AFFECTIVE VARIABLES
AND
COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE PRACTICES
OF ELEMENTARY STUDENTS
Maria Bella R. Alvarez
University of Mindanao
Davao City, Philippines
RATIONALE
Students are not really learning to use the language in their
language class.
( Yalden, 1981)
Students failed to achieve satisfactory level of competence in
English despite learning the language for several years.
(Choudhury, 2006)
There is lack in communication skills as far as English language is
concerned.
(Adolfo, 2011)
Teachers end up disappointed with the students’ participation in
their language classes in activities like games, role-play and
problem-solving tasks.
ANCHOR THEORY
This study was anchored on the argument of
Gardner and Lambert (1959) that affective variables
including anxiety, attitude and motivation could
significantly influence the language learning process.
CONCEPTUAL PARADIGM
Affective Variables
Communicative
Language Practices
Anxiety
Attitude
Motivation
Games
Role Play
Problem- Solving Tasks
METHODOLOGY
Research design :
DESCRIPTIVE-CORRELATIONAL
Research respondents:
325 GRADE SIX STUDENTS OF COMPOSTELA
DISTRICT,DIVISION OF COMPOSTELA VALLEY
Research instruments:
ADAPTED QUESTIONNAIRES
Data gathering procedure:
1.asking permission
2.distribution & retrieval of questionnaires
3. Collation and tabulation of data
Data analysis tools:
Mean
Pearson r
First Problem:
What is the level of affective
variables of the grade six pupils in
terms of the following indicators:
1.1 anxiety
1.2 attitude
1.3 motivation ?
Level of Affective Variables of Grade Six Pupils
in terms of Anxiety
Item
Mean
Descriptive
level
1.Feeling frightened when cannot understand
what the teacher is saying in the
English class
1.18 3.08
Moderate
2.Forgetting things when gets really nervous
1.25 3.43
Moderate
3.Feeling more tensed and nervous in English
class than other classes
1.24 2.90
Moderate
1.21 3.44
Moderate
1.26 3.24
Moderate
0.74 3.22
Moderate
4.Heart pounds when called to recite
5.Being afraid that other students will laugh
when speaking in English
Overall
SD
1.1 ANXIETY
1.Hearts pounding when they are called to recite
( M-3.44, moderate)
2.Forgetting things when they get nervous
(M-3.43, moderate)
3. Being afraid that other students will laugh when speaking
in English
(M-3.24, moderate)
4. Feeling frightened when having difficulty understanding the
teacher’s words during the class
(M-3.08, moderate)
5.Feeling more tensed and nervous in their English class than
other subjects
(M-2.90, moderate)
Level of Affective Variables of Grade Six Pupils in
terms of Attitude
Item
SD
Mean
Descriptive
Level
1.Being a good English language learner
1.03
3.21
Moderate
2.Having high English language learning aptitude
1.00
3.03
Moderate
3.Having ideas about how to go about learning the
0.93
English language
3.49
Moderate
4.Not worrying a lot about making mistakes in
speaking English
language
1.26
3.12
Moderate
5.Able to do impersonations of famous people
1.13
2.72
Moderate
0.64
3.12
Moderate
Overall
1.2 Attitude
1. Having ideas about how to deal with learning
the English language
(M-3.49, moderate)
2.Being good English language learner
(M-3.21, moderate)
3.Not worrying a lot about committing mistakes
in speaking the English language
(M-3.12, moderate)
4. Having high aptitude in the English language
(M-3.03, moderate)
5.Able to impersonate famous people
(M-2.72, moderate)
Level of Affective Variables of Grade Six Pupils
in terms of Motivation
Item
SD
Mean
Descriptive
Level
1.Thinking that English is important
0.95
4.32
High
2.Thinking one can win parents’ praise
and classmates’ admiration
if English is learned well
1.06
3.77
High
3.Likes to learn more about English
1.08
4.04
High
4.Being happy in English class
0.99
3.82
High
5.Volunteering to answer the teacher’s
questions in class
1.04
3.43
Moderate
0.67
3.88
High
Overall
1.3 Motivation
1.Thinking that English is important
(M-4.32, high)
2.Likes to learn more about English
(M- 4.04, high)
3. Being happy in English class
(M-3.82, high)
4. Thinking one can win parents’ praise and
classmates’ admiration if English is learned
well
( M- 3.77, high)
5. Volunteering to answer the teacher’s questions
in class
(M- 3.43, moderate)
Summary on the level of Affective
Variables of Grade Six Pupils
Item
SD
Mean
Descriptive level
Anxiety
0.74
3.22
Moderate
Attitude
0.64
3.12
Moderate
Motivation
0.67
3.88
High
Overall
0.43
3.41
Moderate
Conclusion:
The level of Affective Variables of Grade Six
pupils is sometimes manifested in learning
the English language.
