Challenges of Written Correspondence among
BACOM students in Online Learning
Lopez, Marifel C., Punay, Jaypeh Ju D.
marifellopez014@gmail.com, jujipunay@gmail.com
Benguet State University, Humanities Department
___________________________________________________________________________________
I. INTRODUCTION
Communication and education are inextricably linked
(Diloyan, 2017). As stated by Andrade, (2015), Petrie,
(2011), and Ajmal et al. (2019), communication is
central to education and a critical component in
pedagogical practices and institutions to ensure
student success. Bakar et al. (2020), defined
communication as a dynamic aspect of our lives
because it is used to deliver information, thoughts,
perceptions, and common understanding among
society. In any academic setting, verbal, nonverbal,
and written communication are all evident, with
writing being the most commonly used method,
particularly in higher education (Barrett et al. 2020).
However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic that
imposed a global threat to the health of people around
the world. It pushed billions of people and institutions
to close down, severely affecting most of the world's
economy and most especially education. Forcing
academic societies worldwide to adapt and shift from
the traditional mode of learning to online learning
(Sahu, 2020). A study conducted by 424 universities
worldwide by Suresh et al. (2018, as cited in Coman
et al., 2020) revealed that research, conference,
international movements, and educational institutions
have had to suffer from the pandemic, with most
universities saying that they must adopt online
learning and faced many challenges. Although, in
most countries such as the USA, India, South Korea,
UK, China, and Australia, online-based education had
prevailed even before the pandemic happened (ICEF
Monitor, 2012).
Meanwhile, in the Philippines, even though a research
study by Enriquez, (2014) explains that virtual
learning has been around for the past years in
classroom activities and instructions. Still, the abrupt
pedagogical shift to online learning brought in huge
adjustments to educational institutions, instructors,
and students who primarily are new to entering higher
education institutions.
A recent study by Amponsah et al. (2020), reveals
that students who gain admission to tertiary education
face new challenges because the transition period
from high school to college frequently brings new
stressors and necessitate coping strategies. Although
there are ways to cope with the stress and unexpected
situation, as Kwaah & Essilfie (2017) suggests that
students may use a variety of strategies, the most
common of which was prayer or meditation,
emotional support from family and friends, and self-
distracting activities such as watching TV and
listening to music. Nevertheless, because of the
diverse backgrounds, each student has it will be
impossible to cope and adjust instantly amidst the
pandemic.
According to Crawford et al. (2020), the community
lockdown and quarantine responses in the country
steered students and teachers to study and work from
home, which delivered online learning platforms.
As communication and mode of learning became
online, the importance of effective communication
plays a massive role in building students’ character
and relationship with their instructors (Alawamleh et
al., 2020). Bates (2016) mentioned that faculties can
use informational strategies for education, student
participation, and evaluation that can be learned
specifically in an online environment or written
communication. Due to the current mode of
instruction, written communication became the
prominently used method for delivering and
submitting instructional materials and activities. As
Betts (2009) stated, "in online education, written
communication is a primary form of communication
between the institution and students as well as faculty
and the students."
The recent study of Simbulan (2020) found that
teachers and students used smartphones and other
learning gadgets to exchange messages through text
messaging, e-mail, and Facebook messenger.
Furthermore, Alawamleh et al. (2020) argue that
communication particularly in the educational areas
Lopez, Punay
must be examined, as teacher-student communication
can reinforce a better learning familiarity and build a
more beneficial environment.
Lately, numerous studies have been conducted to
investigate the effects of online learning on students'
performance during the COVID-19 pandemic but few
studies have ventured into exploring how written
communication between students and instructors
improves.
According to Sparks et al. (2014), written
communication is the process of effectively delivering
multiple types of messages to different audiences in
written form. Conversely, online learning is a type of
distance education that takes place over the internet in
which a course is thoroughly planned ahead of time to
be delivered online (Bates, 2016). However,
according to an article by Delas Peñas (2020), one of
the major problems with this method of learning is
that it may affect the students' involvement and
communication in their course and instead become
unproductive learners making them unfit for online
learning.
Similarly, a recent article by Milosievski et al. (2020)
observes that to most students, several of their
instructors barely teach and discuss the given
instructional materials with them. As a result, students
are forced to learn the subjects themselves without the
proper guidance of their instructors making it hard for
the students to communicate with their instructors
whenever they want to ask questions or concerns
regarding their subjects.
A further research study by Baticulon et al. (2020),
and Fabito et al. (2020) reveals that the most
frequently encountered barriers and difficulties of
students were adjusting to learning styles, having to
perform responsibilities at home, having trouble
clarifying topics and discussions with their
instructors, poor internet connection for submitting
activities, and limited communication between
educators and learners.
On the other hand, learning technologies such as
