Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Writing is a form of communication that allows students to

put their feelings and ideas on paper, to organize their

knowledge and beliefs into convincing arguments, and to convey

meaning through well-constructed text. Writing is a method of

representing language in visual or tactile form. It is one means

of expression, one mode that is related to other modes; and as a

means of expression that is powerful in the contemporary world.

Writing is consciously taught in the early years of schooling-

that is partly what elementary and primary schools see as their

function but writing also provides the medium and mode through

which much of education takes place. In addition, learning to

write in one or more languages is a challenge that requires

gaining the command of a symbolic system.

Indigenous people have their own ways of looking at and

relating to the world, the universe, and each other (Barnhardt&

Kawagly).They have indigenous knowledge and indigenous ways of

knowing. They also have connected concepts of what one knows and

how one comes to know it. They learn in practical ways involving

observation and doing. Moreover, there is the risk that the

development of particular knowledge or skills in Indigenous

pupils may be neglected if such knowledge is perceived by

teachers to be culturally inappropriate or is not prioritized as

important.

School is an institution that values writing highly, but

which separates it from its contexts in the wider world in order

to help children learn it as a system. Writing is used within

school to regulate activity and to assess progress.

In elementary school, children are encountering the

elements of writing for the first time, from the formation of

letters, to organizing their ideas, to using correct grammar,

punctuation, and spelling. Elementary school students are

expected to advance from learning the rules of writing to

automatically applying those rules beginning in grade four. By

the end of elementary school, your child should be writing

independently and producing multiple-paragraph essays that

contain formal introductions, supporting evidence, and

conclusions.(https://www.time4writing.com/writing-

resources/writing-problems-elementary/)

Indigenous pupil’s composition of open-ended paragraphs

with wide vocabulary, accuracy, fluency and organization of

ideas are previous experiences of the researcher in teaching

Grade VI pupils and were the basis in conducting this study

hoping to find answers if the Mother Tongue and Filipino

Language used by the pupils in writing has a direct significance

on their writing skills.

Statement of the Problem

This study seeks to compare the use between Mother tongue

and Filipino language in the writing skills of Grade VI

Indigenous pupils of Naujan South District as basis for Writing

Enhancement Activities.

Specifically, it finds answers to the following questions.

1. What is the level of proficiency in writing skills of

Grade VI pupils using their mother tongue in terms of:

1.1 vocabulary?

1.2 accuracy?

1.3 fluency?

1.4 organization of ideas?

2. What is the level of performance in writing skills of

Grade VI pupils using Filipino language in terms of:

2.1 vocabulary?

2.2 accuracy?

2.3 fluency?

2.4 organization of ideas?

3. Is there a significant difference in the writing skills

of the Indigenous learners using Mother tongue to the

Filipino language across indicators?

 4. Based on the result of the study, what writing

enhancement activities can the researcher propose?

Statement of the Hypothesis

There is no significant difference in the writing skills of

the Indigenous pupils using their Mother tongue to the Filipino

language.

Significance of the study

The findings of this study would be beneficial to various

groups of individuals.

Pupils. Writing enhancement activities will greatly help the

pupils to improve their writing skill.

Teachers. Knowledge on the importance of language on how to plan

their lessons and activities accordingly which could help them

fully understand the endeavours of their pupils.

Principal. Findings of the study would bring to the notice of

the principals how to best assign teachers who have the mastery

of the subjects taught and who would demonstrate an in-depth

understanding on how the language used can affect the writing

skills of the learners.

Parents. Parents who can become more involved in their

children’s education and realized that they had a responsibility

in developing their children’s writing skills.

Future Researchers. Findings of the study would invite other

researchers to have follow-up study on enhancing writing skills

of the Indigenous learners.

Scope and Limitations of the Study

This study is concerned with the comparison between the

Mother tongue and Filipino language in the writing communication

skills of the Grade VI pupils in the IP schools of Naujan South

District intended to develop activities in enhancing writing

skills.

Respondents of the study are Grade VI Pupils of the IP

schools in Naujan South District namely: Balite Mangyan School,

Bucayao Grande Mangyan School Main, Bucayao Grande Mangyan

School Annex, Cornelio Lintawagin Memorial Elementary School,

Malvar Elementary School,Sido Mangyan School and Tipas Mangyan

School.