Second Problem
What is the level of the Grade Six
pupils communicative language
practices in terms of the following
indicators:
2.1 Games
2.2 Role Play
2.3 Problem Solving Tasks?
Level of communicative language practices in terms
of games
Item
SD
Mean
Descriptive
Level
1. Aiming to do better when playing
games
1.11
3.47
Moderate
2.Wanting to show that one is better than
other children
1.20
3.41
Moderate
3.Wanting to be better than other children
1.19
3.43
Moderate
4.Wanting other children to think that one
is good at the game
1.11
3.60
High
5.Wanting the teacher to think that one is
smarter than other
children
1.26
3.27
Moderate
Overall
0.83
3.42
Moderate
2.1 Games
1. Wanting other children to think that one is good at the
game
(M- 3.60, high)
2. Aiming to do better when playing games
(M- 3.47,moderate)
3.Wanting to show that one is better than other
children
(M- 3.43,moderate)
4.Wanting the teacher to think that one is smarter than
other
children
(M-3.41, moderate)
5.Wanting to show that one is better than other children
( M-3.27, moderate)
Level of Communicative Language Practices of Grade Six Pupils
in terms of Role Playing
Item
SD
Mean Descriptive
level
1.Enjoying role-playing objects
1.07
3.97
High
2.Preferring to do projects that include
role-playing activity
1.15
3.47
Moderate
3.Role playing helps in remembering
information
1.18
3.30
Moderate
4.Enjoying working with others during role1.18
playing projects
3.78
High
5.Preferring hands-on activities compared
to lecture or rote learning.
3.32
Moderate
Overall
1.16
0.67
3.57
High
2.2 Role Playing
1. Enjoying role-playing objects
(M-3.97, High)
2.Enjoying working with others during roleplaying projects
(M- 1.18,High)
3.Preferring to do projects that include role
playing activity
(M-3.47, Moderate)
4. Preferring hands-on activities compared to
lecture or rote learning
(M-3.32, Moderate)
5.Role Playing helps in remembering
information
(M-3.30, Moderate)
Level of Communicative Language Practices of Grade Six Pupils
in terms of Problem-Solving Tasks
Item
SD
Mean
Descriptive
level
1.Discussing ideas in class
1.17
3.01
Moderate
2.Giving opinions during class discussions
1.12
3.07
Moderate
3.Asking questions to the teacher
1.22
2.88
Moderate
4.Using ideas and suggestions during
discussions.
1.22
2.83
Moderate
5.Being asked to explain how one solves
problems.
1.22
3.04
Moderate
0.85
2.96
Moderate
Overall
2.3 Problem-Solving Tasks
1.Giving opinions during class discussions
(M-3.07, Moderate)
2.Being asked to explain how one solves
problems
(M-3.04, Moderate)
3. Discussing ideas in class
(M-3.01, Moderate)
4. Asking questions to the teacher
(M-2.88, Moderate)
5. Using ideas and suggestions during
discussions
(M-2.83, Moderate)
Summary on the level of Communicative
Language Practices of Grade Six Pupils
Item
SD
Mean
Descriptive
Level
Games
0.83
3.43
Moderate
Role-Playing
0.67
3.57
High
Problem-Solving Tasks
0.85
2.96
Moderate
Overall
0.53
3.32
Moderate
Conclusion
The level of Communicative Language Practices of grade
six pupils in learning the English Language is applied
sometimes.