email and other tools for correspondence can be used
for students (Dabbagh & Bannan-Ritland, 2005, as
cited in Colorado & Eberle, 2010) to send private
messages to their instructors which is usually and
commonly used method for communication in online
learning (Horton, 2006; Repman, Zinskie, & Carlson,
2005, p. 59). Additionally, other tools for
correspondence includes Google classroom private
2
inbox which facilities both students and teachers to
communicate easily and provide feedback efficiently
(Shaharanee et al., 2016; Sudarsana et al., 2019) as
well as the Facebook messenger that is used by
students in reaching their teachers regarding the
content of their subject, asking for permissions or
excuses, and questions related to class schedules or
examinations (Abu-Alruz, 2014; Draskovic et al.,
2013; Gunnulfsen, 2016).
Subsequently, Lawrence et al. (2019, as cited in
Brown et al., 2020) assert that miscommunication can
create barriers that may alter the meaning of a
message. These barriers include semantics,
intrapersonal, interpersonal, physical, and context
issues that may specifically worsen in an online
environment.
Moreover, few researchers have been able to draw on
structured remedies to improve written
communication between students and instructors. But
according to a study by Arrieta et al. (2020) and an
article by Wilson (2017), they suggested that there are
available ways and practices that instructors may
apply when communicating with their students, one of
which is providing accurate contact information and
online availability time. Arrieta et al. (2020) further
explained that listening and attending to students’
concerns and giving meaningful feedback is essential
to creating great rapport with students.
According to Hattie (1999), feedback is a critical
component of the assessment process and has been
deemed as the most effective and influential mediator
because of its significant effect on student learning (p.
9).
Similarly, continuous feedback allows instructors "to
determine if students understand the course materials
and if lectures are presented clearly and logically"
(Section 6.2: Student Assessment, n.d., as cited in
O'Neil, n.d., p.9).
Additional findings (Section 6.2: Student Assessment,
n.d., as cited in Palloff & Pratt, 2006) states that
through instructors asking for more information or
asking the student to share some aspect of their
professional expertise helps facilitate the discussion
and engage the student in this instance. Hence, with
the sudden shift of learning, the researchers decided
the need to conduct this vital study to explore the
challenges and provide ways of improving written
communication as perceived by students.
In this regard, this study will be conducted to analyze
Challenges of Written Correspondence among BACOM students in Online Learning
the challenges encountered by BACOM students in
written correspondence with their instructors in terms
of online learning. The consequences of the
challenges identified and the ways on how to improve
written communication between BACOM students
and instructors. Although researches on the challenges
of online learning have been studied, few types of
researches have explored the challenges of written
correspondence among students therefore, a study
must be conducted. Specifically, this study aims to
answer the following questions:
1. What are the challenges encountered by BACOM
students in written correspondence with their
instructors?
2. What are the consequences of the challenges
identified by BACOM students in written
correspondence with their instructors?
3. How can written correspondence between BACOM
students and instructors be improved?
Theoretical & Conceptual Framework
II. METHODOLOGY
This chapter discusses the research design,
respondents or the subject of the study, instruments of
the study, validity, and reliability of the study.
Design
The study will use a qualitative approach in
interpreting and analyzing the data to have an in-depth
understanding and corroboration regarding this study.
The researchers aligned it to phenomenological study,
which focuses on personal perceptions and a full
understanding of the structure of individual
experiences. This structure directs experiences of how
an individual comes to understand the world
(Littlejohn and Foss, 2005). The main aim of this
approach is to arrive at a definition of the essence of
the phenomena in question and to study the singularity
of experiences as of what to be observed and viewed
by the researchers, with the aim of determining what
the phenomenon is all about, what convinces it or
whether it is occurring at all. (Creswell, 2013). This
approach applies to the study as the phenomenological
method focuses on experienced meaning instead of
describing direct behavior and actions (Polkinghorne,
1989).
Site and Participants
3
The researchers will conduct the study at Benguet
State University (BSU) main campus at Balili, La
Trinidad, Benguet.
The participants of the study are first-year students
from the degree program Bachelor of Arts in
Communication (BACOM) under the College of Arts
and Sciences (CAS).
According to Krueger (2002), the preferred number of
participants when executing focus group interviews
must be between 8 to 10 people. With that, the
researchers propose to interview (10) first-year
students from the two sections of Bachelor of Arts in
Communication (BACOM). From a total population
of forty-three (43), five (5) from BACOM 1A will be
selected, and from a total population of forty-four
(44), five (5) from BACOM 1B will be also selected.
The participants of the study will be chosen through
purposive sampling with the criteria that he/she is: (1)
an enrolled first-year BACOM student, (2) using
Google Classroom private inbox, Facebook
messenger, and E-mail when communicating with
their instructors, (3) and actively participating in
online learning. The researchers will chose the study
participants based on the study’s purpose and will
also consider the participants‘ availability,
genuineness, and openness.
Instrumentation
Through the implementation of the Community
Quarantine, the researchers will administ the study
