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Teaching Strategies in English:
The Case of Batangas State University - Malvar, Philippines
Juvy G. Mojares, Batangas State University- Malvar Campus, Philippines
Abstract: This study sought answers on profile, teaching strategies and extent of its use,
significant relationship of the profile to the teaching strategies and its pedagogical implications
to the teaching of English. Results showed that lecture method and brainstorming were most
often used and profile of the respondents had significant relationship to the strategies used.
The pedagogical implications to the teaching of English were: the employment of various kinds
of teaching strategies was a big factor to make the teaching and learning process harmonious. It
has been found out that age, educational attainment and number of years in teaching have
something to do with the extent of use of different teaching strategies in English.
It was recommended that school administration should encourage teachers to pursue further
studies on their field of specialization for personal, social and professional growth through which
they can acquire new knowledge, skills and experiences that will benefit students and
themselves. They should also be guided and be familiar with various kinds of teaching strategies
which they can use inside the classroom. Seminars, workshops, and in-service trainings should
be provided to uplift teachers’ competencies and performance in teaching.
Introduction
English is the dominant global language at the beginning of the twenty-first century for it has
provided viability and practicability to people worldwide. This global language feature of
English fuels a ‘demand’ for English (Tsan, 2008), which is used in communication all over the
world and made it a must to be learned and understood.
A good command of English is generally believed to be highly important. By means of English,
an individual can easily engage in the stream of world culture in matters of art, education,
politics, economics, and the like. It is a fact now accepted that an educated person must master
another language besides his own and English can be conveniently be the “other language.”
However, Prah (2009) explained that English should not supplant the role and position of the
local language/languages. It should be taught as a subject, a “contact language”, as is done in
other countries and not allowed to replace the legitimate and rational functions of local
languages.
This is why, English subjects for college students in the Philippines have a two- fold objective
(Villanueva, et al., 1996). First, it aims to help students strengthen and refine the language skills
he has already learned – listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Second, it hopes to develop in
him correct attitudes and values and to keep him abreast with the developments in his everchanging world. Therefore, the teachers’ lessons integrate the student’s language study with his
life.
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Teachers, on the other hand, take an important role in the development of young minds regarding
this issue. There are varieties of teaching techniques and strategies that teachers may utilize
which can help the learners in understanding the language.
Effective teaching is only possible if teachers would take into account the understanding of the
complexity of classroom teaching and learn to acquire strategies that will enable them to
continually assess and enhance the teaching-learning effectiveness.
The application of appropriate teaching strategies and techniques help the students build up their
cognitive, psychomotor and affective skills. Teaching techniques are the means to teaching and
learning how to employ them in the teaching and learning process is called strategies. Teaching
strategies are vital because the tenet of teaching and classroom instruction cannot be successfully
achieved with techniques or methods alone. Different methods are the basic factors in learning
and the appropriate teaching strategies are necessary part of effective instruction.
But, all educational methods are not equal. No method is ruled out so long as it engages students
and makes them responsible for learning. Yet some methods accomplish those goals less
frequently than others (Weimer, n.d.).
With this premise, the researcher launched this study to determine the different strategies used in
teaching English subjects among college students in Batangas State University – Malvar
Campus, Batangas, Philippines. Specifically, it sought to describe the profile of the respondents
in terms of age, sex, educational attainment and number of years in teaching and its relation to
the teaching strategies; and to find out the pedagogical implications to the teaching of English.
Methodology
To determine the teaching strategies in English, descriptive research was used. Respondents were
the twelve college instructors teaching English in the first semester since there was less than 100
instructor -respondents in the five colleges: College of Engineering and Computing Sciences,
College of Teacher Education, College of Accountancy, Business Economics, and International
Hospitality Management, College of Arts and Sciences, and College of Industrial Technology of
Batangas State University –Malvar Campus.
A questionnaire was used to gather information. It had two parts. The first part was about the
profile of the respondents. It contained the age, sex, educational attainment, and the number of
years in teaching. The second part contained the common teaching strategies in English.
