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Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

Introduce what your research topic is all about. You may include the importance

of it. INTERNATIONAL (In country name here…), NATIONAL (In the Philippines…),

AND LOCAL (In Tagum City…) INFORMATION MUST BE STATED AS WELL. Properly

cite your content and paraphrase.

PLEASE REMEMBER: USE PRESENT TENSES, THIRD PERSON POV

Purpose of the Study

This study aims to… (Objectives of your study but paragraph form)

Research Questions

This research seeks to... Thus, it aims to answer the following questions:

1. What, How, Why?

2. What, How, Why?

3. What, How, Why?

4. What, How, Why?

Theoretical Lens

This study is gleaned in the theory of… What theory will you use as basis for your

study?

Importance of the Study

This study will be beneficial to… LIST THE POSSIBLE PEOPLE THAT WILL

BENEFIT FROM THE STUDY (Ex. Students, Teachers, Administrators, etc.) AND

EXPLAIN WHY.

Scope and Delimitation

This study limits only to… (Ex. the BSED students who take up English as a major

subject in St. Mary’s College of Tagum, in the school year 2015-2016 particularly on the
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second semester. This does not include the English major students who does not take up

the subject literature. The data we used are only limited to the answers from interview

guide that we made that is apt on the conduct of the interview.)

Definition of Terms

Term. Definition. You can cite sources. See the following example. Alphabetical

order.

Experience. It is the process of doing and seeing things and of having things

happen to you (Merriam Dictionary, Retrieved August 16, 2016). In our study, this refers

to the knowledge of the English majors of St. Mary’s College of Tagum, about Old

English Literature.

Old English. It is also known as 9Anglo-Saxon; it is the ancestor of Middle

English and Modern English. It is a Germanic language that was introduced to the

British Isles by tributes such as the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes in a series of invasions in

the fifth century (http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/lit_terms_O.html, Retrieved August 16,

2016). In our study, Old English represents the language used for centuries before the

21st, it serves as a foundation in learning the Old English Literature that was taught years

ago.

Organization of the Study

Example: This qualitative research intends to interpret a certain phenomenon

and to see what it brings to the students involved.

This research process involves questions and procedures, the data that were

collected from the participants, the data analysis from the information gathered and the

researchers making interpretation of the meaning of the data that are gathered from the

participants.

This research is divided into five chapters to show the development of the study.
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Chapter 1 presents the study wherein it describes how the students see Old

English Literature as it gradually changes from time to time. These situations are our

background from local, national, and international setting to support the reason of

conducting this study. In this chapter also included the purpose of the study that led us

to construct our research questions.

Chapter 2 presents the review of the related literature, readings, studies and

concepts of some researchers and concerned individuals that are similar to our present

study.

Chapter 3 discussed the methods of investigation. This includes the research

designs, the role of the researchers, the research participants, research locale, data

sources, the data collection procedures, the data analysis, the trustworthiness, ethical

consideration and data analysis.

Chapter 4 shows the results of the study. In this chapter, this includes the results

itself with the themes and their core ideas; the participants’ answers were all gathered

and joined with the similar answers in order to create a theme that is best suited to their

answers. With the themes being stated, it was then followed by the answers of the

participants in verbatim form as a support for the given themes.

Chapter 5 talks about the discussion and conclusions of the study and these

includes another set of themes that were based on the grandeur questions with the basis

of the themes in Chapter 4, the review related literature is used as a support and it

includes the implication for further research and the concluding remarks.
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Chapter 3

METHODOLOGY

Example: This chapter mainly discusses about the means and techniques that

had been used in gathering all the data needed for this study. It includes the following:

research design, research participants, and research locale, data sources, and data

collection procedure, trustworthiness of the study, role of the researchers, ethical

consideration and data analysis.

Research Design

Example: According to Cresswell (2009), qualitative study involves observation,

and or archival (content) data to collect, the data is needed for the research.

Polkinghorne (1989) commends that 5 to 25 individuals, who have all experienced the

phenomenon. Other forms of data may also be collected, such as observations, journals

and the others.

Discussions about the use of recorded conversations, formally written answers,

the accounts of indirect experiences of drama, films, poetry, and novels leaded by Van

Manen in the year 1990. Furthermore, this data was further analyzed by emerging broad

themes about the individual’s experiences and creating a detailed description that

denotes the core of the occurrence for the individual being studied.

