Grammatical Competencies of Grade 12 Students: A

Basis for the Enhancement of English Learning

Plan

A Research Study
Presented to the Faculty of the Department of Teacher
Education
Eduardo L. Joson Memorial College
Palayan City, Nueva Ecija

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree

Bachelor of Secondary Education Major in English

By
Cesario, Jamaila Rhea
Facunla, Ken Cedrick
Macabangon, Beverly
Nagaño, Chantal Mae
Orden, Jiana
Paras, Javelyn

May 2022
 Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

In today's global world, the importance of English

cannot be overstated or overlooked. English has become a

worldwide language in which it is widely spoken, as well

as an official language in cross-national communication.

Professionally, English is the most extensively utilized

language in the worldwide workforce. It is widely

acknowledged that English proficiency is a critical skill

for one's survival and progress in today's world.

Nowadays, numerous professions are looking for English

competence; it has become a must that everyone have these

skills. English has played a significant part in numerous

areas, including medical, engineering, and education,

which is thought to be the most important arena where

English is required (Kasim,2008).

Nonetheless, numerous studies have shown that

Filipinos' English language skill has declined over time.

In the educational context, the government responded to

the decline by issuing Executive Order No. 210, s. 2003,

which directs the Department of Education to utilize

English as a second language in elementary school and as

the medium of teaching in high school and has also

required teachers to take remedial English classes.

Teacher education students, both pre-service and in-

service, are expected to write a lot. They create lesson

plans and learning plans, as well as the written

requirements with which they must comply. If these

students are allowed to continue unchecked, they will

once again be a source of concern because these students

who chose to become teachers will contribute to the poor

performance of their students, and at worst, will stymie

the efforts of parents and children in achieving their

dreams. As Henry Brooks Adams once said, a teacher

affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence

stops.

This is the instance that the researchers want to

address. The purpose of this descriptive study is to

address the lack of proficiency in English in each

grammar competency in English: classes of words, sentence

elements, types of sentences, correct use of verbs,

modifiers, subject-verb agreement, and pronoun usage

based on the obtained scores of the grade 12 students on

the adapted test questionnaire that will be given to

them. This assessment will serve as the foundation for

assessing students' most and least learned grammatical

competencies in English. This study seeks to determine

what enhancement of the English learning plan can be made

based on the findings of the study.

This research study emphasizes education as a human

right and a driver for sustainable development, with the

goal of “ensuring inclusive and equitable quality

education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for

all”, specifically, “By 2030, ensure that all girls and

boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and

secondary education leading to relevant and effective

learning outcomes.” (UNICEF SDG 4, Target No. 4.1).

Furthermore, sustainable development goals aid the

educational gaps and inequities, links the bridge of

children's opportunity to have quality education in order

to break the cycle of poverty in the community as they

will develop and use their full potential. It emphasizes

the importance of providing high-quality education to all

children, particularly those from low-income families,

children from rural areas, individuals with disabilities,

indigenous people, and refugee children. This believes

that education can make the socioeconomic mobility

increase.
Statement of the Problem

The aim of the study is to determine the grammatical

competencies of grade 12 students.

Specifically, the study tries to answer the following

research questions:

1. How may the grammatical competencies of the grade 12

students in English be described in terms of:

1.1 classes of words;

1.2 sentence elements;

1.3 types of sentences;

1.4 correct use of verbs;

1.5 modifiers;

1.6 subject-verb agreement; and

1.7 pronoun usage?

2. What are the most learned grammatical competencies of

grade 12 students?

3. What are the least learned grammatical competencies of

grade 12 students?

4. What enhancement of the English learning plan can be

made based in the findings of the study?

Conceptual Framework

This research is anchored with the concept of the study

of Charles Brent Magpayo, Rea Dolor J. Paras, and Nicole,

Paula E. Sarmiento of Holy Angel University entitled

Grammatical Competence of First Year English Major Students

at Holy Angel University's Teacher Education Department,

A.Y. 2014-2015: An Assessment. The researchers tested the

grammatical competency of 70 future English instructors at

Holy Angel University using an adapted Belk and Thompson

grammar test questionnaire (1999). The test assessed

participants' knowledge in many grammar areas, including

word classes, sentence parts, sentence kinds, correct use of

verbs, modifiers, subject-verb agreement, and pronoun usage.

