Reading and Writing Needs of Senior High School Students: The Case of Filipino Students in the Philippines

Authors

  • Cielo May Urbano De La Salle University
  • Ma. Angelica Gumangan De La Salle University
  • Leah Gustilo, Ph.D. De La Salle University
  • Ma. Pamela A. Capacete De La Salle University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.56498/31202154

Keywords:

needs analysis, reading and writing skills, instruction preference, senior high school

Abstract

The present study sought to determine the current skills, competencies, and needs of the Senior High School (SHS) students in a public school in Metro Manila, Philippines, regarding academic reading and writing through needs analysis (NA). The NA uses two approaches: (1) present situation analysis (PSA), with a purpose of pointing out the English proficiency of students and their level in reading and writing in the second language at the onset of the course (Dudley-Evans & St Johns, 1998; Robinson, 1991 as cited in Ibrahim, 2016), and (2) learning needs analysis (LNA), which is referred to as, “what the learner needs to do to learn” (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987 as cited in Ibrahim, 2016, p.2). The researchers conducted a survey among 100 SHS students and triangulated the results through an item analysis of Reading and Writing diagnostic test administered to the participants and interview sessions with three English teachers, seven diagnostic test high scorers, and seven students with low scores. For reading, researchers identified these skills to be the main struggles of SHS students: (1) recognizing different patterns of development (comparison and contrast, definition, description, narration, etc.) in texts; (2) evaluating the coherence, organization, grammar, and mechanics of a text; (3) having poor vocabulary knowledge; and (4) identifying ways on how to select and organize information. For writing, the main challenges are (1) lack of topic-relevant background knowledge and topic-specific paper on texts, (2) insufficient knowledge and practice on writing with proper citation, (3) incorrect grammar, (4) shallow vocabulary, and (5) use of different patterns of development when writing. The present study recommends explicit instruction, utilization of text-based approach, and inclusion of authentic and collaborative tasks in teaching Reading and Writing in SHS in the Philippines.

Author Biographies

Cielo May Urbano, De La Salle University

Cielo May S. Urbano is an English language teacher at Potrero National High School Senior High School (SHS) Department where she has been teaching for three years. Aside from that, she is the current SHS Research Coordinator of the same school and the School-Based Management Coordinator as well. She received her Baccalaureate degree at the University of the East- Caloocan where she took up Bachelor of Arts major in Communication Arts and graduated cum laude. She is currently taking her graduate studies at De La Salle University under the course Master of Arts in English Language Education with a specialization on Second Language Education. Her research interests are on corpus linguistics, discourse analysis, Computer-Mediated Communication, to name a few.

Ma. Angelica Gumangan, De La Salle University

Ma. Angelica A. Gumangan is a graduate of Philippine Normal University with a degree of Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education, major in English with units in Reading. She is currently studying at De La Salle University under the Master of Arts in English Language Education for her graduate studies. She has been teaching for ten years now, five of which was spent in the private school. She teaches English to junior high school students in a public school in Makati City and Communication Skills to Alternative Learning System learners in the same school. Her research interest includes corpus linguistics, language policy, language assessment, and language teaching.

Leah Gustilo, Ph.D., De La Salle University

Leah Gustilo, Ph.D., is an associate professor and a Research Fellow in the Department of English and Applied Linguistics in De La Salle University, She was involved in several research projects funded by the British Council, Fund to Assistance for Private Education, Philippines; Japan International Cooperation Agency, Philippines; Knowledge Channel Foundation, Inc.; and University Research Coordination Office of De La Salle University. She has published articles on Philippine English, online self-presentation, internet talk, use of technology in the classroom, and ESL writing and assessment and has presented her research works in conferences in Asia, USA, and Europe. She is actively involved in teacher training as a resource person on topics such as research ethics, getting published, action research, and language teaching and assessment.

Ma. Pamela A. Capacete, De La Salle University

Ma. Pamela A. Capacete is a Communication and Languages, and Research Instructor in Senior high school. She also handles literature subjects in the same level. She is a graduate of BSEd, Major in English, Magna Cum Laude, at Colegio de San Juan de Letran Calamba. Currently, she is finishing the program, Master of Arts in English Language Education, in De La Salle University – Manila. Her research interests include Language Curriculum, Language Assessment, Discourse Analysis, and Teaching of Reading.

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Published

2021-06-30

How to Cite

Cielo May Urbano, Ma. Angelica Gumangan, Leah Gustilo, Ph.D., & Ma. Pamela A. Capacete. (2021). Reading and Writing Needs of Senior High School Students: The Case of Filipino Students in the Philippines. Modern Journal of Studies in English Language Teaching and Literature, 3(1), 140–166. https://doi.org/10.56498/31202154

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 1 (2021)

Section

Articles

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