Research Participants
Example: The participants of this study are the regular 4 th year BSED students

major in English of St. Mary’s College of Tagum, Inc. who have taken subjects that is

related in studying Literature.

We have followed Polkinghorne’s recommendation on interviewing from 5 to 25

participants who have experienced the phenomenon, thus, this study has 11 participants.
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Our criteria in the selection of the participants in this study is that, they should have

taken the subject “Literary Criticism”. Other forms of data may also be collected, such as

observations, journals, art, poetry, music, and other forms of art.

Data Sources

Example: According to Creswell (2007), data sources are naturally gathered in

multiple forms of gathering data such as in-depth interviews, and documentation.

According to him, 8-10 participants are enough in doing qualitative research and in this

research, we have followed Polkinghorne (1989) recommendation that states that 5-25

individuals should be interviewed.

Interview is the main key source of data in this study. Aside from writing the

responses of the participants, the researchers used a recorder to make sure that their

responses will not alter or will not be misunderstood. The written or recorded responses

were analyzed carefully by the researchers.

Data Collection Procedure

Example: In data gathering, the researchers used interview as the main source in

getting the information through the responses to the given questions concerning to lived

experiences in studying the Old English Literature specifically to the English major

students. Qualitative research is a method of interviewing in which the researchers asks

open-ended questions. Answers from open-ended questions were shared verbally and

recorded by the researchers. It is normally done directly, but can also be done via other

communication devices such as an online interview. The open-ended questions allow the

participants to answer in their own unprompted words (Babbie, 2001).

Trustworthiness of the Study

Example: This study was planned well and genuinely established by the

researchers.
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In a qualitative research, the consistency of the study will be further strengthened

through the four elements in upholding trustworthiness, the following are; credibility,

transferability, dependability, and conformability (Lincoln & Guba, 1985).

Credibility refers to the confidence in the truth of the findings; in addition, it is

an evaluation of whether or not the research findings represent a credible conceptual

interpretation of the data drawn from the participants’ original data (Lincoln & Guba,

1985). In this study, we did “member checks” the participants have the right to set,

verify, evaluate, disapprove or check the transcripts from the interview, records and the

accuracy of the words, the summary and the results.

Transferability as cited by Lincoln and Guba (1985) refers to the findings that

have applicability in other context, in other words, it is the degree to which the findings

of this inquiry can apply or transfer beyond the bounds of the study. Themes can be

checked in the audit trails found in the appendix. We made sure that there are provided

documents with which there is an access to the other researchers who would find our

study to be of use.

Dependability is showing that the findings of the researchers are consistent and

could be repeated, this was achieved through the use of overlapping methods like the in-

depth interview and focus group discussion (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). We both used the

methods in order for them to gain information which relates to the study. It is an

assessment of the quality of the integrated processes of data collection, data analysis and

theory generation.

Conformability is a degree of objectivity or the extent to which the researcher’s

findings of the study were shaped by the participants and not researchers biases,

motivation or interest. We made sure that everything is fair for the participants showing

no favouritism or any acts that would make the others feel that they are not needed

(Lincoln & Guba, 1985).

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To ensure both the dependability and conformability of our study, the things we

did in our research will surely be viewed, checked, assessed and evaluated thoroughly by

our adviser as well including all the data analysis and the tools used.

Role of the Researchers

Example: The researchers are the ones who conceptualized this study. Our role is

to facilitate and conduct the research, this will include the following: gathering of

information through interviews both in the in-depth interview and focus group

discussion, the data analysis and interpretation, making conclusions and

recommendations for further improvements, and present the study to the research panel

throughout the whole study period.

We did our part to reach the completion of the study. In our in-depth interview

and the focus group discussion, when questions asked were confusing, we did our best to

provide the participants the needed information that may have caused them confusion so

that they will be clarified and may continue answering.

In this study, the researchers gathered the information from the participants such

as their lived experiences in studying the Old English Literature or their literary pieces

that were written through that era which showed the difficulties and the advantages.

Their views when it comes to studying the Old English Literature, the relevance of

studying Old English Literature in the present time and the suggestions that every

student can possibly do if they encounter Old English Literature or any type of

Literature.