In general, the results indicated that the participants'

grammatical skill was average. The findings revealed that

the participants have an average level of grammatical skill.

However, the bulk of participants (42.86%) have poor grammar

skills. The participants have high levels of grammatical

proficiency in modifiers, word classes, verb usage, and

subject-verb agreement. The findings, on the other hand,

revealed that the participants exhibit low grammatical

competence in sentence parts, sentence types, and pronoun

usage.

This study looked at the grammar categories and specific

grammar points where participants struggled, as well as the

items where they excelled. This study looked into the

possible underlying causes of their difficulties, as well as

prospective solutions. Furthermore, the researchers

developed an instructional material that is tailored to the

communicative grammar teaching technique, allowing for

contextualized conversation using actual materials as well

as assessment to address the issues in the aforementioned

grammar domains. The study made recommendations based on the

evaluation results, taking into account the existing

language acquisition theories and associated studies

mentioned in the paper, as well as their implications.

Independent Variable Dependent Variable

GRAMMATICAL ENHANCEMENT OF
COMPETENCIES OF ENGLISH LEARNING
GRADE 12 STUDENTS PLAN

The researchers plan to examine students' grammatical

competency, specifically the most and least gained

grammatical competencies of grade 12 students using the test

results from the adapted test questionnaire from Belk and

Thompson’s (1999) Grammar Inventory for Teachers (GIFT).

This presents an idea for offering an acceptable enhancement

of the English learning plan.

Scope and Limitations

This study focuses on the enhancement of the English

learning plan based on the most and least learned

grammatical competencies of grade 12 students in Palayan

City National High School (PCNHS). The data will be based on

the test results from the adapted test questionnaire from

Belk and Thompson’s (1999) Grammar Inventory for Teachers

(GIFT.) This study serves the purpose of not just assessing

the grade 12 students’ grammatical competencies, but also an

enhancement of the English learning plan that could help

ELJMC in the future.

To satisfy the objectives of the study, quantitative

research will be held. This study covers randomly chosen

grade 12 students from Academic Tracks specifically,

Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS), Science, Technology,

Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), General Academic Strand

(GAS), and Accountancy, Business and Management (ABM)

students of Palayan City National High School (PCNHS)

enrolled in A.Y. 2021-2022.

Significance of the Study

This study will benefit the following:

Administration of the College. The findings of this study

will enable the college administration to make efforts to

ensure that students' learning experiences are as positive

as possible. The administration will be able to assess what

procedures should be taken in creating and administering

English learning plans to students.

Teachers of the College. The findings of this study may help

to identify appropriate enhancement of English learning

plans for both the teaching and learning processes of

students.

Students of the College. As the primary focus of our

research, this will benefit incoming freshmen college

students who will be enrolled in a college of education. The

research is designed to help all students who want to pursue

the education course. This will assist students in becoming

qualified for their chosen career. It will also assist in

becoming knowledgeable future teachers.

Future Researchers. This research on the grammatical

competencies will serve as a reference for students who

choose to pursue further study in this area. Future

researchers may utilize the data presented in this study as

a reference to further develop the research in relation to

the variables they employ. This could serve as a guideline

for prospective researchers to have some background

information about the study.

Definition of Terms

Accountancy, Business and Management (ABM). Refers to an

academic track in Senior High School that focuses on the

basic concepts of financial management, business management,

corporate operations, and all things that are accounted for.

Classes of words. Is a grammatical competence that assessed

nouns, pronouns, adverbs, prepositions, action verbs,

linking verbs, auxiliary verb, adjectives, coordinating

conjunctions, correlative conjunction and interjections.

Correct use of Verbs. Refers to correct use of the verb,

past tense of the verb, base form of the verb after the

auxiliary verb and perfect aspect of the verb, along with an

item containing verbs that are not possible answers.

Division Memorandum No. 61, s. 2019. Refers to the

guidelines to determine the most and least Grammatical

competencies gained in English Plus.

General Academic Strand (GAS). Refers to an academic track

in Senior High School that caters students who are not yet

sure of what course or degree they want to take in college.

This strand was designed so that indecisive learners can

proceed with any college program.

Grammar. The whole system and structure of a language or of

languages in general, usually taken as consisting of syntax

and morphology (including inflections) and sometimes also

phonology and semantics.

