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Enhancing Writing Performance of Selected Grade 7 Students of Eduardo Cojuangco
National Vocational High School during the New Normal
ABSTRACT
Writing is a complex task. Its development depends in large part on changes that occur in
children’s strategic behavior, knowledge, and motivation. The purpose of this paper was
to enhance the writing performance of the selected grade 7 students in the English
subject. There has been a lot of research studies on students' progress in writing
Struggling students, the majority of whom were minority students attending schools that
and knowledge for planning and composing stories and persuasive essays. These students
wrote longer, more complete, and qualitatively better papers for both of these genres than
peers in the comparison condition or writing workshop. These effects were maintained
over time for story writing and generalized to a third uninstructed genre, informative
writing.
However, teacher observations suggested that students’ writing had improved in several
Introduction
seen as an important trait that plays a significant role in a nation's progress, because it
effectively results in the rise of new generations while relying on current and advanced
scientific foundations. This is very much true no matter what the education set-up of any
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Enhancing Writing Performance of Selected Grade 7 Students of Eduardo Cojuangco
National Vocational High School during the New Normal
country in the world is. The extent of educators' understanding of teaching methods,
means, and theories, as well as their awareness of modern teaching orientations, is used
In this sense, the Department of Education (DepEd) here in the Philippines has
always envisioned and made it a purpose to ensure that all Filipinos receive quality
education, particularly at the Secondary and secondary levels. In light of the current state
of educational delivery, which encompasses the new normal setting, the department has
been presented with challenges that are impeding educational quality after many changes
surpass challenge, but the DepEd never fails to try and strive harder to never surrender.
particularly for learners, a grimmer reality has emerged, one that is felt by every teacher
and policy implementer in the Department of Education: how to maintain learning and
available. The pervasiveness of the Corona Virus (COVID-19 effects) has really
chastised even the most fundamental and essential component of society, the educational
sector.
the COVID-19 epidemic and the needs of learners, resulting in a Basic Education
Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP). The pursuit of continuing educational delivery has
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Enhancing Writing Performance of Selected Grade 7 Students of Eduardo Cojuangco
National Vocational High School during the New Normal
been guided by the provisions and directions of DepEd Order 014, s. DO 12, S. 2020 on
the Required Health Standards in Basic Education Offices and Schools and DO 12, S.
2020 on the Required Health Standards in Basic Education Offices and Schools To name
a few, the Basic Education Learning Continuity Plan (BE-LCP) has a deadline of 2020.
Learning (MDL), are urgent responses implemented by the DepEd to ensure continuity of
education, with the Secondary consideration that the country is in the process of adapting
to the new normal form of education at present, and continuous innovations of educators
and active involvement of other stakeholders are the driving force for its success.
pandemic. The solution focused on keeping every other important element safe while
listening or speaking, have been determined in studies to be a main reason for success or
lack of academic success in university students (van Dyk, Zybrands, Cillie, & Coetzee,
2009). Learners who do not speak English as their first language are often being taught
and assessed in English. Not only do these learners have to grapple with learning new and
advanced subject matter as they proceed through school and university, but also with
According to Graham (2008), children who do not learn to write correctly are at a
significant disadvantage. They get worse grades in school, especially in subjects where
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Enhancing Writing Performance of Selected Grade 7 Students of Eduardo Cojuangco
National Vocational High School during the New Normal
written tests and reports are used to measure students' progress. They are less likely to
utilize writing to support and enhance what they are learning in content classes than their
more talented classmates. There's a lot of evidence that writing about topics in science,
social studies, and other subjects helps students learn more. Writing is increasingly
However, advanced writing performance exams are rarely achieved by American kids
among them, in order to reach greater levels of writing performance. In theory, this can
control through frequent writing chances and timely and relevant feedback.
topic to write about—is a difficult undertaking. "Capture readers' interest," the teacher
always urges the students. However, this is a difficult undertaking because thoughts and
insights must be conveyed in a way that the readers can understand. Spelling,
punctuation, and other mechanics issues must all be rigorously adhered to. Furthermore,
according to Go, the correct use of words to meet the author's intended meaning is also
Effective writing abilities are essential in both higher education and the workplace
after graduation. The capacity to write a long text is the single best predictor of success in
freshman year course work. Gains in informative and analytical writing abilities are also
The planning of ideas, the development of text, and the review of ideas and text
are all organized by mature authors, imposing high demands on executive attention.
