean
score.
Table 4. Posttest performance of the students in the experimental and control group
(n=30).
Group Mean
Std. Verbal
Deviation Description
Literal Experimental 6.66 1.543 Average
Control 5.40 1.804 Average
Reorganizational Experimental 6.46 1.125 Average
Control 4.93 1.387 Average
Inferential Experimental 6.06 1.437 Average
Control 5.80 1.740 Average
Evaluative Experimental 5.80 1.014 Average
Control 5.33 1.345 Average
Appreciation Experimental 5.86 1.684 Average
Control 5.33 1.759 Average

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For the inferential level of comprehension, the experimental group got a
mean score of 6.06 (SD=1.43), an average performance and the control group got a
mean score of 5.80 (1.74), an average performance too. In the evaluative reading
comprehension level, the mean score of the experimental group is 5.80 (SD=1.01),
an average performance while the control group got a mean score of 5.33
(SD=1.34), an average performance as well. For these two levels of reading
comprehension, the experimental group registered higher mean scores than the
control group. Lastly, in the appreciation level, the experimental group got a mean
score of 5.86 (SD=1.68), an average performance. The control group got a mean
score of 5.33 (SD=1.75), an average performance too. The result shows that the
experimental group got a higher mean score than the control group.
In summary, the reading comprehension level of the control and
experimental group after the conduct of the experiment posts no difference, they still
have a descriptive equivalent of average across Barrett’s (1976) reading
comprehension taxonomy. Although, it can be gleaned from table 4 that the
experimental group’s mean scores is a little higher than the control group. But the
numbers still suggest a descriptive equivalent of average.
Test of difference between the pre-posttest performance
of the control and experiment group
Table 5 shows the test of difference between the pretest performance of the
experimental and the control group. In the literal reading comprehension level, it has
a computed t value of .333 (p=.742), not significant at α=0.05 level of significance.
This means that the participants’ performance in the experimental and control group
did not differ significantly. This means further that the participants’ performance in
both the experimental and control group are parallel.
In the reorganizational reading comprehension level, the computed t value is
-1.841 (p=.076), not significant at α=0.05 level. This suggests that the participants’
performance in the experimental and control group did not differ significantly. This
means that both the experimental and control group have the same level of
performance.
For the inferential level of comprehension, the experimental group got a
mean score of 6.06 (SD=1.43), an average performance and the control group got a
mean score of 5.80 (1.74), an average performance too. In the evaluative reading
comprehension level, the mean score of the experimental group is 5.80 (SD=1.01),
an average performance while the control group got a mean score of 5.33
(SD=1.34), an average performance as well. For these two levels of reading
comprehension, the experimental group registered higher mean scores than the
control group.

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Table 5. Test of difference between the pretest performance of students in the
experimental and control group.
Pretest
Sig. Mean
t df (2-tailed) Difference Remarks
Literal .333 28 .742 .20000 Not Significant
Reorganizational -1.841 28 .076 -.73333 Not Significant
Inferential -2.357 28 .026 -1.13333 Significant
Evaluative 1.019 28 .317 .66667 Not Significant
Appreciation -2.019 28 .053 -1.26667 Not Significant
Significant if p

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difference lies with the experimental group. This goes to say that the VSTF method
is more effective in promoting the literal level of reading comprehension of students.
The reorganizational reading comprehension level got a computed t value of
3.325 (p=.002), significant at α=0.01 level. This means that the experimental and
control group’s performance differ significantly. The two groups’ reorganizational
reading comprehension level varies significantly. The significant result lies with the
experimental group. This goes to say that the VSTF method is very effective in
promoting the reorganizational reading comprehension level of the students.
Table 6. Test of difference between the posttest performance of students
in the experimental and control group.
Posttest t df Sig. Mean
(2-tailed) Difference
Literal 2.06 28 .04 1.26
Reorganizational 3.32 28 .00 1.53
Inferential .45 28 .65 .26
Evaluative 1.07 28 .29 .46
Appreciation .84 28 .40 .53
Significant if p

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promoting the inferential, evaluative and application levels of reading
comprehension.
Pressley and Afflerbach (1995 in National Reading Panel, n.d.) suggest that a
reader can read a text to learn, to find out information, or to be entertained. They
further argued that these various purposes of understanding require that the reader
use knowledge of the world, including language and print. On this note, it could be
deduced that the participants of the study are not capable yet of using their
knowledge of the word to better understand the text. Conversely, it could mean that
their knowledge of the language and print is not enough to bring them to the real
beauty and splendor of the printed text which could only be attained when their
appreciation reading comprehension level is quite high. This goes to say that so
much can still be done to help students appreciate the printed text.
Mean gain scores of the students in the experimental and control group
Table 7 shows the mean gain scores of the students in the experimental and
control group. The result revealed that the VSTF method could only account for the
following reading comprehension levels: (a) reorganization (t=7.54, p=.00), (b)
inferential (t=3.26 p=.00) and (c) appreciation (t=3.76, p=.00). These gains are all
significant at α=.01 level. On the other hand, the mean gain scores of the participants
in the control and experimental group in the literal (t=1.91, p=.065) and evaluative
(t=-.388, p=.70) levels of reading comprehension did not register significance at
α=.05 level. This suggests that the traditional printed text formatting have the same
effect with the VSTF in promoting the literal and evaluative reading comprehension
of students.
Table 7. Test of difference between the mean gain scores performance of students
in the experimental and control group (n=15).
Gain Scores Group
Std.
Mean
t value
Deviation
df p value
Literal Experimental 2.40 1.594
Control 1.33 1.447
1.918 28 .065
Reorganizational Experimental 2.26 .798
Control .00 .845
7.549 28 .000
Inferential Experimental 1.46 1.125
Control .06 1.222
3.263 28 .003
Evaluative Experimental 1.06 7 1.387
Control 1.26 1.437
-.388 28 .701
Appreciation Experimental 2.60 1.352
Control .80 1.264
3.765 28 .001
Significant if p

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Test of difference on the posttest performance of students in the experimental
and control group according to their learning styles
Table 8 shows the test of difference in the posttest performance of students in
the experimental and control group according to their learning styles. The
participants were grouped according to their dominant learning style visual, auditory
and kinesthetic. The result revealed that the participants’ dominant learning style
does not alter the result of their reading comprehension level in the literal (f=.624,
p=.543), reorganization (f=.597, p=.558), inferential (f=3.277, p=.053), evaluative
(f=.410, p=.668) and application (f=3.211, p=.056). The f values are not significant
at α=.05 level of significance.
Table 8. Test of difference on the posttest performance of students in the
experimental and control group according to their learning style.
Sum of
squares df
Mean
Square f Sig.
Literal Between Groups 4.019 2 2.01 .624 .543
Within Groups 86.948 27 3.22
Total 90.967 29
Reorganizational Between Groups 2.638 2 1.31 .597 .558
Within Groups 59.662 27 2.21
Total 62.300 29
Inferential Between Groups 14.038 2 7.01 3.277 .053
Within Groups 57.829 27 2.14
Total 71.867 29
Evaluative Between Groups 1.219 2 .61 .410 .668
Within Groups 40.148 27 1.48
Total 41.367 29
Application Between Groups 16.371 2 8.18 3.211 .056
Within Groups 68.829 27 2.54
Total 85.200 29
Significant if p

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Furthermore, Williams’ (2010) study likewise indicated a relationship
between kinaesthetic, auditory, and visual learning styles and reading
comprehension levels. Baghban (2012) likewise found in his study a significant
relationship between learning styles and learning strategies. She (Baghban, 2012)
found that learners scoring higher on the Strategy Inventory for Language Learning
(SILL) performed better on the Language Learning Style (LLS), which led to the
conclusion that SILL has a significant impact on the LLS. This study (Baghdan,
2012) finds similarity in the present investigation where the VSTF method could be
liken to the language learning style. The VSTF method caters more to the visual
learners where the reading passages were parsed for easy reading and recall of
information. However, the result did not vary with those of the visual and
kinaesthetic learners.
However, the present study finds support in Erniger’s (2014) study where he
found a slight correlation between reading comprehension skills and learning styles
but he concluded that no learning style was a significant predictor of reading
comprehension skills. The results suggested that learning styles do not have a
significant effect on reading comprehension skills. Erniger’s study (2014) echoes the
findings of Garza (2008) where he concluded that the students who were taught
according to their preferred learning style did not receive higher gains than that of
the students in the control group. The students in the control group even achieved
greater gains when their pre-post test scores were compared to those of the learning
styles preference group. The result suggested that exposure to the learning styles
strategies did not have an effect on students’ reading comprehension. Students who
were taught through their perceptual strengths did not have higher overall group
gains when compared to the student who did not receive learning styles treatment.
The result of the study could be attributed to the fact that the students’
reading comprehension level even before the conduct of the experiment was on the
average level only. It is also worth noting that after the conduct of the experiment,
there is only minimal improvements based on the mean scores result.
Conclusions
In the light of the findings of this study, the following conclusions are drawn:
1) Majority of the Grade 9 students are visual learners, followed by auditory and
kinesthetic learners.
2) Grade 9 students’ reading comprehension level across Barrett’s (1976)
taxonomy– literal, reorganization, inferential, evaluative and appreciation is
average.

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3) The VSTF method is an effective tool in promoting Grade 9 students’ reading
comprehension level in literal and reorganization level only.
4) The VSTF method could be a good method to be used in the reading
engagements of students since it can cater to all types of learners’ style. However,
the traditional printed text formatting is as good as the VSTF method in
promoting the reading comprehension of the grade 9 students.
Recommendations
1) The Department of Education should consider adopting the use of Visual
Syntactic Text Formatting (VSTF) method as one of the tools in promoting the
reading comprehension levels of the students.
2) Students should use the VSTF method in reading the text even in their leisure
time. The parsing engine is for free.
3) Teachers should employ the use of VSTF method in improving the reading
comprehension levels of students especially those with reading difficulties.
4) Future researcher may replicate this study utilizing another grade level as one of
the variables of the study, extending the duration of the study and involving more
numbers of participants.
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Secondary Students’ Depth of Vocabulary Knowledge
Reading Strategies and Comprehension
Velma S. Labad
Abstract
The threshold for successful reading is primarily related to
vocabulary knowledge (Harkio, & Pietilä, 2016). However, most of the
studies conducted relied primarily with native English speaking
populations. By contrast, fewer studies have documented the role of
vocabulary in the reading comprehension of English language learners
(ELLs) (Guo, 2008); thus this study. It aimed to find out whether
relationships exist among depth of vocabulary knowledge, reading
strategies and comprehension. It involved 3035 secondary English
language learners. It made use of descriptive correlation. Findings
revealed significant relationships between reading comprehension and
depth of vocabulary knowledge. Analysis of variance revealed
significant difference on students’ reading comprehension when
grouped according to the depth of their vocabulary knowledge. Post hoc
test showed that those students whose depth of vocabulary knowledge is
‘high’ performed better in the reading comprehension test. The study
likewise revealed positive relationships among reading comprehension,
metacognitive and cognitive strategies. However two metacognitive
strategies, selective and self-evaluation, and two cognitive strategies,
summarizing and note taking exceeded the alpha’s level of significance.
When the students’ were grouped according to their most preferred
metacognitive and cognitive strategies; it manifested significant
difference. Post hoc test proved that those students whose reading
comprehension is average used advanced, directive, self-management
and monitoring metacognitive strategies. These students, similarly,
utilized skimming, predicting, analyzing, inferring, translating,
elaborating, repeating, and guessing cognitive strategies. Future
researchers should replicate this study to uncover other reasons why
selective and self-evaluation (metacognitive); summarizing and note
taking (cognitive) are not contributory to students’ reading
comprehension.
Keywords/phrases: metacognitive, cognitive, reading strategies,
vocabulary knowledge
Introduction
comprehension,
Reading is of utmost necessity for learning because it is the basis for all
knowledge. It is a kind of interaction between the reader and the text which implies a
degree of knowledge of the world, topics and target language (Jahromi, 2014). Indeed,

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L2 reading research indicates that reading is an interactive meaning-making process
(Alderson, 2005; Zhang, Gu, & Hu, 2008) in which readers capitalize on various
available sources and utilize a multitude of strategies to achieve the goal of
comprehension. However, the problem of how to develop reading comprehension
proficiency is one of the main concerns for learners of English as a foreign language.
An element emphasized in learning to read is that vocabulary should be rich for
comprehension and that it should be included in reading as a vital factor.
Vocabulary knowledge has received a lot of attention in the field of reading research
(Nation, 1990; Qian, 1999; Read, 2000). As Alderson (2000, p. 99) noted,
“reading research has consistently found a word knowledge factor on which vocabulary
knowledge loads highly.” In the light of the importance of vocabulary knowledge,
numerous second language vocabulary researchers (Nurweni, & Read; 1999; Qian,
1999; Qian, 2002; Nation, 2001; Chapelle, 1998; Meara, 1996) have proposed various,
but complementary vocabulary knowledge frameworks. For instance, Meara (1996)
contended that vocabulary knowledge could be viewed as possessing two primary
dimensions: breadth and depth. Breadth of vocabulary knowledge refers to the number
of words that a learner has at least some superficial knowledge about, whereas depth of
vocabulary knowledge refers to how well a learner knows a word (Qian, 2002).
The recent attention of researchers to vocabulary development and instruction
has been devoted less to depth of vocabulary and more to breadth of vocabulary. The
goal of the current study was to explore how depth of vocabulary (i.e., the richness of
word understandings) contributes to reading comprehension among secondary students.
Far less attention has been paid to the investigation of this type of vocabulary depth, its
contribution to reading comprehension, and how that relationship is relevant for
instruction. Arguably, depth of word knowledge is a form of metalinguistic awareness,
the effects of which have been established within and across languages for both reading
and cognition (Kuo & Anderson, 2010; Bialystok, 2006).
On the other hand, research studies in second language contexts have
demonstrated that reading strategies help readers. Booth and Swartz (2004) found that
using reading strategies facilitates reading comprehension and helps learners become
more proficient and autonomous readers. Reading strategies include a broad variety of
specific behaviors, which can be classified based on the readers’ goals, like activating
prior knowledge, inferring information not explicitly stated, identifying the main idea,
processing a text additionally after reading. Moreover, several research sudies have
validated other strategies– summarization, question generation and answer explanation,
student-generated elaborations, and organising strategies. These strategies promote
active processing of text information and comprehension monitoring (Jahromi, 2014).
It is on this premise that this study was conducted. It aimed to find out whether
depth of vocabulary knowledge could predict secondary students’ reading performance.
The students involved in this study are second English language learners. Furthermore,

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this study also aimed to determine if matacognitive and cognitive reading strategies
could likewise predict secondary students’ reading comprehension performance.
Research Problem
This study was conducted to find out whether relationships exist among depth
of vocabulary knowledge, reading strategies and comprehension. Specifically, the study
aimed to answer the following questions:
1) What is the level of the secondary students’ (a) depth of vocabulary knowledge and
(b) reading comprehension?
2) What reading strategies (metacognitive and cognitive) are often used by secondary
students?
3) Are there significant relationships among secondary students’ depth of vocabulary
knowledge, the use of metacognitive and cognitive reading strategies and
comprehension?
4) What model could be developed to predict students’ reading comprehension
performance?
Null Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses were formulated and tested using α=0.5 (2-
tailed) level of significance:
Ho 1 No relationship exists between students’ reading comprehension and depth of
vocabulary knowledge.
Ho 2 No relationship exists between reading comprehension and their use of
metacognitive and cognitive reading strategies.
Ho 3 No model could be developed to predict students’ reading comprehension
performance.
Method
Research Design
The study made use of descriptive-correlation research design. Descriptive
research attempts to describe, explain and interpret conditions of the present. Its
purpose is to examine a phenomenon that is occurring at a specific place(s) and time. It
is concerned with conditions, practices, structures, differences or relationships that
exist, opinions held processes that are going on or trends that are evident. While
correlational research describes what exists at the moment (conditions, practices,
processes, structures, etc.). It aimed to determine the nature, degree and direction of

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relationships between variables or using these relationships to make predictions
(Creswell, 2002).
The present study aimed to describe the secondary students’ depth of
vocabulary knowledge their reading comprehension and the level of use of the reading
strategies (metacognitive and cognitive). It also described the relationships among
secondary students’ depth of vocabulary knowledge, reading comprehension and the
reading strategies (metacognitive and cognitive) It explored whether a model could be
developed that would best explain the secondary students’ reading comprehension
performance.
Respondents
The respondents of the study were the secondary students of one of the public
high school of Davao City. Universal and convenience sampling was employed. The
use of convenience sampling technique is discouraged due to its inability to generalise
research findings, the relevance of bias and high sampling error. Nevertheless
convenience sampling is the only option available in the study at hand. The seconday
school is ‘convenient’ because access to the respondents is easily negotiated through
existing contacts (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2012).
There were over 7000 student populace, however only 3035 students have
completed all the 4 questionnaires and have returned signed informed consents from
their parents as well as their own informed assents.
Ethical Considerations
Considering that the respondents are secondary students, proper permissions
were sought. Request and explanation letters about the study were written addressed to
all parents. They were informed that their children’s participation of the study is
voluntary. The tests shall be conducted inside the school premises particularly in the
classrooms of their children on three successive noon breaks (between 12:00-12:30).
They were assured that prior to the conduct of the examination, their children will be
provided light snacks. Should by any reason, they decide to withdraw the participation
of their children, they are free to do so. They were further informed that the tests has no
bearing on the scholastic performance of their children. The only benefits that will
redound to the students is on their knowledge of the metacognitive and cognitive
reading strategies, word associate and reading comprehension tests. Moreover, they
were assured that the result of the tests as well as the information obtained in the
socioeconomic questionnaire shall be kept strictly confidential and the data will only be
used to answer the questions posed in the study. They were requested further to return
the informed consent duly signed should they decide to allow their children to
participate in the study.
Equally, the students were informed that even if their parents have given their
informed consent for them to participate in the study; they are free to leave the room
should they desire not to participate in the study. They were duly informed that they

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will take three tests- metacognitive and cognitive reading strategies, word associate and
reading comprehension tests. This will be done on three consecutive noon breaks
(between 12:00-12:30). They will be given light snacks prior to the administration of
the tests. However, even if they have taken the first test and decide later not to continue
the test, they are free to do so and nothing could be considered against their standing in
school.
Research Instruments
Three sets of instruments were used in the study. The first questionnaire is the
metacognitive and cognitive reading strategies. This was adopted from O’Malley and
Chamot (1990) and was later reorganized by Ling (2011). The reorganization advanced
by Ling (2011) is adopted en toto in this study. The metacognitive reading strategies
has the following constructs: (a) advanced, (b) self-management, (c) self-evaluation, (d)
directive, and (e) monitoring. Similarly, the cognitive reading strategies has the
following constructs: (a) repeating, (b) elaborating, (c) guessing, (d) predicting, (e)
summarizing, (f) note-taking, (g) skimming, (h) inferring, (i) predicting, and (j)
translating. It followed the Likert type format where 1=‘never’; 2=‘seldom’;
3=‘sometimes’; 4=‘often’; and 5=‘always’.
The second questionnaire is the depth of vocabulary knowledge. The test
developed by Read (1998) was used. Access to the test is open and available at
http://www.lextutor.ca/tests/associates/. This test was adapted by Qian (1999), and its
reliability was found to be 0.88 by Qian (2002). In his own reliability check of the
primitive form of the test, Read (1993) found that its reliability level was at least .90.
More recently Sen and Kulelia (2015) used this test in their study entitled, “The effect of
vocabulary size and vocabulary depth on reading in EFL context.” There are 40
stimulus words in this test, all of which are adjectives and free from context. Under the
stimulus words, there are 8 options, among which test-takers are asked to choose 4
considering which ones are close in meaning to the stimulus word or which noun can
come after those stimulus words, thereby forming collocations. A sample test is shown:
The third and final questionnaire was the reading comprehension test. The test
was comprised of 4 reading passages. It is followed by a question with four choices to
choose from. The students were instucted to circle the letter of the best answer. It was a
20 item test. A sample question is shown:

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The reading comprehension test was presented to 3 experts in the field of
teaching reading among secondary students. The experts returned the questionnaire with
their comments and suggestions. These were incorporated in the revised reading
comprehension test. To get the reliability of the test, this was piloted to 30 secondary
students in one of the public secondary schools of Davao City. Using KR20, it yielded a
KR20=.70 which is enough measure to ascertain the reliability of the tool.
Data Gathering Procedure
Asking letter permissions. Letter permissions were written; first letter was
addressed to the Dean of the College of Education with subsequent request for a letter
endorsement for the Schools Division Superintendent (SDS) of DepEd, Davao City.
Second letter was addressed to the SDS with ensuing request for an endorsement letter
to the school principal. Third letter was addressed to the school principal with
succeding request for an endorsement letter addressed to the teacher advisers. Fourth
letter was addressed to the teacher advisers with further request for an endorsement
letter addressed to the respondents’ parents. Fifth letter was addressed to the parents to
allow their children to participate in the study.
Drafting of the schedule. Schedules were draft to accommodate the various
activities of the school and to observe the restriction of the SDS that no interruptions of
classes should be allowed in the conduct of the study. The schedules were finalized
alloting 3 successive noon breaks (between 12:00-12:35).
Administration of the questionnaires. Only those who returned the parents’
informed consent duly signed as well as their informed assent duly signed were initially
considered as respondents of the study. They were informed of the time and room
schedule of the test.
On the first day of the test, the students were given light snacks prior to the
administration of the metacognitive and cognitive reading strategies. It took the students
20 minutes to finish the test. On the second day, light snacks were distributed first and
then the word associate tests were administered. It took the students 30 minutes to
finish the test. And on the third and final day, the same procedure was followed, light
snacks preceded before the administration of the reading comprehension test. The test
was done in 35 minutes.
Checking, tallying, collating and recording of the data. The word associate and
reading comprehension tests were checked and scored. Data were encoded in excel for
easy encoding in the SPSS. The recording observed rigid matching of the respondents
scores in the word associate and reading comprehension tests. Moreover, it also
thoroughly observed the matching of the results of the metacognitive and cognitive
reading strategies. Finally, it strictly observed that the socioeconomic status of the
students perfectly matched with that of the students’ scores in the three other
questionnaires.

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Statistical Design
The following statistical design were used to treat the data:
Frequency, mean and standard deviation were used to get the profile of the
secondary students in terms of: (a) socioeconomic status, (b) metacognitive and
cognitive reading strategies, (c) word associates and reading comprehension tests.
Pearson product moment correlation (pearson r) was used to determine
whether relationships exist among depth of vocabulary knowledge, reading strategies
and comprehension.
Multiple linear regression analysis was used to determine whether a model
could be developed to best predict students’ reading comprehension.
Results and Discussion
Profile of the secondary students’ depth
of vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension
Table 1 shows that the secondary students’ depth of vocabulary knowledge is
‘average’ (M=2.01, SD=.540). However their reading comprehension is ‘low’ (M=1.41,
SD=513). This finding affirms the NAT results of elementary and high school students
from 2005-2010 which showed a declining achievement level. The Mean Percentage
Score (MPS) of students dropped from school year 2007-2008, which posted an MPS of
49.26 percent to 47.40 percent in 2008-2009, and down to 46.30 percent in 2009-10
(Bustamante, & Dequito, 2015).
Table 1. Profile of secondary students’ depth of vocabulary knowledge and reading
comprehension (n=3035).
Mean Standard deviation
• Depth of vocabulary knowledge 2.01 .540
• Reading comprehension 1.41 .513
0-.1.49=Low; 1.50-2.49=Average; 2.50-3.00=High
Students’ level of use of the metacognitive reading strategies
Table 2 presents the secondary students’ level of use of the metacognitive
reading strategies. It can be gleaned in table 2 that the most preferred strategy is
advanced (M=3.51, SD=.769), followed by self-management (M=3.42, SD=.849) and
the least preferred is monitoring (M=3.24, SD=.675). Table 2 likewise revealed that
students are ‘medium’ users of these strategies. This means that the students are aware
of these strategies and they ‘sometimes’ employ these strategies while reading. This

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result is consistent with the findings of Ling (2011) where she found out that Chinese
English majors were ‘medium’ users of the metacognitive strategies. Correspondingly,
Alsamadani (2009) conducted a study on the frequency and type of metacognitive
reading strategies used by the Saudi EFL college-level students and he found out that
Saudis more frequently use planning strategies than attending and evaluating strategies.
In the study at hand, the secondary students prefer to employ advanced and self
management strategies than the rest of the metacognitive strategies.
It can be inferred that the different metacognitive reading strategies are
‘sometimes’ used by the respondents when reading academic texts. The medium use can
be attributed to non-familiarity of the students with the existence of some metacognitive
reading strategies that could help them comprehend texts. It could also be that teachers
are not aware of these strategies, hence, not using them in their reading instruction. This
result supports the general findings of Tavakoli (2014), Alsamadani (2009), Yuksel and
Yuksel (2012) on Iranian, Saudi, and Turkish EFL students’ (respectively) moderate
awareness and use of metacognitive reading strategies. It also supports the findings of
Hong-Nam and Page (2014) on the moderate use of metacognitive reading strategies of
ELLs in America. However, this particular result of the study does not coincide with the
general findings of previous researches showing active (high) overall use of
metacognitive reading strategies by EFL students in Yemen (Al-Sobhani, 2013) and by
those ESL students in Malaysia (Pammu, Amir, & Maasum, 2014; Maasum & Maarof,
2012) and in Botswana (Magogwe, 2013). This finding suggests that use of
metacognitive strategies vary depending on language learners’ settings and orientations.
The respondents of Al-Sobhani (2013), Pammu, Amir, and Maasum (2014), Maasum
and Maarof (2012), and Mogogwe (2013) are from intermediate level university
students with more exposure to the English language. The respondens in the current
study are secondary students; although it can’t be denied that they have been using
English as the medium of the instruction since they entered school.
Table 2. Level of use of metacognitive reading strategies (n=3034).
Metacognitive
Standard
Mean
reading strategies
deviation
• Advanced 3.51 .769
• Self-management 3.42 .849
• Self-evaluation 3.39 .752
• Selective 3.32 .736
• Directive 3.26 1.105
• Monitoring 3.24 .675
1.0-1.4 Low Never or almost never used
1.5-2.4 Generally not used
2.5-3.4 Medium Sometimes used
3.5-4.4 High Usually used
4.5-5.0 Always or almost always used
Oxford (1990)