Grammar Structure. In English grammar, sentence structure is

the arrangement of words, phrases, and clauses in a

sentence. The grammatical function or meaning of a sentence

is dependent on this structural organization, which is also

called syntax or syntactic structure.

Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS). Refers to an

academic track in Senior High School, this strand is for

learners who aim to take up journalism, communication arts,

liberal arts, education, and other social science-related

courses in college.
Modifier. It is a grammatical competence refers to a

word/phrase/clause which modifies words in a sentence. It

can be adjective or an adverb.

Pronoun usage. A pronoun is defined as a word or phrase that

is used as a substitution for a noun or noun phrase, which

is known as the pronoun’s antecedent. Pronouns are short

words and can do everything that nouns can do and are one of

the building blocks of a sentence.

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). An

academic track in Senior High School for students who are

inclined toward or have the aptitude for Math or Science or

Engineering studies. Science, Technology, Engineering, and

Mathematics are intertwining disciplines when applied in the

real world.

Subject-verb agreement. Subject-verb agreement refers to the

relationship between the subject and predicate of the

sentence. Subjects and verbs must always agree in two ways:

tense and number.

Types of Sentences. It is a grammatical competence that

tackles about simple sentences, compound sentences, complex

sentences, run-ons/comma splice sentences and sentence

fragment.
 Chapter 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

The goal of this study, ‘Grammatical Competencies of

Grade 12 Students: A Basis for the Enhancement of English

Learning Plan' is to identify the most and least gained

grammatical competencies of grade 12 students in order to

establish what sort of English learning plan enhancement

should be done to fill the gap in the tertiary level

grammatical competencies of students.

To become proficient in the English language, one must

be well-versed in grammar competencies specifically: classes

of words, sentence elements, types of sentences, correct use

of verbs, modifiers, subject-verb agreement, and pronoun

usage. Understanding grammar allows us to understand what

makes words and paragraphs clear, intriguing, and exact.

Grammar knowledge aids the student in the repair of errors

and the improvement of written work. Only by unconscious

integration can a person learn a new language accurately.

When our linguistic habits fail us, grammar is a reliable

source of reference. As a result, grammar is essential for

the student. Grammar is important in teaching because it

determines how effectively a teacher communicates his

lessons. Knowing the language's highs and lows can make or

break a lesson. If a teacher is familiar with grammar, he

may be able to change the level of difficulty of words to be

utilized. Mastering a language necessitates this skill —

appropriately for a variety of purposes and educational

contexts.

Gained Competencies in English

Otaala & Plattner (2013) found out in their study that

language competencies are important for teaching and

learning in higher education as they determine how well

students will be able to understand and critically analyze

knowledge pertaining to their subject. The results of the

study suggest that university lecturers and students differ

significantly in their implicit beliefs about students’

English language competencies. Such discrepancy could hamper

academic achievements in higher education. Owing to their

beliefs, lecturers may underestimate students’ language

competencies and, therefore, lower their expectations while

students may overestimate their language competencies and,

therefore, see no need for improving their language skills,

all of which is likely to negatively affect academic

standards. In the long run, opposing beliefs among lecturers

and students may compromise students’ learning experience as

well as their academic and professional success.

Grammar Competencies

As cited by Magpayo, Paras and Sarmiento (2015), the

study of Collins and Hollo, 2000; Clarke, Dickinson &

Westbrook, 2010, Cowan, 2008; Greenbaum & Nelson, 2002;

Crystal, 2005; Klammer, Schulz & Volpe, 2000, Grammar is

defined as the set of rules that show how words or group of

words are arranged to form sentences in the language. Thus,

English grammar includes the set of rules that govern

sentence formation in English or to put words together to

form larger units of language Grammar, therefore, is

commonly composed of two sub-fields: morphology (word

formation) and syntax (sentence formation). Grammatical

competence is found to be significant in a number of ways.

Canale and Swain (1980) assert that without grammar, the

learners can only communicate effectively in a limited

number of instances or situations, cited by Magpayo, Paras

and Sarmiento (2015). Moreover, having appropriate

grammatical competence will help the learners to possess

such ability in producing the language. It is closely

related to how to combine lexical resources as well as the

rules correctly, Fikron (2018).