Data Analysis

The data analysis procedure used for this research was be thematic analysis.

Thematic analysis in its simplest form is a categorizing strategy for qualitative data.

Researchers reviewed the data, make notes and sort it into categories making sure that

the ones belong to a certain category is the appropriate one. It helped the researchers
 8

move their analysis from a broad reading of the data towards discovering patterns and

developing themes (Boyatzis, 1998).

Ethical Consideration

Example: The researchers considered certain research ethics to ensure the

validity, reliability and integrity of the study.

According to Capron (1999), any kind of research is to be guided by the principles

of respect for people’s goodness and justice. He considered that respect for people

includes the participant’s right to be informed about the study; they should have the

right to withdraw and have their freedom whether to participate in the study. By using a

letter request consent given to the school president of St. Mary’s College of Tagum, Inc.,

to conduct the study and a letter consent for the participants. Before doing the interview,

the participants were informed that they have the right to refuse certain topics of which

they are against or uncomfortable to answer to, all of their personal information and the

data that was taken from them will be strictly confidential.

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Chapter 3

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Example: This chapter presents the results of the vantage points of the fourth-

year English major students when it comes to the study of Old English Literature.

Table 1

Themes and Core Ideas of the Lived Experiences of English Major Students
in Studying Old English Literature

Major Themes Core Ideas

Acquaintance of Literary
Texts
Challenging but Good
Opportunities for Learning
 Gained new information.
 Know the languages.
 Have a deep or hidden meaning.
 Awareness of the happenings.
 Learn the personal experiences.
 Connects students to their own root.
 Deepened students’ understanding.

 Very symbolic, very deep and difficult.

Difficulties in Understanding
the Structure of the Literary
Pieces
Giving Importance to
Reading and Learning
 Quite long or lengthy.
 Hard to understand.
 Difficulty in understanding.
 Has to be read carefully.
 Needs an ample time to be studied.
 Needs teacher’s guidance and
Facilitation.
 Asks information or ideas.

The Fourth Year English Majors’ Lived Experiences in Studying

Old English Literature

Table 1 presents the themes and core ideas of the 4th year English major students

lived experiences in studying Old English Literature in which they have cited four (4)
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major themes. First is the Acquaintance with literary texts that the students will really

encounter pieces coming from the different authors. Second, challenging yet meaningful

opportunities for learning because even though that they have found learning the Old

English literature as a complex matter they still wanted to learn because there’s a

meaning behind every texts. Third, is the difficulties in understanding the different

literary piece because for them these are quite lengthy to read or the words are new to

them. And last, giving importance to reading and learning the Old English literature

because reading it once will not give the reader the understanding and learning that they

wanted so it should be read carefully the text and to discover the underlying message.

Acquaintance of Literary Texts

Participant #3 who was shy at first when we first approached her, uttered her

answer with much determination that stated,

“Okay so the advantages that I have gained from uh

these experiences are first, this gave me a chance to
explore things from the past from the past through
reading the stories…”

(It gave me a chance to explore things from the past

through reading the stories…)
Challenging but Good Opportunities for Learning

Participant #1, express these words with his hands gesturing around the place,

his eyes maintaining eye contact with the interviewer as he said,

“I have a lot of experiences ay sige go actually I have a

lot of experiences in the study of Old English
Literature base on my own experience, I really find or
makita jud nako that Old English Literature is really
challenging for me because in the first place I don’t
really or I don’t uhm I’m not really into memorization
of names and also Old English Literature kanang
kuan man gud consists of a lot of authors, a lot of
books, a lot of literary pieces to be memorized and it’s
not kanang it’s not my forte…”
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(I find Old English Literature challenging because I am

not into memorization of names such as the authors,
books, literary pieces. Those aren’t my forte…)

Difficulties in Understanding the Structure

Of the Literary Pieces

When it was Participant #5’s turn to answer, he immediately stated his answer as

if he was well aware of the difficulties he had while studying Old English Literature, his

serious looked proved it while saying,

“I-in my part, the thing that is difficult for me in terms

of understanding Old English Literature is the
structure itself, the way it was written, the spelling, the
words, because really when I read different Old
English Literatures by Shakespeare hmm Charles
Dickens, hmm and so on and famous hm authors in Old
English is that the way they write is really hard to
understand because it was written in a different way
uh a way that is something peculiar to what we called
the modern way of writing like John Green, way of
writing by John Green or famous authors of today
because that’s the very ano the structure because for
example yung “your” sa kanila “thy” yung mga ganon
diba yung mga “thy, thee” so sa atin mura’g iba talaga,
ibang structure yun ‘yun.”