utilizing the presence of Google meet in performing
the interview. A semi-structured type of interview will
be used for the creation of the interview guide. It is an
in-depth interview in which respondents must answer
open-ended questions that are predetermined, allowing
the interviewers to be equipped and prepared during
the interview. (Jamshed, 2014). In qualitative research,
semi-structured interviews are a popular data
collection method, and the consistency of the
interview guide has a significant impact on the study's
performance. Furthermore, it enables the interviewee
to freely think of their answers which generate a
successful reciprocal information exchange between
the respondents and interviewers (Kallio et al., 2016).
The interview guide comprises nine (9) questions
which will be answered based on the perceptions of
the respondents and will also be sent to the them
earlier than the set date of the focus group interview.
Giving them time to prepare their answers and have a
Lopez, Punay
smooth flow of communication between the
respondents and researchers.
The researchers will employ dual moderator focus
group type as part of the interview. In this kind of
focus group interview, two moderators work together.
One moderator is in charge of asking the questions,
and the other is in charge of making sure the questions
are answered by the respondents. A single moderator
is more likely to get distracted, hence having two
moderators will ensure that all the queries are
discussed and the participants remain focused on the
dialogue. (Krueger & Casey, 2000). Heto yung wala
pa dun sa reference na nailagay ko ta e-book kasi. Eto
siya: Krueger, R. A., & Casey, M. A. (2000). Focus
groups: A practical guide for applied research, 4th ed.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc.
Accordingly, a pilot testing interview comprising ten
(10) respondents will be organized by the researchers
to guarantee the accuracy and viability of the interview
guide. In which if ever there will be suggestions and
changes on the questions, the researchers will revise
the queries before it will be further validated by the
validator.
Consequently, the interview guide will be then verified
by Ms. Manilyn R. Cacanindin, who is a perfect fit for
the validation of instrumentation for the validator is a
licensed professional teacher with a Doctoral degree in
Philosophy in the English Language.
Procedure
After the construction of the interview guide and the
type of interview that will be used, the research
instructor and school head will approve it before
conducting the study. Furthermore, to determine the
III. APPENDICES
Appendix A
Challenges of Written Correspondence among BACOM students in Online Learning
Interview Guide
4
reliability of the research process, the researchers will
organize a pretesting of the interview guide through a
pilot testing interview for BACOM first-year
students. Afterward, it will be then validated through
the content validation to see if it could really identify
to what is supposed to be identified before it will be
revised to its ultimate form. 
Data Analysis
In this study the researchers will be using a scheduled
online focus group interview to analyze the gathered
data. This way, the researchers will be able to get the
answers of the respondents that will be interviewed.
It will be consolidated and subjected to thematic
analysis using the reflexive type of thematic analysis.
Braun et al. (2019) defined Reflexive thematic
analysis as a process of analyzing contextual evidence
in order to address general or specific research
questions regarding people's experiences,
perspectives, and representations of a phenomenon. It
consists of six processes in performing the analysis
namely, Familiarization with the Data, Coding,
Generating themes, Reviewing themes, Defining and
naming themes, and Writing up.
In addition to that, deductive and semantic approach
will be applied to further help the researchers arrive at
themes and categories. A deductive method begins
with certain preconceived themes that you expect to
see expressed in the results, based on theory or prior
experience. While explicit content of the data is
analyzed in a semantic approach (Caulfield, 2020).
Moreover, the results will be assessed and interpreted
in narrative form.
Challenges of Written Correspondence among BACOM students in Online Learning
5

Warm up Question

 How are you coping with the current mode of communication in online learning?
Main Questions

I. Challenges encountered by BACOM students in written correspondence with their instructors:

1. What struggles have you been facing in online learning in terms of your written communication with
your instructor in clarification, receiving instruction and private message?
2. What do you think are the main reason that makes it hard for you to communicate with your instructor in
written form?
3. What circumstances do you think are affecting your written correspondence with your instructors?

II. Consequences of the challenges identified by BACOM students in written correspondence with their
instructors:

1. What do you think would be the effects of the struggles you have mentioned in terms of your written
communication with your instructor in clarification and private message?
2. What do you think would be the outcome of the circumstances affecting your written correspondence
with your instructors?
3. How did it interrupt you in your written correspondence with your instructor?

III. How can written correspondence between students and instructors improves:

1. In your perception, what strategies should students and instructors do to achieve a productive and
harmonious written communication?
2. How do you resolve disagreements with your instructors such as corrections of answers in exam or
scores and clarifications through written correspondence?
3. In your opinion, what adjustments between students and instructors should be done to cope with the
challenges of written communication?

Final Question
 Is there anything else you'd like to say before we wrap up the interview?
Lopez, Punay
6

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