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Students’ level of use of the cognitive reading strategies
As presented in table 3, secondary students are ‘high’ users of repeating
(M=3.63, SD=1.153) strategy, followed by elaborating (M=3.51, SD=.843); whilst, they
are ‘medium’ users of translating (M=3.15, SD=1.141). It can also be noted that the
students’ employment of these strategies border within the ‘high’ and ‘medium’ level.
This means that the students are aware of these strategies and they ‘sometimes’ employ
these strategies while reading. This result has similarities with the findings of Ling
(2011) where she found out that Chinese English majors were ‘medium’ users of the
following cognitive strategies: prediction, analyzing, summarizing, elaborating,
repeating, and note-taking; and they were ‘high’ users of skimming ang guessing
strategies; furthermore, they were ‘low’ users of translating and note-taking.
Graesser (2007) argued that cognitive reading strategies are particularly
important when there is a breakdown at any level of comprehension. A successful
reader implements deliberate, conscious, effortful, time-consuming strategies to repair
or circumvent a reading component that is not intact. Reading teachers and programs
explicitly teach such reading strategies to handle the challenges of reading obstacles.
Table 3. Level of use of reading strategies (cognitive) (n=3034).
Reading
Standard
Mean
strategies
deviation
• Repeating 3.63 1.153
• Elaborating 3.51 .843
• Guessing 3.44 .914
• Predicting 3.34 .824
• Summarizing 3.33 1.056
• Note-taking 3.28 1.119
• Skimming 3.25 1.053
• Inferring 3.26 .775
• Predicting 3.23 1.034
• Translating 3.15 1.141
1.0-1.4 Low Never or almost never used
1.5-2.4 Generally not used
2.5-3.4 Medium Sometimes used
3.5-4.4 High Usually used
4.5-5.0 Always or almost always used
Oxford (1990)
Relationships between reading comprehension and depth of vocabulary knowledge
The result (table 3) indicates a relationship between reading comprehension and
depth of vocabulary knowledge (r=.221, α

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conducted out by Gou (2008), Golkar (2007), Maher Salah (2008), Kaivanpanah, and
Zandi (2009), Mehrpoor, Razmjoo, and Kian (2011), Abbutt (2006), and Anjomshoa,
and Zamanian (2014) who found that significant correlation between depth of
vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension among EFL and ESL readers.
Moreover, Alsamadani’s study (2009) also revealed that vocabulary size was
found to have a substantial perceived relationship with students’ comprehension. She
further argued that lack of vocabulary size also affects students’ eagerness about
completing the task. This study is consistent with Al-Nujaidi’s (2003) finding that there
is a strong and significant relationship between vocabulary size and comprehension
level.
Vocabulary knowledge and its role in reading comprehension has been one of
the main areas of focus in second language research for the last twenty years (Mehrpoor
et al., 2011). Both vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension are closely
related, and this relationship is not one directional, since vocabulary knowledge can
help the learner to comprehend written texts and reading can contribute to vocabulary
growth (Maher Salah, 2008; Nation, 2001). The results of the present study may
provide EFL teachers with some invaluable information. Understanding students’
average vocabulary knowledge and low reading comprehension enables teachers to
consider finding more innovative and appropriate ways to teach vocabulary to students
that can actually assess their reading comprehension.
Table 3. Significant relationship between reading comprehension and depth of
vocabulary knowledge (n=3034).
• depth of vocabulary
knowledge
Reading comprehension
Pearson r .221 **
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Reading comprehension and metacognitive reading strategies
As presented in table 4, advanced (r=.054, α

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and emphasized in the EFL teaching and learning processes. The metacognition reading
strategies identified were (1) planning; (2) monitoring; and (3) evaluation. The study at
hand identified the following metacognitive reading strategies: (a) advanced, directive,
self-management and monitoring. The study of Oakhill and Cain (2007 in Moore, n.d.)
found that students’ ability to monitor their comprehension at age eight significantly
predicted their reading comprehension skill at age 11.
On the other hand, selective (r=-.012, α˃.05) and self-evaluation (r=.011,
α˃.05) registers no relationships with reading comprehension. This means that whether
the students utilize these strategies or not, their reading comprehension performance is
not affected at all. This is consistent with the finding of Alsamadani’s (2009) study
where he found out that the students’ use of metacognitive reading strategies does not
influence their comprehension level. Also the study of Pei (2014) revealed that
metacognitive reading instruction did not result in better reading comprehension
performance of Chinese students. Moreoever, Mehrdad, Ahghar, and Ahghar (2012)
also found out that use of cognitive and metacognitive instruction does not always have
a positive effect on the EFL students’ reading comprehension performance. Finally, in
Indonesia, Pammu, Amir and Maasum (2014) found out that Indonesian EFL learners
use different metacognitive reading strategies but their use of metacognitive reading
strategies did not bring corresponding improvements in the observed reading
performances.
Table 4. Significant relationships among reading comprehension and reading strategies
(metacognitive) (n=3034).
Vocabulary learning
strategies (metacognitive)
Reading comprehension
• Advanced Pearson r .054 **
Sig. (2-tailed) .003
• Selective Pearson r -.012
Sig. (2-tailed) .509
• Directive Pearson r .057 **
Sig. (2-tailed) .002
• Self-management Pearson r .055 **
Sig. (2-tailed) .003
• Monitoring Pearson r .080 **
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
• Self-evaluation Pearson r .011
Sig. (2-tailed) .537
** . Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
However, Sheorey and Mokhtari (2001) believe that an awareness of reading
strategies and comprehension monitoring is an important characteristic of good readers.
They claim that to comprehend a text, readers need to use their metacognitive
knowledge about reading and “invoke conscious and deliberate strategies” (p. 433).

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This may mean that if readers are not aware of certain strategies, they will not use them
in the reading task. Thus, good readers both know and utilize appropriate reading
strategies.
The implication of the result of the present study could be attributed to the fact
that some teachers failed to introduce the importance of these two strategies, selective
and self-evaluation, in comprehending texts. Although the students are ‘medium’ users
of these strategies does not necessarily denote that they know how these should be
utilized in given reading passages. Even those metacognitive reading strategies–
advanced, directive, self-management and monitoring, found to have relationships with
reading comprehension performance showed only less relationships. The students are
likewise ‘medium’ users of the strategies mentioned and ‘high’ users in advanced
strategy.
Reading comprehension and cognitive reading strategies
Table 5 shows the significant relationships among reading comprehension and
cognitive reading strategies. As presented, skimming (r=.049, α

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Table 5. … (cont’d.)
Vocabulary learning
strategies (cognitive)
Reading comprehension
• Translating Pearson r .046 *
Sig. (2-tailed) .011
• Summarizing Pearson r .032
Sig. (2-tailed) .079
• Elaborating Pearson r .043 *
Sig. (2-tailed) .019
• Repeating Pearson r .082 **
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
• Guessing Pearson r .071 **
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
• Note-taking Pearson r -.011
Sig. (2-tailed) .561
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
The National Reading Panel (2000) identified several cognitive reading
strategies that contribute to successful reading comprehension: prediction, activating
prior knowledge, questioning, visualizing, monitoring and clarifying, and drawing
inferences. The study of Dermitzaki, Andreou, and Paraskeva (2008) found statistically
significant differences in cognitive strategy used between high achieving and low
achieving students. They likewise identified a lack of planning, comprehension
monitoring, analyzing, and prioritizing important text as key deficits among third
graders with low reading comprehension achievement. Horner, and Shwery, (2002)
opined that while many poor comprehenders lack metacognitive strategies, others are
simply unable to select or use strategies effectively. They concluded that reading
comprehension requires knowledge of cognitive strategies as well as effective use and
control over them.
The Institute of Education Sciences (2010 in Moore, n.d.) found a
preponderance of evidence that explicit strategy instruction is associated with improved
reading comprehension outcomes. This finding aligns with the recommendations from
the National Reading Panel (2000) review of reading comprehension strategies.
Recently Wang (2007) reported that, explicit instruction in comprehension strategies to
third and fourth graders enhanced their comprehension for both narrative and expository
text. Likewise, Dube, Dorval, and Bessette (2013) also reported statistically significant
improvements in reading comprehension following explicit strategy instruction to third
and fourth grade students with learning difficulties. Indeed, the evidence for explicit
instruction in reading comprehension strategies continues to mount.

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Significant difference on students’ reading comprehension
when grouped according to the level of the depth of their vocabulary knowledge
As presented in table 6, a significant difference existed on students’ reading
comprehension (F=94.237, α

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This could mean that the students lacked practice on how these strategies can be utilized
in reading texts.
Table 8. Test of difference of students’ use of the metacognitive reading strategies
when grouped according to the level of their reading comprehension
performance (n=3035).
Metacognitive Reading
Std.
N Mean
reading strategies comprehension
dev’n
F Sig.
Advanced Low 1793 3.47 .765 4.418 .012
Average 1212 3.56 .776
High 30 3.60 .621
Selective Low 1793 3.33 .727 1.073 .342
Average 1212 3.32 .747
High 30 3.13 .819
Directive Low 1793 3.21 1.114 5.008 .007
Average 1212 3.33 1.088
High 30 3.40 1.069
Self-management Low 1793 3.38 .855 4.678 .009
Average 1212 3.47 .838
High 30 3.50 .861
Monitoring Low 1793 3.20 .668 10.623 .000
Average 1212 3.29 .677
High 30 3.56 .727
Self-evaluation Low 1793 3.39 .744 .786 .456
Average 1212 3.40 .763
High 30 3.56 .727
Table 9 presents the test of difference of students’ use of the cognitive reading
strategies when grouped according to the level of their reading comprehension
performance. Skimming (F=4.103, α˃.05), predicting (F=3.862, α˃.05), analyzing
(F=7.145, α˃.05), inferring (F=8.490, α˃.05), translating (F=3.245, α˃.05), repeating
(F=10.166, α˃.05), guessing (F=7.776, α˃.05) strategies registered significant
difference. Post hoc test revealed that those students whose reading comprehension
performances are ‘average’ used these strategies. This result is consistent with Al-
Sheikh’s (2002) study who found that Saudi learners use more support reading
strategies such as asking questions and translation. The study of May (2010) delved into
the effects of explicit reading strategies instruction applied to 3 rd year EFL pupils. It
attempted to indicate if these students truly comprehend some
effective reading strategies, they would be able to employ them more effectively and
implement them properly for their meaningful reading comprehension. The study
reported that “explicit reading strategies instruction enables EFL learners to achieve
reading comprehension” (p. iii). In the present study, there is a need to delve into the

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matter of how much effort is exerted by the teachers for the students to learn these
strategies so they can employ these effectively into the reading texts assigned to them.
Table 9. Test of difference of students’ reading comprehension when grouped
according to their level of use of the cognitive reading strategies (n=3035).
Cognitive
reading
strategies
Reading
comprehension
N
Mean
Std.
dev’n
Skimming Low 1793 3.21 1.051 4.103 .017
Average 1212 3.32 1.056
High 30 3.23 .971
Predicting Low 1793 3.20 1.031 3.862 .021
Average 1212 3.28 1.034
High 30 3.56 1.104
Analyzing Low 1793 3.30 .819 7.145 .001
Average 1212 3.40 .830
High 30 3.60 .723
Inferring Low 1793 3.21 .774 8.490 .000
Average 1212 3.32 .769
High 30 3.43 .858
Translating Low 1793 3.11 1.128 3.245 .039
Average 1212 3.21 1.156
High 30 3.33 1.212
Summarizing Low 1793 3.30 1.068 1.554 .212
Average 1212 3.36 1.039
High 30 3.46 1.008
Elaborating Low 1793 3.48 .829 2.891 .056
Average 1212 3.54 .858
High 30 3.70 .952
Repeating Low 1793 3.55 1.148 10.166 .000
Average 1212 3.74 1.155
High 30 3.90 1.028
Guessing Low 1793 3.39 .910 7.776 .000
Average 1212 3.51 .918
High 30 3.63 .808
Note taking Low 1793 3.29 1.124 .359 .699
Average 1212 3.28 1.115
High 30 3.13 1.041
F
Sig.
However, summarizing (F=1.554, α

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training students on the use of reading strategies does not significantly improve their
reading comprehension. These findings indicate that the use of reading strategies does
not always result in successful reading comprehension.
Structural equation model that best predict secondary students’ reading
comprehension
In order to identify variables that could best predict students’ performance in
reading comprehension test, a stepwise regression analysis was performed. Presented in
table 9 is the stepwise regression analysis of depth of vocabulary knowledge,
metacognitive and cognitive reading strategies and students’ performance in reading
comprehension. As presented (table 9) the R square is .05.5 suggesting that the depth of
vocabulary knowledge, monitoring, repeating and self evaluation vocabulary reading
strategies could predict 05.5 percent of students’ reading comprehension performance.
The remaining 94.5 percent is outside of the model developed.
Table 9. Model predicting students’ reading comprehension.
Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate
4 .234 d .055 .054 .49917
d. Predictors: (Constant), Depth of vocabulary knowledge, monitoring, repeating, self-evaluation
ANOVA
Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
Regression 43.893 4 10.973 44.040 .000 e
4 Residual 754.485 3028 .249
Total 798.379 3032
e. Predictors: (Constant), depth of vocabulary knowledge, monitoring, repeating, self-evaluation
Model
Unstandardized
Coefficients
Std.
B
Standardized
Coefficients
Beta
Error
(Constant) .902 .058 15.644 .000
Depth of vocabulary knowledge .200 .017 .210 11.743 .000
4 Monitoring .048 .016 .064 3.039 .002
Repeating .022 .009 .049 2.540 .011
Self of evaluation -.036 .014 -.052 -2.515 .012
a. Dependent Variable: Reading comprehension
The goodness of fit test was found significant (f=44.040, p=.000), at α=.01
level. The unstandardized coefficients were .200 (depth of vocabulary knowledge), .048
(monitoring), .022 (repeating) and -.036 (self-evaluation). Thus, the model could be
explained through the equation:
t
Sig.

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Ŷ (reading comprehension) = .902 +.200 (depth of vocabulary knowledge [DVK]),
+.048 (monitoring [M]), +.022 (repeating [R]) and -.036 (self-evaluation [SE]).
This shows that secondary students’ reading comprehension increases by .200 if
they have the depth of vocabulary knowledge. Qian’s 2002 study lends further support
to the importance of vocabulary depth as a predictor of reading comprehension, in his
study vocabulary depth scores explained about 59% of the variance of the results.
Moreover, if they employ monitoring strategy it will further increase to .048; similarly,
if they will use repeating strategy their reading comprehension performance will
increase by .022. However, when they employ self-evaluation while reading, their
performance decreases by .036.
Figure 1 displays the illustrated model predicting secondary students’ reading
comprehension.
DVK
β=.200
M
β=.048
R
β=.022
RC
SE
β=-.036
Figure 1. Structural equation model predicting students’ reading comprehension.
Conclusions and Recommendations
The study concluded that secondary students are ‘medium’ users of advanced
metacognitive reading strategy and ‘low’ users of the following: self-management, selfevaluation,
selective, directive, and monitoring. On the other hand, they are ‘high’ users
of repeating and elaborating cognitive reading strategies and medium’ of users of
guessing, predicting, summarizing, note-taking, skimming, inferring, predicting and
translating. There is a ‘marked’ relationship between depth of vocabulary knowledge
and reading comprehension. The study likewise found ‘less’ relationships among
advanced, directive, self-management and monitoring metacognitive reading strategies
and reading comprehension. Moreover, the study found ‘less’ significant relationships
among reading comprehension, skimming, predicting, analyzing, inferring, translating,
elaborating, repeating and guessing cognitive reading strategies.

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When the secondary students were grouped according to the depth of their
vocabulary knowledge, the study found that those students who have ‘average’ and
‘high’ reading comprehension performances have better depth of vocabulary
knowledge. Similarly when grouped according to their reading comprehension
performances, those students who have ‘average’ and ‘high’ performances employed
advanced, directive, self-management, and monitoring metacognitive reading strategies.
Finally, the revealed that those students who have ‘average’ reading comprehension
performances used skimming, predicting, analyzing, inferring), translating, repeating,
guessing strategies cognitive reading strategies. The model developed disclosed that
depth of vocabulary knowledge, monitoring, and self-evaluation metcognitive and
repeating cognitive reading strategies could predict secondary students’ reading
comprehension performance.
The study recommends that secondary teachers should teach students the
metacognitive and cognitive reading strategies. These strategies should be incorporated
in their daily reading activities so that students will be used to employ them in their
reading tasks. Moreover, teachers should likewise incorporate more activities in their
daily lessons on how to deepen students’ knowledge of vocabulary. Finally, future
researchers should replicate this study using other research design to validate the
existing results.
References
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Farm Tenants’ Children and Their School Engagement:
A Case Study
Marjun B. Rebosquillo
Emmie M. Cabanlit
This paper was presented on the occasion of the 2 nd International Conference on Children and
Families (ICCF) held at Regency Angkor Hotel, Siem Reap, Cambodia, on October 13-15, 2016.
Abstract
The study explored the farm tenants’ children and their school
engagement in a public elementary school district in Digos City
division. The study was qualitative in nature and it employed a case
study design. The participants were chosen purposively, which were the
farm tenants’ children. Five pupils were asked to be the main
participants of the study together with their respective parents, teachers
and school head. Document analysis was used to verify the qualification
of the participants. Interview guide questions were utilized to find out
the successes and challenges in the school engagement of the farm
tenants’ children. The gathered qualitative data were cross case
analyzed and presented in collective themes based on the responses of
the respondents. Results indicate that the successes in the school
engagement of the children were the learning motivation and the
aspirations and perseverance of the children; whilst, the challenges in
the school engagement were insufficiency of the basic family needs,
physiological health problems, attitude towards school and learning,
stressful family events, at home responsibilities and geographical access
to school. The contributions of the school and community to optimize
the school engagement were physiological wellness, improvement of
livelihood, and enrichment of parent-pupil relationship. Integration of
programs essential for the optimization of the school engagement, and
conduct of related researches were recommended.
Introduction
The main objective of the teachers in preparing a well-planned lesson is for the
children to learn through it. However, it is an inescapable experience of educators to be
frustrated with students’ absenteeism and becoming chronically disengaged from the
prepared lessons and activities. The time and instances they were not inside the
classroom are critical to the opportunity which they may have learned. That is why
educators around the world are exerting effort to meet the needs of learners who have
become disaffected from school. Educators are developing mechanisms to identify
schools that have chronic level of school disengagement (Center for Mental Health in
Schools at UCLA, 2008).

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In today’s global school context, the importance of pupil engagement is
becoming widely recognized by educational specialists (Appleton, Christenson &
Furlong, 2008). A study in selected primary schools in Jamaica showed that 10 of these
schools were identified as having very low engagement rates in terms of attendance.
The study used semi structured interviews with parents, teachers, and community
members of 71 schools, and with pupils (aged 7-12 years) (Cook & Ezenne, 2010).
Moreover, between a fourth and a half of school-age learners are not enrolled in school
all over the parts of the Regional Educational Laboratory Pacific Region. Others may be
enrolled but are often absent for portion or all of the day, missing significant academic
time (Black, Seder & Kekahio, 2014). This data showed the immense existence of
school engagement problems across varied countries and levels.
Children mainly from agricultural domiciles and poor families are expected to
help the family livelihood. Apart from wage employment, children also worked on the
family farm where they pulled weeds, planted seeds and harvested crops. Such
economic forces and stereotypes coupled with child vulnerability became so strong that
mandatory schooling legislation has not become an effective means to address the issue
of school engagement (Makwinja, 2010).
Learner engagement contributes to improved academic performance as
measured by grade reports, school attendance and standardized test scores (Glanville &
Wildhagen, 2007). Given the emphasis placed on levels of academic and non-academic
achievement in schools, the way in which students acquire knowledge through the
learning process has become a concern. Hence, worldwide organizations such as United
Nations Children’s Fund and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) capitalize in exertions to increase learner enrollment and
attendance (UNICEF & UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2012).
However enhancing engagement in schools has remained a significant
challenge. According to Klem and Connell (2004) “by high school as many as 40 to 60
percent of all learners are chronically disengaged from school, not counting those who
already dropped out (p. 62).” Marks (2000) reported that learners who are typically
enthusiastic and interested in learning lose motivation and become disengaged as they
traverse the elementary and secondary experience.
In the Philippines, National Statistics Office in the year 2001 revealed that of
the 4 million working children (aged 5-17 years old), 2.6 million (65.9%) attended
school during the school year 2001-2002 while 1.3 million (31.3%) engaged in
profitable and other activities but not in schooling. This translates to a ratio of two
school enrollees for every working child who was not able to attend school.
Engagement in school was higher among working children living in the rural areas
(67.0%) than the urban-based children (63.2%). Moreover, some elementary educators
in Luzon are also experiencing the alarming problem of pupils’ chronic disengagement
in school in a form of excessive absenteeism. A research examining the causes of grade
six students’ absenteeism in Zapote Elementary School for the school year 2010-2011

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revealed that health is the primary reason why pupils are absent from their classes.
Other reasons such as classroom atmosphere, personal attitude, teacher factor and
home-related factors are also revealed as the additional findings of the study (Murcia,
2015).
Similarly schools in Davao city are also facing the issue of chronic
disengagement among elementary pupils caused by child labor. The pupils are cutting
classes or absent because they are actually in the market selling food or scavenging in
garbage bins for food. Child labor has been a concern for teachers, as many would drop
out in the middle of the school year or not show up the following year, as they opt to
find work to augment the family’s income. Labor statistics have pegged some 114,000
child laborers in the four provinces in Davao region. Across the country, there are 3.9
million child laborers who are chronically disengaged from school (Velez, 2014).
These reasons prompted the researcher to conduct a case study to explore about
the children of farm tenants and their school engagement in one of the public
elementary school districts in Digos city, province of Davao del Sur for the School Year
2014-2015. This covers the condition of the children of farm tenants who are
chronically disengaged from school. The childrens’ associations with their parents,
teachers and school administrators are also explored. This study will provide helpful
information on the successes and challenges in the engagement of the children of farm
tenants in school. The result of the study would serve as basis for school staffs and
administrators in improving the school curricula, programs and policies to lessen the
chronic disengagement among graders in educational institutions.
Research Questions
The study explored and explained the school engagement of farm tenants’
children in the public elementary schools district in Digos City, Province of Davao del
Sur for the School Year 2015-2016. Specifically, the study sought to answer the
following questions:
1) What are the successes in the school engagement of the farm tenants’ children?
2) What are the challenges in the school engagement of the farm tenants’ children?
3) What can the school and community contribute toward the school engagement of the
farm tenants’ children?
Assumption
There are factors that hinder school engagement of farm tenants’ children.

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Method
Research Design
This study used a qualitative design in concurrence with the case study
methodology. According to Stake (1995 in Baxter & Jack, 2008) case study is an
approach to research that facilitates exploration of an occurrence within its context
using a variety of data sources. This ensures that the issue of school engagement of
children of farm tenants in the specific district is not explored through one lens, but
rather a variety of lenses which allows for multiple facets of the occurrence to be
revealed and understood. The exploration, over time through detailed, in-depth data
collection involving sources of information rich in context is bounded by time and place
which the case is being studied (Creswell, 1999). This approach consider to cover
contextual conditions which are believe to be relevant happening under research and
sought the focus of the study to answer the in depth reasons of the successes and
challenges in the school engagement of the farm tenants’ children occur (Yin, 2003).
Participants
The main participants of this study were the five (5) pupils who incurred almost
twenty percent (20%) of absences or more from the total number of school days in the
previous school year 2014-2015 and who are noted to have challenges with their
interest and investment in the work of learning. These children are currently enrolled in
a public elementary school district in Digos City, province of Davao del Sur. The
parents, school principal and the teachers of the participants were also included in the
conduct of the research in order to clarify and strengthen the findings of the study.
This study was conducted during the school year 2015-2016. The children were
identified through the following pseudonyms for confidentiality purposes and
backgrounds from the observation and information gathered by the researcher:
Ana (not her real name) is the eldest among the four siblings. She is eleven (11)
years old and in the fifth grade level. She has difficulty on her speech manifested by
stuttering. She is living with her mother and father. Her parents work in a banana farm
doing weeding and cutting. Their house is made of wood, average in size and has
electricity but access to water is quite far from their house. They have a flower garden
at home. There are wide grasslands on the 3 kilometer trail from their house going to
school.
Bea (not her real name) is the youngest among the 3 siblings. She is eleven (11)
years old and in the fifth grade level. She is living with her parents and with her other
siblings who are already married. The educational attainment of her parents is
elementary level. Their house is made of bamboo. Her father is a coconut and banana
planter while her mother assists in the farm. There was no electricity in their house and
the source of water is a free flowing water pipe. Their house is located 4 kilometers

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from the school and on trail were wide rivers. At home, they had a small vegetable
garden and farm animals like goats. The child was observed to be behaved in class.
Oscar (not his real name) is the eldest among the three (3) siblings. He is twelve
(12) years old and in the sixth grade. He stays oftentimes at their farm located at a far
flung mountain to help out in the planting and harvesting of crops and taking care of the
animals. The religion of the child is Islam. At some school days, he stays in the
barangay site, a three (3) kilometer distance from the school. They lived in a dilapidated
old house. They have electricity in their house but it is connected mainly from their
neighborhood. Water is adjacent from their home through a water pump. The child rides
a horse as his means of transportation in going to school. In school, the child was
observed to be a typical type of learner.
Karen (not her real name) is the eldest among the four (4) siblings. She is
eleven (11) years old and in the sixth grade level. At present, she is assisting her mother
to provide for the basic needs of the family because her father was seriously ill and
already bed-ridden. They are living in a small house made of bamboo. It takes four (4)
kilometers for the child to go to school through the rocky road. The child looks very
pitiful as observed by the researcher.
Jay (not his real name) is the eldest child among the 3 siblings in the family. He
is fourteen (14) years of age and in the sixth grade level. The child usually stays on their
small house without electricity at their farm in the mountain to take care of the animals,
guards the field and helps out in the planting and harvesting. At some school days, he
lives in the house of her grandmother with his parents. As observed, the child was
energetic and has a sense of humor. In going to school, it takes him four (4) kilometers
to travel uphill through a horse as his means of transporation.
Sampling Design
This study utilized purposive sampling technique. According to Oliver (2006)
purposive sampling decisions concerning the individuals to be included in the sample
are taken by the researcher, based upon a variety of criteria which may include the
individuals’ knowledge of the research issue, or capacity and willingness to participate
in the research. The researcher was the one who identified the pupils who are farm
tenants’ children through the documents like class attendance records and learners’
profile from the teachers. Consequently, the stakeholders such as the respective parents,
teachers, and school head of the identified pupils were also requested to be included as
the respondents, as the study’s interest is on how best the research questions could be
answered.
Ethical considerations
In order to observe ethical considerations, the participants were given invitation
and information to become part of the study. The participants were given the freedom to
choose to participate or not. Since the participants were minors, the details about the

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study were discussed with their parents or guardians and a formal letter of consent was
signed by them last January 11 to 18, 2016 as proof of their agreement for their children
to participate in the study. Then assent forms during the interview were signed by the
children as evidence of their full participation in the study.
To make the participants feel comfortable and at ease during the interview, it
happen on a quiet and convenient room and the researcher himself facilitated it. The
interviews for the children, teachers and school head were scheduled and conducted
during free time in the afternoon while the parents were visited at their respective
homes. All of the interviews were audio-taped, but respondents were not identified by
their real names instead pseudonyms were utilized for safety and confidentiality
purposes. Bother fees were allocated by the researcher for the parents of the children
after the said interview. The pupils’ personal profile and consent forms were kept on a
locked cabinet. The information that was recorded was considered highly confidential;
therefore no one else except the researcher has access to it. Likewise, based from the
confidentiality agreement of the Divison of Digos City, the researcher saw to it that all
the names of the particpants and any identifying information of the study sites would
not be divulge in the course of this research.
Sources of Data
The gathering of data was categorized as primary and secondary sources. In the
context of primary data source, the researcher developed the interview guide questions
to explore and measure the school engagement of the farm tenants’ children. There
were five (5) questions, contextualized per participant in accordance to the objective of
the study and were validated by an expert. The questions explored the school
engagement of the children with the supporting responses of the parents, teachers and
school head.
Then, the conduct of interview to the children was done individually with the
same questions and processes. Teachers, school head and parents of the participants
were also interviewed to strengthen, clarifiy and validate the responses of the children.
The interview was audio-taped and pseudonyms were used to identify the responses of
the children. Primarily, the responses from the interviewees were the main source of
qualitative data that was utilized in the analysis and findings of the study.
To further strengthen the primary data gathered from the interview, the
researcher utilized the secondary sources such as the attendance records, learners’
academic and behavioral profiles, and conducted document analysis. Also, the
researcher made used of direct observation as a tool that strengthened the consolidation
of the primary and secondary data sources.