Tertiary Level Grammar Competencies

In the study of Catherine Bitter and Laura Golden

titled ‘Approaches to Promoting College Readiness for

English Learners’. This study aimed to address the needs of

English Learners from various schools, which are often

overlooked in a large school setting. The interviewed

schools recommended various approaches, one of which is

embedded in the school's practices and culture (School of

International Business), while the majority of them

suggested various programs from which English Language

Learners (ELLs) will benefit in promoting college readiness

for all students, such as a project-based learning program

(Construction Tech Academy) where English learners will

participate (School of Community Health and Medical

Practices), a program that encourages and supports students'

academic success, and college trips (CIMA) that allow

students to experience the college environment while also

learning academically in various programs during their

trips. The primary goal of these approaches is to advance

and meet the needs of every English language learner.

Principals and teachers use programs that encourage them to

use other strengths they have in using English as a medium

for college preparation.

Furthermore, in the study of Lizette L. Rogers titled

‘An Evaluation of the College Readiness of Graduating

English Language Learners in Utah Public Schools’ (2016).

The purpose of this study is to determine the college

readiness of graduating English language learners and to

evaluate the factors that influence English language

learners' readiness. The following factors influenced

English language learners' readiness: Gender, Language

Proficiency Level, Bilingual Student Academic Placement, On

Track Indicators, Equitable Curriculum, Language Complexity

in Assessment, Language and Linguistic Identification of

English Language Learners, Reclassification to Fluent

English Proficient, Teacher Effectiveness, Parental

Involvement, and Socioeconomic/Poverty are some of the

factors to consider. This research hopes that educators and

policymakers will take into account the critical educational

needs of this growing student population. The primary goal

of this research is to identify the factors that influence

the college readiness of graduating English language

learners and to identify areas that require improvement in

order for the students to achieve positive educational

outcomes.

Word Classes

According to the study of Sean Allison (2020) about the

overview of the major word classes, minor word classes, and

grammatical markers of Makary Kotoko. The major word classes

are nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and ideophones.

1Propertiesof nouns and verbs are discussed in some detail

here as this is the only place in the grammar where all the

information is presented together. At the same time this

serves as an overview of certain aspects of the grammar

which will hopefully help orient the reader to both the

brief presentation of the minor word classes and grammatical

markers discussed further below, as well as to subsequent

chapters. For adjectives, adverbs, and ideophones, their

properties are addressed in more detail in particular

sections of the grammar so I provide a summary here and

refer the reader to the relevant sections. The minor word

classes and grammatical markers (ad positions, locative

specifiers, numerals, quantifiers, demonstratives,

determiners, pronouns, reflexive and reciprocal markers,

subject markers, aspect/mode markers, modifying markers,

non-specific marker, copulas, locative particles, sequential

markers, subordinators, complementizer, negative marker,

interrogative markers, and information structure markers)

are also presented summarily here, and addressed in greater

detail at different points within the description of the

grammar.

Word classes are words that have a meaning that

completes sentences. It is also where we can obtain

information and thoughts about entire phrases. Learning word

classes allows us to clearly interpret our concepts.

Determining the purposes of each class of words will result

in a solid sentence structure.

Sentence Elements

Alimi (2018) the structural syntax studies the phrase -

s as a group of words pronounced altogether and conveying a

message or information about the doer of action that is

proceeding the predicate (NP), the act ion itself (VP) and

the object of an action (NP), that is following the

predicate as well as the information about the circumstances

of the action (PP, Adv.P), etc. On the other hand, the

functional syntax studies the sentence elements which are

also conveying similar messages or information. Thus, the

subject consists of the NP and is placed before the

predicate, whereas the Object is also a NP, but placed after

the predicate. The predicate as a heart or nucleus of the

sentence is in the same time a VP, describing the action of

the doer and his situation. The PP is usually an adjunct

because it gives information about the circumstances of

time, place, and manner in which the action occurs. The

adjective phrase as a special independent phrase is usually

in the position of the Subject complement because it gives

the description of the subject as a doer of an action.

Phrases, according to structural syntactic research,

are clusters of words that are uttered together to convey

information and messages. Those who are familiar with the

phrase, its modifiers, and its headword are in a good

position to identify the sentence's elements. To develop

good sentences, it is also necessary to consider the basic

sentence pattern.