Given these demands, it's not unexpected that working memory constraints can be used to
explain both developmental and individual differences in writing skill. To write properly,
one must be able to retain various representations and govern interactions between
Three facts suggest that enough working memory resources are required for self-
capacity are linked to writing ability. This is just one of several difficult cognitive tasks,
such as fluid intelligence tests, that are uniquely predicted by one's capacity to govern
diverting executive attention with a concurrent task degrades text creation quality and
fluency (Ransdell, Levy, & Kellogg, 2002). Second, unless they acquire the mechanical
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Enhancing Writing Performance of Selected Grade 7 Students of Eduardo Cojuangco
National Vocational High School during the New Normal
abilities of handwriting and spelling, children's ability to generate written text is limited.
During Secondary and secondary school, learning the mechanics of writing to the point of
evaluating. Mastery of handwriting and spelling is also required for authors to begin to
gain the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral control required to continue producing
writings (Graham & Harris, 2000). Third, it takes a decade or more of writing experience
Writers throughout late adolescence and early adulthood go beyond just telling
the reader what they know. As a result of generating writing and examining their
thoughts and content, mature adult authors modify their own ideas. They develop a habit
of using writing to work through issues and establish new knowledge structures in long-
term memory. Reviewing the material typically leads to more preparation, which changes
the author's perspective on the subject. Reviewing can also lead to additional language
generation, reducing the gap between what the author intends and what the text now says.
Concurrent representations of the author's ideas and the text's meaning in working
memory are required for such knowledge transformation. It also necessitates the
number of processes a writer can coordinate at once, as well as the quality of those
processes, are both contingent on achieving adequate fluency with each. In the absence of
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Enhancing Writing Performance of Selected Grade 7 Students of Eduardo Cojuangco
National Vocational High School during the New Normal
sufficient mastery of and cognitive control over planning, generating, and evaluating,
writers appear to never progress beyond knowledge telling. The development of cognitive
working memory maturation throughout adolescence, (2) learning strategies for pre-
writing, drafting, and revision that manage composition demands, and (3) rapid retrieval
avoiding the need for transient storage in short-term working memory (Kellogg, 2001;
McCutchen, 2000). The use of purposeful practice to directly minimize the working
memory demands of each writing process, on the other hand, provides an obvious and
education.
Matias (2013), for example, aimed to determine the level of writing performance
among Grade 7 students in terms of content, organization, vocabulary, and other factors
in her study. The kids' writing abilities ranged from fair to good, according to the
researcher. Their difficulties with writing showed their inability to come up with proper
words to utilize, as well as the fact that their teacher had assigned the topic.
students gained the most in mechanics, then organization, because their teacher
gave them clear guide questions to answer in their output, vocabulary, because students
were given daily activities on vocabulary building, and content because they were given
daily activities in the lessons tackled, according to Galang, et al. (2010). The students
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Enhancing Writing Performance of Selected Grade 7 Students of Eduardo Cojuangco
National Vocational High School during the New Normal
made the least progress in terms of language used, indicating that they were having
These instances demonstrate that students at all levels struggle with writing, not
just compositions, but in nearly every aspect of writing. In terms of English writing,
college, high school, and Secondary students all exhibit not only deficiencies but also
genuine underperformance. Teachers interviewed and actual student outputs backed with
these claims.
Paniqui, Tarlac. Despite the fact that students are constantly encouraged to enhance their
writing abilities, their results speak for themselves. The students consistently
Aside from that, students have clear issues with grammar and sentence
construction. Given that Grade 7 students must demonstrate a certain level of writing skill
in order to cope with higher thinking demands in a high school setting, and motivated by
the foregoing premises, the researcher was prompted to examine the level of writing
performance of these students, as well as the problems they face during the pandemic.
These were the researcher's starting points for developing practical solutions that might
Writing is the most difficult skill to teach and develop when compared to other
skills. It must be taught and learned in the setting in which it is most effective.
swim. Only if the youngster is in the water can this happen. He will not be able to learn
to swim until he is in a pool. A youngster must practice the rules in writing only if he is
requested to write, similar to how he must practice the rules in reading. Also, the writing
teacher must identify the context of learning: this includes culture, literature and identity.
Native speakers of English are direct and straight forward while the Asians, English
language learners, are identified in a style which is circuitous. This observation must be
considered as regards the Filipino language learners and must be observed by English
language teachers.