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Data Gathering Procedure
In order to obtain the appropriate data, the following steps were observed in the
process:
First, a formal permission to conduct the study was requested from the Dean of
the College of Education of the University of Southeastern Philippines, DepEd Schools
Superintendent of Digos City, District Supervisor and School Principal of the Public
Elementary School where the study was conducted.
Second, the researcher selected the appropriate respondents taking into
consideration the perspective of the study.
Third, the researcher asked the permission of the pupils, parents, teachers and
school head to be part of the study.
Fourth, the researcher developed an interview guide questionnaire and
administered it to the respondents.
Last, the qualitative data gathered from the responses and narratives from the
interviews were transcribed and categorized based on the possible specific factors of
school engagement of farm tenants’ children. Moreover, analysis, common observation
and integration of related literature was utilized to support and clarify the result of the
study.
Data Analysis
The qualitative data gathered were content analyzed through the process of
cross case analysis to increase confidence in ensuring findings. According to Lamnek
(1995), cross case analysis aims to look for general results by exploring common
features and differences of the interviews with regard the contents. Also, it presents the
description and interpretation of several types of solutions to the research question
based on the single cases. Varied instruments such as document analysis and interview
were utilized to derive substantial conclusions. The secondary sources of data support
the primary information gathered. Collective themes related to the purpose of this study
were extracted, interpreted and presented in textual form. The researcher shared the
transcription of the responses to the participants and gave them opportunity to discuss
and clarify the interpretation, and contribute new or additional perspective on the issue
under study (Krefting, 1991).
Results and Discussion
This section presents the result of the study and the discussion of the findings
about the children of farm tenants and their school engagement.

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The successes in the school engagement of the children of farm tenants
Successes in the school engagement of the children refer to the successful
learning interventions, inspired and positive attitudes, acquired learning and
development of skills essential for transition. The verbal responses from the interview
of the main respondents as well as their parents, teachers, and school head were
presented herein.
The learning motivation of the children. The big success in the school
engagement of the children was their motivation to pursue their education in spite of the
varied difficulties that they had experienced in their lives. According to the children,
their engagement of learning in school is manifested through their ability to read, write,
study and count. Also, if not for some home responsibilities they would like to be in
school and learn. This was supported by the statements of three of the respodents:
“Daghan ko ug nakat-unan. Kabalo na ko magsulat ug magbasa” (I learned
many things. I know already how to write and read) [Oscar].
“Nakakat-on ko ug basa og answer sa mga board work.” (I learned to read and
answer in the board work) [Jay].
“Kabalo na ko mubasa ug Filipino ug naa koy nakat-unan sa HEKASI” (I
already know how to read Filipino and I have learned from HEKASI) [Ana].
The responses finds support from the point of view of Wang and Eccles (2012)
that children must actively engaged with their education in order to acquire the
knowledge and skills required for a successful transition.
The parents also stated that although that there are times that they ask for the
help of their children in the farm they still motivate, monitor and encourage their
children to go to school since they know that it is for their future. The parents of the
children shared:
“Basta maayo ang lawas sa akong anak paeskwelahon jud naku siya. Basta
muabsent siya masuko jud ko kay dili jud pwede kay para na sa iyang kaugmaon” (If
my child is in good health, I really encourage her to attend school. I would get mad
whenever she is absent because education will give her a good future.) [Bea’s parent].
“Ginamonitor naku siya ug makabawi man pod sa klase” (I monitored her
performance in class and I observed that she coped with the lessons.) [Karen’s parent].
On the part of the school head and the teachers, if these children are absent
during school days they give them modular activities or worksheets and learning
interventions for them to cope with the lessons. The responses find support with the
idea of Klem and Connel (2004) that engagement in school are linked with positive
outcomes such as improved academic performance, higher grades and test scores and

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improvement of behavior regardless of whether the students come from families that are
advantaged or disadvantaged economically or socially.
The school also developed interventions to address the problem of the children
on the scarcity of their basic needs such as food in the form of feeding program. This
was supported by the statement of the school head of Ana:
“Apil ang bata sa feeding program para busog siya maminaw sa teacher” (The
child is enrolled in the feeding program so that she is full while listening to the teacher).
In the context of giving interventions to the children, the teachers are successful
in this area as stated by Ana and Oscar’s school head:
“Ginaprovidan ang bata ug worksheets if makaabsent ug para makacope-with
sa lessons.” (The child is provided with worksheets if she is absent so she can cope
with the lessons.)
“Kung absent siya kay ginahatagan siya ug worksheets ug remediation para
macope niya ang lesson nga wala niya na-meet” (If he incurred absences, he is given
worksheets and remediation so he can cope cope with the lessons that he missed.)
On the other hand, the efforts of the children in coping with the lessons
whenever they were absent were also evident as stated by the teachers of Ana and Bea:
“Kung makaabsent siya maningkamot siya makaapas sa lessons” (If she is
absent she does her best to cope with the lessons.)
“Nagabuhat jud siya ug assignment” (She is doing her assignment.)
“Nagapangutana siya sa mga lisud nga discussions ug manghiram siya ug mga notes
sa klase kung makaabsent siya” (She inquires about the difficult lessons she borrows
notes from her classmates whenever she is absent.)
Another success story revealed by the children is their enjoyment and positive
experience in school due to the good character of their teachers and classmates. The
experience of the children on the positive classroom atmosphere has an impact in the
optimization of their interest to engage in learning. This was confirmed by the statement
of Karen and Oscar:
“Ganahan ko sa joke ni sir ug sa iyang pagtudlo sa klase. Malingaw pod ko sa
akong mga klasmeyts kanang magkatawa-katawa sila.” (I like the jokes of Sir and his
way of teaching the class. I also enjoy being with my classmates especially when they
laugh.)
“Malingaw pod ko mueskwela kay si Sir sige ug joke.” (I enjoy going to school
because Sir is always cracking jokes).
The result is in line with the findings of Leake (2003) that pupils who feel they
belong have higher degree of intrinsic motivation and academic confidence. This sense

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of belongingness is fostered by an instructor that demonstrates warmth and openness,
encourages learners’ participation, enthusiastic, friendly, helpful, organized and
prepared for classes.
The perseverance and aspirations of the children. The challenges molded the
children to adapt to two defensive moves to succeed; perseverance and aspiration.
Perseverance is the pursuance of education and driving force of the children regardless
of the different challenges of engagement; while aspirations are the undying dreams that
the children wanted to become as a reward of attaining education. This was proven from
the statement of Ana and Oscar:
“Makalampos ko ug eskwela sa college kay gusto ko magmaestra” (I want to
finish college because I want to become a teacher.)
“Ang akong pangandoy kay gusto ko mahuman sa college kay gusto ko
magsundalo” (My dream is to finish college because I want to become a soldier).
Whilst, Karen and Jay’s parents also shared:
“Naningkamot jud siya bahalag pobre mi” (He really works hard though we
are poor.)
“Ang akong pangandoy sa iyaha kay makahuman siya ug eskwela sa college”
(My dream for him is to finish college.)
The children revealed that they have dreams in life such as to become a teacher,
policeman, and soldier. Other children expressed that they wanted to finish school so
that they can provide for the basic needs of their family and to have a good future. They
wished that by the time they have their own family they are already successful. This
was supported by the statement of Jay:
“Gusto naku mahimong sundalo pagkahuman ug college para makatabang ko
sa akong ginikanan para makapalit ug pagkaon” (I want to become a soldier after
college so that I can help my parents provide food for the family.)
“Kung walay trabahuon paeskwelahon jud ko sa akong papa para naay
makat-unan sa klase unya dili magbinugoy aron naay trabaho puhon nga masudlan”
(If there is no work in the farm, my father would really encourage me to attend school
so that I can learn; will not become naughty and so I can find good job in the future.)
The parents of Ana and Jay, likewise stated:
“Gusto niya nga magmaestra kay nakita niya nga maayo ang makahuman kay
makahaw-as sa kawad-on” (She wants to become a teacher because she sees education
alleviates poverty.)
“Muhuman jud daw siya kay kung magminyo daw siya naa siyay ikapakaon sa
iyang pamilya. Magsundalo daw siya inig dako” (He really wants to finish school

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because if he gets married, he can provide food for his family. He wants to become a
soldier.)
This implies that despite the challenges of school engagement, these children
are keeping their dreams alive and exerting effort to be in school because they know
that education alleviates poverty. This finding finds support with the perspective of
Program for International Student Assistant (PISA, 2000) that learners with low
assessment on family structure, literacy skills and socioeconomic income status have
moderate or strong sense of belongingness at school. Also, Jones (2008) stipulated that
to establish connection with a learner, school personnel need to get to know the learner
both inside and outside the classroom. Involving a pupil in discussions about their
learning and goals is important to better understand them. This gives an opportunity to
identify learners’ strengths and needs and this can enhance their experience both in the
classroom and outside. With this, learners will want to engage in school and not feel
they have to.
The specific successes of the school engagement of each child
Ana. In spite of the low socio economic status of Ana’s family, the mother and
teacher stated that the she knows already how to read and write by grade one and she
shows perseverance in school as quoted:
“Kabalo na siya mubasa ug musulat gikan pa sa grade one ug naa jud siyay
nakat-unan. Arangan siya ug utok” (She knows how to read and write since grade one
and she has learnt. She has an average intellect.)
“Kung makaabsent siya maningkamot siya makaapas sa lessons.” (Whenever
she is absent she does her best to cope with the lessons).
Ana particularly learned more and get interested on the subjects, HEKASI and
Filipino as she stated:
“Kabalo nako mubasa ug Filipino ug naa koy nakat-unan sa HEKASI.” (I
already know how to read in Filipino and I have learned from HEKASI).
With this, the teacher stated that Ana belongs to the top ten performing pupils in
class since she effectively copes with the lessons from her absence and she is receptive
to the questions and discussions of the teacher.
The school head affirmed Ana’s parent that their child has an average
intelligence. The school head added that the child was successfully helped through the
learning interventions in the form of modular approach given by the teacher, for her to
cope with the lessons. Ana is also a beneficiary of the feeding program of the local
government as mentioned:

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“Apil ang bata sa feeding program para busog siya maminaw sa teacher.”
(The child is part of the feeding program so that she is full while listening to the
teacher.)
“Ginaprovidan ang bata ug worksheets if makaabsent ug para makacope sa
lessons.” (The child is provided with worksheets whenever she is absent for her to cope
with the lessons.)
The finding agrees with the point of view of Klem and Connell (2004) that
learner engagement has been found to be one of the most robust predictors of student
achievement and behavior in school; a conclusion which holds regardless of whether
students come from families that are advantaged or disadvantaged economically or
socially. Battin-Pearson, Newcomb, Abbott, Hill, Catalano and Hawkins (2000) added
that efforts to increase school engagement by the teacher can have a strong and
persuasive impact on learners’ emotional well-being and academic performance.
Bea. According to the Bea she knows how to read English as she stated:
“Daghan ko ug nakat-unan sa pag-eskwela. Kabalo ko mubasa ug English.” (I
have learned many things in school. I know how to read in English.)
Bea’s parents confirmed that she knows how to read and write in English. They
observed that she studies her lesson and she manifested her basic skills in writing and
reading, as noted:
“Kabalo siya mubasa ug musulat sa English.” (She knows how to read and
write in English).
The mother added that there were times that she can’t give Bea food allowance
due to poverty but still she attends classes since she is intrinsically motivated to finish
school. The mother noted:
“Mueskwela jud siya bisan walay balon ug walay kwarta.” (She really goes to
school even without food or money).
The teacher and the mother have common observations that the child is very
motivated to learn in spite of the distance of their home from the school.
The teacher and school head of Bea affirmed that the child has good intellectual
capacity since she performs well in class and participates at some sports events in
school as noted:
“Maayo ug utok ang bata kay apil siya sa mga achievers.” (She has good brain
because she is one of the achievers.)
“Responsive siya sa mga pangutana nga maraise sa klase.” (She is responsive
to the questions that arise in class.)

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The result finds support on the study of Osterman (2000) that there is relation
between school engagement, learner motivation, self-regulation, and learner attitudes
toward school. Also, the result agrees with the statement of Whitlock (2003) that youth
at school who feel good, perceive meaningful attachment to adults, and posses a sense
of belonging are also more likely to feel engaged, to work harder, and to be involved
with positive activities in and outside of school time.
Oscar. The child prioritizes school despite his extra work in the farm. As
observed by the mother, Oscar has poor intellectual capacity. She guides and makes
follow-up on the performance of the child in school, she quoted:
“Naa siyay nakat-unan pero abaganan naku kay lisud siya makasabot.” (He
has learnings but I need to guide him because he has difficulty in comprehending.)
However, the teacher has a different view. The teacher opined that Oscar has
potentials but he did not perform his best. He is participative and has an average
intellectual capacity in class should he exerts effort for his education. The teacher is
quoted as saying:
“Nagapaningkamot siya kay mugukod ang iyang mga scores sa mga honor
pupils.” (He performs his best because his scores are competitive with those of the
honor pupils.)
This means that the child has potentials to improve more should he attend
regular classes and develop good study habits. The result shows coherence with the
perspective of Guare and Cooper (2003) that parental involvement in a child’s
educational progress is also commonly linked to academic achievement and attendance.
Parental involvement focuses on the behaviors such as reading to a child, checking
homework, ideally monitoring the child’s attendance in school. In addition, Sabates,
Akyeampong, Westbrook & Hunt (2011) enunciated that learners who are doing poorly
in school tend to become disengaged and less motivated. Thus, Wang and Eccles (2012)
stated that these children must be actively engaged with their education in order to
acquire the knowledge and skills for a successful transition into postsecondary
programs and careers.
Karen. Karen’s responses implied that she experienced positive school
engagement. She enjoys going to school, attending classes and she likes her teacher’s
style of cracking joke while teaching the lesson. She shared:
“Ganahan ko sa mga jokes ni Sir ug sa iyang pagtudlo sa klase. Malingaw pod
ko sa akong mga klasmeyts, kanang magkatawa-katawa sila.” (I like Sir’s jokes and his
way of teaching the class. I likewise enjoy my classmates’company especially when
they share laugher.)
The parent, teacher and school head of Karen said that she is doing well in
school. She is one of the top ten in class and she effectively copes with the lessons.

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Karen is motivated, participative and receptive to the questions of the teacher during
discussions though she has incurred many absences. The eacher is quoted as saying:
“Top eight siya last year sa klase ug kung naay questions ang mga teachers
dali siya makatubag.” (She is the top eight in class last year and whenever the teachers
pose questions, she can easily provide the answers.)
The mother noted that the child is very helpful at home like taking care of the
younger siblings. The results finds support with the research of Leake (2003) that pupils
who feel that they belong have higher degree of intrinsic motivation and academic
confidence. The sense of belongingness of learners is fostered by an instructor that
demonstrates warmth and openness, encourages learners’ participation, enthusiastic,
friendly, helpful, organized and prepared for classes. As Kaufman (2011) said, if a
learner feels a personal connection to a teacher, experiences frequent communication
with a teacher, and receives more guidance and praise than criticism from the teacher,
the learner is likely to become trustful of that teacher, show more engagement in the
academic content presented, display better classroom behavior, and achieve at higher
levels academically.
Jay. The child is motivated to finish his education and become a soldier
someday despite his many absences from class. He wants to provide the basic needs of
the family as quoted by the mother:
“Muhuman jud daw siya kay kung magminyo daw siya naa siyay ikapakaon sa
iyang pamilya. Magsundalo daw siya inig dako.” (He really wants to finish school.
According to him if he will get married someday he can provide food for his family. He
wants to become a soldier.)
Jay knows how to read and write. But he is truant in class because he helps with
his father at the farm. Yet, the parents still motivate and encourage the child to attend
school. According to the teacher, the child can easily understand the lessons in
Mathematics since it is the child’s favorite subject as mentioned:
“Dali ra siya makasabot kung naa siya sa klase.” (He can easily comprehends if he is
in class.)
“Most cheerful siya sa klase ug dali ra siya makasabot ug Mathematics lessons.” (He is
cheerful in class and he can easily understand Mathematics lessons.)
The school head revealed that the child through constant follow-up of the
parents had positively responded to the interventions given by the teacher. He has
improved his attendance in school and he was helped out with his academic
performance.
The result finds support with the exemplification of Jones (2008) that to
establish connection with a learner, school personnel need to get to know the learner
both inside and outside the classroom. Involving the pupil in discussions about their

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learning and goals is important to understand them. This gives an opportunity to
identify the learners’ strengths and needs and can enhance their experience both in the
classroom and outside. With this, learners will want to engage in school and not feel
they have to. Also, Klem and Connell (2004) expressed that schools cannot control the
entire social and economic factors affecting disadvantaged children, they can provide
more engaging educational environments with high expectations, skillful instruction,
and the social support that learners need to graduate and pursue post-secondary
education or careers.
The challenges in the school engagement of the children of farm tenants
Challenges refer to the varied difficulties and concerns of school engagement
experienced by the children of farm tenants. The school engagement refers to the active
engagement of children to education in order to acquire the knowledge and skills
required for successful transitions (Wang & Eccles, 2012). The responses of the
children, parents, teachers and school head from the interview explored the challenges
in the school engagement of the children of the farm tenants.
Insufficiency of basic family needs. The challenges encountered by the children
was insufficiency of the basic needs of the family such as food and other basic needs.
Most of the children’s parents are working on a farm that has a very minimal income; it
is not enough to provide the basic needs of the family. The scenario finds support with
the verbalizations from the parent of Bea:
“Manghornal ug naga-uma ko ug mais ug kamote adlaw-adlaw para mabuhi
mi.” (I do grass weeding and farming corn and sweet potato for us to live.)
“Ang akong bana ra ang magtrabaho ug ako kay manghornal usahay” (My
husband has work while I just do grass weeding sometimes.)
It was also stated by the teacher of Ana:
“Sa kawad-on makahunahuna ang bata ug tabang sa ginikanan manglampas
sa sagingan.” (Because of poverty the child considers helping the parents like weeding
at the banana plantation nearby, to augment their very minimal family income.)
The responses find support with what Klem and Connell (2004) stated that
schools cannot control the entire social and economic factors affecting disadvantaged
children. The teachers had revealed that these children don’t attend school since the
parents could not afford to provide for food or monetary allowance for Ana to support
her physical nurturance while studying. The statement of her teacher is quoted herein:
“Makaabsent sa klase ang bata kay walay lung-agun ang ginikanan, ang ilang
kaonun kay lagutmon lang daw.” (The child incurred absences because the parents
couldn’t provide food. They only have steamed root crops.)

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“Maulaw ug dili ganahan mueskwela ang bata kay walay pagkaon ug kwarta.”
(The child is shy and doesn’t want to go to school because she does not have food and
allowance.)
The responses finds support with the theory of Maslow that children will
probably seek something to eat before they engage fully in the process of learning in
school (Mukhtar, 2014). In this connection, some of the children who are highly aware
of their challenges had developed their initiatives to help their parents contribute for the
family’s daily survival. For other children, it is inevitable to help their parents first,
though they wanted to be in school. They believe it is their primary duty to help their
parents first. It was confirmed by the parent of Jay:
“Usahay mutabang siya sa uma kay ingun pa niya naglisud daw kaayu mi.”
(Sometimes he helps in the farm because according to him his help is needed especially
in providing food for the family.)
However, the teacher of Jay has a different observation:
“Ang iyang ginikanan mismo ang mananghid nga paabsenun ang bata kay
naay harbis sa kopras ug gulayan.” (The parents themselves would ask that the child be
absent from class because the parents need the child’s help in the farm.)
These challenges of the children made them adapt defensive moves to alleviate
poverty. They help their parents in the farm to earn some money. This was supported by
the statement of Karen:
“Nagatabang ko sa akong mama ug papa kay wala man mi kwarta.” (I help my
mother and father because we don’t have money).
This implies that the right to education is secondary to the right to survival. The
finding is in coherence with the statement of Makwinja (2010) that children from
agricultural domiciles and poor families are expected to help towards the family
livelihood. Likewise, the Education Policy and Data Center (2010) exemplified that
family’s income level can be a barrier to good transportation, nutritious food, health
care, educational resources at home, and clean and suitable clothing. Limited access to
these goods and services may negatively affect students’ enrolment and attendance in
school.
Physiological health problems of the children. Majority of the children faced the
challenge of the different health conditions. These affected their attendance and
engagement in school. The challenges in the physiological health conditions of the
children are mostly manifested with fever, headache, toothache, scabies and cough. The
scenario finds support with the statement of Jay:
“Ganahan man ko mueskwela pero usahay kalinturahon jud ko ug mag-uboubo
maong muabsent ko kay maulaw na man ko.” (I like to go to school but sometimes
I have fever and cough that is why I incurred absences.)

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The problems on the health condition of the children is considered uncontrolled.
Most of them shared that it is bodily reaction; a manifestation of anxiety of learners
towards the lessons or tests given in school. This was confirmed by the statement of
Ana:
“Maglabad ang akong ulo kung magtest ug usahay ra ko present kay balikbalik
akong kalintura.” (I have headache during test and I am seldom present because
of recurring fever.)
As observed, the students have to travel from home to school. The bad weather
and grasslands while they are on the way to school had caused them to have cough,
fever, scabies and headache. This was affirmed by the statements of Karen and Oscar:
“Nagaabsent ko kay mabasa man ko sa ulan ug kalinturahon ko.” (I am absent
whenever I am soaked by the rain and this caused me fever.)
rain).
“Magsakit ko kay maapsan ko sa ulan.” (I got sick when I am caught by the
The teacher of Ana stated:
“Masakitun siya ug nukahon maong maulaw siya mueskwela.” (She is sickly
and has scabies that is why she is shy to go to school).
The result is in coherence with the study of Murcia (2011) that health is the
primary reason why pupils are absent from their classes.
On the other hand, children need to help their parents at the expense of
accomplishing exhausting and extraneous farm activities that causes them to be sick.
This was supported by the parent of Jay:
“Muabsent siya kung kalinturahon kay init man kaayo tapos maulanan usahay
ug mapasaran kay di kakaon dayun kay unahon pa ang hayop.” (He is absent whenever
he has has fever because of the scorching heat of the sun and at times he is caught by
the rain. He ate late because he has to prioritize the farm animals.)
Attitude towards school and learning. Children felt the difficulty and discomfort
in their engagement in school and in the academic content presented by their teachers.
Oscar and Ana have difficulties in understanding the lessons. They sometimes feel they
do not want to attend school or they avoid from the discussion. The children
experienced the discomfort in learning because they are always absent. This situation
was revealed from the response of Ana:
“Maglisud man ko ug sabot sa mga lessons.” (I have difficulty understanding
the lessons.)

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Similarly the parent of Oscar made this statement:
“Murag naglikay siya sa klase kay maglisud siya ug sabot. Kabalo-kabalo man
siya pero lisud siya pasabton.” (It seems that he is avoiding the class because he has
difficulty understanding the lessons.)
The parents however, stated that the children have poor study habits. They said
that it is the nature of a child to play and watch television after a very long day in school
but sometimes it becomes excessive already and they can no longer focus and cope with
the lessons. This was supported with their statements:
“Sa among balay dili kaayu na siya nagastudy kay magdula man.” (At home,
she doesn’t study much because she plays.)
“Inig balik niya gikan sa pag-absent dili ko sigurado kung nakaapas akong
anak sa klase. Mahadlok ko kay graduating na siya pero wala siyay nakat-unan.”
(Coming back from his absence, I am not sure if my child coped with the lessons. I am
afraid because he is graduating but it seemed he doesn’t learn anything.)
The teacher of Oscar could also attest:
“Panagsa ra siya magstudy.” (He seldom studies.)
The child’s good study habits and attitude towards learning are influenced by
their peers. Jay was influenced by his peers. He has adopted the values and behaviors
imposed by his peers. They choose to cut classes and this has an effect on their
attendance and academic performance. This was consistent with the statements of the
teacher of Jay:
“Nagacutting classes ni siya kuyog ang iyang mga barkada maong hina sa
klase.” (He and his peers cuts classes that is why he is slow in class.)
“Magcutting class ni siya after first period kay madala man sa barkada kay di
pod kaayo ginamonitor sa ginikanan.” He cuts class after the first period because he is
influenced by the peers and the parents lacked monitoring.)
The responses find support with the perspective of Fredricks, Blumenfield, and
Paris (2004) that disengagement in school can be manifested by behavior (e.g., doing
school work, not skipping school), cognitive (e.g., motivation, effort, desire to master
tasks) and emotional (e.g., interest, attitudes, attitudes towards school, teachers and
appreciation for success).
Stressful family events. The factor of stressful family events was mentioned by
the children. These also posed challenge for their engagement in school. It is stressful
for a family especially for a child to do assume adult responsibilities that they are not
familiar, used to or even ready.