Types of Sentences

Media Rahmi, Saunir Saun, Aryuliva Ad (2016) In

general, the students of English Department have the ability

to write English well. However, there are still some aspects

that must be considered in writing. Therefore, this study

aimed to look at the extent to which students use the

sentences types in writing an essay. Another aim was to

analyze the problems occurred in using the sentences types.

Based on the research, there were four sentences’ types in

the students’ writing: simple, compound, complex, and

compound-complex sentences. Based on the results of the

study, it was found that simple sentence was the most

sentence types commonly written by the students in writing,

by contrast, compound-complex sentence was the least

sentence types written by the student. In addition, there

were two problems that occurred to write the sentence types,

i.e., run-on and fragment. Both of these problems were found

in all parts of the essay: introduction, main body and

conclusion. By doing so, it is expected to the lecturers to

pay more attention to the use of different sentence types in

students’ writing.

Correct Use of Verb

According to corpus research, in academic writing, the

three tenses used the most often are the simple present, the

simple past, and the present perfect (Biber et al., 1999;

Caplan, 2012). The next most common tense for capstone

writers is the future; the doctoral study/dissertation

proposal at Walden is written in this tense for a study that

will be conducted in the future. Simple present, use the

simple present to describe a general truth or a habitual

action. This tense indicates that the statement is generally

true in the past, present, and future. Simple past, use the

simple past tense to describe a completed action that took

place at a specific point in the past (e.g., last year, 1

hour ago, last Sunday). In the example below, the specific

point of time in the past is 1998. Present perfect, use the

present perfect to indicate an action that occurred at a

nonspecific time in the past.

The verb tenses indicate time reference, and the three

most prevalent and frequently used verb sentences are the

simple present, simple past, and present perfect. These are

the most prevalent and used in the sense that they are the

fundamentals of all the tenses.

Modifiers

As cited by McManus (2012), proposed by Paradis (1997)

is influenced by both of the earlier models described

between degree modifiers and adjectives, though has most in

common with that of Allerton (1987). Like Allerton’s,

Paradis’ model is concerned specifically with elements that

modify adjectives with respect to degree and emphasizes the

importance of the relationship between degree modifiers and

their adjectival collocates in order to distinguish types of

each of these elements. However, taking Allerton’s

classifications of degree modifiers and adjectives as a

basis, Paradis seeks to provide a more refined description

of the former by analyzing the reasons behind the typical

degree modifier-adjective pairings that motivated his

distinctions. Also, all adverbs that are used to denote

degree are hereafter referred to as ‘degree modifiers’

(McManus, 2012).

Modifiers are typically lexical words that have

acquired grammatical functions, such as an adverb or an

adjective that adds detail and meaning to a sentence. It

also provides degree requirements for the adjectives that

are being modified.

Subject-Verb Agreement

Mabuan (2015) that is an Analysis of Weblogs’

Grammatical Errors of Filipino Learners of English as Second

Language, it goes to show that the subject-verb agreement is

one of the seven pervasive errors committed by the

participants. In fact, out of the seven major categories of

errors, the subject-verb agreement was the second most

frequently occurring error garnering 19.93% of the total

errors committed. The major cause of this error is that the

respondents of the study had confusion in identifying the

subject and its corresponding form so it proved that they do

not have the mastery in syntactic rules to provide singular

verbs for singular subjects and plural verbs for plural

subjects.

According to the survey, subject-verb agreement ranks

second among the seven most often recurring errors

perpetrated by Filipino learners of English as a second

language. The participants are perplexed when it comes to

identifying the subject and the related form. It

demonstrates that the participants do not understand

syntactic rules.

Pronoun Usage

As cited by Putriani (2015), A pronoun is used to

substitute a person, place, and thing. Pronoun is often used

to refer to a noun that has already been mentioned. William

(2005:60) argues “English, like other languages, resists the

duplication of nouns in sentences, so it replaces duplicated

nouns with what are called pronouns”. Using pronoun can make

a text effectively because it does not mention a noun

continuously. Furthermore, there are some types of pronouns.