Definition of Terms

The following terms are defined operationally and

conceptually to give the readers further clarity and

understanding on this study.

Accuracy. This refers to learners’ use of the language system

including grammar structures.

Fluency. This is the ability to write the language easily and

effectively.

Indigenous People(IP). This refers to a group of people living

or existing naturally in a particular region or environment

Organization of Ideas. This refers to the ability to effectively

take the information one wishes to present and arrange it in a

logical order. It comes down to two things: credibility and

audience understanding.

Vocabulary. This refers to all the words known and used by a

particular person.

Writing skills. This refers to the learner’s independence,

comprehensibility, fluency and creativity in writing.

Theoretical Framework

This study is anchored on different theories such as

Controlled Composition, Process Approach, Current-traditional

Rhetoric Approach and Genre Approach.

The first theory to which this study is anchored is the

Controlled Composition sometimes referred to as guided

composition has its roots in the audio-lingual approach. Notions

relevant to controlled composition are that language is speech

(from structural linguistics) and that learning is habit

formation (from behaviorist psychology).Given such notions, from

this perspective, writing was considered as a secondary concern.

In the controlled composition, writing functions as the handmaid

of the other skills which must not take precedence as the major

skill to be developed and must be considered as a service rather

than an end in itself. Controlled program of systematic habit

formation are designed to avoid error caused by first language

interference and to positively reinforce appropriate second

language behavior. Most of primary teachers use this theory in

order to achieve the expected output and minimize the errors in

the student’s writing using their mother tongue.

Another theory that can be anchored in this study is the

Process Approach which identifies four stages in writing such as

planning, drafting, editing and final revision. Learning to

write entails developing an efficient and effective composing

process. The writer is the center of attention and the reader,

focusing on content and ideas, is not preoccupied with form. The

text is of secondary concern,and there is no particular context

for writing in this approach. It is the responsibility of the

individual writers to identify and appropriately address the

situation, discourse community and sociocultural setting. For

teachers, the process approach creates a classroom situation

which bears little resemblance to the situations in which

student’s writing will be exercised.

In Process Approach, two groups have been identified :

expressivism and cognitivism. Expressivism occurs when the

individual expression of honest and personal thoughts became a

popular trend in teaching writing. Cognitivism, on the hand,

sees writing as problem-solving. The two key words in this

theory are thinking and process.

Current-traditional Rhetoric, another theory to which this

study is anchored has a central concern on the logical

construction and arrangement of discourse forms. Of primary

interest is the paragraph: attention given to its elements and

to the various options for its development. This approach thus

addresses larger structural entities (introduction, body and

conclusion) and organizational patterns or modes (narration,

description, exposition). The perspective of this approach views

writing as a matter of arrangement, of fitting sentences and

paragraphs into prescribed patterns which the teachers are

focusing to teach their pupils.

Another theory that can be anchored in this study is the

Genre Approach which is consists of three phases: the target

genre is modelled for the students, a text is jointly

constructed by the teacher and students, and a text is

independently constructed by each student”. They emphasize that

“social situations” as well as “particular purposes” have in

writing. In this theory occurs Social Reconstructionist which

maintain that writing is principally a social act, an act in

which the expert reader, an initiated member of the discourse

community, is all-powerful. The genre approach is commonly

exercised by the Indigenous learners for its emphasis is on

social situations which they are very familiar with.

Conceptual Model

Based on the foregoing theoretical model, the conceptual

framework of the study is shown in the figure below.

IV DV

Level of Proficiency in Level of Proficiency in

Writing Skills of Grade VI Writing skills of Grade VI

Indigenous pupils using Indigenous pupils using

Mother Tongue in terms of: Filipino Language in terms

of:

1.1 accuracy; 2.1 accuracy;

1.2 fluency; 2.2 fluency;

1.2 pronunciation; 2.3 pronunciation;

1.4 vocabulary; 2.4 vocabulary;

and and

1.5 organization of ideas? 2.5 organization of ideas?