(The thing that is difficult for me in terms of

understanding Old English Literature is the structure
itself, then way it was written, the spelling, the words.
The way it is written is hard to understand.)
According to Participant #3, she stated her answer with a joyful tone, she was

smiling while stating her answer proudly,

“Yes there is, studying their life is is not easy, you need
carefully the stories in OEL or Old English Literature
for you to understand it very well. You need to analyse
the uh characters carefully also so that it wouldn’t
change the meaning of the stories and will give you the
exact information.”

(Studying their life is not easy, you need to carefully

analyse the story and the characters carefully.)
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Participant #5 answered the question with his eyebrows furrowed together, his

hand gestures once again proved that he was serious in stating his answer that says,

“So uh, there is so many experiences that I have

encountered especially in the Old English Literature
but there are just main points that I would like to
stress out. The first one is that, Old English Literature
for me as I’ve encountered it uhm as the previous
semester, I can say that Old English Literature is
somehow uhm very peculiar to what we called the
modern literature of today because before their
literatures are very what we call that- very symbolic,
very deep and it is really difficult especially because
aside from the fact that some of the Old English
Literature though it is English but the written
language somehow is different from what we have
practiced today because especially the syntax, the
semantics, the structures of the sentences is
different…”

(Old English Literature for me as I’ve encountered it, it

is very peculiar because it is symbolic, deep and
difficult to understand, the syntax, semantics, the
structure of the sentences…)
Giving Importance to Reading and Learning

According to Participant #1 who was listening intently to the question being

asked, he added a follow up after the question as he was confused what the question was

all about. After he understood the question, he quickly answered the question asked by

testifying,

“…I cope up with my experiences in studying Old

English Literature of course with the help of my
teacher and also because oel is really diff to study
and there is really uhm tremendous help coming
from the teacher para mas mahimong engaging
ang learning uhm teaching learning process inside
the classroom so my way of coping up in this
challenging subject is that magpa-tabang ko sa
akong mga classmates…”

(With the help of my teacher, I was able to cope up

with my experiences in studying Old English
Literature, to make the class more engaging there is
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a tremendous help from my teacher as well. I also

ask for help with my classmates.)
Participant #3 stated her answer without a problem though she stuttered at first,

she was composed when answering,

“…I need to solicit sol- solicit information from my

classmates so that I can really understand the
stories, I believe that we we have diff- different
perspective to how we are going to understand
things and soliciting information from them is a big
help for me to come up with a concrete
information...”

(…I solicit information from my classmates so that I

can really understand the stories, I believe that we
have different perspective and soliciting information
from them would help me in coming up with a
concrete information…
Table 2

Themes and Core Ideas of the English Major Students’ View of the Study of
Old English Literature

Major Themes Core Ideas

 Complex when it comes to understanding this
part of the literature.
Complex but  Underlying and interesting meaning of
Meaningful each piece.
 Meaningful because it comes from experiences
or events.
A Life Related  Related to their lives as to the moment they have
Experience and read the piece.
Learning  Can adapt of know the different cultures which
is included in the story.

The English Major Students’ View of the Study

Of Old English Literature

Table 2 presents the themes and core ideas of how the fourth year English major

students viewed the Old English literature as they have cited two (2) major themes. First

is it complex yet meaningful because even though it is hard to understand and analyse

the way it was written gives significant value because it was created by the use of the
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different experiences of the authors. Second theme is all about the Life related

experiences and learning that when you read different literary pieces it can be related to

your life or how the way you perceive life as of the moment. Also it can be because of the

traditions present at the story that coincide with the way you lived and the society you

lived in.