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Stressful family events occur when the head of the household as the main
provider experiences serious illness as shared by Karen.
“Wala na nagatrabaho akong papa kay nagsakit ug over-fatigue ug nagahigda
na lang kay gibikugan siya. Gipaadmit akong papa pero walay findings ang doctor ug
ang nagatambal na lang kay ang silingan namu. Wala na siyay trabaho gikan pa atong
August last year.” (My father doesn’t work anymore because he experiences muscle
strains and is sick; he is already bed-ridden. My father was hospitalized but there were
no findings from the doctor. Now, our neighbor is treating my. He hasn’t work since
August last year.)
It is very stressful when the sole provider of the family is sick. It is even more
stressful for Karen to consider two roles: a learner and an unready provider of the
family, who assumes the role of an adult. This had affected her attendance in school.
This was also experienced by Jay:
“Luoy kaayu akong mama sa iyang pagtrabaho sa uma kay kadtong bag-o pa
siya giibtan ug ngipon unya nang-guna sa luy-ahan maong nabughat ug nahospital ug
ako na lang nagtiwas ug guna kay dako man ang area.” (I pitied my mother because
she worked in the farm even though she had just her tooth extracted. She was
hospitalized, so I took over in the weeding because the area was wide.)
Another stressful family event is when a child sees that their older siblings,
instead of helping the family are dependent, which causes additional financial burden.
This was shared by the teacher of Bea:
“Ang iyang igsoon nga mga minyo naa gihapon nagpuyo sa ilang balay ug
nagsalig sa ginikanan.” (Her other siblings who are married are still living in their
house and dependent with their parents).
The responses finds support with the idea of Kearney (2008) that stressful
family events cause for parents to shift their attention to other priorities or problems
other than school. The family may meet financial distress and incapable in providing
the needs of the child which can negatively affect academic achievement and increase
days of absences.
Home responsibilities of the child. Children dealt with home responsibilities in
a two way scenarios. First, it is when parents are present at home that the child needs to
attend to household chores and second when the parents are away for work in the farm
that made the responsibility of the child heavy and heightened. The children had shared
that before going to school they must first accomplish the daily house chores assigned
to them at home such as taking care of the younger siblings, fetching water, and
cooking. Jay stated:
“Maong sige ko ug absent kay grabe ang trabaho sa balay.” (I am always
absent because of the many tasks at home.)

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“Usahay muingon akong papa nga dili sa ko mueskwela para mutabang ug
pangopras.” (My father will tell me not to go to school so I can help in the copra.)
“Magpruning ko sa mangga halos taga-adlaw kay di man pwede pabagnutan.”
(I prun the mangos almost every day because it should not be overgrown with grass.)
This was in conformity with the statements of the parents of Karen and Oscar:
“Usahay makabantay siya sa iyang mga manghud kung naa koy importante
nga lakaw.” (Sometimes, she takes care of her younger sibling if I have an important
thing to attend to.)
“Sugu-on naku siya ug pangabo ug tubig ug lung-ag kay lisud kaayu kung
magtrabaho pa ko human sa tibook adlaw nga trabaho sa bukid.” (I asked him to fetch
water and cook rice because I am already very exhausted after a day in the farm.)
The school head of Ana and Karen shared:
“Ginapabantay siya sa iyang manghud maong makaabsent.” (She is tasked to
take care of her younger siblings that is why she is absent.)
“Dili siya palak-wun kung dili mahuman ang trabahuon sa balay maong dugay
siya maabot sa eskwelahan.” (She is not allowed to go to school if she cannonot finish
the house chores; the reason why she is late in going to school.)
This was confirmed by the teacher of Karen:
“Makaabsent siya kay kung muadto ug uma iyang mama; siya ang nagabantay
sa iyang manghud nga gamay kung naay harbis” (She incurred absences whenever her
mother goes to the farm during harvest time; she takes care of her younger siblings.)
It was revealed that home responsibilities of the children are not only at home
but also carried and extended on the farm lands where their parents are working. The
teacher, school head, parents and even the child revealed that their tasks is to take care
of the farm animals and to help in the planting and harvesting of the crops. With this,
children sacrifice their attendance and learning in school because the parents are asking
them to be absent to do farm works for survival. This was supported by the statement of
Karen and Oscar:
“Nagaabsent ko katulo sa usa ka-semana kay patabangon ko ug cutting ug
saging sa tabok.” (I am absent three times in a week because I am asked to help in the
cutting of banana in the neighboring farm.)
“Nagaabsent og malate ko kay pabalhinun ko ug hayop. Manggalay og
mangharbis pod ko ug kamote. Basta ting-tanum ug harbis makaabsent jud ko.” (I
incurred absences and tardies because I take care of the animals. I also harvest sweet
potatoes. If it is planting and harvesting time, I am also absent from school.)

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The teacher of Karen also stated:
“Malate siya kay siya ang nagatugway sa ilang hayop ug siya ang
nagapanghugas sa mga plato.” (She is late because she is the one taking care of their
animals and she also washes the dishes first before going to school.)
While according to Jay’s parent:
“Naga-absent siya kung magpugas mi kay patabangun namu ug nagabalhin
pod siya u g hayop.” (He is absent when we do planting since we asked him to help t
and he takes care of the animals.)
And Karen’s parent said:
“Panagsa makaabsent siya kung magcutting mi ug saging.” (She is absent
when there is cutting of banana.)
The result finds support with the perspective of Sabates et al. (2011) that older
children are tend to be removed from school more often to help the family meet the
basic survival needs. This implies that children become the collaborators of their
parents in assuming and accomplishing responsibilities both at home and at the farm for
the survival of the family.
Geographical access to school. The children shared their challenging
experiences about their geographical access to school that affected their engagement.
Majority of them revealed that they felt uncomfortable, exhausted, unsafe, and
sometimes sick in going to school because of the 3 to 4 kilometers in going to school,
unpredictable weather condition and rocky trail. It was revealed that flood sometimes
occurred and it is very dangerous. The parents of Bea said:
“Basta magbaha musinggit na siya sa atbang nga mutabok siya maong
musubay siya ug laing dalan.” (In case of flood she shouts to give notice that she is
about to pass through another trail.)
The teacher of Bea also quoted as saying:
“Wala siyay kauban muuli maong mahadlok siya mubaklay nga siya ra isa.”
(She doesn’t have company in going home so she is scared in walking alone.)
With this, they become sick because they got soaking wet in going to school or
even in going home and it gave a feeling of fear on the child. The children said that the
far geographical access to school caused them exhaustion, disinterest, and even wound
irritations. Bea and Jay stated:

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“Ang among dalan kay batoon ug usahay kusog kaayu ang baha maong lisud
labangun.” (Our road is rocky and the flood is heavy at times, so it is difficult to pass
through it.)
“Layo kaayu ang bukid ug dili ko ganahan magpundo didto.” (The mountain is
too far and I don’t want to stay their.)
The teacher of Ana added:
“Ang iyang absent kay maabot ug tulo ka adlaw sa isa ka semana tungod sa
dapaw ug layo nga dalan nga iyang latasun taga-adlaw.” (She incurred three day
absences in one week because of the grassy trail that she walks on everyday.)
If not absent, the children is late because it will take them time from home to
school. This was affirmed by the statements of the teacher and school head of Bea:
“Naay panahon nga dili makatungha ang bata kay medyo layo ang distansya
sa ilang balay ug mutabok pa siya ug dako nga sapa mga makapakapoy sa iyang
lawas.” (There are times that the child can’t attend school because of the distance of
their house from school and she needs to go through a wide river that caused her to get
tired.)
And the teacher of Karen stated:
“Malate siya inig ka buntag kay layu ilang balay.” (She is late in the morning
because her house is far from school.)
And the school head of Bea shared:
“Layo kaayu ni siya ug balay ug kapoyun ug laayun maong makaabsent.” (Her
house is very far from school and it made her exhausted, that’s why she incurred
absences).
This implies that geographical access has been a primordial problem that
hampers the education of the child. In addition, it is not just the education of the child
that is affected but also the personal safety of the child. The result finds coherence with
the finding of the Education Policy and Data Center (2010) that when schools are not
readily accessible, families tend not to send their children especially girls to school
because of safety concerns and extra time and expense travel. Also, Cook and Ezenne
(2010) expressed that communities with poor transportation system makes it harder for
students to report in school.
The specific challenges of the school engagement of each child
Ana. Ana incurred absences from school due to frequent fever and headaches.
The reason was confirmed by her mother that Ana is sickly based on her statements:
“Nagaabsent akong anak kay kasagaran kalinturahon.” (My child is always
absent because she usually experienced fever.)

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“Akong kabalak-an kay sige ug labad ang iyang ulo.” (My worry is that she
always complian of headache.)
As the teacher revealed that aside from the episodes of headache and fever Ana
also has scabies on her legs caused by the grasslands on trail to school:
“Masakitun siya ug nukahon maong maulaw siya mueskwela.” (She is sickly
and has scabies that is why she is shy to go to school).
The teacher of Ana stated that the child’s family has poor socioeconomic status
and she further mentioned that there were times that the child has neither allowance nor
food:
“Makaabsent sa klase ang bata kay walay lung-agun ang ginikanan, ang ilang
kaonun kay lagutmon lang daw.” (The child is absent in class because the parents can’t
provide food for the child and instead they eat steamed root crops.)
“Maulaw ug dili ganahan mueskwela ang bata kay walay pagkaon ug
kwarta.” (The child is shy and doesn’t want to go to school because she does not have
food and monetary allowance.)
The child is sickly since she lacked the food that would give her energy for
school. As a result, Ana prefers to help her mother in gathering fire woods to be sold
and sometimes when the parents are not around due to their work in the farm, Ana was
tasked to take care of the younger siblings.
The result supports the finding of Misha (2003) that students with health
problems are at risk for chronic school disengagement. Teachers have the tendency to
be unfamiliar with their conditions, which can contribute to misunderstanding,
misattributions, and negative perceptions of students’ behaviors. Also the family of Ana
has a disadvantaged socioeconomic background that according to Cardoso and Vernon
(2007) can affect access to reliable goods (e.g. nutritious food) and services (health
care) that may negatively affect the learners’ school enrollment and attendance. James,
Jenks and Prout (1998) added that children’s work within the family is considered to be
less harmful and is considered to be appropriate. However, sometimes children suffer
from impaired health problem and development due to heavy tasks left by the parents at
home.
Bea. The common responses revealed that Bea experienced fever and headache
due to the exhaustive travel caused by the geographic access to school and sometimes
floods in times of rainy seasons as stated:
“Ang among dalan kay batoon ug kusog kaayu ang baha kung muulan maong
lisud labangun.” (Our road is rocky and when it rains, it easily floods making it
difficult to pass through.)

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The teacher added that geographic access to school contributed for Bea to
sometimes feel unsafe in traveling as stated:
“Wala siyay kauban muuli maong mahadlok siya mubaklay nga siya ra isa.”
(She doesn’t have company in going home that made her scared to walk home alone.)
Also, the mother revealed that the older siblings of Bea got married at an early
age and still living with the parents. With this, the scenario suggests that the family has
ow socioeconomic status as stated:
“Maningkamot jud siya para sa iyang kaugmaon kay nakita jud niya kung unsa among
kalisud kay nasud-ong gyud niya ang iyang mga igsoon nga walay grado.” (She needs to exert
effort for her future because she sees how poor we are and her older siblings do not have
education.)
This was supported by the idea of the teacher:
“Ang iyang igsoon nga mga minyo naa gihapon nagpuyo sa ilang balay ug
nagsalig sa ginikanan.” (Her married siblings are still living in their house and
dependent to their parents.)
The result corroborates with the finding of the Education Policy and Data
Center (2010) that geographic access to school becomes a hindrance in the optimization
of student engagement in school. School disengagement exists when schools are not
readily accessible because of safety concerns, extra time and expense of travel and
effort. Also, Klem and Connell (2004) stipulated that learners from disadvantaged
backgrounds in high poverty are particularly susceptible to the negative consequences
associated with being disengaged from school. These learners are less likely to
graduate, increase their risk of unemployment in the future, poverty, poor health and
involvement in the criminal justice system. Eldring, Nakanyane and Tshoaedi (2000)
added that as long as household income is too low to meet the basic needs, it is
inconceivable that a household will financially support education activities.
Oscar. The parent of Oscar stated that he takes care of the farm animals as
follows:
“Kung dili siya mueskwela kay atimanon niya ang baka ug kabaw.” (If he
doesn’t go to school, he takes care of the cow and carabao).
Oscar shared that he experienced fever due to heavy rain while working on
the farm as stated:
rain).
“Magsakit ko kay maapsan ko sa ulan.” (I got sick when I am caught by the
The parent added, that Oscar also helps in the extraneous house chores at home
such as fetching water as quoted:

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“Sugu-on naku siya ug pangabo ug tubig ug lung-ag kay lisud kaayu kung
magtrabaho pa ko pagkahuman ug trabaho tibook adlaw sa bukid.” (I asked him to
fetch water and cook rice since it is difficult for me to work at home after a heavy work
in the farm the whole day.)
Oscar shared that he incurs absences and tardiness because he helps his parents
during harvest time at some school days as quoted:
“Nagaabsent ug malate ko kay pabalhinun ko ug hayop. Manggalay ug
mangharbis pod ko ug kamote. Basta ting-tanum ug harbis makaabsent jud ko.” (I
incurred absences and tardies because I take care of the animals. I also harvest sweet
potatoes. If it is planting and harvesting time, I am absent in school.)
With this, it can be figured out that Oscar lacked study habits and
comprehension during class discussions as revealed by his teacher and the school head.
Oscar spends more time at home to do house chores and help in the farm during harvest
time as they stated:
“Panagsa ra siya magstudy.” (He seldom studies.)
“Malate ang bata ug usahay dili na lang musulod kay ginapatabang siya sa
iyang ginikanan sa trabahuon sa balay.” (The child is late and sometimes doesn’t go to
school anymore because he helps his parents in the household chores).
The result is in coherence with the perspective of Huisman and Smits (2012)
that large families have more members whose basic needs must be met. When this is the
case, students may be kept at home to help. Also, in emergent nations, older and nonbiological
children tend to be removed from school more often to help the family meet
the basic survival needs. The Center on Education Policy (2008) also insinuated that
learners who put little effort to school work are unlikely to benefit from better
standards, curriculum, and instructions unless schools, teachers, and parents take steps
to address their lack of motivation. Also, the result finds support with the statement of
Makwinja (2010) that children are usually treated as mini-adults. From an early age,
children perform tasks at home, such as sweeping or fetching water. In the course of
pursuing education and better living, such children are subjected to most of the
household work.
Karen. The responses suggest that the school engagement of Karen was
challenged by a stressful family event where the father was seriously ill and bed-ridden
as stated by the child:
“Wala na nagatrabaho akong papa kay nagsakit ug over-fatigue ug nagahigda
na lang kay gibikugan siya.” (My father doesn’t work anymore because he has overfatigue;
he is already bed-ridden and experienced muscle strains) and “Gipaadmit
akong papa pero walay findings ang doctor ug ang nagatambal na lang kay ang
silingan namu. Wala na siyay trabaho gikan pa atong August last year.” (My father
was hospitalized but there were no findings from the doctor and now our neighbor is
treating him. He hasn’t since August last year.)

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With this, Karen needs to do the responsibility of taking care of her younger
siblings when the mother is in the farm and also she helps in the harvest of banana at
some school days that made her absent in class. This was supported by the statement of
her teacher:
“Makaabsent siya kay kung muadto ug uma iyang mama siya ang nagabantay
sa iyang manghud nga gamay kung naay harbis.” (She incurred absences because when
her mother goes to the farm for harvest, she takes care of her younger sibling).
The teacher and the school head revealed that Karen was tardy in coming to
class since she needed to accomplish daily house chores first such as washing the dishes
and taking care of the animals before going to school as stated:
“Malate siya kay siya ang nagatugway sa ilang hayop ug siya ang
nagapanghugas sa mga plato.” (She is late because she is the one taking care of their
animals and she also washes the dishes first.)
“Dili siya palakawun kung dili mahuman ang trabahuon sa balay maong
dugay siya maabot sa eskwelahan.” (She is not allowed to go to school without
finishing the house chores that is why she is late in going to school).
The result suggests what Kearney (2008) mentioned that stressful family events
such as illness and unemployment may shift parents’ focus to priorities other than
school. The family may not have the resources (e.g. time and money) to help their
children during these stressful events which can affect academic achievement and
increase the risk of absenteeism or leaving school altogether. Also, Makwinja (2010)
corroborated that children mainly from agricultural domiciles and poor families are
expected to help towards the family livelihood. Children worked on the family farm
where they pulled weeds, planted seeds and harvested crops. Household activities are
carried over to the farm as they are perceived helpful to the parents to earn money to
help provide the basic needs.
Jay. The responses implied that Jay was asked by his father to assist in planting
ginger and sweet potato at some school days as quoted:
“Usahay muingon akong papa nga dili sa ko mueskwela para mutabang ug
pangopras.” (My father will tell me not to go to school so I can help in the copra
harvest.)
The mother and the teacher responded that Jay helps during harvest time in the
farm and takes care of the animals that made him absent in school as they stated:
“Naga-absent siya kung magpugas mi kay patabangun namu ug nagabalhin
pod siya ug hayop.” (He is absent when we do planting since we asked him to help and
he also takes care of the animals.)

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“Ang iyang ginikanan mismo ang mananghid nga paabsenun ang bata kay
naay harbis sa kopras ug gulayan.” (The parents of the child ask for permission for the
child to be absent since they need to help in the harvest of the copra and vegetables.)
Also, other reasons shared by the teacher and the school head that Jay was
negatively influenced by his peers. This affected his attendance and behavior in class.
This caused him to have poor academic performance based on their verbalizations:
“Magcutting class ni siya after first period kay madala man sa barkada kay di
pod kaayo ginamonitor sa ginikanan.” (He cutts class after the first period because he
was influenced by his peers and the parents lacked monitoring.)
“Nagacutting classes ni siya kuyog ang iyang mga barkada maong hina sa
klase.” (He cuts classes with his peers that is why he is slow in class).
The result agrees with Arunatilake’s (2006) statement that families in which the
head of the household is involved in subsistence activity such as agriculture may be
more affected than low-income families with subsistence jobs. Subsistence activity such
as agriculture tends to be in season while school is in session. In the context of peer
influence, Kearney (2008) stated that fitting in as a form of negative peer influence
affects school engagement. Fitting in means participating in gangs and gang related
activities such as drinking alcohol, drug use, fighting, and being truant in school.
The school engagement of the children of farm tenants
Figure 2 shows the result of the study. It centers on school engagement of the
children of farm tenants which the challenges and successes interplay. The demographic
profile of the pupils who participated in the study was also explored to identify the
characteristics of the respondents and as the basis for their justification as participants
of the research. The experiences and involvements of the children of farm tenants
towards learning process in school are affected by the trials and triumphs they had met
at home and school.
The challenges in school engagement of children of farm tenants are the
following: insufficiency of basic family needs, physiological health problems, attitude
towards learning, at home responsibilities of the child, stressful family events, and
geographical access to school. In the context of the challenges, it agrees with the
statement of Klem and Connell (2004) that learners from disadvantage backgrounds in
high poverty are particularly susceptible to negative consequences such as
unemployment, poverty, poor health, and involvement in criminal justice system. Also,
the result finds support with the statement of Arunatilake (2004) that children with
parents that are involved in subsistence work such as agriculture may stay home to help
with household responsibilities or assist with the harvest to help the family financially.
On the contrary, according to the Education Policy and Data Center (2010)
learners that are well supported by parents financially and emotionally are fortunate
since they had a greater opportunity to develop their potentialities and knowledge and

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unfortunate for those in the opposite. Makwinja (2010) added that parents are caught
up in a dilemma between sending their children to school and sending them to work for
their survival. Eventually, children are allowed to work and to contribute to the
immediate household provisions such as food, clothing and shelter. This implies that the
right to education becomes secondary to the right to survival.
On the other hand, the successes in school engagement of children of farm
tenants are the following: learning motivation of the child and, perseverance and
aspiration. It was found out from the responses that despite the socioeconomic
background of the family of the children and the different hindrances in life they still
have the motivation to pursue their education and dreamt of fulfilling their aspirations
in life. This finding is in coherence with the study of the Program for International
Student Assessment (PISA, 2000) that revealed that 75% of all learners have a
moderate or strong sense of belonging at school, even though they are from low
socioeconomic families or have weak literacy skills. It reveals that the school
engagement of the children of farm tenants is defined based on their experiences of
challenges and successes.
Challenges
• Insufficieny of basic
family needs
• Physiological health
problems of the
children
• Attitude towards school
and learning
• Stressful family events
• At home
responsibilities of the
child
• Geographical access to
school
School
engagement
of the children
of farm tenants
Successes
• Learning Motivation
of the Child
• Perseverance and
Aspiration
Figure 1. The final conceptual framework of the study.

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The contributions of the school and community toward
the school engagement of the children of farm tenants
It is the primary duty of the school and the community to develop the holistic
potentials and skills in every learner within its scope. It is an undeniable fact that the
role of the community is to contribute to the betterment of the economic welfare of its
citizen and the school as an institution has the responsibility to mold every learner to
develop them to their fullest potentials and become competent individuals in the future
ready for the world. Hence, the beauty of life and education of the children of farm
tenants cannot be enlivenend unless these entities have made early precautions and
program of interventions.
In the academic aspect, it was evident from the responses that the children of
farm tenants had a hard time in attending school caused by specific factors. The school
with the particular initiative of the school head and the teachers had developed
interventions such as home visitations to know the condition of the children, modular
approach and remedial classes for them to cope with the lessons that they missed, and
the alternative delivery program of the Department of Education. Enclosed to DepEd
Order No. 54, series of 2012 was the implementation of Alternative Delivery Mode
(ADM) that enabled the school to deliver quality education to marginalized pupils and
those at risk of dropping out in order to help them overcome personal, social and
economic constraints in their schooling. On the other hand, the community had
effectively collaborated services for the optimization of learning that were manifested
by the barangay tanod through the security and safety measures provided, the donations
of learning resources from Local Government Units (LGUs) and the delivery of 4P’s of
the National Government that intend to allocate financial budget to poor but deserving
and potential learners.
In the physiological aspect of the children, it was mentioned by the teachers and
school head that the school is conducting feeding programs and deworming activities in
cooperation of the Department of Health (DOH) were viewed essential for the physical
and mental soundness of the children. These activities enable the learners to focus on
their lessons with full and healthy stomach. In the context of the community, the Local
Government Units (LGUs) had iniated free medical check-up to the parents and the
children.
Livelihood programs and orientations as the highlight contribution of the
community to the parents were given through the linkages of the community officials
with government agencies such as the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Department
of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). Through these agencies parents were
given free planting seeds, fertilizers and seminars to improve the agricultural lands in
their community.
In the context of enhancing positive parent-child relationship, the school is
intensifying the conduct of parenting seminar at the end of a grading period, giving

198 | P a g e
emphasis on family day celebrations, parent-teacher case conferences, and the teachers’
regular monitoring and feedbacking to the parents of the behavioral and academic
performance of the children.
Conclusions and Recommendations
The responses of the participants foretell that in spite of the poor socioeconomic
background of the families of the children and with the different challenges that they
underwent, they still have the motivation to pursue their education and fulfil their
dreams. Endeavors in their lives fuelled their passion to succeed. The insufficiency of
the basic family needs was the root cause of the challenges in the school engagement of
the farm tenants’ children. Because of poverty, the right to education becomes
secondary to the right to survival. The intervention programs conducted by the school
and community to optimize the school engagement of the children were viewed as
effective tools to develop defensive moves to succeed. Emotional atttachments and
economic improvements were
In the light of the results and the conclusions drawn from the study, the
following recommendations are offered: Continuing programs for parents, together with
the teachers should be conducted to emphasize that an engaging school environment is
highly essential to the learning of the farm tenants’ children. This should be initiated by
the School Head in a form of seminar workshops and parenting sessions to optimize the
attendance and identify the challenges in the school engagement of the farm tenants’
children; A program of intervention to be facilitated by the classroom advisers in the
form of home visitation program should be conducted to further identify the unexplore
challenges and successes in the school engagement of the farm tenants’ children;
Homeroom Guidance Program for the children should be integrated by the class adviser
so that they can strengthen their engagement in school and regulate their absences and
tardiness; Linking with other government agencies and non-government organization
should be steered by the administrator and teachers in order to minimize the causes of
chronic disengagement of the farm tenants’ children and positively support the
livelihood of the parents; The Alternative Delivery Mode (ADM) stipulated in DepEd
Order No. 54 series of 2012 should be effectively implemented by the school heads; and
Further studies should be done on how the farm tenants’ children can enrich their
engagement in school; likewise studies should explore the interplay between successes
and challenges of school engagement so that in-depth implications can be achieved.
Further, the study should be replicated in the secondary and tertiary levels of the
schools of the provinces to expand the body of knowledge in this particular area.
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The Role of the Cooperating Teachers on the Preservice Teachers’ Early Careers
Velma S. Labad
Abstract
Student internship is one essential component of teacher education
program. It provides preservice teachers practice to play the role of
teacher; to teach a subject matter, to guide students, and to take charge of
administrative tasks in real schools (Baek & Ham, 2009). However,
scarcity of studies on this field is quite obvious, specifically among HEI
(Higher Education Institution) in the Philippines’ Southern Mindanao,
more so on the voices of the cooperating teachers, thus this endeavor. This
study aimed to find out the role of the cooperating teachers’ (CT) on the
preservice teachers’ early careers. This is a qualitative research employing
grounded theory design. Triangulation was likewise observed via
document analyses. It involved ten (10) CTs randomly selected among
those who passed the initial criteria. Interview guide was crafted which
underwent validation and reliability testing. Data gathering strictly
adhered to the ethical considerations using human subjects. Results
revealed that (a) CTs did not have adequate training and preparation to
become mentors; (b) their conceptions of student teacher supervision
revolved around mentor-mentee relationships, where they regard
themselves as the significant others of the preservice teachers’ early
careers. The study highly recommends that HEIs and DepEd should
design a program that would provide training/preparation; enhance beliefs
and clarifies some supervision models for CTs total development.
Keywords/phrases: friend, guide, resource person, experienced professional, role model
Introduction
The teachers today are challenged to meet the demands of the 21 st century
classrooms. This demand requires novice teachers to be ready to perform as veterans the
first day on the job. To face these challenges teacher education institutions (TEI) need to
reexamine their courses to ensure their preservice teachers are ready to meet the demands
of today’s classrooms (Grieco, 2011).
One of the courses offered by the TEIs is the Practicum (Educ 11) where student
teachers practice the art of teaching in real school context with student teachers assigned
to one teacher and class for specific block of time (Zeichner, 1996 in Tuli & File, 2009).
This practice allows students to experience current work place conditions, internal and
external factors influencing current structural/organizational features and the impact of
school planning processes on classroom practices in relation to curriculum, evaluation
and pedagogy (Groundwater-Smith, 1996 in Tuli & File, 2009).