Writing Enhancement Activities of

Grade VI Indigenous pupils

Figure 1. Hypothesized Difference between and among the

Variables of the Study

 The conceptual model presents two sets of variables. The

first box shows the level of proficiency in writing skills of

Grade VI Indigenous pupils using Mother Tongue in terms of

accuracy, fluency, pronunciation, vocabulary and organization of

ideas.

On the other hand, the second box shows level of

proficiency in writing skills of Grade VI Indigenous pupils

using Filipino language in terms of accuracy, fluency,

pronunciation, vocabulary and organization of ideas.

The one-headed arrow signifies the hypothesized difference

between the level of proficiency in writing skills of Grade VI

Indigenous pupils using Mother Tongue and the level of

proficiency in writing skills of Grade VI Indigenous pupils

using Filipino Language.

 Chapter II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presents the related literature and studies

that are contributory for the development of the study and in

the discussion of the findings.

Foreign Literature

Ohno (2011) pointed out that grammatical competence is the

ability to recognize and produce the distinctive grammatical

structures of a language and to use them effectively in

communication and the ability to use the forms of the language

such as sounds, words, and sentence structure. While discourse

competence concerns with the mastery of how to combine

grammatical forms and meanings to achieve a unified spoken or

written text in different genres, the cohesion and coherence of

sentences it is used to refer to two related, but distinct

abilities. Textual discourse competence refers to the ability to

understand and construct monologues or written texts of

different genres, such as narratives, procedural texts,

expository texts, persuasive (hortatory) texts, descriptions and

others. Learning a language involves learning how to relate

discourse in such a way that listeners or readers can understand

what is going on and see what is important. Likewise it involves

being able to relate information in a way that is coherent to

the readers and hearers. Whereas, sociolinguistic competence,

addresses the extent to which utterances are produced and

understood appropriately in different sociolinguistic contexts

depending on contextual factors.

Local Literature

Abejuela (2010) states that ever since the Americans

established the public school system in the country, no efforts

were done on establishing schools that utilized indigenous

knowledge. He also added that native regional languages have

never been encouraged, much less those of the indigenous

peoples.

Foreign Studies

Tolchinsky (2003)noted in her book entitled, “The cradle of

Culture and What Children Know about Writing” that children’s

writing development depends on their active engagement with

various kinds of written texts. The author agrees to the fact of

cognitive growth by which children learn new things in a domain

specific way. Early rules involve the number and variety of

letters required for a word to be readable. As children write

more, their productions begin to reflect the properties of their

specific language. Ultimately they become sensitive to the

relationship between sounds and letters and are able to produce

writing. Here also, the author strongly argued that writing

skill does enhance specific language skills. The author stressed

that it is the teachers who have to build on student’s

knowledge. It is a crucial resource for the classroom that can

be tapped to help children grow in their mastery of the

conventions and purposes of writing.

According to Nining (2011) in her research, it is stated

that stories engage the student’s imaginations and hold their

interest, especially if there are pictures to go with the story.

Through picture presentation, people are able to reach outside

their minds. Storytelling makes the learner feel like playing.

Through listening to stories, students develop their vocabulary

and grammar knowledge.

Local Studies

Accoding to Adaya et al (2012), it is clear that the

Pragmatic theory is focused on the practical use of expressions

wherein the ability to use, understand and create ideas

according to social conditions, culture, and linguistic

knowledge are being taken into consideration.

According to Balagot (2011), the ability to understand and

form expressions can be concentrated with pragmatic conditions.

It is usually link together with social distance and situation

between the encoder and decoder, cultural knowledge like good

manners and right conduct and clear linguistic understanding.

Related literatures and studies give significant background

about the significance of language in writing skills of

Indigenous pupils. The reviewed studies presented have great

impact in knowing the variables of the study.

 Chapter III

Research Methodology

This chapter presents the research design, research locale,

respondents of the study, sampling technique, research

instrument, data gathering procedure and statistical treatment

of data used in the study.

Research design

Descriptive and comparative method of research will be used

in this study. Descriptive method is defined as any scientific

process begins with description, based on observation, of an

event or events from which theories may later be developed to

explain the observations and correlation is a statistical

measure of relationship between two or more variables, gives an

indication of how variable may predict another (Harcourt,

2015).It is undertaken in order to ascertain and be able to

describe the characteristics of the variables of interest in a

situation. Descriptive studies are also used in organization to

learn, describe and understand the characteristics of a group.