Complex but Meaningful

According to Participant #1, who is the most bubbly around the participants we

have interviewed said that,

“…it's very critical why because we have to study the

origin, the history of the the authors…”

(My views in the study of Old English Literature is

very critical. It’s very critical because we have to
study the origin, the history of the authors.)
This statement is linked to the response of Participant #2, the shy type among

them said,

“… yesterday may somehow mirrors the events of

the present and these events both product of fiction
or history will somehow will prove itself handy in
some situations …”

(…yesterday may mirror the events of the present

and these events, both product of fiction or history
will prove itself handy in some situations...)
A Life Related Experience and Learning

Participant #3 the girl who is quite shy at first, sighed and answer that,

“Upon reading those stories I understand and

appreciate their ways of writing as well as their
battles and it and it is full of moral lessons that
you can relate to the present life …’’

(Upon reading those stories I understand and

appreciate their ways of writing as well as their
battles and it and it is full of moral lessons that you
can relate to the present life and this makes me
interested to read and study Old English
Literature…)
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Table 3

Themes and Core Ideas of the Relevance of Studying Old English

Literature in Relation to the Present Time

Major Themes Core Ideas

Aid in Teaching and
Learning
Process
Strong Foundation In
English Literature
 Provides rich background
 Can be used for teaching process
 Help in teaching the students
 English Literature is essential
 Study Old English Literature first

The Relevance of Studying Old English Literature for the Fourth Year
English Major Students in Relation to the Present Time

Table 3 presents the themes and core ideas about the relevance of studying Old

English Literature in relation to the present time in which they have cited two (2) major

themes. First, it is an Aid in teaching and learning process because the student-teachers

will now use what they have already learn in the study of Old English, they can now

deliver it well to the learners who also wanted to know and to learn what is it in the Old

English literature. Second and last, the need for the strong foundation because we cannot

go to the present without looking back at the past and Old English literature belongs to

the past and plays a pivotal role in the learning of the students of English Literature, in

which this foundation have influenced many of the great writers who have shared also

what they have learned.

The participants stated the relevance in studying Old English Literature to the

present times and the benefits they can get from it when teaching it to their students in

the future.

Good Aid in Teaching and Learning Process

Participant #5 who is very confident in answering the question stated that,

“There’s so many uh unsa man uh significance in terms
or relevance in studying OEL when it comes to
teaching especially as an English major because first
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and foremost is that uh when you try since it will

already widen your knowledge in understanding the
Old English Literature..”

(There’s so many significance in terms or the relevance

in studying Old English Literature when it comes to
teaching especially as an English major because you
can apply different approaches and it will widen our
understanding about concepts or problems that
occurred in the past…)
The Need for Strong Foundation
Participant #2 who is very thorough in answering this question states that,

“Okay so the relevance of Old English Literature are

somehow base on a lot of things so to say for
example the idea of having a interdisciplinary so
and uh these sort of literature depicts life and when
we say uh somehow literature provides a larger
view than the actual thing itself so I can easily
connect uh lessons to come parts of literature in
order for my students to to have some better
understandings something like that and yes uh the
learnings that I had from literature itself I with no
doubt I can use them as an easy example aside some
situations.”

(The relevance of studying Old English Literature are

somehow base on a lot of things such as having an
interdisciplinary class wherein I can connect my
lessons to some parts of the literature for my students
to understand it well.)
Table 4

Themes and Core Ideas of Students’ Suggestions with Regards to the Study
of Old English Literature

Major Themes Core Ideas

 Teacher who is very good in teaching.
 Make the lesson or the discussion more enjoyable.
The Need to have  Teacher will facilitate.
Promethean Teacher  The students to construct their own understanding
For Old English and ideas.
Literature
Desire and  There should be an urge to learn.
Interest to  Desire to read more.
 17

Learn
 Use your mind to understand what is the author’s
trying to convey.
Focus and  Should be thorough in learning the Old English
Concentration Language in able to acquire further information
based from the lesson.
 Have a studying strategies in grasping information
about Old English Literature.
 Usage of abbreviations or acronyms.
Need to have a  Use dictionary in able to unlock the unfamiliar
Stratagem Technique words.