In addition, Mendoza (2020) said that various intervention initiatives are being
implemented by the Department of Education to help Filipino children who are falling
behind in reading and writing. The Every Child A Reader Program (ECARP) will
initially assess public elementary kids' reading abilities in both English and Filipino. The
assessment tool's findings will be used to develop appropriate interventions at the school,
division, regional, and national levels to ensure that every kid is able to read and write at
elementary school students in public schools with strategic reading and writing abilities
in order to help them become autonomous early readers and writers. The intervention
program includes Reading Recovery (RR) which will give students who are lagging
Moreover, Saavedra (2020) revealed that many elementary students have poor
writing skills in English and Filipino, according to their experiences and observations
while teaching writing to the students: 1) lack of vocabulary in the target language; 2)
difficult task; 4) lack of motivation and interest in writing; and 5) difficulty in spelling,
grammar, and sentence construction. These factors are due to the students' first
languages (Chabacano, Bahasa Sug, and Cebuano), with English and Filipino serving as
L2 solely. Despite the effort of teachers, they acknowledged that elementary students’
writing skills still did not meet the standard in writing. As a result, they are hopeful that
adopting the K–12 curricula will help students improve their writing skills, which have
been worsening for some time. It's also worth noting that curriculum developers,
particularly language specialists, should consider how to help our students enhance their
Furthermore. writing has been dubbed the "neglected R" (National Commission on
arithmetic due to a lack of concentration at all levels in K-12 schools. Today's workforce
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Enhancing Writing Performance of Selected Grade 7 Students of Eduardo Cojuangco
National Vocational High School during the New Normal
employees, more than ever, require sophisticated writing skills to be successful. Half of
all companies consider employees' writing skills when making promotion decisions
of salaried positions require some writing responsibilities, and half of all companies
(2011), writing assessment, just around a quarter of students in both 8th and 12th grades
From Secondary grades forward, more focus is placed on exposing kids to writing for a
variety of reasons and for different audiences, thanks to the establishment of the
Common Core State Standards. Elementary students, on the other hand, are frequently
exposed to reading and writing narrative material and are familiar with it. Compared to
middle school students, they know less about producing informative or persuasive texts.
Moreover, surface features like as spelling, punctuation, and language form have
been known to be more important to elementary kids than global aspects of writing such
as organization, content, or implications for the reader, Barbiero (2011) said. Young
students, who typically struggle with language use and English grammar, may be even
more preoccupied with form. Young writers are recognized for writing shorter, less
complicated sentences with fewer adjectives and adverbs, as well as displaying a variety
There is also faith in teaching particular genre features to children and providing
them with opportunities for collaborative writing to assist them improve their writing
talents. Strassman and Schirmer (2013) identified approach training and collaborative
deaf children.
On the other hand, Mascle, et al. (2013) investigated writing attitudes among
students in terms of English. Their research was linked to final grades, assessments, and
comments.
Zhao and Dong (2011) looked at college students' self-efficacy, writing goal setting,
and self-motivation, whereas Wang (2013) looked into students' writing attitudes in
Filipino students' ideas and views of their writing skills and writing self-confidence
in relation to writing anxiety and exposure to English were researched by Paria and De
Gupta and Woldemariam (2011) did a study on college students’ attitudes towards
On the other hand, Sultana (2009) explored Secondary-level students’ and college
Grade 5 Filipino learners are lagging behind their Southeast Asian counterparts in
reading, writing, and arithmetic, according to a regional study, with a large percentage of
students still performing at levels expected in the early years of elementary education,
Balinbin (2020) said. The percentage of Grade 5 Filipino students who attained
minimum competency in reading, writing, and arithmetic was much lower than Vietnam
and Malaysia, according to data from the Southeast Asia Secondary Learning Metrics
par with Cambodians, if not somewhat lower, but slightly better than those in Laos and
Myanmar.