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This practice has been observed by the College of Education since the BSEd-
English (Bachelor of Secondary Education major in English) program had started.
However, to date no study has been conducted to find out whether it meets the intended
outcomes. Every year, a memorandum of agreement is signed between the College of
Education, University of Southeastern Philippines (USeP) and the Department of
Education (DepEd) for the preservice teachers to undergo their practicum in the former.
The cooperating teachers are those from DepEd. They were chosen by the subject area
coordinators with the approval of the principals.
The practice of engaging the services of DepEd teachers to mentor preservice
teachers is an accepted fact. Whether they understand their role has no moment. But this
case has to be considered in the light of Cherian’s (2007) pronouncement that the roles
mentors are expected to perform and how they perform them, are not well documented in
current research. And this view was supported by Hall, Draper, Smith, and Bullough, Jr.
(2008), who pointed out that those being asked to mentor often have a different
understanding of how to perform this task from those who organize the relationship.
Moreover, the study of Neville, Sherman, and Cohen (2005 in Ralph, Walker, &
Wimmer, 2007) found that: “… the richness and value of the clinical experience vary
depending on the quality of the supervisor and the amount of time she or he spends
monitoring and coaching the student. In education, clinical experiences are often
reported to be limited, disconnected from university coursework, and inconsistent” (p.
13).
Several studies also echo these disturbing findings related to school practicums
(Lingam, 2012; Queensland Education, 2000; Turney, Eltis, Towler, & Wright, 1982,
1985). Some highlighted the negative impacts of the practicum in areas such as
supervision, which was often too irregular and sparse, and supervisors were often rushed,
consequently not providing adequate advice and guidance to the trainees (Beck & Kosnik,
2002). Turney et al. (1985) point out that the practicum segments are “narrow in scope,
lacking in purpose, haphazard in organization . . . too generalized, repetitive and
differentiated”, and may cause negative effects in trainees’ preparation for school work.
These findings are alarming in the light of the College of Education’s practicum
subject. For starters, the nagging question is whether the cooperating teachers (CTs) who
are from DepEd have a clear idea of their roles as CTs; is there a mutual understanding
between the university professors and the CTs on how the latter’s role be played. To
clarify the roles of the CTs would be beneficial for the college to identify inservice
teachers who can assist the preservice teachers (PSTs) (Grieco, 2011) these issues shall be
threshed out in this study.
Literature Review
The literature presented herein supports the proposition of the study. The
presentation proceeds in this sequence: (a) mentoring defined, (b) mentoring and
supervising differentiated, (c) mentoring skills, and (d) preparing mentors.

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Mentoring defined. Smith (2007, p. 277 in Ambrosetti, & Dekkers, 2010) defines
mentoring as “a particular mode of learning wherein the mentor not only supports the
mentee, but also challenges them productively so that progress is made.” Whilst,
Fairbanks, Freedman and Kahn (2000 in Ambrosetti, & Dekkers, 2010) define mentoring
in teacher education as ‘complex social interactions that mentor teachers and student
teachers’ construct and negotiate for a variety of professional purposes and in response
to the contextual factors they encounter’ (p.103). Mentoring can likewise be described as
an intense interpersonal relationship (Kram, 1985 in Ambrosetti, & Dekkers, 2010) and
Smith (2007 in Ambrosetti, & Dekkers, 2010) notes that mentoring is a process which
develops the whole person, rather than parts. Kwan and Lopez (2005, p.276 in
Ambrosetti, & Dekkers, 2010) view mentoring as ‘both a relationship and a process’.
Moreover, Acheson and Gall (1997 in Taylor, 2004) referred mentoring as a
clinical supervision because the primary goal of clinical supervision is the professional
development of the preservice or inservice teacher. It requires that those involved work
“side by side” in a relationship “where both participants look at factual information,
analyze, interpret, and make decisions as colleagues rather than adversaries” (p. 9).
Mentoring is acknowledged as a tool for professional transformation and gives credence
to the relationship basis of the mentee (preservice teacher) and mentor (cooperating
classroom teacher) (Hudson & Millwater, 2008).
Mentoring and supervising differentiated. Supervising involves ‘the roles of
teacher, boss, assessor, counsellor and expert’, whereas mentoring involves ‘assisting,
befriending, guiding, advising and counselling’ (Bray & Nettleton, 2006, p. 849 in
Ambrosetti, & Dekkers, 2010). Mentoring generally involves supporting and providing
feedback to the mentee without judgement or criteria. Walkington (2005b in Ambrosetti,
& Dekkers, 2010) argued that assessment is associated with supervising not mentoring:
that is, supervisors make a judgement on the novices’ performance, whereas mentors do
not. Hudson and Millwater (2006 in Ambrosetti, & Dekkers, 2010) describe supervision
as having the key purpose of assessment performance, whereas mentoring is about
building trust within a relationship. In this respect, Sanford and Hopper (2000 in
Ambrosetti, & Dekkers, 2010) claim that the term ‘supervision’ has negative
connotations: that one needs watching or that something needs to be fixed and also note
that there is a hierarchical system within supervision: the supervisor has power over the
protégé. Zeegers (2005 in Ambrosetti, & Dekkers, 2010) describes supervision as an
outdated practical model, but notes that pre-service teachers need to develop specific
skills and competencies in process of learning to teach.
Despite the highlighted differences between mentoring and supervision, mentors
in pre-service teacher education engage in both mentoring and supervisory roles. Mentors
nurture the development of the mentee through building rapport (Hudson & Millwater,
2008 in Ambrosetti, & Dekkers, 2010). They also use such interpersonal functions as
supporting, advising, empathizing and role modelling, (Hall et al., 2008). However as a
requirement of the professional placement as set by the university, mentors assess the
functional competencies of the mentee (Walkington, 2005b in Ambrosetti, & Dekkers,
2010).

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Mentoring skills. Mentoring dialogue in field-based practicum is an important
strategy for helping pre-service teachers develop professional knowledge and transform
existing teaching practices (Crasborn, Hennissen, Brouwer, Korthagen, & Bergen, 2010
in Liu, 2014). The dialogue makes pre-service teachers go beyond their individual frames
of reference and makes them consider new conceptions and knowledge about teaching
(Knežić, Wubbels, Elbers, & Hajer, 2010 in Liu, 2014).
In addition, mentors positively play a key role in pre-service teachers’
socialization process (Bullough & Draper, 2004 in Liu, 2014) and provide them with
emotional and psychological support (Marable & Raimondi, 2007 in Liu, 2014). Rajuan,
Beijaard and Verloopet (2007 in Liu, 2014) indicated the three main areas of perceived
assistance: (1) person-oriented, which includes the creation of trust and safety; (2)
practice-oriented, including information sharing about pupils and ways to make lessons
more interesting; and (3) technique-oriented, including specific skills about lesson
planning and classroom management. Effective mentors provide their mentees with
emotional and psychological support, and make them feel welcome, accepted and
included (Rippon, & Martin, 2006 in Liu, 2014). The emotional support has been shown
to be helpful in boosting the confidence of beginner teachers, enabling them to put
difficult experiences into perspective, and increasing their morale and job satisfaction
(Marable & Raimondi, 2007 in Liu, 2014). However, mentor teachers do not always
succeed in finding an adequate combination of offering emotional support and task
assistance that is considered as an adequate mentoring by pre-service teachers (Crasborn,
& Hennissen, 2010 in Liu, 2014).
Preparing mentors. It is agreed that a quality mentor is one who understands the
specific goals of mentoring in the context in which they are working and is familiar with
the tasks to be undertaken by the mentee (Valeni & Vogrinc, 2007 in Ambrosetti, 2014).
It has also been identified that a quality mentor in pre-service teacher education has both
the knowledge and the competency to mentor (Graves, 2010 in Ambrosetti, 2014). Tang
and Choi (2007 in Ambrosetti, 2014) argue that knowing how to mentor another involves
the active construction and reconstruction of knowledge. In the context of preservice
teacher education, the mentor teacher needs the cognitive skills to not only pass on
knowledge and skills, but also to use them in context and justify them accordingly. Skills
that mentors need include communication, collaboration and evaluation, as well as
problem solving and decision making skills (Graves, 2010 in Ambrosetti, 2014).
It is well documented that classroom teachers play a vital role in the preparation
of pre-service teachers (Clarke, Collins, Triggs, Nielsen, Augustine, Coulter,
Cunningham, Grigoriadis, Hardman, Hunter, Kinegal, Li, Mah, Mastin, Partridge, Pawer,
Rasoda, Salbuvik, Ward, White, & Weil, 2012 in Ambrosetti, 2014). Furthermore, it is
often assumed that the classroom teacher’s experience will enable them to mentor a
preservice teacher effectively and provide a worthwhile experience for the latter (Gagen
& Bowie, 2005 in Ambrosetti, 2014). However, many classroom teachers are not well
prepared for mentoring, particularly when difficulties arise with the preservice teacher
(Valeni & Vogrinc, 2007 in Ambrosetti, 2014). A reason for this situation is that
preparation for mentoring has not been a priority in many preservice teacher education

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programs. Hudson (2013 in Ambrosetti, 2014) has noted that if HEIs (Higher Education
Institutions) are to rely on classroom teachers to mentor preservice teachers, then they
need to provide specific training or preparation courses. In cases where preparation
courses are available for those mentoring a preservice teacher, it has been found that they
are often program specific and provide limited information about the nature and role of
mentoring (Hall et al., 2008). Training or preparation for mentoring that focuses on
mentoring itself appears to be limited.
In the absence of preparation or training, many classroom teachers revert to their
own experiences as preservice teachers and duplicate the methods used by their own
supervising teachers (Clarke et al., 2012 in Ambrosetti, 2014). Mentoring practices,
according to Wang and Odell (2002, p.525 in Ambrosetti, 2014), can be formed by
preparation for mentoring: ‘research suggests that mentor preparation can substantially
influence knowledge of particular mentoring techniques and skills to shape their
mentoring practice’. Research that has specifically investigated the effects of mentoring
on pre-service teachers suggests that mentor training increases the positive impacts that
mentoring can have on the growth of both the skills and knowledge of the mentees
(Giebelhaus & Bowman, 2002 in Ambrosetti, 2014).
Courses that prepare participants for mentoring need to be structured and draw on
both research and literature. According to Hunzicker (2010 in Ambrosetti, 2014), adult
learners ‘prefer open ended learning opportunities and a voice in the direction and pace
of the learning’ (p.3). Therefore, preparation courses must also provide opportunities for
substantive conversations between the participants in order to share experiences, solve
problems and make decisions (Clark et al., 2012 in Ambrosetti, 2014). Previous research
has found that classroom based teachers who mentor pre-service teachers have little, if
any, knowledge of the process of mentoring and the specific roles mentors and mentees
undertake (Ambrosetti & Dekkers, 2010); thus, preparation would need to include these
in its structure.
Preparing mentor teachers for their role in the professional experience can also
provide classroom-based teachers with further opportunities for professional learning.
Bloomfield (2009 in Ambrosetti, 2014) suggests that the professional experience is
viewed as a partnership between the school, its teachers and the HEI. Research has
documented that a partnership between a school and a HEI has the potential to ‘provide
quality professional experience placements for preservice teachers with suitably qualified
and experienced classroom teachers’ (Uusimake, 2013, p.45 in Ambrosetti, 2014). Yet
school-university partnerships are reported to be problematic and are often one sided
(Lynch & Smith, 2012 in Ambrosetti, 2014). Providing professional development
opportunities for teachers in mentoring, as well as other areas of interest, is one way that
universities can authentically contribute to the partnership (Bloomfield, 2009 in
Ambrosetti, 2014). It is on this premise that this study will be conducted.

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Objectives
The study aimed to develop a theory that would shed more light on the CTs role to the
early careers of the PSTs. Specifically the study aimed to unearth–
a) CTs’ perception of their roles to the early careers of the PSTs;
b) how the CTs performed their perceived roles as they go along with the practicum
program of the college;
c) CT’s views on how they could play their roles best.
Method
Research Design
The qualitative design of grounded theory was used in the study. Grounded theory
design was developed by Glaser and Strauss who believed that theory could emerge
through qualitative data analysis (Strauss & Corbin, 1990 in Kolb, 2012). Ary, Jacobs,
and Sorensen (2010 in Bulawa, 2014), argued that the goal of grounded theory
methodology “is to inductively build a theory about a practice or phenomenon using
interviews and observation as the primary data collection tools” (p. 463). Punch (2001 in
Bulawa, 2014) refers to grounded theory as a research strategy aimed at generating theory
from data, while Mansourian (2006 in Bulawa, 2014) describes it as “inductive,
contextual and processual” (p. 397). Wiersma and Jurs (2005 in Bulawa, 2014)
emphasize that if a theory develops based on the data, it is “grounded theory,” that is, a
theory grounded in the data rather than based on some a priori constructed ideas, notions,
or system (p. 14).
Patton (2002) likewise argued that the strength of the grounded theory approach is
its focus on inductive strategies of generating theory in contrast to other theoretical
perspectives which emphasize theory developed “by logical deduction from a priori
assumptions” (p. 125). Gay, Mills, and Airasian (2009) point to the analysis of data
inductively that is done without making assumptions about the findings prior to collecting
evidence.
Research Environment
This study was conducted at the partner schools of the college. A memorandum of
understanding was signed between the Dean of the College of Education (CEd) and the
Schools Division Superintendent of the Department of Education (DepEd), Davao City
Division. The understanding is for DepEd to be the host school for the practicum students
of the CEd.
Participants
Ten (10) cooperating English teachers (CT) were the participants of the study.
They were randomly selected from the list of cooperating teachers who were assigned for
the practicum subject. Twenty names were included in the final list. The list considered

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novice and experienced cooperating English teachers. When the names were identified,
they were personally invited to participate in the study. The first ten CTs who responded
to the invitation based on the criteria set were chosen as the participants.
The ten cooperating teachers identified were personally informed by the
researcher that they were chosen to complete the personal interview and the focus group
discussion. Likewise, they were informed about the details of the research. A meeting was
arranged for a mutually convenient time and place for the conduct of the interview and
the focus group discussion. The interview question guide was given to the CTs a week
prior to the scheduled interview. The interview was approximately 30-min. All interviews
and focus group discussions were conducted by the researcher and were audio-recorded.
All participants were informed, in writing, of the study expectations as well as
their right to withdraw at any time. These expectations and rights were included in the
consent form that the participants were given to read and sign at the start of the interview.
Sampling Design
The study made use of criterion referenced sampling design. This was used
because prior criteria were set before finalizing the possible participants of the study.
These criteria included the following: (a) an inservice teacher should have at least 3 years
teaching experience in DepEd, (b) have mentored at least two (2) PSTs, and (c) currently
assigned as a cooperating teacher.
Research Instruments
The study used a standardized open-ended interview protocol. A standardized
open-ended interview protocol is defined as an interview protocol that requires the
interviewer to adhere to a specific script. The interviewer is not allowed to alter the
wording of the script in any way. This interview format provided the most structure for
the interviewer and reduced the potential bias. It lessened the likelihood of the interviewer
becoming distracted or losing one’s place if the interview response takes an unexpected
turn (Creswell, 2003).
Data Gathering Procedure
Proper coordination between the College of Education, University of Southeastern
Philippines (represented herein by the Dean of the College) and the Department of
Education (represented by the Schools Division Superintendent) was observed.
Permission letters were written and secured prior to the administration of the interview
protocol.
Data Analysis
Developing code structure. For grounded theory design, the recommended
approach is purely inductive. This limits researchers from erroneously ‘‘forcing’’ a
preconceived result (Glaser 1992 in Bradley, Curry & Devers, 2007). Data are reviewed

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line by line in detail and as a concept becomes apparent, a code is assigned. Upon further
review of data, the researcher continues to assign codes that reflect the concepts that
emerge, highlighting and coding lines, paragraphs, or segments that illustrate the chosen
concept. As more data are reviewed, the specifications of codes are developed and refined
to fit the data. To ascertain whether a code is appropriately assigned, the researcher
compares text segments to segments that have been previously assigned the same code
and decides whether they reflect the same concept. Using this ‘‘constant comparison’’
method (Glaser & Strauss 1967 in Bradley, Curry & Devers, 2007), the researcher refine
dimensions of existing codes and identify new codes. Through this process, the code
structure evolves inductively, reflecting ‘‘the ground,’’ i.e., the experiences of
participants.
Reading for overall understanding. Immersion in the data to comprehend its
meaning in its entirety (Pope, Ziebland, & Mays 2000 in Bradley, Curry & Devers, 2007)
is an important first step in the analysis. Reviewing data without coding helps identify
emergent themes without losing the connections between concepts and their context.
Coding qualitative data. Once the data have been reviewed and there is a general
understanding of the scope and contexts of the key experiences under study, coding
provides the analyst with a formal system to organize the data, uncovering and
documenting additional links within and between concepts and experiences described in
the data. Codes are tags (Miles & Huberman, 1994 in Bradley, Curry & Devers, 2007) or
labels, which are assigned to whole documents or segments of documents (i.e.,
paragraphs, sentences, or words) to help catalogue key concepts while preserving the
context in which these concepts occur.
The coding process includes development, finalization, and application of the
code structure. Some experts (Morse and Richards 2002; Janesick 2003 in Bradley, Curry
& Devers, 2007) argue that a single researcher conducting all the coding is both sufficient
and preferred. This is particularly true in studies where being embedded in ongoing
relationships with research participants is critical for the quality of the data collected. In
such cases, the researcher is the instrument; data collection and analysis are so
intertwined that they should be integrated in a single person who is the “choreographer”
(Janesick 2003 in Bradley, Curry & Devers, 2007) of his/her own “dance.” Such an
analysis may not be possible to be repeated by others who have differing traditions and
paradigms; therefore, disclosure (Gubrium & Holstein 1997 in Bradley, Curry & Devers,
2007) of the researcher’s biases and philosophical approaches is important. This was the
exact experience of the researcher.
Coding and the constant comparative method. Coding is essential to the
development of a grounded theory (Charmaz, 2006 in Sbaraini, Carter, Evans &
Blinkhorn, 2011). According to Charmaz (2006, p. 46 in Sbaraini et al., 2011), ‘coding is
the pivotal link between collecting data and developing an emergent theory to explain
these data. Through coding, a researcher defines what is happening in the data and
begins to grapple with what it means’. Coding occurs in stages. In initial coding, the
researcher generates as many ideas as possible inductively from early data. In focused

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coding, the researcher pursues a selected set of central codes throughout the entire dataset
and the study. This requires decisions about which initial codes are most prevalent or
important, and which contribute most to the analysis. In theoretical coding, the researcher
refines the final categories in their theory and relates them to one another. Charmaz’s
(2006 in Sbaraini et al., 2011) method, like Glaser’s (1992 in Sbaraini et al., 2011)
method, captures actions or processes by using gerunds as codes (verbs ending in ‘ing’);
Charmaz (2006 in Sbaraini et al., 2011) also emphasises coding quickly, and keeping the
codes as similar to the data as possible.
Memo-writing. Throughout the study, extensive case-based memos and
conceptual memos were written. After each interview, a case-based memo was written
reflecting on what was learned from that interview. They contained the interviewer’s
impressions about the participants’ experiences, and the interviewer’s reactions; they
were also used to systematically question some of pre-existing ideas in relation to what
had been said in the interview.
Conceptual memos were likewise written about the initial codes and focused
codes being developed, as described by Charmaz (2006 in Sbaraini et al., 2011. These
memos were used to record the researcher’s thinking about the meaning of codes as well
as to record the thinking about how and when processes occurred, how they changed, and
what their consequences were. In these memos, comparisons were made between data,
cases and codes in order to find similarities and differences, and raised questions to be
answered in continuing interviews.
Theory Generation Process
A grounded theory is evaluated in terms of its fit, work, relevance, and
modifiability. This means that emerging categories must fit and explain the collected data
rather than preconceived concepts being forced upon the data (Glaser, 1992 in Hallberg,
2006). Dahlberg (2006 in Hallberg, 2006) used the concept of ‘‘bridling’’ as an attitude
guiding phenomenological studies. Bridling is a way to ‘‘hold back’’ preconceptions and
reflect on the interpretation of the data and try to find alternative interpretations. This
approach may also be relevant when categorizing data in a grounded theory study to
ensure that each concept really earns its way into the emerging theory. Hall and Callery
(2001 in Hallberg, 2006) characterized this attitude as ‘‘disciplined restraint’’, or as
reflexivity, involving the researcher’s reflecting on and questioning interpretations and
results. A grounded theory must work and have relevance, i.e. it must explain the studied
phenomenon analytically (Glaser, 1992 in Hallberg, 2006). It has to change when
conditions are changing. The quality of the results of grounded theory studies can also be
described in terms of trustworthiness, concordance between data and result, and
transferability. In addition, respondent validation can be seen as a sort of triangulation,
i.e. allowing the informants to judge the reasonableness of the results (Larsson, 1993 in
Hallberg, 2006).
Results and Discussion
The results of preliminary study for theory development were presented as
follows: demographic profile of participants, results of the data analyses based on the
themes uncovered.

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Demographic information. Table 1 presents the profile of the respondents. As
presented in table 1, the oldest participant is 54 years old and the youngest is 26 years old.
One participant is a Ph.D. in Linguistics; whilst, one did not bother to pursue higher
education after earning a baccalaureate degree. Moreover, four participants have Master
of Education (MAEd) in Language Teaching major in English degrees. One participant is
MAEd in Educational Management holder and the rest of the participants have earned
units for MAEd degree. Generally, it could be deduced that the participants are diverse in
terms of age, civil status, years in service and number of years as CT.
Table 1. Profile of the respondents of the study (n=10).
Participant
s
Age
Civil
Status
Sex
Educational
Attainment
Years in
Service
CT
Experience
(Years)
Teacher 1 42 Single Male Ph.D. in Linguistics 5 2
Teacher 2 54 Married Female MAEd in Educ 33 26
Mngt.
Teacher 3 47 Married Female CAR-MAEd 19 10
Teacher 4 28 Single Female MAEd-L.T.
5 3
(English)
Teacher 5 27 Single Female MAEd-L.T.
4 1
(English)
Teacher 6 29 Married Male MAEd-L.T.
6 3
(English)
Teacher 7 31 Single Male MAEd-L.T.
7 3
(English)
Teacher 8 50 Married Female MAEd-earned units 25 15
Teacher 9 26 Single Male MAEd-earned units 5 2
Teacher 10 52 Married Female BSE-English 28 3
Becoming a cooperating teacher
The participants shared (Table 2) how they were chosen as a CT and their
perceptions of their roles. Similarly, they also shared how they cope with their roles and
their aspirations on how they could better performed their roles.
Table 2. Cooperating teachers perceptions of their roles.
Participants
Teacher 1
Perceptions of roles
“I was told that I would be given a preservice teacher. I was informed
further that she would be in my class for the duration of the practicum
subject. She would accomplish 25 demonstration teachings and write at
least 10 lesson plans. No other instruction was given.”

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Table 2. … (cont’d.)
Participants
Teacher 2
Teacher 3
Teacher 4
Teacher 5
Teacher 6
Teacher 7
Teacher 8
Teacher 9
Teacher 10
Perceptions of roles
“I can’t recall that there were criteria as to who would become cooperating
teachers.”
“I did not receive proper orientation as to how the conduct of the practicum
would be done. I simply welcome the PST in my classroom.”
“I welcome the PST in my classroom. I was grateful because somehow I
have somebody who can take my place in the classroom and do me some
little errands.”
“Until now, I am not really aware of my role as a CT. I just performed my
role to the best of my knowledge which I must admit is also insufficient.”
“I am hoping that one day a seminar workshop would be conducted for the
CTs. Things like our role and how we can better play our roles be clarified
in the seminar workshop.”
“Somehow I manage to work with my PST. I simply consider her my
daughter. I gave her tips on how to manage the classroom. I also orient her
on what to and what not to do in the campus.”
“I am like a big sister to my PST. So far, I have handled male and 2 female
PSTs, so far. I was lucky because they were all responsible and they know
what to prepare to teach. I did not have a hard time teaching them. They
were very resilient. I could even requests for some personal errands from
them.”
“The last CT with me was a disaster. She was always absent. I tried to talk
to her to find out why she was always absent but she won’t open up. She
would just cry. She used crying as her defence mechanism when confronted
of her absences and her failure to submit lesson plans and teaching
materials. I even threatened her that I won’t allow her to have her final
demo with the university supervisor if she can’t accomplish the requisite
requirements. But I was surprised that she was done with her final demo
with her university supervisor without my knowledge. It seemed the
university supervisor and I did not have a common ground on student
discipline. I think there is a need to establish a working relationship
between the university supervisors and the CTs.”
“I have a good relationship with my CT. He is smart and he even exceeded
beyond his duty. Sometimes he would come to the faculty room and asks if I
needed and some help. I can request him to enter the grades of the students
in my class record. At one point, he taught me how to work on EXCEL for
ease of encoding students’ grade. He really has the patience and dedication
to teach me considering that I am already retiring [laughs].”
Thematic Analysis
Thematic analysis was used in analyzing the data. This demands that relevant
chunks of the data are identified and pulled out from the large amount of verbatim

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transcribed data to respond to the inquiry questions. The results of this approach indicated
that only the expressions of 10 participants were relevant to the questions. The constant
comparative approach based on grounded theory imposed a recurrent process of reading,
coding, comparing, contrasting, sorting, grouping, and categorizing the segregated data
(Corbin & Strauss, 2007; Merriam, 2009; Mertens, 2004). These persistent analyzing
procedures allowed themes to emerge. The themes were found to illustrate CTs’
perceptions of their roles, how they cope with their roles and their aspirations as to how
they better play their roles. Organized chunks of quotes from participants’ expressions
were used to portray the four themes organized.
Theme 1:
Theme 2:
Theme 3:
Theme 4:
Resource person
Guide/Experienced professional
Role model
Friend
It could be surmised that the cooperating teachers’ roles are categorized as
follows: resource person, guide, role model, friend, and experienced professional. These
themes jibe with Yost’s (2002 in Russell, & Russell, 2011) finding where he described
the mentors’ role as effective expert, guide, and support system for the novice teacher.
Likewise, Halai (2006 in Russell, & Russell, 2011) depicted mentors as guides, support
systems, and nurturers toward their mentees. The PST needs significant guidance in both
pedagogical and content knowledge throughout the mentoring process. The mentoring
experience is one of the primary factors that determine the success of the first-year or
beginning teacher’s experience (He, 2010 in Russell, & Russell, 2011). Presented in table
3 are the participants’ perceptions of their role as resource person and friend to the PSTs.
Table 3. Theme 1 and 4– Resource person and friend.
Participants
Teacher 1
Teacher 3
Teacher 4
Teacher 5
Perceptions of roles
“When the PSTs are in a quandary as to how things are to be done, they
would usually come to our aid. Of course they are just beginning in the
field, so they have some questions. And because we the CTs are in the
area, they would normally come to us for help. Personally, I would feel
like I am the resource person. And of course I willingly extend my help.”
“Yes, my PST would normally come to me for help. She would ask me if
her prepared lesson plan followed the 4As. She would refer to me her
visual materials. She would ask me the color combination, the font size,
if it is big enough for the students.”
“Sometimes he would ask me to allow him to record the quizzes in my
class record so he would have a feel on how to do it in the real sense.”
“Yes, my PST would also ask me to teach her how to prepare the grades.
And when I showed her my way of doing things, she taught me how to
use the EXCEL. And I was amazed at how the technology can do magic
because in an instant, the grades were computed” [giggles].