William (2005:61) states “There are several other types of

pronouns: personal, demonstrative, reciprocal, possessive,

indefinite, reflexive, and relative”. Another opinion about

a pronoun is stated by Alsagoff (2008:89) who argues “A

pronoun stands in place of a noun phrase, or part of a noun

phrase, when the reference to that noun phrase is clear from

the context”. He divides pronouns into eight types. There

are personal, possessive, reflexive, reciprocal,

demonstrative, indefinite, relative, and interrogative.

The primary function of pronouns is to limit the

duplication of nouns in a phrase. A sentence can be more

effective when pronouns are used to avoid using nouns

repeatedly; also, pronouns can stand in place of nouns to

construct a clearer phrase. Personal, possessive, reflexive,

reciprocal, demonstrative, indefinite, relative, and

interrogative pronouns are accountable for standing in place

of a pronoun.

Most and Least Gained Competencies

 The Department of Education, through the Bureau of

Curriculum Development – Curriculum Standards Development

Division, in collaboration with the Assessment Curriculum

and Technology Research Centre (ACTRC), started working on

the identification of essential learning competencies in the

middle of 2019 as part of its ongoing review of the intended

curriculum. Bureau specialists, academic experts, and field

implementers worked to reach a consensus regarding the

criteria to be used in determining these competencies.

Initiated by Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones, the K to 12

curriculum review is not just meant to fulfill one of the

provisions of Republic Act (RA) 105333 to review the

curriculum, but is also part of her commitment to ensure

quality, relevant and liberating education for all. After

the four phases of the curriculum, a review is completed,

the Secretary will convene the Curriculum Consultative

Committee to present the findings as provided for in Section

6 of the same Republic Act. The review focuses on

articulation within and across learning areas to identify

gaps, issues, and concerns across learning areas and grade

levels. Specifically, the review covers the following:

 mapping of the essential and desirable learning

competencies within the curriculum;

  identification of prerequisite knowledge and skills

needed to prepare students for essential learning

competencies; and

 analysis of the interconnectedness of prerequisite

knowledge and skills among the learning competencies

for each subject area.

Essential learning competencies are defined as what the

students need, considered indispensable, in the teaching-

learning process to building skills to equip learners for

subsequent grade levels and subsequently, for lifelong

learning. On the other hand, desirable learning competencies

were defined as what may enhance education but may not be

necessary for building foundational skills. A list of

characteristics of essential learning competencies was

provided to help reviewers decide which among the learning,

competencies are deemed most important.

Learning competency is essential:

1. It is aligned with national and/or local standards/

frameworks (e.g.: “scientifically literate Filipinos”).

2. It connects the content to higher concepts across

content areas.

3. It applies to real-life situations.

4. If students leave school, it would still be important

for them have this competency above many others.

5. It would not be expected for most students to learn this

in settings other than through formal education.

Relative to the mandate of DepEd Order No. 44, s. 2015

titled Guidelines on the Enhanced School Improvement

Planning (SIP), the school with its stakeholders

collaboratively prepares the SIP after a though analysis of

their school and learner situation. This policy emanates

from the Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001 (RA

9155), which mandates the State to empower schools and

learning centers to make decisions on what is best for the

learners they serve. RA 9155 also entrusts to the school

heads and authority, accountability, and responsibility to

develop school education programs and the SIP. Furthermore,

school heads are tasked to established school and community

networks and to encourage active participation of teachers'

organization, non-academic personnel of public schools, and

parents-teachers-community associations, especially in doing

local initiatives for the improvement of the school.

This study will adapt the guidelines of the Department

of Education, as stated in the issued Division Memorandum

No. 61, s. 2019 of Tarlac City Schools Division, on

reporting the list of most and least learned competencies.

Synthesis of the Reviewed Literature and Studies

All of the articles mentioned above are studies that

help to strengthen and support our proposed study. These are

related to our variables: Grammatical Competencies of

Students and Enhancement of English Learning Plans. These

articles offer suggestions for how we should approach and

pursue ours. Although the findings and outcomes of these

studies differ, we cannot deny the fact that they all have

one thing in common: they all address students' grammar

competence in order for them to achieve English adequate

grammatical competencies. These have given us a broader

perspective on grammar competence and allowed us to consider

where to begin and where the study will take us. Based on

these prior studies, we can be confident that our research

will produce an effective and fruitful outcome, allowing us

to devise appropriate solutions to the observed problem.