proficiency in writing, meaning they met the highest level under the study's standards,
according to UNICEF (2020) surveyed. These students can "write cohesive texts with
nearly half of Grade 5 students, or 45 percent, were in the lowest band, meaning they had
The findings of the study conducted by Cabigao (2020) revealed the following: (1)
learners in improving their basic writing skills; (2) learners can enjoy writing by giving
them pre-activities to set a positive mood at the start of each writing activity; (3) home
visits can be used to seek parents' support and assistance in monitoring their children's
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Enhancing Writing Performance of Selected Grade 7 Students of Eduardo Cojuangco
National Vocational High School during the New Normal
progress in writing tasks; and (4) learners can enjoy writing by giving them pre-activities
A five-point rating system per DepEd Order No. 31, series 2012 was utilized to
measure learners' level of writing proficiency. Learners are still perplexed with
themselves at the initial level. They lack the basic abilities required for independent
tasks, whereas learners at the emerging level have the basic skills but still require close
supervision to complete tasks. The required competences are built among learners at the
approaching proficiency level, and with little support from teachers, the learners may use
what they have learned to complete tasks. Learners can undertake learning independently
or without the help of their teacher at the proficient level. Learners can now demonstrate
automatic application of what they have learned in executing specified tasks at the
On the other hand, effective instructional approaches for teaching writing in the
at 13 writing techniques that have been studied in four or more experimental or quasi-
experimental studies. Six of these practices involved explicitly teaching students writing
skills, processes, or knowledge, the largest of which was strategy instruction (ES=1.02),
strategy instruction (ES=0.50). The only intervention that did not work was specific
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Enhancing Writing Performance of Selected Grade 7 Students of Eduardo Cojuangco
National Vocational High School during the New Normal
statistically significant. Using peer aid during editing or writing (ES=0.89), creating
assessing one's writing or obtaining teacher or peer feedback on work (ES=0.42) were
among them.
Sandmel (2012) also conducted a study which found out that word processing
method (ES=0.42), and extra writing time (ES=0.30) were the last three interventions
with statistically significant impacts. However, statistically significant effects for process
writing training are not discovered when the performance of at-risk, struggling, or ELL
strategies for planning, writing, and/or revising based on the number of quality studies in
The students were given two sets of pre- and post-tests in order to track their
progress in a broader sense. The first set is writing facts about oneself in paragraph form,
while the second entails writing differences in one's qualities from childhood to
were all graded in both groups. Following the administration of the pre-test, the learners
were given the necessary writing remedial tasks. The activities focused on writing
mechanics in order to teach students the fundamentals of this crucial macro skill in
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Enhancing Writing Performance of Selected Grade 7 Students of Eduardo Cojuangco
National Vocational High School during the New Normal
writing performance improved. The total mean climbed from 1.96 (Developing) in the
pre-test to 3.52 (Proficient) in the post-test findings. A difference of 1.56 was found,
indicating that the learners' basic writing skills had improved by 80 percent.
Conceptual Framework
In the following paradigm, the variables considered in the present research are
explained.
Problems Proposed
Level of Writing Encountered on the Solutions to
Performance of
Writing address the
Grade 7 students
Performances of Problems
Grade 7 students Encountered
The present study will identify the level of writing performance of the Grade 7
The study will also then identify the problems encountered by the students in
Based on the findings in the first two groups of variables, the researcher may be
able to come up with a solution to address the problems encountered by the students to be
Research Questions
students of Eduardo Cojuangco National Vocational High School, Paniqui, Tarlac during
1.1 content,
1.2 organization,
1.3 vocabulary,
1.5 mechanics?
cornerstones of schooling and student learning (Apple Computer, Inc., 2002). Writing, in
particular, is a productive skill needed by students for them to express their thoughts,
ideas, and opinions. Poor writing performance, indeed, leads to the inability of the
student to cope with higher academic demands and most importantly, inability to attend
to job requirements. The conduct of this research might be beneficial to the following:
The School Head of Eduardo Cojuangco National Vocational High School, and
others as well, would consider the findings of this research in coming up of a school-
based writing intervention program for the students, not only in the Grade 7 level. The
conclusions and recommendation which would be derived in this study would also give
direction for action research which would aim to find an applicable curriculum-based
The Secondary Teachers would also find the data of this research a good source
performance. More importantly, the findings would guide them to align teaching
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Enhancing Writing Performance of Selected Grade 7 Students of Eduardo Cojuangco
National Vocational High School during the New Normal
strategies to the level of writing performance of the students. A writing workshop might
students would benefit most on the conduct of this research because the solutions
writing and usher students to explore strategies to have better writing performance.