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Table 3. … (cont’d.)
Participants
Teacher 6
Teacher 7
Teacher 8
Teacher 9
Teacher 10
Perceptions of roles
“I am really happy with my PST because she is such a nice girl. She
would come to my classroom and she confides things even outside of the
lesson. She considers me her friend and I like it.”
“One time, my PST was absent and I was worried because she was
supposed to handle the class. The following day, she approached me and
explained things and I understood her predicament. It was only then that
I realized she is already a mother of a 1 year old baby girl. From then,
she would ask questions regarding how to take care of her baby. I was
amused because it was out of the scope, but yes, we are their resource
person.”
“Good for all of you because it seems you all have good PSTs. I am not
very lucky because my PST is always absent and whenever I confront
her, she would just cry. I just can’t understand her but anyway, I share
your observations that we are their resource person.”
“Mine too, my PST is always absent. However, she made me understand
that it was because she was a participant of the sports’ event the
university had joined and competed. She was very proud to share with
me that she won 2 nd Place in her category. So, I was just there listening
to her.”
“Maybe, there is a need to make some clarifications regarding the days
that the PSTs would be absent. What shall we do when they are absent?
Should we allow them to do make up classes for the number of hours
they missed?”
Presented in table 4 are the participants’ perceptions of their roles as
guide/experienced professional and role model.
Table 4. Theme 2 and 3– Guide/Experienced professional and role model.
Participants
Teacher 1
Teacher 2
Perceptions of roles
“Sometimes, I wonder if I am indeed an experienced professional and a
role model to my PST. But if I am going to evaluate the things we
usually do together, I could say that I modelled to her the proper way of
presenting the lesson.”
“I consider myself as an experienced professional because before my
PST could perform the actual teaching, I would instruct her to observe
me how I present the lesson to the students. And during her actual demo
teaching, I would observe and after her performance, an evaluation
follows.”

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Table 4. … (cont’d.)
Participants
Teacher 3
Teacher 4
Teacher 5
Teacher 6
Teacher 7
Perceptions of roles
“Yes, me too, I consider myself a role model because I would also asks
my PST to observe me how I deal with my students, especially the boys
who are naughty. In a way I model to her how to treat students with
behaviour problems.”
“Me, I model to her how to observe cleanliness in the room. After any
activity, I would always ask the students to pick up pieces of papers,
arrange the chairs and maintain that the blackboard is free from
writings.”
“I dunno if I can consider myself a model to my PST but in a way, I
taught him how to motivate students to read after classes. One time I
saw her with the students in the library and she was reading aloud to the
students. I was elated.”
“My PST approached me regarding their classroom action research.
She asks me if I could invite the students to attend the reading
remediation she scheduled at 3:30 (dismissal time) every day for 2
weeks (5 meetings per week). I answered in the affirmative because I
could sense that the activity is good for the students. Next, she
approached me to check her lesson logs. I gladly go over the 10 lesson
logs she prepared and I gave suggestions that she incorporated in the
revised lesson logs. When the activity was completed, she asked me
again on how to interpret the results and I guided her on what to do.
When she came back after the action research presentation, she told me
that her paper was chosen as the best paper. I was really elated.
Somehow I have taught her the correct way of doing action research.”
“I have a different experience. Mine was when my PST asks me to teach
her how to prepare a very good lesson plan for her final demo. At first, I
ask her if there is a difference between the final demo and a regular
demo. She told me that in the final demo, her supervising teacher would
come and observe and give her the final rating. She was very worried.
So, I appease her and taught her how to prepare a simple but powerful
lesson that she can deliver to class with ease and confidence. We stayed
late the day before the final demo. And during the final demo she was
really up and about, she exhibited confidence and she was very calm. In
short, she managed the class perfectly and the lesson went well. After
the final demo she was told by her supervising professor that she is
considered a candidate for the award, ‘Best Demo Teach’. I was so
happy for her.”

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Table 4. … (cont’d.)
Participants
Teacher 8
Teacher 9
Teacher 10
Perceptions of roles
“I don’t have an award winning episode with my PST (everybody was
laughing). However, in my own little way, I helped her in preparing her
lessons every day. What is good with my PST is that she is very diligent.
She would come early and all the time she comes to class with her visual
aids ready. She prepares good visual aids. But sometimes, her materials
are so colourful, so I would teacher her about the psychology of colors
in preparing instructional materials.”
“Yes, I agree with Ma’am, generally the PSTs prepare very good
instructional materials but they failed to harmonize the color. In my own
way, I would also teacher my PST how to prepare simple but effective
instructional materials.”
“Speaking of instructional material preparations. I am very lucky with
my PST because she makes use of technology. Like in one instance, the
lesson was about tenses of the verbs. She prepared a YouTube video to
present the lesson to the class. The students were really participative
because the video presentation was a song about the tenses of the verb.
Even after the class was over, the students were still singing the songs
about the tenses of the verb. I would say; she modelled to me how to use
technology in the classroom” (laughing).
An effective and cordial preservice teachers and cooperating teachers relationship
can have great impact on the social, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral lives of
preservice teachers. Preservice teachers often consider their cooperating teachers’
personal features, including being supportive, non-judgmental, and helpful, to be essential
to overcoming obstacles and maintaining their emotional balance during practicum (Cares
& Almeida, 2007 in Azure, 2015). Irrespective of the type of profession, a positive,
warm, welcoming and supportive environment combined with collegiality certainly help
settle student teachers better at school (Azure, 2015).
Student teaching is most fundamental for future teachers’ professional
development (Cornell, 2003; Rajuan, Beijaard, & Verloop, 2010a; Weasmer & Woods,
2003 in Lu, 2013) and the relationship between the pre-service teacher and the
cooperating teacher critically influences the learning outcomes (Korth & Baum, 2011 in
Lu, 2013). This relationship is oftentimes referred to as a mentoring relationship, i.e., a
teacher-student relationship (Cornell, 2003; Leatham & Peterson, 2010 in Lu, 2013), a
relationship that intrinsically contains a hierarchical nature (Anderson, 2007 in Lu, 2013).
In light of this nature, the match or mismatch between the pre-service teacher and the
cooperating teacher inevitably has the supremacy to influence the pre-service teacher’s
attitudes toward the profession (Tok, 2011 in Lu, 2013).
The study of Koc (2011a; 2011b in Lu, 2013) provides the development of a
cooperating teachers’ role inventory which include: (1) providing support on teaching; (2)
providing orientation to the school/classroom; (3) providing moral support; (4) providing
feedback on lesson planning and teaching performance; (5) providing guidance about

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resources for teaching; (6) evaluating; (7) self-preparing for the role; (8) providing
feedback on the observation forms; and (9) providing written feedback. These functions
illustrate cooperating teachers as providers of learning needed for future teachers in the
classroom/school, a critical character of a mentor teacher (Lu, 2013).
Hypothesis derived from the results
Hypothesis:
Proposition:
The roles of cooperating teachers could be summed up into being a guide,
friend, role model, and resource person/experienced professional.
Preservice teachers learn better in their practicum subject if they have a
guide, friend, role model, and resource person/experienced professional in
the person of their cooperating teachers.
Generated grounded theory: The cooperating teachers are the guide, friend, role model,
resource person/experienced professional of the preservice teachers’ early
careers.
Guide
Role model
Cooperating
teachers’ role
Resource
person/
Experienced
professional
Friend
Figure 1. The conceptual paradigm of the role of the cooperating teachers.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Based on the findings of the study, the following conclusions are drawn: (a) CTs
are not quite aware of their roles as the cooperating teachers of the preservice teachers,
however they played their roles to the best of their knowledge and abilities; CTs roles are

218 | P a g e
summed up as being guides, friends, role models, resource persons/experienced
professionals.
The study recommends that HEIs and DepEd should craft training/workshop for
CTs proper (re)orientation on how to effectively play their roles as cooperating teachers;
future researchers should duplicate this study, delving into some other techniques to
gather more insights as to the CTs other roles.
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Students’ Vocabulary Learning Strategies their Vocabulary Knowledge
Reading Skills and Comprehension
Alfel E. Obguia
Velma S. Labad
Abstract
One of the pressing issues that concern people in the academe
both local and abroad relates to poor reading comprehension skills. This
concern prompted the researcher to conduct this study to identify if
vocabulary learning strategies, vocabulary knowledge, reading skills
could predict students’ reading comprehension. This study made use of
descriptive correlation research design. Cluster sampling was used to
determine the respondents of the study. It involved 337 grade 6 students.
A standardized questionnaire of vocabulary learning strategies by
Schmitt (2000) was utilized to get the data on students’ vocabulary
learning strategies. Researcher made vocabulary knowledge,
comprehension skills and comprehension tests were likewise used in the
study. The result revealed no correlation between vocabulary learning
strategies and reading comprehension. However, it manifested
relationships among vocabulary knowledge, comprehension skills and
comprehension. The prediction equation to predict overall reading
comprehension is constructed as follows: Overall reading
comprehension =. 361 + .208 (overall vocabulary skills) + .097 (overall
reading skills) +. 143 (sex) +. 129 (antonyms) +. 033 (mothers’
educational attainment). It is recommended that researchers replicate this
study to further investigate what other variables could predict students’
reading comprehension.
Keywords/phrases: comprehension reading skills, vocabulary knowledge, vocabulary
learning strategies.
Introduction
Reading comprehension requires the students to acquire concrete skills which
include vocabulary, main idea, fact or opinion, sequencing, following directions and
reading for details. Students who are able to comprehend what they are reading verify
that what they are reading makes sense and if not they use strategies to comprehend the
text better. Students who are struggling to comprehend the same text need to be
provided with strategies that work best for their learning style to help them gain the
meaning (Dakin, 2013). These strategies aid students in their journey with the text.
However, despite all the strategies, the pressing issues that concern people in the
academe both local and abroad relates to poor reading comprehension skills. Low
proficiency in reading comprehension may threaten global competitiveness

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(www.philstar.com.2011). Shah (2011 in Zabate, 2012) mentioned that nearly a billion
people who entered the 21 st century are unable to read a book or sign their names.
This problem is compounded when students have to learn to read in the second
language. To learn a second language means to acquire and master some skills.
Comprehension skills, being one of the most essential skills in learning a second
language, must be developed in the early stage of schooling. However, developing these
skills requires a lot both from the learners and the teachers.
In the Philippines, the National Achievement Tests (NAT) administered to
public schools showed that the students’ performance may be at a certain par as the
previous years, which time and again calls for attention. The DepEd showed figures that
the performance of the country’s public high school students in the NAT has been on
the decline and are significantly lower than the scores of public elementary students.
DepEd data showed that the average NAT score of public high school students for
School Year 2011 to 2012 was significantly lower at 48.9% compared to the elementary
students’ 66.79%. This trend has been apparent for the past 5 years (de Dios, 2013).
In Davao City, Manuel A. Roxas Elementary School is one of the schools which
belonged to the poor performing schools in terms of the NAT performance. Based on
the data recently gathered from NAT 2015 result, no student has reached the mastery
level, 96-100 percent; closely approximating to mastery, 86-95 percent; and moving
towards mastery level, 66-85 percent. All students relatively reached the average level,
which is 35-65 percent. This figure simply equates to below standard based on the
proposed standard of achievement set by the Department of Education (de Dios, 2013).
This prompted the researcher to conduct a study to find out what variable(s)
could best predict students’ reading comprehension performance. Specifically the study
was conducted at Sta. Ana District, Davao City. The findings of this study would benefit
the school administrators, teachers, students and their parents. School administrators
could incorporate in their curriculum design the different strategies and skills that have
positive effect on students reading comprehension performance. The teachers could
teach their students the strategies and skills needed for better comprehension. The
students would be aware on the dominant vocabulary learning strategies they used, they
will be motivated to read, and eventually appreciate reading and become readers. The
parents could encourage their children to love reading by providing them support like
reading with them, utilizing the different strategies and skills that promote good reading
comprehension
Theoretical Framework
This study is anchored on Goodman’s (1970) schema theory on comprehension
process. The focus of this theory is on higher level of processing rather than on lowerlevel
processing of visual information. The reading process has famously been described

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as “psycholinguistic guessing game” (Goodman in Carell 1995) in which “efficient
readers minimize dependence on visual details” by utilizing background knowledge to
make predictions and checking these against the text (Goodman, 1970). Readers need “a
massive receptive vocabulary that is rapidly, accurately, and automatically accessed”
(Grabe, 1988). Gunning (1996) defines a schema as the original knowledge that one
already has about. Kitao (1990) says that schema theory involves interaction between
the reader’s own knowledge and the text which results in comprehension. Each schema
is “filed” in an individual compartment and stored there.
Another theory that supports this study is cognitive learning theory by Ausubel
(1967). Cognitive theory of learning deals with mental processes involved in learning.
This mainly refers to three fundamental cognitive aspects of learning: how knowledge is
developed, how knowledge becomes automatic, and how new knowledge is integrated
into an existing cognitive system of the learner. Emphasis is placed on meaningful
learning, i.e. learning with understanding which is not manifested in behavior, but which
can be described as ‘a clearly articulated and precisely differentiated conscious
experience that emerges when potentially meaningful signs, symbols, concepts, or
propositions are related to and incorporated within a given individual’s cognitive
structure.
In the context of vocabulary learning strategies, when a student encounter new
terms, it automatically stays in his short-term memory, which is the first stage of storing
information. Hence, conscious effort and control is required in order that these terms
stay in the long-term memory. However, when a student finds meaning to certain terms
and that he can use these terms purposively, this becomes part of his working memory.
This study, likewise, dwelt on the use of vocabulary learning strategies; thus,
this study is also anchored on the incidental learning theory (Nation, 2001). This theory
emphasizes the importance of vocabulary learning strategies in second language
vocabulary acquisition. Incidental learning via guessing from context is the most
important of all sources of vocabulary learning. It refers to the learning which occurs
without specific intention to focus on vocabulary.
It is assumed that one can develop vocabulary knowledge subconsciously while
being engaged in any language activities, especially from reading and listening. The
more often a word occurs in the context the more likely it can be guessed and learnt.
Context provides clues for word guessing. The clues that are near the unknown word are
more likely to be used. The more clues there are the easier guessing will be (Nation,
2001).
A critical factor in successful guessing is the learners’ vocabulary size, because
this will affect the density of unknown words in a text. Besides, the synonyms in the
context can help guessing. If the word is essential for understanding the context, the
learner will put more effort into guessing. The topical knowledge about the context is

225 | P a g e
also helpful in guessing new words. Learning vocabulary in context can be very
efficient. An analysis of twenty studies shows that fifteen percent of the unknown words
are learnt from guessing in the context, in which the unknown words make up three
percent of the running word (Nation 2001).
These theories are used in the present study in its quest to find which of the
variables (vocabulary learning strategies, vocabulary knowledge, reading skills and
comprehension could predict students’ reading comprehension.
Research Problem
This study was conducted to determine which of the variable could best predict
students’ overall reading comprehension. Specifically, it sought to answer the following
questions:
1) What is the most preferred vocabulary learning strategy of six th grade students in Sta.
Ana District in terms of the following: (a) determination, (b) social (discovery), (c)
social consolidation, (d) memory, (e) cognitive, and (f) metacognitive strategy?
2) What is the vocabulary level of six th grade students in Sta. Ana District in terms of
the following: (a) context clues, (b) synonyms, (c) antonyms, (d) definitions, (e)
idioms, (f) literary device, and (g) overall vocabulary?
3) What is the level of the reading skills of students in Sta. Ana District in terms of: (a)
noting details, (b) getting the main idea, (c) predicting outcomes, and (d) overall
reading skills?
4) What is the level of the reading comprehension of six th grade students in Sta. Ana
District in terms of: (a) reorganization, (b) inferential, (c) evaluation, and (d) overall
reading comprehension?
5) What is the profile of the demographic characteristics of the students in terms of:
(a) (a) gender, (b) socio-economic status, (c) mothers’ educational attainment, and
(d) fathers’ educational attainment?
6) Are there relationships among students’ preferred vocabulary learning strategies,
vocabulary knowledge, comprehension skills and reading comprehension?
7) Are there significant differences on students’ preferred vocabulary learning
strategies, vocabulary acquisitions, reading skills and reading comprehension when
analyzed by: (a) gender, (b) socio-economic status, (c) mothers’ education
attainment, and (d) fathers’ educational attainment?
8) What model could be established that could predict students’ overall reading
comprehension?

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Null Hypotheses
Below are the null hypotheses that were formulated and tested at α

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This study utilized probability and stratified random sampling which provide
equal opportunities for the respondents of the study to be chosen. Specifically, cluster
random sampling was used for the first three (3) schools being the bigger schools in the
district. However, for four (4) schools being the smaller schools, stratified random
sampling was used.
Research Instruments
The researcher used a standardized questionnaire of vocabulary learning
strategies by Schmitt (2000) to get data on students’ vocabulary learning strategies. This
questionnaire is designed for students who learn English as a foreign language. On this
regard, the researcher emailed a letter of permission to Dr. Schmitt for the use of the
survey tool. Dr. Schmitt granted the use of the tool.
The tool has the following sub-constructs: (a) determination strategies, which
include, using bilingual dictionary, using pictures illustrated in the textbook and
identifying the words by its parts; (b) social (discovery) strategies– asking the teacher,
asking the teacher to use an unknown word into a sentence, asking classmates and
knowing the word when working in a group; (c) social consolidation strategies–
practicing using English words in group work activities, asking native speakers, and
learning the culture; (d) memory strategies– writing a new word in a sentence, studying
spellings of new words, using physical actions, and speaking words out loud; (e)
cognitive strategies– practicing new words repeatedly, writing a new word on a flash
card, learning words by listening to vocabulary CDs, recording vocabulary from English
soundtrack movies in notebooks, remembering words via writing or repeatedly saying
them and making vocabulary cards and taking them with; and (f) metacognitive
strategies– listening to English songs and news, memorising word from English
magazines, reviewing English vocabulary cards before the next lesson starts, passing
difficult words when reading or listening and using online exercises to test vocabulary
knowledge.
To determine the level of use of the vocabulary learning strategies, the following
scale is used: 3.5-above is considered high user; 2.4-3.4 is considered medium user and
2.4-below is considered low user (Oxford, 1990, 2001).
To get the data for vocabulary knowledge, reading skills, and reading
comprehension, 3 sets of researcher made questionnaires composed of 45 items were
crafted. Vocabulary knowledge test contains context clues, synonyms, anonyms,
definition, literary device, and idiomatic expressions. Reading skills test comprised
noting details, getting the main idea, and predicting outcomes. Reading comprehension
test has 3 parts: reorganization, inferential comprehension, and evaluation based on
Barrett’s (1968) taxonomy.

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To determine the reliability of the tool, the researcher requested permission from
the principal of Manuel A. Roxas Elementary School to pilot the researcher made
instruments. Specifically, the researcher chose one of the four sections comprising of
forty (40) students in the sixth grade level of Manuel A. Roxas Elementary School to
take the test.
KR=20 (Richard Kuderson) was used to test the reliability of the tools.
Vocabulary knowledge test has KR=0.80 reliability, KR=0.86 for comprehension
skills), and KR=0.70 for comprehension test. To validate the instruments, the researcher
retained 3 experts in the field.
Data Gathering Procedure
The procedural steps of the study are outlined as follows:
Requesting permission for the conduct of the study. The researcher requested
permission from the dean of the College of Education to allow the researcher to conduct
the study. Likewise, the researcher also requested a letter endorsement to be made for
his behalf for the Schools Division Superintendent. The endorsement letter made for the
Schools Division Superintendent was subsequently approved paving the way for the
conduct of the study.
Writing informed consent to the parents of the respondents. The researcher sent
informed consent to the respondents’ parents stating all the necessary information about
the test and its benefits to the students.
Administrating instruments. A letter of permission to conduct the study was
addressed to Sta. Ana District supervisor, and the principals of the seven schools.
Retrieving instruments. The data was retrieved after a specified time as agreed
by the enumerators and the researcher. Before the respondents left the examination
room, the enumerators were instructed to count all questionnaires and check all items in
the instruments to make sure they were all answered properly.
Data Analysis
The statistical analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for Social
Sciences (SPSS). An alpha of 0.05 (2-tailed) was used to determine the statistical
significance.
Mean and standard deviation was used to describe the extent of using
vocabulary learning strategies.

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Pearson product-moment coefficient of correlation (pearson r) gauged the
relationship between students’ vocabulary learning strategies, their vocabulary level,
reading skills, and reading comprehension.
Multiple linear regression was used to determine whether a model could be
developed that would predict students’ overall reading comprehension.
Results and Discussion
Profile of students’ demographic attributes (sex)
Figure 1 shows the profile of the
students’ demographic attributes in terms of
their sex. It can be gleaned from figure 1 that
the male has a percentage of 47.2; whilst, the
female respondents has a percentage of 52.8
from the total population of 337. This goes to
show that there are more female than male in
the public elementary schools of Sta. Ana
district, Davao City.
52.8%
47.2%
Male
Female
Figure 1. Profile of the students’
demographic attributes (sex)
(n=337).
Figure 2 shows the
profile of the educational
attainment of the students’
mothers. The educational
attainment of most of the
mothers of the respondents is
secondary graduate with a
percentage of 20.8. The least is
elementary level and no entry
(which could mean the absence
of a mother) with a percentage
of 9.8 and 3.3, respectively.
Figure 3 reveals that
most of the respondents’
fathers are secondary graduate
which is 26.1 percent. The
least is elementary level and
no entry (which could mean
the absence of a father) which
are 5.3 and 1.2 percents,
respectively.
17.2% 3.3% 9.8% No entry
14.5%
15.4%
Elementary level
Elementary graduate
Secondary level
Secondary graduate
College level
20.8%
19% College graduate
Figure 2. Demographic characteristics profile of the parents’
(mothers) educational attainment (n=337).
17.2% 1.2% 5.3% No entry
9.8%
Elementary level
16.9%
Elementry graduate
26.1%
23.4%
Secondary level
Secondary gradaute
College level
College graduate
Figure 3. Demographic characteristics profile of the parents’
(fathers) educational attainment (n=337).

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Figure 4 shows the
socio economic status of the
respondents. Most of the
parents have a monthly
income of PhP5000.00-below
which is 50.7 percent. Only 6
percent and 7.1 percent of
them have monthly income of
PhP16000.00 and
PhP21000.00-above brackets,
respectively.
12.8%
6%
23.4%
7.1%
50.7%
5000-below
6000-10000
11000-15000
16000-20000
21000-above
Figure 4. Demographic characteristics profile of the parents’ socioeconomic
status (n=337).
Profile of students’ preferred vocabulary learning strategies
vocabulary knowledge, reading skills and reading comprehension
Tables 1 and 2 show the students’ preferred vocabulary learning strategies.
Social (discovery) is the most preferred vocabulary learning strategies which has a mean
score of 2.44 (SD=.971) and a descriptive equivalent of ‘low’. Schmitt (1997)
characterized social discovery strategies like asking someone for help with the unknown
words. In the study, this could mean asking a teacher to translate the English words into
Filipino or into their mother tongue which is Sinugbuanong Binisaya (M=2.36,
SD=2.564) or requesting a teacher to use the difficult English word in a sentence
(M=2.13, SD=1.295). Other modes of social discovery strategies used in the study are
the following: (a) ask help from a classmate (M=2.31, SD=1.080) and (b) pay attention
to how a word is used during group activities (M=2.62, SD=1.061). All these strategies
have descriptive equivalents of ‘low’.
Table 1. Students’ preferred vocabulary learning strategies (n=337).
Vocabulary learning
Std.
Descriptive
Mean
Rank
strategies
Deviation equivalent
• Social (discovery) 2.44 .971 1 Low
• Memory 2.22 .792 2 Low
• Determination 2.02 .786 3 Low
• Metacognitive 2.00 .700 4 Low
• Social (consolidation) 1.89 .783 5 Low
• Cognitive 1.75 .717 6 Low
3.5-above– High
2.4-3.4– Medium
2.4-below– Low
Source: Oxford scoring system (1990, 2001)
However, cognitive is the least preferred vocabulary learning strategy which has
a mean of 1.75 (SD=.717) and a descriptive equivalent of ‘low’ along with social

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(consolidation) with a mean of 1.89 (SD=.783) and a descriptive equivalent of ‘low’.
Cognitive vocabulary learning strategies in the study are the following: (a) repeatedly
practicing new words (M=2.23, SD=1.075), (b) writing a new word on a flash card to
remember it (M=1.42, SD=1.113), (c) learning words by listening to vocabulary CDs
(M=1.46, SD=1.295), (d) recording vocabulary from English soundtrack movies in
notebooks, (e) trying to remember a word by repeatedly saying it (M=1.34, SD=1.213)
and (f) making vocabulary cards and taking them with (M=1.37, SD=1.201). Whilst,
social consolidation strategies are the following: (a) using the difficult English words in
group work activities (M=2.33, SD=1.135), (b) asking help from native speakers of
English (M=1.55, SD=1.196) and (b) learning words about the culture of English
speaking countries (M=1.85, SD=1.085).
The result suggests that although social (discovery) is the most preferred
vocabulary learning strategy of the 6 th grade students, they are ‘low’ users of the
different strategies under this sub-construct. Conversely, the least preferred vocabulary
learning strategies are cognitive and social (consolidation). Again, the students are ‘low’
users of the strategies under this sub-construct. These results could mean either, the
students are not aware of these strategies or they are not used to using these strategies.
Schmitt (1997) argued that learners need to employ a variety of strategies to
practice and retain vocabulary. In the study, the students are low users of strategies;
nevertheless, they use a variety of social, memory, cognitive and metacognitive
strategies to augment their vocabulary knowledge. They also use cooperative group
learning through which they study and practice the meaning of new words which is an
instance of social strategies for consolidating a word.
Table 2. Results of item analysis showing the students’ preferred vocabulary learning
strategies (n=337).
Item Mean SD
Descriptive
equivalent
Determination strategies
1) Use bilingual dictionary. 2.05 .891 Low
2) Use pictures illustrated in the textbook. 1.81 1.174 Low
3) Identify the words by its parts. 1.81 1.171 Low
Social (discovery) strategies
4) Ask the teacher. 2.36 2.564 Low
5) Ask the teacher to use an unknown word into a
sentence.
2.13 1.295 Low
6) Ask classmates. 2.13 1.080 Low
7) Know the words when working in group
works.
2.62 1.061 Medium

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Table 2. ... (cont’d).
Item Mean SD
Descriptive
equivalent
Social (consolidation) strategies
8) Practice using English words in group work
activities.
2.33 1.135 Low
9) Ask native speakers. 1.55 1.196 Low
10) Learn the culture. 1.85 1.085 Low
Memory strategies
11) Write a new word in a sentence. 2.28 1.150 Low
12) Study spellings of new words. 2.56 1.103 Medium
13) Use physical actions. 1.81 1.157 Low
14) Speak words out loud. 1.74 1.281 Low
Cognitive strategies
15) Practice new words repeatedly. 2.23 1.075 Low
16) Write a new word on a flash card. 1.42 1.113 Low
17) Learn words by listening to vocabulary
CDs.
1.46 1.295 Low
18) Record vocabulary from English
soundtrack movies in notebooks.
1.34 1.213 Low
19) Remember words via writing or repeatedly
saying them.
2.20 1.254 low
20) Make vocabulary cards and take them
with.
1.37 1.201 Low
Meta-cognitive strategies
21) Listen to English songs and news. 2.70 1.183 Medium
22) Memorize word from English magazines. 1.66 1.221 Low
23) Review English vocabulary cards before
the next lesson starts.
2.13 1.067 Low
24) Pass difficult words when reading or
listening.
1.68 1.091 Low
25) Use online exercise to test vocabulary
knowledge.
1.96 1.311 Low
3.5-above– High
2.4-3.4– Medium
2.4-below– Low
Source: Oxford scoring system (1990, 2001)