Statements which described the teaching strategies used by the respondents were given. Three
statements for each strategy were stated, hiding what type of strategy was it to avoid bias. The
first three statements described lecture method, followed by brainstorming, role playing,
independent learning, simulation, project method and community resources. The items were
analyzed and interpreted based on the following scales:
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Numerical Value
5
4
3
2
1
-
Interpretation
Most Often Done
Often Done
Moderately Done
Seldom Done
Least Done
To determine the teaching strategy used by the respondents and its effectiveness, the
mean ranges were grouped into five and were given their corresponding interpretations:
Rating Mean
4.20-5.00
3.40-4.19
2.60-3.39
1.80-2.59
1.00-1.79
-
Interpretation
Most Often Used
Often Used
Moderately Used
Less Moderately Used
Least Used
Results and Discussion
1. Profile of the Respondents
Most of the respondents (75%) were aged 19-35 years old; 75% of them were female a proof
that more female took education course compared with males; 58% of the respondents had
earned units in Master’s degree which explained the findings of Gacarsan (2000) that
professional growth could be obtained by pursuing graduate studies. This meant that most of
the respondents were not Master’s degree holder but were manifesting interest of obtaining
such. Fifty-eight percent (58%) also of the respondents had just one to three years of teaching
experience. This meant that most of the respondents were still new in the profession as
revealed by their age.
2. Teaching Strategies Used
Table 1.
Teaching Strategies Used by the Respondents
Strategies in Teaching English
The teacher …..
Lecture Method
1. Presents the subject matter with an attention getting
device which gives the idea of what the lesson is
about.
2. Explains the topic to clarify ideas.
3. Highlights lessons that are not familiar to the
students
Composite Mean
Brainstorming
4. Stimulates students to ask questions themselves and
accept their reactions and perceptions of the task
presented to them.
Weighted Mean
Interpretation
4
Often Done
4.75
4.75
Most Often Done
Most Often Done
4.50
Most Often Used
4.33
Most Often Done
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5.
Makes students think and speak out freely and
creatively about all possible solutions to given
problem
6. Emphasizes on how to learn than what to learn.
Composite Mean
Role Playing Method
7. Provides situations that encourage students.
8. Encourages enactment/reenactment of real life
problem situation to understand the lesson.
9. Provides a way to help students express their
feelings.
Composite Mean
Independent Learning
10. Allows students to do in-depth understanding of the
lesson
11. Gives minimal guidance and monitors progress of
learning from time to time.
12. Gives students freedom to study.
Composite Mean
Simulation
13. Organizes the students into various roles and
conducts a short practice session.
14. Presents the reality very closely in which the
complexity of events can be controlled.
15. Conducts the simulations / activities of the students
without being exposed to harmful environments.
Composite Mean
Project Method
16. Requires students to make in depth study of
research or issues.
17. Requires construction of ideas gathered and
organized through visual illustration.
18. Sets students’ minds to do specific steps in making
tangible output.
Composite Mean
Community Resources
19. Brings school close to the community by utilizing
its resources.
20. Enhances instruction between school and
community.
21. Enriches classroom activities by going outside the
school.
Composite Mean
4.58
Most Often Done
4.33
4.41
Most Often Done
Most Often Used
4.08
3.83
Often Done
Often Done
4.25
Most often Done
4.05
Often Used
4.17
Often Done
3.75
Often Done
4.42
4.11
Most Often Done
Often Used
4
Often Done
4
Often Done
4
Often Done
4
Often Used
3.92
Often Done
4.33
Most Often Done
4.25
Most Often Done
4.17
Often Used
3.17
Moderately Done
3.17
Moderately Done
3.08
Moderately Done
3.14
Moderately Used
Based on the table, the strategies rated as most often used are Lecture Method and Brainstorming
with composite mean of 4.50 and 4.41 respectively. These techniques were most often used
because teachers believed that these are the best strategies to use inside the classroom in which
the whole class could easily understand the lessons they need to learn. Lecture method can be
highly successful at involving and engaging students. However, Weimer (n.d.) claimed that in
practice, most lectures do not engage students or motivate them to take responsibility for what
and how they learn. Lectures tend to encourage passivity and make students dependent on the
teacher. As a result, faculty members are rightly encouraged to rely less on lectures and to
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explore other methods. But that advice results from the way lectures are used, not from their
inherent inability to promote significant learning.