The goal of descriptive study is to describe relevant aspects of

the phenomena of interest from an individual, organization,

industry oriented and some other perspective. It offers ideas

for further research and to help make certain simple decision

(Trochim, 2006).
 On the other hand, comparative method is the act of

comparing two or more things with a view to discovering

something about one or all of the things being compared.

Research Locale

This study will be conducted in Mangyan Schools of Naujan

South District namely Balite Mangyan School, Bucayao Grande

Mangyan School Main, Bucayao Grande Mangyan School Annex,

Cornelio Lintawagin Memorial Elementary School, Malvar

Elementary School,Sido Mangyan School and Tipas Mangyan School.

Each school has IP learners. Balite Mangyan School has 23

pupils, Bucayao Grande Mangyan School Main has 16 pupils,

Bucayao Grande Mangyan School Annex has 8 pupils, Cornelio

Lintawagin Memorial Elementary School has 29 pupils, Malvar

Elementary School has 7 pupils,Sido Mangyan School has 5 pupils

and Tipas Mangyan School has 24 pupils.

Naujan South District is one of the districts that has a

numerous number of Indigenous pupils who speak and write in

their Mother tongue language.

Respondents of the study

The respondents of the study will be the Grade VI

Indigenous People (IP) pupils in Naujan South District schools

which will comprise of 89 pupils taken from the total of 112

learners
Sampling Technique

Non-proportional stratified random sampling will be used in

determining the number of respondents.

Non-proportional stratified random sampling technique also

known as disproportionate stratification is a type of stratified

sampling wherein the sample of each stratum does not have to be

proportionate to the population size of the stratum. Respondents

from each school will be taken as respondents of the study with

a total of 35 Grade 6 pupils.

Table A. Distribution of Respondents of the Study

IP Schools Population Sample

Balite Mangyan School 23 18

Bucayao Grande Main 16 13

Bucayao Grande Annex 8 6

Cornelio Lintawagin MES 29 23

Malvar Elementary School 7 6

Sido Mangyan School 5 4

Tipas Mangyan School 24 19

Total 112 89
Research Instrument

Different pictures will be used to gather data in this

study. The pictures will be about current issues, interests and

values in life. The pupils will be given a maximum of five

minutes to express their ideas.

Responses will be rated and tabulated according to the

criteria for accuracy, fluency, pronunciation, vocabulary and

organization of ideas.

Data gathering procedure

To request permission to conduct the study, a letter will

be sent to the District Supervisor, through the Principals and

School Heads of the nine IP schools.

Written performance in form of a paragraph writing will be

written by the Grade 6 pupils in the nine IP schools. Each

respondent will be given a picture showing current issues,

interest and values in life. Respondents will be asked to write

something about the picture and will be allowed a maximum of

five minutes to write their ideas about it.

Respondents’ performance will be rated according to the

writing criteria such as organization, development of ideas,

clarity and style that correspond to its points of description.

Scoring and Quantification

For scoring and quantification purposes, a 4-point

numerical scale with their description will be employed as shown

below.

Table B. Tabulation, Scoring and Quantification of Data

Relative Value Verbal Description

4 Excellent

3 Very Good

2 Good

1 Needs Improvement

Statistical treatment of data

Data gathered will be treated statistically using

descriptive statistics such as mean and ranking.

The following formulas will be used in this study:

1. Arithmetic Mean

X=X1+X2+X3+…+Xn
N

Where: X = mean
∑x = sum of all scores
N = total number of respondents

To determine if there is significant difference between the

writing performance of the respondents, T-test for independent
samples will be used with the formula as follows:
2. T-test for Independent Samples

𝑡 = 𝑋1 − 𝑋2

Where,

x1-x1 = Mean of first set of values

x2- x2 = Mean of second set of values

S1 = Standard deviation of first set of values

S2 = Standard deviation of second set of values

N1 = Total number of values in first set

N2 = Total number of values in second set

Proficiency