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Cognitive vocabulary learning strategies have descriptive equivalents of ‘low’
except these strategies: (a) repeatedly practising new words and (b) remembering words
via writing or repeatedly saying them, which have descriptive equivalents of ‘average’.
This result means that 6 th grade students of Sta. Ana district are ‘low’ users of cognitive
vocabulary learning strategies. Likewise, social (consolidation) strategy is also the least
preferred vocabulary learning strategy; as shown in table 3, the students are ‘low’ users
of the strategies in this sub-construct.
In the study of Kalajahi, and Pourshahian (2012), he found that Iranian students
were medium users of vocabulary learning strategies. The result was attributed to the
students’ slight awareness of the vocabulary learning strategies. Oxford (1990) argued
that using a strategy at a medium level shows that the learners are aware of the strategy
but they need to be encouraged to use the strategy more in their learning. In the present
case the students are low users of the strategy. This result could be attributed to the fact
that teachers may not be aware of these strategies and thus students are as unaware as
their teachers. The result shows that the students are medium users of the following
strategies: (a) listen to songs; (b) study the spelling of words; and (c) knowledge of a
word while doing group activity. It could be deduced that these strategies are used by
the teachers, thus, the students are aware of it and they are using these to acquire more
vocabularies.
Table 3 presents the correlations among the sub-scales of the vocabulary
learning strategies. The result showed high level of interrelatedness. These results is
suggestive of Schmitt and McCarthy’s (1997) conclusion where they highlighted the
difficulty of regarding strategies as separate entities and argued that most learners tend
to use strategies together. This suggests the multidimensionality of the students’
knowledge and use of the vocabulary learning strategies. Gu’s (2003) study likewise
concluded that learners tend to employ a variety of strategies in combination.
Table 3. Correlations among scales and descriptive statistics (337).
Vocabulary learning
strategies
1 2 3 4 5 6
• Social discovery
• Memory .166 **
• Determination .166 ** .166 **
• Metacognitive .156 ** .345 ** .297 **
• Social consolidation .243 ** .240 ** .295 ** .202 **
• Cognitive .243 ** .240 ** .295 ** .202 ** .243 **
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
1- social discovery; 2- memory; 3- determination; 4-meta-cognitive; 5-social (consolidation); 6- cognitive
Table 4 shows students’ level of vocabulary knowledge across 6 vocabulary test
types. It can be gleaned from table 4 that the students’ vocabulary level using context
clues has a mean score of 1.41 (SD=.612) with a percentage of 83%, having a

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descriptive equivalent of satisfactory. They least acquire vocabulary through definition
(M=1.22, SD=.452) which is only 78% and has a descriptive equivalent of fairly
satisfactory. However, their overall vocabulary acquisition level has a mean score of
1.62 (SD=.675) which is ‘fairly satisfactory’.
The figures above mean that the students acquire vocabulary more using the
clues in a sentence, most effectively. However, they can hardly acquire vocabulary
using definition that is how the word is defined in a sentence. Researches support the
idea that the more vocabulary words learners use, the greater the learners’ language
learning success will be (Schmitt, & McCarthy, 1997).
Table 4. Students’ level of vocabulary knowledge (n=337).
Vocabulary Mean
Std.
Deviation
% Descriptive equivalent
• Context 1.41 .616 83.0 Satisfactory
• Synonyms 1.34 .587 82.0 Satisfactory
• Antonyms 1.29 .523 81.0 Satisfactory
• Definition 1.22 .452 78.0 Fairly Satisfactory
• Idioms 1.33 .514 75.0 Fairly Satisfactory
• Literary device 1.27 .484 72.0 Did Not Meet Expectations
• Overall
79.0
1.62 .675
vocabulary
Fairly Satisfactory
Table 5 shows students’ comprehension skills level. Noting details, which has a
mean of 1.95 and a standard deviation of .789, yields the highest percentage (87%) with
a descriptive equivalent of very satisfactory. Predicting outcomes yields the lowest
which is 72 percent, with 1.46 and .592 as its mean and standard deviation, respectively.
It has a descriptive equivalent of ‘did not meet expectations’. The overall
comprehension skills of students is 80 percent, which is satisfactory. It has a mean and a
standard deviation of 1.90 and .643, respectively.
The figures show that students are most skillful in noting basic information from
the text such as answering questions like who, where, when, what, why, and how.
However, they can hardly comprehend the text when they are asked to predict certain
events or conditions presented in the text. On the other hand, their overall reading skills
suggest a satisfactory performance across the skills, noting details, finding the main
idea, and predicting outcomes.

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Table 5. Students’ comprehension skills level (n=337).
Reading comprehension Mean Std. % Descriptive equivalent
skills
Deviation
• Noting details 1.95 .789 870.0 Very Satisfactory
• Finding the main idea 1.69 .706 82.0 Satisfactory
• Predicting outcomes 1.46 .592 72.0 Did Not Meet Expectations
• Overall reading skills 1.90 .643 80.0 Satisfactory
The importance of reading comprehension is emphasized in the education
community; however, everyone may not realize how important reading actually is.
Although strong reading skills can help students do well in language arts and reading
class, that is only the beginning. Students have to use reading skills in every single
subject they ever study and in almost every aspect of life. It is so sad to note that
students who struggle with reading comprehension may fall so far behind in school that
they have limited opportunities as an adult (Tizon, 2011) as manifested in the present
study.
Table 6 shows students’ reading comprehension level based on Barrett’s (1968)
taxonomy. Evaluative is the highest in rank, which is 80 percent with a descriptive
equivalent of satisfactory. It has a mean and a standard deviation of 1.22 and .447,
respectively. Inferential ranks the lowest, which is 77 percent with a descriptive
meaning of fairly satisfactory. It has a mean and a standard deviation of 1.17 and .378,
respectively. The overall reading comprehension of students yields a mean of 1.39 and a
standard deviation of .490, gaining 78 percent overall and has a fairly satisfactory
descriptive equivalent.
The result exemplifies that students can make judgement, focus on qualities of
accuracy, acceptability, desirability, worth or probability of occurrence of a given text.
On the other hand, they can hardly demonstrate inferential comprehension when they
express their ideas and information based on what is explicitly stated in the reading
passages, their intuition, and their personal experience as bases for conjecture and
hypotheses is wanting.
When dealing with the evaluative level of comprehension, readers make use of
the skills which belong to the literal and interpretive levels. They get the facts and
information from the first level and the interpretation of these facts from the second
(Hussein, 2012).

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Table 6. Students’ reading comprehension level (n=337).
Reading
Std.
Mean
comprehension
Deviation
% Descriptive equivalent
• Reorganization 1.21 .421 78.0 Fairly Satisfactory
• Inferential 1.17 .378 77.0 Fairly Satisfactory
• Evaluative 1.22 .447 80.0 Satisfactory
• Overall reading
comprehension
1.39 .490 78.0 Fairly Satisfactory
Correlations between students’ use of vocabulary learning strategies and reading
comprehension
Table 7 shows the correlation between the students’ use of vocabulary learning
strategies and their reading comprehension performances across levels. It can be gleaned
from table 7 that the students’ use of determination vocabulary learning strategy does
not have any correlation with reorganization (r=.052), inferential (r=-.027) and
evaluative (r=.006) and overall reading comprehension (r=.070). Conversely social
(discovery) vocabulary learning strategy shows no relationships with reorganization (r=-
.059), inferential (r=-.032) and evaluative (r=.031) and overall reading comprehension
(r=-.007). Equally, social (consolidation) vocabulary learning strategy does not have
any effect with reorganization (r=1.010), inferential (r=-.072) and evaluative (r=-.032)
and overall reading comprehension (r=-.005). Likewise, memory vocabulary learning
strategy does not have relationships with reorganization (r=.012), inferential (r=.039)
and evaluative (r=.081) and overall reading comprehension (r=.075). Also, cognitive
vocabulary learning strategy has no connection with reorganization (r=.104), inferential
(r=.107) and evaluative (r=.088) and overall reading comprehension (r=.085). Lastly,
students’ use of meta-cognitive vocabulary learning strategy will not help their
performances in reorganization (r=.104), inferential (r=.107) and evaluative (r=.088)
and overall reading comprehension (r=.085).
Table 7. Correlations between students’ use of vocabulary learning strategies and
reading comprehension performances across levels (n=337).
Vocabulary learning
strategies
Reading comprehension
Overall
RC
Reorg Infer Eval
Determination Pearson r .052 -.027 .006 .070
Sig (2-tailed) .340 .618 .912 .202
Social
(discovery)
Social
(consolidation)
Pearson r -.059 -.032 .031 -.007
Sig (2-tailed) .278 .554 .574 .905
Pearson r -.010 .072 -.032 -.005
Sig (2-tailed) .857 .185 .558 .923

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Table 7. … (cont’d.)
Vocabulary learning
strategies
Reading comprehension
Reorg Infer Eval
Overall
RC
Memory Pearson r .012 .039 .081 .075
Sig (2-tailed) .831 .476 .139 .170
Cognitive Pearson r -.005 .104 .067 .071
Sig (2-tailed) .921 .057 .223 .193
Metacognitive Pearson r .104 .107 .088 .085
Sig (2-tailed) .056 .051 .106 .119
This goes to say that regardless of whether the students use vocabulary learning
strategies or not, this does not have any effect on their reading comprehension
performances across levels. However, according to Schmitt (2000), in second language
vocabulary acquisition which is a sub-discipline of second language acquisition,
researchers have focused their attention on the need for second language learners to
utilize their vocabulary knowledge. This can be done through the help of vocabulary
learning strategies. But this is not what happens in the present study.
Correlations between students’ vocabulary skills and reading comprehension
performances across levels
As shown in table 8, students’ vocabulary knowledge show significant
correlations with their reading comprehension performances across levels. Vocabulary
knowledge using context clues show relationships with reorganization (r=.349),
inferential (r=-.269) and evaluative (r=.197) and overall reading comprehension
(r=.372). Likewise, synonyms manifest correlation with reorganization (r=.391),
inferential (r=-.335) and evaluative (r=.198) and overall reading comprehension
(r=.350). Moreover, relationships are also observed among antonyms and reorganization
(r=.314), inferential (r=.346) and evaluative (r=.234) and overall reading
comprehension (r=.367). Equally, definitions has relationships with reorganization
(r=.192), inferential (r=.207) and evaluative (r=.141) and overall reading
comprehension (r=.306). Literary device is also associated with reorganization (r=.332),
inferential (r=.311) and evaluative (r=.205) and overall reading comprehension
(r=.331). The overall vocabulary knowledge also manifested relationships with
reorganization (r=.323), inferential (r=.313) and evaluative (r=.227) and overall reading
comprehension (r=.436).
As presented the p values of context clues, synonyms, definitions, idioms,
literary device and overall vocabulary skills are significantly correlated with the
students’ literal, inferential, evaluative and the overall reading comprehension and the
significance is at α

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The result is fairly similar to Stahl’s study (2003) where he found that vocabulary
knowledge and reading comprehension are strongly correlated based on measurement of
word difficulty and sentence difficulty.
Table 8. Correlations between students’ vocabulary skills and their reading
comprehension performances across levels (n=337).
Reading comprehension levels Overall
RC
Vocabulary Skills Reorg Infer Eval
Context clues Pearson r .349 ** .269 ** .197 ** .372 **
Sig (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000
Synonyms Pearson r .391 ** .335 ** .198 ** .350 **
Sig (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000
Antonyms Pearson r .314 ** .346 ** .234 ** .367 **
Sig (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000
Definitions Pearson r .192 ** .207 ** .141 ** .306 **
Sig (2-tailed) .000 .000 .009 .000
Idioms Pearson r .263 ** .161 ** .222 ** .296 **
Sig (2-tailed) .000 .003 .000 .000
Literary device Pearson r .332 ** .311 ** .205 ** .331 **
Sig (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000
Overall Pearson r .323 ** .313 ** .227 ** .436 **
Sig (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Reor (Reorganization); Infer (Inference); Eval (Evaluative); RC (Reading Comprehension)
Correlations between students’ comprehension skills
and their reading comprehension performances across levels
As shown in table 9, students’ comprehension skills are significantly correlated
with their reading comprehension performances across levels. Noting details
comprehension skill showed significant relationships with reorganization (r=.206),
inferential (r=.164), evaluative (r=.128) and overall comprehension skills (r=.158).
Similarly, finding the main idea is also correlated with reorganization (r=.236),
inferential (r=.209), evaluative (r=.250) and overall comprehension skills (r=.189).
Whilst, predicting outcome shows associations with reorganization (r=.301), inferential
(r=.263), evaluative (r=.290) and overall comprehension skills (r=.248). Finally, overall
comprehension skills also manifests relationships with reorganization (r=.264),
inferential (r=.263), evaluative (r=.272) and overall comprehension skills (r=.309). The
p values of noting details, finding the main idea, predicting outcome, and overall
reading skills are all significant at α=

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students’ comprehension skills increase, their reading comprehension performances
across levels also increase.
Lyon (1999) opined that children, who comprehend well, seem to be able to
activate their relevant background knowledge when reading-that is, they can relate what
is on the page to what they already know. Likewise, students with good comprehension
also must have good vocabularies, since it is extremely difficult to understand
something the reader cannot define. Also, for students to comprehend well they must
also have a knack for summarizing, predicting, and clarifying what they have read, and
they frequently use questions to guide their understanding to enhance their
comprehension. In the present study, this means that students’ skills in noting details,
predicting outcomes and finding the main idea had helped them comprehend the text.
Table 9. Correlations between students’ reading skills and their reading comprehension
performances across levels (n=337).
Reading comprehension levels
Comprehension skills Reorg Infer Eval
Overall
RC
Noting details Pearson r .206 ** .164 ** .128 * .158 **
Finding the
main idea
Predicting
outcome
Overall
reading skills
Sig (2-tailed) .000 .003 .019 .004
Pearson r .236 ** .209 ** .250 ** .189 **
Sig (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000
Pearson r .301 ** .263 ** .290 ** .248 **
Sig (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000
Pearson r .264 ** .263 ** .272 ** .309 **
Sig (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Correlations between vocabulary learning strategies
and vocabulary knowledge
Table 10 shows the correlation between vocabulary learning strategies and
vocabulary knowledge. As shown in table 10, social discovery has a negative correlation
with synonyms (r=-.115, α

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correlated with context clues (r=.150, α

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vocabulary skills tests results are significantly correlated with the reading skills test
results of students. Vocabulary knowledge using context clues is correlated with noting
details (r=.213), finding the main idea (r=.236), predicting outcomes (r=.292), and
overall comprehension skills (r=.362). Conversely, synonyms comprehension skill is
likewise correlated with noting details (r=.262), finding the main idea (r=.283),
predicting outcomes (r=.296), and overall comprehension kills (r=.354). Equally,
antonyms is associated with noting details (r=.231), finding the main idea (r=.220),
predicting outcomes (r=.265), and overall comprehension kills (r=.278).
Table 11. Correlations between vocabulary skills and comprehension skills (n=337).
Comprehension skills
Vocabulary knowledge tests Noting
details
Finding the
main idea
Predicting
outcomes
Overall reading
skills
Context Pearson r .213 ** .236 ** .292 ** .362 **
clues Sig (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000
Synonyms Pearson r .262 ** .283 ** .296 ** .354 **
Sig (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000
Antonyms Pearson r .231 ** .220 ** .265 ** .278 **
Sig (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000
Definition Pearson r .143 ** .179 ** .171 ** .278 **
Sig (2-tailed) .009 .001 .002 .000
Idioms Pearson r .232 ** .242 ** .283 ** .348 **
Literary
device
Overall
vocabulary
skills tests
Sig (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000
Pearson r .209 ** .288 ** .289 ** .322 **
Sig (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000
Pearson r .183 ** .182 ** .272 ** .363 **
Sig (2-tailed)
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
.001 .001 .000 .000
Moreover, definitions manifest relationships with noting details (r=.143),
finding the main idea (r=.179), predicting outcomes (r=.171), and overall
comprehension kills (r=.278). Whilst, idioms also show relationships with noting details
(r=.232), finding the main idea (r=.242), predicting outcomes (r=.283), and overall
comprehension kills (r=.348). Likewise literary device comprehensive skills manifest
relationships with noting details (r=.209), finding the main idea (r=.288), predicting
outcomes (r=.289), and overall comprehension kills (r=.322). Lastly, the overall
comprehension skills is also associated with noting details (r=.183), finding the main
idea (r=.182), predicting outcomes (r=.272), and overall comprehension kills (r=.363).

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As presented all the p values of context clues, synonyms, antonyms, definitions,
idioms, literary devices, and overall vocabulary skills tests are correlated with noting
details, finding the main idea, predicting outcomes, and overall reading skills. The
significance is at α

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Table 12. ... (cont’d).
Vocabulary learning
strategies
Social
(consolidation)
Noting
details
Comprehension skills
Finding
the main idea
Predicting
outcomes
Overall
reading
skills
Pearson r .012 .059 .051 .033
Sig (2-tailed) .826 .279 .355 .546
Memory Pearson r .048 .065 .028 .083
Sig (2-tailed) .376 .234 .612 .128
Cognitive Pearson r -.081 -.033 .073 .000
Sig (2-tailed) .136 .542 .183 .998
Metacognitive Pearson r .028 .096 .133 * .055
Sig (2-tailed) .614 .079 .014 .317
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
Difference of students’ vocabulary learning strategies, vocabulary knowledge,
comprehension skills and comprehension when grouped according to their
demographic characteristics
Table 13 shows the differences of students’ vocabulary learning strategy when
grouped according to their socio economic status. As shown in table 13, no significant
difference is established on the students’ use of vocabulary learning strategies when
they are grouped according to their socio economic status. The following vocabulary
learning strategies, determination (F=1.767), social (discovery) (F=.117, social
(consolidation) (F=.545), memory (F=.1.130), cognitive (F=1.120), and meta-cognitive
(F=.165) are not correlated at α

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what happens in the present study. The reason could be attributed to the fact that
majority of the respondents’ socioeconomic status are very low.
Table 13. Test of difference of students’ vocabulary learning strategies when grouped
according to their socio economic status (n=337).
Dependent
Std.
SES N Mean
variable
deviation
F Sig.
Determination 5000-below 171 1.94 .802 1.767 .135
6000-10000 79 2.20 .704
11000-15000 43 2.00 .786
16000-20000 20 2.20 .767
21000-above 24 2.00 .884
Social
5000-below 171 2.41 1.125 .117 .976
(discovery) 6000-10000 79 2.48 .814
11000-15000 43 2.51 .797
16000-20000 20 2.45 .686
Social
(consolidation)
21000-above 24 2.45 .779
5000-below 171 1.85 .746 .545 .703
6000-10000 79 1.84 .817
11000-15000 43 2.00 .925
16000-20000 20 2.00 .725
21000-above 24 2.00 .722
Memory 5000-below 171 2.17 .799 1.130 .342
6000-10000 79 2.29 .803
11000-15000 43 2.39 .728
16000-20000 20 2.25 .910
21000-above 24 2.04 .690
Cognitive 5000-below 171 1.77 .751
6000-10000 79 1.72 .639 1.120 .347
11000-15000 43 1.60 .659
16000-20000 20 2.00 .794
21000-above 24 1.75 .737
Metacognitive 5000-below 171 2.02 .702 .165 .956
6000-10000 79 2.02 .750
11000-15000 43 1.93 .736
16000-20000 20 2.00 .561
21000-above 24 2.00 .589
The result is also reflected in the study of Sewell and Shah (1967 in Wu, 2013)
which is further elaborated in the study conducted by White, Graves, and Slater (1990).
White et al. (1990) investigated reading vocabulary size and growth differences between
students in grades 1 through 4 in two low socioeconomic status (SES) schools and one
middle SES school. Reading vocabulary was defined as the number of printed words

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that were both decoded and understood. White et al. (1990) found that even in grade 1,
there were important differences in the size of the reading vocabularies of students in
the middle SES school (about 4,800 words out of 19,050) compared to students in the
two low SES schools (about 3,500 and 2,500 words, respectively). Also, the differences
between the numbers of words known by students at each grade level indicated that
vocabulary increases may exceed the 3,000 words per year. A prevailing finding was
that vocabulary growth appeared to differ on the basis of SES. The vocabulary size of
the students in the middle SES school increased by about 5,200 words per year while
that of the students in the two low SES schools increased by about 3,500 words per year.
Table 14 shows no significant difference on students’ vocabulary learning
strategies when analyzed according to their mothers’ educational attainment. The F
values of determination (1.057), social (discovery) (.708), social (consolidation) (1.404),
memory (1.267), cognitive (.811), meta-cognitive (1.119) are all higher than α=.05 level
of significance. This means that the mothers’ educational attainments do not have any
effect on the students’ use of the vocabulary learning strategies.
Table 14. Test of difference of students’ vocabulary learning strategies when grouped
according to their mothers’ educational attainment (n=337).
Dependent
variable
Mothers’
educational
attainment
N
Mean
Std.
deviation
Determination No education 4 2.00 .000 1.057 .388
Elementary level 18 2.16 .923
Elementary
graduate
33 1.75 .662
Secondary level 79 1.97 .767
Secondary
graduate
88 2.04 .815
College level 57 2.08 .785
Social
(discovery)
F
Sig.
College graduate 58 2.13 .804 .708 .643
No education 4 2.50 .577
Elementary level 18 2.72 .826
Elementary
graduate
33 2.18 .583
Secondary level 79 2.41 .761
Secondary
graduate
88 2.50 1.364
College level 57 2.45 .927
College graduate 58 2.46 .777

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Table 14. ... (cont’d.)
Dependent
variable
Social
(consolidation)
Mothers’
educational
attainment
N
Mean
Std.
deviation
F
Sig.
No education 4 2.25 .957 1.404 .212
Elementary level 18 1.83 .785
Elementary
graduate
33 2.03 .769
Secondary level 79 1.74 .792
Secondary
graduate
88 1.81 .824
College level 57 1.96 .778
College graduate 58 2.05 .686
Memory No education 4 2.00 1.414 1.267 .272
Elementary level 18 2.22 .646
Elementary
graduate
33 1.93 .747
Secondary level 79 2.22 .861
Secondary
graduate
88 2.23 .727
College level 57 2.40 .775
College graduate 58 2.20 .811
Cognitive No education 4 1.25 .500 .811 .562
Elementary level 18 1.88 .676
Elementary
graduate
33 1.66 .692
Secondary level 79 1.79 .722
Secondary
graduate
88 1.68 .735
College level 57 1.75 .605
Metacognitive No education 4 2.25 .500 1.199 .306
Elementary level 18 2.16 .857
Elementary
graduate
33 1.93 .555
Secondary level 79 2.08 .701
Secondary
graduate
88 1.89 .711
College level 57 2.12 .733
College graduate 58 1.93 .671
Table 15 shows the difference of students’ vocabulary learning strategies when
grouped according to their fathers’ educational attainments. As shown in table 15 only
memory (F=2.943, α

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level can make a difference on their children’s memory vocabulary learning strategy.
Memory strategies include creating mental images through grouping and associating,
semantic mapping, using keywords, employing word associations, and placing new
words into a context (Singhal, 2001).
Table 15. Test of difference of students’ vocabulary learning strategies when grouped
according to their fathers’ educational attainment (n=337).
Dependent
variable
Fathers’
educational
attainment
N
Mean
Std.
deviation
Determination No education 11 2.0000 .89443 .551 .769
Elementary level 33 2.1212 .81997
Elementary
graduate
49 1.8776 .80707
Secondary level 64 2.0156 .88178
Secondary
graduate
70 2.0000 .68101
College level 52 2.1154 .70444
College graduate 58 2.0862 .82259
Social No education 11 2.8182 .87386 .568 .755
(discovery) Elementary level 33 2.4848 .66714
Elementary
graduate
49 2.5714 1.69558
Secondary level 64 2.4375 .75330
Secondary
graduate
70 2.4000 .80578
College level 52 2.3269 .90144
College graduate 58 2.4310 .75189
Social No education 11 1.8182 .75076 .434 .856
(consolidation) Elementary level 33 1.7576 .83030
Elementary
graduate
49 1.8776 .72551
Secondary level 64 1.8906 .71530
Secondary
graduate
70 1.8714 .83269
College level 52 1.9038 .79852
College graduate 58 2.0172 .82699
Memory No education 11 2.0909 .83121 2.943 .008 *
Elementary level 33 2.4242 .83030
Elementary
graduate
49 2.1633 .68760
Secondary level 64 2.0313 .87230
F
Sig.