Role playing method, independent learning, simulation, and project method are categorized as
often used strategies. Respondents believe that students acquire knowledge, skills and
experiences by themselves through these strategies. At the same time, they learn to be
responsible in their own acts and not to be dependent on others in learning.
Community resources method is rated moderately used because according to the respondents it
could spend money and consume time and effort for both teachers and students.
3. Relationship of Profile of Respondents and Teaching Strategies
Table 2.
Relationship of Profile of Respondents and Teaching Strategies
Variables
Age and Teaching
Strategies
Sex and Teaching
Strategies
Educational
Attainment and
Teaching Strategies
Number of
Teaching
Experience and
Teaching Strategies
Computed Value
Tabular Value
Decision Ho
Interpretation
25. 1406
9.49
Reject
Significant
3.6104
9.49
Accept
Not Significant
128.7788
26.30
Reject
Significant
40.6458
15.51
Reject
Significant
It can be gleaned from Table 2 that respondents’ age, educational attainment and number of
years teaching are related to the teaching strategies they employ. This means the older the
respondents, the better the teaching strategies they employ. It also means that the higher the
educational attainment of the respondents, the better the teaching strategies are. It further
means that additional years in teaching experience, the better the teaching strategy is.
4. Pedagogical Implications to Teaching Strategies
Based on the results of the study, the employment of various kinds of teaching strategies was
a big factor to make the teaching and learning process harmonious. It has been found out that
age, educational attainment and number of years in teaching have something to do with the
extent of use of different teaching strategies in English. In that case, college instructors should
be more encouraged to pursue post graduate education and should not be contented with what
the learning they already had. They must be open to change and accept new ideas to keep
themselves abreast with the most recent trends in teaching English through attendance to
trainings. As Weimer, (n.d.). claimed “Faculty who participated in the training programs did
become more student- and learning-focused, and that change was statistically significant.
These data verify that well-designed, substantive training programs for new faculty are worth
the time and effort.”
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Conclusion
It can be concluded that most instructors in English subjects from Batangas Sate University –
Malvar Campus are young females with Master’s degree units and less teaching experience. This
means that age, educational attainment and years of teaching experience are related to the
teaching strategies they used. That is why, lecture method and brainstorming are the most often
used teaching strategies while community resources method is rated as moderately used.
Therefore, college instructors teaching English subjects should continue their advanced studies
or education to improve their teaching strategy.
Recommendations
It is recommended that school administration should encourage teachers to pursue further studies
on their field of specialization for personal, social and professional growth through which they
can acquire new knowledge, skills and experiences that will benefit students and themselves.
They should also be guided and be familiar with various kinds of teaching strategies which they
can use inside the classroom. Seminars, workshops, and in-service trainings should be provided
to uplift teachers’ competencies and performance in teaching.
References
Gagarsan, Anacleta A. (2000). Professional Profile and Teaching Performance Relation to Pupils
Academic Achievement in the Division of Ozamis.
Prah, Kwesi Kwaa. (2009). The Burden of English in Africa: From Colonialism to NeoColonialism. Keynote Address presented to the Department of English: 5th International
Conference on the theme: Mapping Africa in the English-Speaking World. University of
Botswana.
Tsan, Shu-Chuan (2008). Analysis of English Learning Strategies of Taiwanese Students at
Taiwan Normal University. Vol. 2, No. 1. Educational Journal of Taiwan.
Weimer, Maryellen (n.d.). Effective Strategies for Improving College Teaching and Learning.
Special Report. Magna Publication. www.FacultyFocus.com