Researchers might also consider this study a good reference for the conduct of
This study aims to determine the level of writing performance of Grade 7 students
of Eduardo Cojuangco National Vocational High School, Paniqui, Tarlac during the
School Year 2022-2023. It will determine the writing performance of the students in
problems encountered by the students in terms of knowledge on the topic, language used,
time and duration of writing, materials and resources, and motivation and interest.
Solutions that can be proposed to the problems encountered and implications drawn from
Method
Type of Research
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Enhancing Writing Performance of Selected Grade 7 Students of Eduardo Cojuangco
National Vocational High School during the New Normal
The researcher plans to implement this research with the use of quantitative
research is to understand a specific set of variables in a group of individuals, but does not
go beyond to understanding the relationship between the variables, what caused them or
what their implications are. This type of design is deemed fit in the present study because
the goal will only be focused on determining the level of writing performance of Grade 7
students. The study will also not aim to establish any statistical relationships between the
Respondents
School during the School Year 2021-2022 will be the respondents of this research study.
The researcher plans to include them all to have a more accurate and firmer source of
data to better identify the writing performance level of the Grade 7students who are also
Sampling Method
complete enumeration will be used in the study. For the Organization for Economic
data gathering with respect to well defined characteristics: for example, population,
researcher include fact that all the Grade 7 students are experiencing severe challenges in
terms of upskilling their writing performance especially during the new normal set-up of
education employed in Eduardo Cojuangco National Vocational High School during the
Sources of Data
The answers of the Selected Grade 7 students to the research tool which aims to
identify their writing performance in English will consist the needed data in this study.
Instruments
knowledge on the topic, language used, time and duration of writing, materials and
resources, and motivation and interest, the questionnaire developed by Biala (2013) and
Galang, et al. (2010) were used. For each of the area, there were five (5) benchmark
The instruments will face validated by experts in the field of English teaching,
education, and research before the actual use in this research. Similarly, the researcher
After permissions from authorities will be secured, the researcher will conduct
the writing sessions for the students for two (2) consecutive days online. The third day
will be allocated for the fielding of a questionnaire aimed at identifying the problems
The researcher will orient the respondents of the expectations of their writing
activities through Google Meet. The researcher will first ask them interesting to topics to
write about, their experiences and readings. In the first day, they will choose themes or
subjects from the following: current events (composition or editorial), school life
(feature), and social awareness (editorial or evaluative essay). They will be told to make
their works simple and achievable. Once approved, the students will be allowed to write
about the topics of their choice to encourage them to write about their own interest. In
the first day, they will be required to finish their outputs on current events while they
will be permitted to write only their drafts for the second subject (school life) which will
be in the form of a feature article. They will then be assigned to research or make their
drafts for the second subject which will be on social awareness. After finishing their
third output on the second day, they will answer a checklist on the problems they
encounter in writing.
With the help of an English teacher, the outputs will be evaluated with the use of
a scale by Hughey et al. (1983). Their scores will be averaged, with the average means
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Enhancing Writing Performance of Selected Grade 7 Students of Eduardo Cojuangco
National Vocational High School during the New Normal
of the problems they will encounter, and will present in accordance with the aims of this
study.
Data Analysis
The score range of the responses of the students will be computed to arrive at
conclusive data needed in this study. General results will be interpreted as follows:
Table 1
Scoring Guides/Rubric
(Hughey, et al., 1983; Matias, 2013)
Area Score Range Verbal Description
Content (30) 30-27 Very Good
26-22 Good
21-17 Fair
16-13 Poor
Organization (20) 20-18 Very Good
17-14 Good
13-10 Fair
9-7 Poor
Vocabulary (20) 20-18 Very Good
17-14 Good
13-10 Fair
9-7 Poor
Grammar (25) 25-22 Very Good
21-18 Good
17-11 Fair
10-5 Poor
Mechanics (5) 5 Very Good
4 Good
3 Fair
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Enhancing Writing Performance of Selected Grade 7 Students of Eduardo Cojuangco
National Vocational High School during the New Normal
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writing-atti-18cf6e27
19. Strassman and Schirmer (2013). Teaching Writing to Deaf Students: Does
Research Offer Evidence for Practice?
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0741932512452013
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Freshman University Students in Online Learning Environments: An
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writing-problems-and-writing-atti-18cf6e27
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falling-behind-in-reading-writing-levels-in-southeast-asia/
22. Wang (2013). Students' attitudes towards EFL university writing: A case study
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