Significance on the Relationship between Affective Variables of
Grade Six Pupils and their Communicative language practice
Communicative Language Practices
Affective Variables
Games
Role
Playing
ProblemSolving
Overall
Anxiety
.045
(.000)
.022
(.687)
-.222*
(.000)
-.085
(.125)
Attitudes
.217*
(.000)
.228*
(.000)
.211*
(.000)
.320*
(.000)
Motivation
.282*
(.000)
.371*
(.000)
.155*
(.005)
.383*
(.000)
Overall
.278*
(.000)
.317*
(.000)
.059
(.293)
.308*
(.000)
*significant at .05 significance level
Significance on the Relationship between
affective Variables of Grade Six Pupils and their
Communicative Language practice
Highest correlation
Between Motivation & Overall Communicative language practice
(r-value of 0.308, sig at 0.125)
Lowest Correlation
Between Anxiety and problem-Solving Tasks
(r-value of -0.222, sig at 0.00)
Significance on the Relationship between affective
Variables of Grade Six Pupils and their Communicative
Language practice
• Attitudes and Games
(r-value =0.217,sig 0.00)
• Attitudes and Role Playing
(r-value=0.228,sig 0.00)
• Attitudes and Problem –Solving Tasks
(r-value=0.211, sig. 0.00)
• Attitudes and Overall Communicative Language
Practice
(r-value=0.320, sig 0.00)
Significance on the Relationship between affective Variables
of Grade Six Pupils and their Communicative Language
practice
• Motivation and Games
( r-value=0.282, sig 0.00)
• Motivation and Role Playing
(r-value=0.371,sig 0.00)
• Motivation and Problem-Solving Tasks
(r-value=0.155,sig 0.005)
Significance on the Relationship between affective
Variables of Grade Six Pupils and their Communicative
Language practice
• Affective Variables and Games
(r-value=0.278, sig 0.00)
• Overall Affective Variables and Role Playing
(r-value=0.317,sig 0.00)
Conclusion
There is a significant relationship between
Affective Variables and Communicative
Language Practices of grade six pupils in
learning the English language.
Significance on the Influence Affective variables of
Grade Six Pupils on their Communicative Language
Practice
Affective Variables significantly influence the
Communicative Language practices of students (r² of
0.191, SE of .48569) thus significant at 0.00
The result indicates that a combined percent of
influence is 19% with an F-ratio of 25.209.
Anxiety is found to be the predictor of communicative
language practices.
Conclusion
Affective Variables significantly influence Grade Six
Pupils’ communicative language practices and vice
versa.
Recommendation
1. Department of Education officials should
strengthen
the
training
of
teachers
professional development that focused on
boosting students’ self-confidence and
motivation in learning the English language.
School Administrators may plan ways to
procure instructional materials to help
students
develop interest, enhance their
learning and increase their level of English
competency.
Recommendation
2.Teachers may recognize students’ positive attitude
in the class to enhance their self-esteem and
eventually become intrinsically motivated not only
inside the classroom but also in the real-life
situations. They must help and encourage their
students
in
overcoming
their
affective
weaknesses by engaging the students in
communicative activities to improve their
exposure level.
Teachers should continue to design curriculum and
interventions that will clearly establish the strong
relationship between affective variables and
communicative language practices.
Recommendation
3.Students should explore their affective
variables through communicative language
practices so they will be competent in using
the English language. They may continue
doing desirable attitude related to English
language activities to maintain or improve
their communicative language skill.
4. Since the influence of both variables to each
other is only 19%, researchers should
conduct investigations relevant to the study
to explore the 81% of the variables that are
not identified in the study.
Thank you!