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Table 15. ... (cont’d.)
Dependent
variable
Fathers’
educational
attainment
Secondary
N
Mean
Std.
deviation
Memory
graduate
70 2.2286 .70549
College level 52 2.5577 .80229
College graduate 58 2.1034 .76525
Cognitive No education 11 1.6364 .92442 1.522 .170
Elementary level 33 2.0303 .80951
Elementary
graduate
49 1.6939 .65205
Secondary level 64 1.6719 .73581
Secondary
graduate
70 1.7143 .76410
College level 52 1.8846 .54786
Metacognitive No education 11 1.8182 .75076 1.324 .246
Elementary level 33 2.1212 .69631
Elementary
graduate
49 1.8163 .66688
Secondary level 64 2.0781 .69704
Secondary
graduate
70 2.0000 .70196
College level 52 2.1346 .74172
College graduate 58 1.9655 .67449
F
Sig.
The rest of the strategies, determination (F=.551), social (discovery) (F=.568),
social (consolidation) (F=.568), cognitive (F=1.522) and metacognitive (F=1.324) show
no difference when these are grouped according to the students’ fathers’ educational
attainment. This means further that regardless of the educational attainment of their
fathers, their use of these strategies does not vary.
This result, however, is opposed to that of Swell and Shah’s study (1967 in Wu,
2013) where parents’ background shows high correlations with the students’ use of
vocabulary learning strategies which affect their grades positively because highereducated
parents place more emphasis on academic achievement and create home
situations that are conductive to study and concentration.
The tables show varied results in terms of the effect of the socio economic
status, mothers’ educational attainment, and the fathers’ educational attainment. One
good reason for this is revealed in the study of Lee and Bowen (2006). They stress the
point that parents with variation of backgrounds contribute to different types of children
educational involvement because they are not the same in terms of types of behaviors,

249 | P a g e
attitudes, perceptions, socioeconomic status (SES), and educational attainment. Parents
with low levels of education may be less involved at their children’s school activities
due to several factors including a lack of knowledge of the school system, or their own
negative educational experiences. One provocative finding in the Snow, Burns, and
Griffin’s (1998) study was that children from low-income families tended to have
limited exposure to books, and underdeveloped literacy and language skills.
Table 16 shows the differences of students’ vocabulary learning strategies when
categorized according to their sex. As shown in table 16, no significant difference is
established on students’ vocabulary learning strategies when analyzed according to their
sex. The t values of determination (-.932), social (discovery) (.871), social
(consolidation) (-1.819), memory (-.256), cognitive (-.968), and meta-cognitive (-1.469)
are all higher than α=.05 level of significance.
Table 17. Test of difference of students’ vocabulary learning strategies categorized
according to their sex (n=337).
Dependent variable Sex N Mean
Std.
Deviation
t-value Sig.
Determination Male 159 1.98 .811 -.932 .352
Female 178 2.06 .763
Social (discovery) Male 159 2.49 .786 .871 .385
Female 178 2.40 1.112
Social
(consolidation)
Male 159 1.81 .747 -1.819 .070
Female 178 1.96 .808
Memory Male 159 2.21 .798 -.256 .798
Female 178 2.23 .788
Cognitive Male 159 1.71 .732 -.968 .334
Female 178 1.78 .704
Metacognitive Male 159 1.94 .718 -1.469 .143
Female 178 2.06 .681
This only means that neither boys nor girls show dominance in terms of
vocabulary learning strategies. The result, however, is incongruent with the result of the
study conducted by Gu and Johnsons (1996). Gu and Johnsons’ (1996) study revealed
that female participants significantly use vocabulary learning strategies than their male
counterparts. It was reported that female participants did more guessing, used the
dictionary more, took more notes, employed oral repetition, used more contextual
encoding of new words, and seized more opportunities to use new words in real or
imagined situations.
Table 18 shows the difference of students’ vocabulary knowledge when
categorized according to their socio economic status. It can be gleaned from table 18

250 | P a g e
that all the F values of context clues (.969), synonyms (.273), antonyms (.085),
definition (.672), idioms (.716), literacy device (.880) and overall vocabulary skills
(1.079) are all higher than α=.05 level. This means that regardless of the socio economic
status of students, their vocabulary knowledge does not vary. This result is comparable
to the findings in study of Sewell and Shah’s (1967 in Wu, 2013), White et al. (1990),
Lee and Bowen (2006), and Snow et al. (1998).
Table 18. Test of difference of students’ vocabulary acquisition categorized according
to their socio economic status (n=337).
Dependent
Std.
SES N Mean
variable
deviation
F Sig.
Context clues 5000-below 171 1.46 .634 .969 .424
6000-10000 79 1.41 .612
11000-15000 43 1.34 .572
16000-20000 20 1.25 .638
21000-above 24 1.29 .550
Synonyms 5000-below 171 1.35 .619 .273 .895
6000-10000 79 1.31 .519
11000-15000 43 1.39 .622
16000-20000 20 1.25 .550
21000-above 24 1.33 .564
Antonyms 5000-below 171 1.29 .518 .085 .987
6000-10000 79 1.27 .504
11000-15000 43 1.27 .503
16000-20000 20 1.35 .670
21000-above 24 1.29 .550
Definition 5000-below 171 1.25 .486 .672 .612
6000-10000 79 1.20 .404
11000-15000 43 1.25 .441
16000-20000 20 1.15 .489
21000-above 24 1.12 .337
Idioms 5000-below 171 1.33 .510 .716 .581
6000-10000 79 1.39 .541
11000-15000 43 1.27 .453
16000-20000 20 1.20 .523
21000-above 24 1.33 .564
Literary device 5000-below 171 1.24 .458 .880 .476
6000-10000 79 1.34 .528
11000-15000 43 1.32 .521
16000-20000 20 1.20 .523
21000-above 24 1.20 .414

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Table 18. ... (cont’d.)
Dependent
variable
Overall
vocabulary
skills
SES N Mean
Std.
deviation
F Sig.
5000-below 171 1.63 .675 1.079 .367
6000-10000 79 1.64 .680
11000-15000 43 1.69 .708
16000-20000 20 1.35 .587
21000-above 24 1.54 .658
Table 19 shows the difference on students’ vocabulary knowledge categorized
according to their mothers’ educational attainment. As shown in table 19, no difference
is established on students’ vocabulary skills when analyzed according to their mothers’
educational attainment. The F values of context clues (1.456), synonyms (.558),
antonyms (1.005), definition (1.828), idioms (1.322), literacy device (1.313) and overall
vocabulary skills (2.048) are all higher than α=.05 level. This means that whether the
students’ mothers are elementary level or college graduate level, their vocabulary skills
do not vary.
As explained by Maxwell (2015), mothers who have completed high school or
college have usually learned how to act in a school environment, and they teach their
children to do the same. Educated mothers “have more understanding of school
structures and are thus better equipped to model and teach socially valued ways of
interacting such as speaking politely but assertively,” according to the study. These
mothers also tend to expose children to activities that are valued in school, such as
theater, art and music. However, this is not reflected in the present study.
Table 19. Test of significant difference of students’ vocabulary acquisition categorized
according to their mothers’ educational attainment (n=337).
Dependent
variable
Mothers’
educational
attainment
N
Mean
Std.
deviation
Context clues No education 4 1.00 .000 1.456 .193
Elementary level 18 1.50 .707
Elementary
graduate
33 1.48 .565
Secondary level 79 1.48 .657
Secondary
graduate
88 1.39 .634
College level 57 1.47 .657
College graduate 58 1.24 .470
F
Sig.

252 | P a g e
Table 19. ... (cont’d.)
Dependent
variable
Mothers’
educational
attainment
N
Mean
Std.
deviation
Synonyms No education 4 1.00 .000 .558 .763
Elementary level 18 1.33 .685
Elementary
graduate
33 1.33 .540
Secondary level 79 1.35 .555
Secondary
graduate
88 1.32 .620
College level 57 1.43 .627
College graduate 58 1.29 .562
Antonyms No education 4 1.25 .500 1.005 .422
Elementary level 18 1.16 .383
Elementary
graduate
33 1.15 .364
Secondary level 79 1.36 .581
Secondary
graduate
88 1.29 .483
College level 57 1.35 .582
College graduate 58 1.25 .548
Definition No education 4 1.00 .000 1.828 .093
Elementary level 18 1.22 .548
Elementary
graduate
33 1.15 .364
Secondary level 79 1.24 .430
Secondary
graduate
88 1.25 .485
College level 57 1.35 .517
College graduate 58 1.10 .359
Idioms No education 4 1.00 .000 1.322 .247
Elementary level 18 1.33 .594
Elementary
graduate
33 1.36 .488
Secondary level 79 1.29 .457
Secondary
graduate
88 1.40 .517
College level 57 1.40 .593
College graduate 58 1.22 .497
F
Sig.

253 | P a g e
Table 19. ... (cont’d.)
Dependent
variable
Literary
device
Overall
vocabulary
acquisition
Mothers’
educational
attainment
N
Mean
Std.
deviation
F
Sig.
No education 4 1.00 .000 1.313 .251
Elementary level 18 1.27 .46089
Elementary
graduate
33 1.24 .435
Secondary level 79 1.31 .494
Secondary
graduate
88 1.25 .461
College level 57 1.38 .590
College graduate 58 1.17 .424
No education 4 1.00 .000 2.048 .059
Elementary level 18 1.55 .704
Elementary
graduate
33 1.60 .609
Secondary level 79 1.73 .710
Secondary
graduate
88 1.62 .666
College level 57 1.73 .695
College graduate 58 1.43 .624
Table 20 shows the significant difference on students’ vocabulary knowledge
categorized according to their fathers’ educational attainment. As shown in table 20, no
significant difference is established on students’ vocabulary knowledge when analyzed
according to their fathers’ educational attainment. The F values of context clues (1.456),
synonyms (.558), definition (1.828), idioms (1.322), literary device (1.313) and overall
vocabulary skills (2.048) are all higher than α.05 level. This means that whether the
students’ fathers are elementary level or graduate level, their vocabulary skills in using
context clues, synonyms, definition, idioms, literary device, and overall vocabulary
skills do not vary. However, the result found significant difference on students’ using
antonyms (F=2.297, α

254 | P a g e
Furthermore, children whose fathers are stable and involved are better off on
almost every cognitive, social, and emotional measure developed by researchers. For
example, high levels of father involvement are correlated with sociability, confidence,
and high levels of self-control in children. Moreover, children with involved fathers are
less likely to act out in school or engage in risky behaviors in adolescents (Anthes,
2010).
Table 20. Test of difference of students’ vocabulary skills categorized according to
their fathers’ educational attainment (n=337).
Dependent
variable
Fathers’
educational
attainment
N
Mean
Std.
deviation
Context clues No education 11 1.09 .301 1.261 .275
Elementary level 33 1.33 .540
Elementary
graduate
49 1.48 .544
Secondary level 64 1.34 .59678
Secondary
graduate
70 1.48 .71714
College level 52 1.50 .61037
College graduate 58 1.36 .640
Synonyms No education 11 1.09 .30151 1.341 .238
Elementary level 33 1.27 .574
Elementary
graduate
49 1.32 .591
Secondary level 64 1.29 .493
Secondary
graduate
70 1.50 .696
College level 52 1.32 .550
College graduate 58 1.32 .603
Antonyms No education 11 1.09 .301 2.297 .035 *
Elementary level 33 1.18 .464
Elementary
graduate
49 1.24 .434
Secondary level 64 1.31 .500
Secondary
graduate
70 1.31 .497
College level 52 1.50 .671
College graduate 58 1.20 .521
F
Sig.

255 | P a g e
Table 20. ... (cont’d.)
Dependent
variable
Fathers’
educational
attainment
N
Mean
Std.
deviation
Definition No education 11 1.09 .301 .830 .547
Elementary level 33 1.15 .364
Elementary
graduate
49 1.22 .421
Secondary level 64 1.17 .380
Secondary
graduate
70 1.28 .514
College level 52 1.28 .536
College graduate 58 1.22 .460
Idioms No education 11 1.09 .301 1.336 .241
Elementary level 33 1.21 .415
Elementary
graduate
49 1.32 .473
Secondary level 64 1.29 .493
Secondary
graduate
70 1.42 .579
College level 52 1.40 .533
College graduate 58 1.32 .542
Literary
device
Overall
vocabulary
skills
F
Sig.
No education 11 1.00 .000 1.177 .318
Elementary level 33 1.18 .39167
Elementary
graduate
49 1.26 .490
Secondary level 64 1.31 .467
Secondary
graduate
70 1.27 .479
College level 52 1.36 .525
College graduate 58 1.25 .548
No education 11 1.18 .404 2.347 .031 *
Elementary level 33 1.48 .667
Elementary
graduate
49 1.71 .577
Secondary level 64 1.59 .683
Secondary
graduate
70 1.72 .759
College level 52 1.76 .674
College graduate 58 1.48 .628
Table 21 shows the difference on students’ vocabulary skills categorized
according to their sex. As shown in table 21, significant difference is established on

256 | P a g e
students’ vocabulary skills when analyzed according to their sex. The students’ use of
context clues (t=-3.525, α

257 | P a g e
when they are analyzed according to their socio economic status. Post hoc tests shows
that those students whose family have PhP6000-10000 income, perform better in noting
details than those who earned less than 6000 income bracket.
Table 22. Tests of difference on students’ comprehension skills when grouped
according to their socio economic status (n=337).
Overall reading
skills
Dependent variable SES N Mean
Std.
deviation
F Sig.
Noting details 5000-below 171 1.84 .769 2.400 .050
6000-10000 79 2.16 .775
11000-
15000
43 2.02 .801
16000-
20000
20 2.00 .794
21000-above 24 1.95 .858
Finding the main 5000-below 171 1.57 .667 3.144 .015 *
idea
6000-10000 79 1.88 .697
11000-
15000
43 1.81 .794
16000-
20000
20 1.75 .716
21000-above 24 1.66 .701
Predicting outcomes 5000-below 171 1.39 .578 1.867 .116
6000-10000 79 1.58 .590
11000-
15000
43 1.44 .547
16000-
20000
20 1.65 .587
21000-above 24 1.50 .722
5000-below 171 1.79 .631 2.832 .025 *
6000-10000 79 2.02 .598
11000-
15000
43 2.06 .703
16000-
20000
20 1.90 .552
21000-above 24 2.00 .722
McCardle, Scarborough, and Catts (2001 in Noble, Farah, & McCandliss, 2006)
state that socioeconomic background plays an important role in predicting early reading
ability, even when controlling for phonological awareness skill. This underscores the
fact that multiple factors play a role in the development of reading, and in predicting
whether a child will be a successful reader or will instead have difficulty in acquiring
this skill that is so crucial for academic and life achievement.

258 | P a g e
Further, Jariene and Razmantiene (2006) shows direct relationship between the
results of the low SES group pupils and the use of certain learning strategies was
established. The low SES pupils who obtained the better results pointed out in their
answers to the questionnaire that before reading the text they looked through it for the
main ideas, compared the information and ideas in the text with their own knowledge
and ideas while reading, and tried to change a number of expressions to be sure that the
reader was able to understand it better while writing the text. These strategies indicate
the pupils’ willingness to search for the sense in the text they are reading and their
efforts to control the precision, lucidity and significance of self-expression while
writing. This obviously shows that the pupils try to develop their metacognitive skills
(learning to learn).
The finding is further explained by Aikens and Barbarin (2008) who argued that
families from low-SES communities are less likely to have the financial resources or
time availability to provide children with academic support. Likewise, children’s initial
reading competence is correlated with the home literacy environment, number of books
owned, and parent distress.
Table 23 shows the test of difference of students’ comprehension skills when
grouped according to their fathers’ educational attainment. It can be gleaned from table
23 that students’ comprehension skills on finding the main (F=2.847, α

259 | P a g e
Table 23. Test of difference of students’ comprehension skills when grouped according
to their fathers’ educational attainment (n=337).
Dependent
variable
Fathers’
educational
attainment
N
Mean
Std.
deviation
Noting details No education 11 1.7273 .78625 1.362 .230
Elementary level 33 1.7576 .83030
Elementary
graduate
49 1.8776 .78083
Secondary level 64 1.8906 .77903
Secondary graduate 70 1.9714 .76084
College level 52 2.0962 .74780
Finding the
main idea
Predicting
outcomes
Overall
comprehension
skills
F
Sig.
College graduate 58 2.1207 .83933
No education 11 1.3636 .67420 2.847 .010 *
Elementary level 33 1.4848 .61853
Elementary
graduate
49 1.6122 .67133
Secondary level 64 1.5469 .61540
Secondary graduate 70 1.7857 .72016
College level 52 1.9231 .76302
College graduate 58 1.7931 .74360
No education 11 1.3636 .50452 1.420 .206
Elementary level 33 1.2727 .51676
Elementary
graduate
49 1.4898 .58175
Secondary level 64 1.4219 .58567
Secondary graduate 70 1.4429 .55523
College level 52 1.6154 .63102
College graduate 58 1.5345 .65469
No education 11 1.5455 .52223 3.756 .001 *
Elementary level 33 1.6364 .54876
Elementary
graduate
49 1.8776 .63353
Secondary level 64 1.8125 .55990
Secondary graduate 70 1.8857 .64926
College level 52 2.1538 .66817
College graduate 58 2.0517 .68627
Table 24 shows the difference of students’ comprehension skills when grouped
according their mothers’ educational attainment. As shown in table 24 no significant
difference is established on students’ performance on noting skills (F=.586, α˃.05),
finding the main idea (F=1.256, α˃.05), predicting outcomes (F=1.716, α˃.05), and
overall reading skills (F=1.787, α˃.05) when they are grouped according to their

260 | P a g e
mother’s educational attainment. This goes to say that whether the students’ mothers are
college graduate or has no education at all, their performances in tests on noting details,
finding the main idea, predicting outcomes and overall comprehension skills do not
vary. The findings have similarities with those of Sewell and Shah (1967 in Wu, 2013),
Khodadady and Alaee (2012), White et al. (1990), and Maxwell (2015).
Table 24. Significant difference of students’ reading skills when grouped according to
their mothers’ educational attainment (n=337).
Dependent
variable
Noting
details
Finding the
main idea
Predicting
outcomes
Overall
reading skills
Mothers’ educational
Std.
N Mean
attainment
deviation
F Sig.
No education 4 2.25 .957 .586 .742
Elementary level 18 2.00 .766
Elementary graduate 33 1.87 .857
Secondary level 79 1.91 .754
Secondary graduate 88 1.95 .800
College level 57 2.103 .771
College graduate 58 1.89 .809
No education 4 1.75 .500 1.256 .277
Elementary level 18 1.77 .878
Elementary graduate 33 1.54 .665
Secondary level 79 1.59 .670
Secondary graduate 88 1.72 .706
College level 57 1.87 .757
College graduate 58 1.65 .663
No education 4 2.00 .000 1.716 .116
Elementary level 18 1.33 .485
Elementary graduate 33 1.45 .564
Secondary level 79 1.39 .586
Secondary graduate 88 1.43 .542
College level 57 1.63 .671
College graduate 58 1.48 .62804
No education 4 2.00 .000 1.787 .101
Elementary level 18 1.77 .646
Elementary graduate 33 1.90 .723
Secondary level 79 1.83 .608
Secondary graduate 88 1.82 .647
College level 57 2.14 .666
College graduate 58 1.91 .600
Table 25 shows the significant difference on students’ reading skills when
grouped according to their sex. It can be gleaned from table 25 that tests performances
of students in noting details (t=-2.563, α

261 | P a g e
significantly when students are grouped according to their sex. The result suggests that
girls perform better on tests that measures skills on noting details, finding the main idea,
predicting outcomes and overall reading skills than boys.
Table 25. Significant difference of students’ reading skills when grouped according to
their sex (n=337).
Dependent variable Sex N Mean
Std.
Deviation
t-value Sig.
Noting details Male 159 1.84 .783 -2.563 .011
Female 178 2.06 .782
Finding the main Male 159 1.49 .645 -5.025 .000
idea
Female 178 1.87 .713
Predicting outcomes Male 159 1.36 .544 -3.086 .002
Female 178 1.56 .619
Overall reading skills Male 159 1.76 .578 -3.970 .000
Female 178 2.03 .671
This result correlated with the result of the study conducted by Oller and Perkins
(1978 in Rua, 2006). They mentioned the relationship between proficiency and affective
factors, which anchored on Savignon’s (1972) theory that “it is attainment in the target
language that causes a positive or negative attitude. High achievers tend to develop
positive attitudes as they go along and low achievers become increasingly
disenchanted”. Therefore, girls’ success in language learning may encourage the
development and persistence of positive attitudes, high motivation and self-confidence,
which in turn is influential factors in language achievement. On the contrary, boys’
indifferent or negative attitude, low motivation and lack of confidence would be both
the cause and the consequence of their poor results.
Table 26 shows the significant difference of students reading comprehension
when grouped according to their socio economic status. It is shown in table 26 that no
significant difference is established on students’ performance on reorganization tests
(F=.229, α˃.05), inferential (F=.355, α˃.05), evaluative (F=.644, α˃.05), and overall
reading comprehension (F=.479, α˃.05) when they are grouped according to their socio
economic status. This goes to say that whether the students have a family monthly
income of PhP5000-below or PhP21000-above, they have equal performances on tests
in reorganization, inferential, evaluative reading comprehension levels and the overall
reading comprehension.
McCardle, Scarborough, and Catts (2001 in Noble et al., 2006), White et al.
(1990), Snow et al. (1998), Lee and Bowen (2006), Jariene and Razmantiene (2006),
and Sewell and Shah (1967 in Wu, 2013) show congruency of the findings of the
present study.

262 | P a g e
Table 26. Significant difference of students’ reading comprehension when grouped
according to their socio economic status (n=337).
Dependent
Std.
SES N Mean
variable
deviation
F Sig.
Reorganization 5000-below 171 1.21 .412 .229 .922
6000-10000 79 1.20 .404
11000-15000 43 1.23 .427
16000-20000 20 1.20 .410
21000-above 24 1.29 .550
Inferential 5000-below 171 1.15 .365 .355 .841
6000-10000 79 1.17 .384
11000-15000 43 1.23 .427
16000-20000 20 1.15 .366
21000-above 24 1.16 .380
Evaluative 5000-below 171 1.21 .440 .644 .631
6000-10000 79 1.27 .504
11000-15000 43 1.18 .393
16000-20000 20 1.15 .366
21000-above 24 1.29 .464
Overall reading 5000-below 171 1.38 .486 .479 .751
comprehension 6000-10000 79 1.39 .491
11000-15000 43 1.48 .505
16000-20000 20 1.35 .489
21000-above 24 1.41 .503
Table 27 shows the significant difference on students’ reading comprehension
when grouped according to the educational attainment of their mothers. It can be
gleaned from table 27 that students’ performance on reorganization reading
comprehension level test varies when they are grouped according to the educational
attainment of their mothers. The F value is 2.576, significant at α

263 | P a g e
link between mothers’ reading skills and student achievement likely reflects the “home
learning environment.” In other studies, the researchers found that “mothers with higher
reading scores were more likely to read to children regularly, to have children’s books
in the house, and to enjoy reading themselves–all behaviors that can contribute to
children’s reading skills,” they reported.
Table 27. Significant difference of students’ reading comprehension when grouped
according to the educational attainment of their mothers (n=337).
Dependent
variable
Mothers’
educational
attainment
N
Mean
Std.
deviation
Reorganization No entry 4 1.00 .000 2.576 .019 *
Elementary level 18 1.11 .323
Elementary graduate 33 1.30 .466
Secondary level 79 1.16 .373
Secondary graduate 88 1.17 .378
College level 57 1.38 .526
College graduate 58 1.20 .408
Inferential No education 4 1.00 .000 .487 .818
Elementary level 18 1.11 .323
Elementary graduate 33 1.15 .364
Secondary level 79 1.21 .413
Secondary graduate 88 1.17 .378
College level 57 1.14 .350
College graduate 58 1.18 .395
Evaluative No education 4 1.00 .000 1.578 .153
Elementary level 18 1.11 .323
Elementary graduate 33 1.12 .331
Secondary level 79 1.18 .394
Secondary graduate 88 1.28 .501
College level 57 1.33 .545
College graduate 58 1.20 .408
Overall
reading
comprehension
F
Sig.
No entry 4 1.00 .000 1.622 .140
Elementary level 18 1.22 .427
Elementary graduate 33 1.36 .488
Secondary level 79 1.37 .488
Secondary graduate 88 1.42 .496
College level 57 1.52 .503
College graduate 58 1.36 .484
Table 28 shows the significant difference on students’ reading comprehension
when they are grouped according to their fathers’ educational attainment. It is shown in
table 28 that the students’ performances on reorganization (F=.463, α˃.05), inferential

264 | P a g e
(F=1.198, α˃.05), and evaluative reading comprehension (F=1.455, α˃.05) tests do not
vary when they are grouped according to their fathers’ educational attainment. The
results suggest that whether the students’ fathers have no education or college graduate,
their performances on reorganization, inferential, and evaluative reading comprehension
tests do not vary. However, the students’ overall reading comprehension (F=2.448,
α

265 | P a g e
Table 29 shows the significant difference of students reading comprehension
when grouped according to their sex. As shown in table 29, students’ reorganization (t=-
3.394, α

266 | P a g e
Table 30. Vocabulary skills, reading skills, students demographic attributes as
predictors of students reading comprehension (n=337).
Model Summary
Model R R Square Adjusted R
Square
Std. Error of the
Estimate
5 .505 e .255 .244 .42621
e. Predictors: (Constant), Overall morphology, Overall reading skills, Sex,
Antonyms, Mothers’ educational attainment
From the ANOVA table, a statistically significant p value of .000 indicated that
the prediction model is statistically significant F (60.128)=22.669, p=.000).
ANOVA a
Model
Sum of
Mean
df
Squares
Square
F Sig.
Regression 20.590 5 4.118 22.669 .000 f
5 Residual 60.128 331 .182
Total 80.718 336
f. Predictors: (Constant), Overall morphology, Overall reading skills, sex,
antonyms, mothers’ educational attainment
From the coefficients table, it revealed that overall vocabulary skills (t=4.499,
p=.000), overall reading skills (t=2.449, p=.015), sex (t=2.992, p=.003), using antonyms
(t=2.231, p=.026), and mothers’ educational attainment (t=2.033, p=.043) are significant
predictors of overall reading comprehension. Based on the results, the prediction
equation to predict overall reading comprehension be constructed as the following:
Overall reading comprehension = .361 + .208 (overall vocabulary skills) + .097 (overall
reading skills) + .143 (sex) + .129 (antonyms) + .033 (mothers’ educational attainment).
Coefficients a
Model
Unstandardized
Coefficients
Standardized
Coefficients t Sig.
B Std. Error Beta
(Constant) .361 .119 3.038 .003
Overall vocabulary skills .208 .046 .287 4.499 .000
Overall reading skills .097 .040 .128 2.449 .015
5 Sex .143 .048 .146 2.992 .003
Antonyms .129 .058 .138 2.231 .026
Mothers’ educational
attainment
.033 .016 .098 2.033 .043
a. Dependent Variable: Overall reading comprehension

267 | P a g e
The illustrated model using vocabulary knowledge, comprehension skills and
students’ demographic attributes and overall reading comprehension is:
Overall vocabulary skills
Overall reading skills
Sex
Antonyms
Mothers’ educational
attainment
β .287
β .128
β .146
β .138
β .098
Overall reading
comprehension
Figure 5. The structural equation model using vocabulary knowledge, comprehension
skills and students’ demographic attributes and overall reading
comprehension.
Conclusions
The following conclusions are made based on the findings of the study.
1) There are more 6 th grade girls than boys at DepEd’s Sta. Ana District, most of their
parents are secondary level graduates and they have monthly income of PhP5000-
below.
2) They are low users of vocabulary learning strategies, and they prefer to use social
discovery vocabulary learning strategy in learning English vocabulary.
3) They have fairly satisfactory vocabulary knowledge, satisfactory comprehension
skills level and satisfactory overall reading comprehension.
4) Only select vocabulary learning strategies helped students’ vocabulary knowledge,
comprehension skills and comprehension performance; however, students’
vocabulary knowledge boosts their comprehension skills and comprehension
performance.
5) Generally, regardless of the students’ parents’ educational attainment and their SES,
their vocabulary learning strategies, vocabulary knowledge, comprehension skills
and reading comprehension are comparable. However, girls used more vocabulary
learning strategies and they performed better than boys in vocabulary knowledge,
comprehension skills and reading comprehension tests.

268 | P a g e
Recommendations
The following recommendations are made based on the findings and
conclusions:
1) School administrators should empower their teachers to be acquainted with the
knowledge and skills on teaching vocabulary learning strategies highlighting
cognitive and metacognitive strategies through trainings, seminars, workshops, and
the like and later incorporate said strategies in teaching vocabulary.
2) Although vocabulary learning strategies did not help students reading
comprehension performance, but still it is important that teachers should teach their
students different vocabulary learning strategies. The result could mean that the
students are not aware of the different vocabulary learning strategies thus they are
low users of these.
3) Further research should be done to further validate the general conclusions of the
current study. Also, consideration to include items in the questionnaire on
vocabulary learning strategies, for there may have been some strategies that are not
mentioned which could also be helpful to intensify future study.
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CED JOURNAL
VELMA S. LABAD
Editor
JUSE LYN P. HIPONIA
Associate Editor
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Consultant
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