It implies that language proficiency in English has

long been observed in many schools, colleges, and

universities. The researchers have also created programs to

test the students' comprehension in order to assess their

competency. To ensure that this study has the potential to

contribute to the needs of the school, we will conduct a

test to assess the students' grammatical competencies

through the assessment of their most and least gained

grammar competencies in order to progress to the next level

with a sufficient amount of competency, and to see where the

teachers and even the institution might be able to meet them

halfway.

Chapter 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

In this chapter, the researchers thoroughly discuss and

expand on how the study will be carried out using a step-by-

step approach known as methodology. It presents the research

design, area of study, sample size, data collection

instrument, instrument administration, and data analysis

method that the researchers will use to ensure the success

of the study.

To begin, the researchers used a descriptive research

design in the hopes of defining the Palayan City National

High School (PCNHS) grade 12 students A.Y. 2021-2022 in

English grammatical competencies in terms of: classes of

words, sentence elements, types of sentences, correct use of

verbs, modifiers, subject-verb agreement, and pronoun usage

– the grammatical competencies that students are expected to

have learned.

To be able to evaluate their competencies and determine

their most and least learned competencies, the researchers

will write a letter of request to the school involved and

the researchers will proceed to disseminate the test

questionnaires through google form. The identity of the

students will remain unknown to respect confidentiality.

To analyze the data that comes with their test scores,

the researchers will obtain the number of learners who

correctly answered each test items, rank the test items in

descending order based on the numbers of learners who

correctly answer each item, determine the competency on

which each test item is based, and get the top 2 most

learned competencies as well as the lowest 3.

The following material/tool will be used by the

researchers to collect data and information: their test

scores from the adapted test questionnaire from Belk and

Thompson’s (1999) Grammar Inventory for Teachers (GIFT).

 Since the middle of 2019, the notion of most and least

learned competencies of students has been employed as part

of the year-end report of DepEd division schools as part of

its ongoing examination of the planned curriculum. The K to

12 curriculum review, initiated by Secretary Leonor

Magtolis-Briones, is not only intended to meet one of the

provisions of Republic Act (RA) 105333 to review the

curriculum, but is also part of her commitment to provide

quality, relevant, and liberating education for all. The

study will adapt and make minor changes to this approach in

order to determine the competencies that students learn the

least and propose an enhancement for English learning plans

in which these competencies will be given equal focus.

To collect the data, the researchers will ask for

permission from their respective teachers to guide them as

they proceed to answer the provided questions. The

researchers will use a descriptive research design to assess

the most and least grammatical competencies in English among

graduating SHS students of Palayan City National High

School.
Research Locale

The study will be conducted in Palayan City National

High School, which is located at Nueva Ecija-Aurora Road,

Atate Palayan City 3132, Nueva Ecija. Palayan City is the

capital of Nueva Ecija province in the Philippines and a 5th

class component city.

Palayan City National High School (PCNHS) is a public

secondary school in Palayan City, Nueva Ecija that is DepEd-

accredited. It was founded in 1986. The school was built to

provide a quality high school education to deserving but

impoverished students in the community. PCNHS currently

provides strands under the Academic and Technical-

Vocational-Livelihood (TVL) tracks to students who wish to

continue their study at the school.

Sample Size

This study's respondents are grade 12 students enrolled

in Academic Track of Palayan City National High School

(PCNHS). The grade 12 students in academic track were

divided into 8 sections with 35–60 students in every

classroom. Palayan City High School has 370 numbers of

students taking the academic track projected to graduate

this 2022. The researchers will get the valid result of the

respondent through random sampling. Random sampling is a

subset of an individual chosen from a larger set (a

population). It is an unbiased surveying technique and basic

type of sampling. The principle of random sampling is that

every object has the same probability of being chosen. The

goal of this type of sampling is to collect data that are

representative of the entire population of interest.

A higher confidence level requires a larger sample

size. However, it would be inefficient if all of the

students were given the opportunity to take the survey

because of time and budget constraints.

So, it is important to consider the sample size because

it would represent the view of the whole population.

Here’s the formula in getting the sample size of the

target population:
Slovin’s Formula:

n = _____N_____
1+ Ne2

Given the following data:

n= sample size

N= total number of population

e= margin of error

n = ____370______
1+370 (0.05)2

=_____370_____
1 + 370 (0.0025)

=_____370_____
1 + 0.925

=____370_____
1.925
n =___192______
 After getting the exact population of the students

which is 370 and setting up the 5% margin of error and 95%

of confidence interval, we can calculate now the sample size

needed.