The Students’ Suggestions with Regards to the

Study of Old English Literature

Table 4 presents the themes and core ideas of the students’ suggestions with

regards to the study of Old English Literature in which they have cited four (4) major

themes. Firstly, is the need to have a Promethean teacher because the students’ needs a

teacher who is very good in teaching Old English Literature to make the lesson or the

discussion more enjoyable. The teacher will just facilitate, then the students will be the

one to construct their own understanding and ideas. Secondly, the desire and need to

learn because if the student is not desiring or wanting to learn something then he/she

will not put much effort in learning. Thirdly, is the need to focus and to concentrate in

understanding Old English Literature because since this literary period is said to be one

of the difficult period in the history of Literature then it will really need the reader to use

the mind understanding what the author is trying to convey. That the students should

be thorough in learning the Old English Language to be able to acquire further

information based from the lesson. Also, they need to have studying strategies in

grasping information and learnings with regard to the study of Old English Literature.

The Need to have Promethean Teacher

For Old English Literature
 18

According to Participant #11 who answered the question seriously while making

an eye contact with the interviewer, his answer was,

“Make the lesson more more fun ana gud dili lang
kaayo mag lingkod lang ang students ana gud kay
ano pwede student-centered naa na so it should be
ang kanang student ma learn nila ang ano dili lang
pud kay through teacher na lang ang mag discuss
discuss ana gud.”

(Making the lesson fun instead of just sitting around

and the discussion is just plain instead of it being
student centered.)

“Maybe the ano, student-centered process kanang

ang student na or igo na lang ang teacher mag-
facilitate ug i-dig deeper pa ang lesson ana na lang.”

(Student-centered process should be done and the

teacher will facilitate with a deeper discussion.)
Desire and Interest to Learn

According to Participant #1 who answered the question directly by emphasizing

the words by way of using hand gestures and eye contact to,

“The suggestion that I can give to the students who

will uhm study Old English Literature or who are still
studying Old English Literature is that there should
be kanang urge kanang naa jud kay kanang naa jud
dapat kay urge naa jud kay passion na maka-learn
ana because if you really don’t love the your subject
of course dili man jud ka maka-learn ana…”

(The suggestion that I can give to the students who

will study Old English Literature or who are still
studying Old English Literature is that there should be
the passion to learn because you won’t learn if you
won’t love it first…)
Focus and Concentration in Reading Old English Literature
According to Participant #9 who answered the question emphatically with

matching hand gestures, his answer was,

 19

“…the most helpful is be mindful since uhm you

cannot appreciate the story if you cannot
understand the the flow of the story so you need to
use your mind to understand what is being the
author is trying to portray.”

(The most helpful is to be mindful since you cannot

appreciate the story if you cannot understand the flow
of the story so you need to use your mind to
understand what the author is trying to portray.)

Need to have a Stratagem Technique

According to Participant #1 who answered the question optimistically, his answer

was,

“Another suggestion that I can give is that I can give

to them is that uhm i-engage sa mga studnets ang
mag read ug book and at the same time i-analyze
nila because once man gud na o sige mag proceed
nako sa 4.2 ha so 4.2 na ni siya once man gud na ang
student na maka-basa na siya at the same time ma-
analyze na niya ang story, dali ra jud kaayo niya
ma-memorize ang title ug ang author.”

(I would engage my students to read books and let

them analyse because once a student can read and
analyse a story, it would be easily remembered and
memorized.)
Align with this, Participant #2 added,

“My suggestion is that studying Old English

Literature is to really you really have to read the
litera- literally text and read also the background of
the author because in that way many many things
uhm are considered as a factor in coming up with in
coming up with a specific literally piece uhm it also
helps it may also help the factor of the time being
written the background of the author, uhm the
sexuality of the author and many more.”

(My suggestion when it comes to studying Old English

Literature is to read the information of the text itself
 20

and the authors so that understanding the literary piece

would be a great help.)
The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the different experiences of

the fourth year English major students when it comes to studying the Old English

literature in their past lessons whether it had helped them enhanced their knowledge

and understanding, when it comes to reading literary pieces, and also improving their

abilities to interpret different kinds of poetry according to their understandings develop

their talents when writing stories and poems using different structures. Furthermore,

this study hoped for the participants suggestions on how to grasp and recognized each

literary piece without much difficulty.

The Lived Experiences of the Fourth Year English Majors’

in Studying Old English Literature

The participants stated their lived experiences during their time of studying

Literature specifically the Old English Literature. They have affirmed that the Old

English literary pieces are very symbolic and that it has concealed meaning.

Acquaintance of Literary Text

The participants had answered that Old English Literature is more about

studying the past or dwelling about it and how it has affected the present time and it is

very symbolic, having a deep meaning in each literary texts. When it comes to studying

Old English Literature, it is a dire need to memorize the literary pieces and the authors

who wrote it as well to understand the literature fully. It is supported by a statement that

students who have successfully studied Old English Literature have stated that they

enjoy learning about the past. Their improved understanding about the language and the

English in particular, the literary cultures learned are different from what they have

encountered comparing it to the other literature periods (Retrieved from

https://www.ucalgary.ca/uofc/eduweb/engl401/faq.htm on January 21, 2017).

Giving Importance to Reading and Learning

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In reading Old English Literature, the participants in this study stated that they

need to thoroughly analyse the text and has to be read carefully. Because you cannot

understand the text clearly, if you do not love it reading it, it maybe because of the genre,

the characters or etc. Having the right amount of time would be needed in studying the

literary texts with the teachers’ guidance. They have also included that since their

classmates has their own way of interpretation when reading a certain text, asking for

their ideas would be good to gain more information. This is supported by a statement

that learning Old English needs a student to increase purposeful mastery of areas of

grammar that hardly even exist in Modern English or that exist in Modern English but

the fluent speaker never has to think about intentionally. This also means that if

planning for a career where understanding the correct grammar is needed for example in

writing or teaching, the learnings in Old English Literature could have of help if one

thinks they have gained the mastery of grammar now. (Retrieved from

https://www.ucalgary.ca/uofc/eduweb/engl401/faq.htm on January 21, 2017).

The fourth year English Major’s Views in Learning

Old English Literature

The participants expressed their perceptions and insights about the Old English

literature. They extracted that studying Old English Literature is very complex and

learning about the different piece sometimes is very critical for them because some of the

words are not familiar, hard to utter, the use of figurative languages and metaphors.

Some of the participants viewed the Old English Literature as a dull subject because you

will be dealing different kind of names and terms that is really hard to understand and

comprehend.

Complex but Meaningful

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In studying Old English Literature, it is not easy to understand the text easily

since it is very complex and there’s always an underlying meaning in each literary text.

Although it is complex the participants found it very meaningful if you can comprehend

the text comparing to the modern pieces it is not more meaningful than reading the Old

literary pieces. And since it is also coming from the author’s experiences or events that

contributed to the significance of the story.

A Life Related Experience and Learning

Some stories can really be related to one’s life. It was observed by the

participants. They said it can be related to their life or how they perceive life as of the

moment. It is because of the traditions present in the story that coincide with the way

they lived and the society they lived in. Also, it adds to the amusement of the reader

when the structure is uniquely written, if it diverts to the natural order of the structure of

the story and the readers can adapt the different cultures which is included in the story.

Aid in Teaching and Learning Process

Participants saw Old English Literature as a good aid in teaching especially to the

student-teachers because if they can already understand and can interpret the literary

text, they can teach well the piece. They can now deliver well and if the students will raise

questions what they don’t understand about the story. They can integrate what they have

already learn in to share it in class. The class will be more interactive if the teacher will

also use different strategies that will make the class more interactive and that they will

not be bored in listening to the discussion.

Strong Foundation in English Literature

It is indeed true that students need a strong foundation in learning the Old

English literature because the learners will be confused as to how important it is to learn

the Old English literature, if it will be useful to them as a learner. because we cannot go

to the present without looking back at the past and Old English literature belongs to the
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past and plays a pivotal role in the learning of the students of English Literature, in

which this foundation has influenced many of the great writers who have shared also

what they have learned.

Concluding Remarks

We are one with Gincligi (2008), who said that in today’s modernistic world, we

cannot deny that learning Old English literature plays a pivotal role in our learning; we

cannot ignore it since English is the medium of each spoken language around the globe.

One of the reasons why Old English Literature is present here in this institution is to give

the students an enhanced understanding of language in general and of English in

particular by giving a window on the past and a taste of a literary culture that is quite

different from what they encounter in literature courses on more recent periods.