Since there are different population in every strand,

we calculate the percentage of each strand’s population to

the total population so we can evenly distribute the sample

size.

12 STEM A-35/370 = 10% × 192 = 19 sample size for 12 STEM A

12 STEM B-48/370 = 13% × 192 = 25 sample size for 12 STEM B

12 HUMSS A- 42/370 = 11% × 192 = 21 sample size for 12 HUMSS A

12 HUMSS B- 42/370 = 11% × 192 = 21 sample size for 12 HUMSS B

12 HUMSS C- 4O/370 = 11% × 192 = 21 sample size for 12 HUMSS C

12 HUMSS D- 43/370 = 12% × 192 = 23 sample size for 12 HUMSS D

12 GAS- 60/370 = 16% × 192 = 31 sample size for 12 GAS

12 ABM- 60/370 = 16% × 192 = 31 sample size for 12 ABM

 SECTION STRAND PERCENTAGE OF PERCENTAGE
POPULATION STRAND’S MULTIPLIED BY
POPULATION TOTAL SAMPLE
(TOTAL BASED ON SIZE OF 192
POPULATION TOTAL
= 370) POPULATION OF
ALL STRANDS
12 STEM A 35 10% 19 sample size
12 STEM B 48 13% 25 sample size
12 HUMSS A 42 11% 21 sample size
12 HUMSS B 42 11% 21 sample size
12 HUMSS C 40 11% 21 sample size
12 HUMSS D 43 12% 23 sample size
12 GAS 60 16% 31 sample size
12 ABM 60 16% 31 sample size

Data Gathering Procedure

 The study's goal is to discover the students' most and

least learned grammatical competencies. As a result, in

order to describe their grammatical competencies

specifically: (1) Classes of Words, (2) Sentence Elements,

(3) Types of Sentences, (4) Correct Use of Words, (5)

Modifiers, (6) Subject-Verb Agreement, and (7) Pronoun

Usage, we need their test scores from the adapted test

questionnaire, determine which among each item falls under

the aforementioned grammatical competencies, and obtain each

student's test scores in each test item. After that, we will

be able to rank the top 2 most learned as well as the bottom

3 least learned grammatical competencies.

The researchers will collect data and information from

the students themselves through a test questionnaire to

answer the study's specific research questions. Therefore,

primary data collection will be used.

A descriptive research design was utilized to identify

the most and least learned grammatical competencies of SHS

students in academic strand solely based on data received

from them, with no attempt to influence it. A descriptive

research design will be used for this study. Descriptive

research is a useful mode of inquiry for learning what is

going on or explaining a phenomenon where people have

competing ideas about what is going on (Church, 2010), as

cited by Sioco and Rivera (2018). This study will use

descriptive research to describe the data, particularly

grammatical competence, that will be gathered and assessed

from respondents, such as: classes of words, sentence

elements, types of sentences, correct use of verbs,

modifiers, subject-verb agreement, and pronoun usage, and

the most and least learned competencies in English related

subjects.

Analysis of Data

1. To respond to the first problem: How may the grammatical

competence be described in terms of (1) Classes of Words,

(2) Sentence Elements, (3) Types of Sentences, (4)

Correct Use of Words, (5) Modifiers, (6) Subject-Verb

Agreement, and (7) Pronoun Usage, the researchers will

adapt the level of proficiency used in the Department of

Education (DepEd) Order No. 31, S. 2012, in which the

researchers will count the number of the respondents who

got the items in each competency correctly and identify

the level of proficiency at which the respondents are

performing based on a numerical value. The numerical

values are as follows:

 a. Beginning (74% and below)

b. Developing (75-79%)

c. Approaching Proficiency (80-84%)

d. Proficient (85-89%)

e. Advanced (90% and above)

2. To respond to the problem's second and third statements:

What are the most and least learned grammatical

competencies of grade 12 students, the researchers will

obtain the number of learners who correctly answered each

test item, rank the test items in descending order based

on the number of learners who correctly answer each item,

determine the competency on which each test item is

based, and obtain the top 2 most learned grammatical

competencies as well as the lowest 3.

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