I Title :

Hindrances and Solutions : Using English as Second Language

in Learning

II Introduction:

There is no doubt that language is the most important key to

communication. It impacts the daily lives of members of any race, creed, and
region of the world and helps express our feelings, desires, and queries to the
world around us (De Valoes, 2014). In case of someone’s first language, it is
learned almost effortlessly with nearly invariant success, having the learner
exposed to his native language as a part of growing up among people who
speak them (Saville-Troike, 2006). For second language learning, however,
this could not happen. As Saville-Troike further stressed, one’s knowledge of
the second language goes well beyond what is taught, and this usually
requires intentional effort and is influenced by a number of individual and
social factors. One could not learn the second language just by himself. With
this challenge brought by the tedious process of learning the second
language, majority of the students have favoured classroom instruction for
second language acquisition (James, 1996 as cited in Raja and Selvi, 2011).

In the Philippines, English is recognized as a second language,

spoken by more than 14 million Filipinos as it is considered as the language of
commerce and law and the primary medium of instruction in education as
well. Maintaining the strength of Filipinos as being proficient in the second
language, the Department of Education significantly focuses on the needs of
learners and ensures that they learn the English language holistically, as
specified under the K to12 basic education framework (Cabigon, 2015).
However, problems among learners still remain inevitable. Difficulties in
specific language are evident among students in all educational levels, not
only in the Philippines but also in other countries with ESL learners. Ghabool
(2012) in his study emphasized that writing has always been a difficult task for
individuals while Songco-Bautista (2011) stressed that an average Filipino
student is found poor in reading as he misses even the basic ideas of the
utilized material. Likewise, students also face difficulties while participating in
oral classroom activities (Gan, 2012).

With these aspects of second language learning, the researcher

decided to investigate on the specific problems experienced by the chosen
subject in reading, writing and speaking and further explain the causes
through language acquisition theories. Hopefully, identifying these problems
may also lead the researcher in finding solutions to overcome these problems.

III Cause and Effects

In the Philippines, English is regarded as the second language,

further studied and utilized inside the educational institutions as the primary
medium of instruction, along with the recognition of its usefulness in
globalization. From this perspective, it made sense that schools tried to
develop the second language proficiency of Filipino students by strengthening
the English language education (Bernardo, 2008). However, it is undeniable
that there are problems which arise as students strive to learn their second
language. As there are many factors affecting the process of learning,
students experience difficulties when it comes to specific skills like reading,
writing and speaking. From these difficulties, there bloomed the endeavours
to analyse the root of the problems and look for solutions that may help the
English language learners. The researcher agrees that all of these can be
made possible and looks forward to answer the uncertainties of the following
issues through this study:

1. What are the specific difficulties that the subject encounter in using the
English language, specifically in speaking, reading and writing?
2. How can these difficulties be explained using theories and studies of
language learning and acquisition?
3. What possible solutions can be utilized to help the subject with his
difficulties?

This is the information and characteristics of the subject of my case

study.

Name : Kyra (alias) Age : 10 years old

School : Milagros Elementary School Grade : Grade 6 (Elementary)
First Language : Sinugbuanong Binisaya Target : English

Due to confidentiality, the subject shall be called as “Kyra”, a 10 years old

learner from section Orchid in the sixth grade of her school. Kyra lived one of
the rural barangays of Esperanza, Agusan del Sur and most of the people
there only rely on farming. A place where no access of cellular and internet
connection. Based on conversations with her parents, Kyra is the only adult to
supervised her 6 siblings in case they are busy in their farm, one of the factor
why she cannot attend class in the school sometimes.Kyra are not taught well
during her childhood by her parents.

On the other hand, Kyra’s mother tongue is Sinugbuanong Binisaya.

She can read and write basic English words but experience difficulties in
crucial words, spellings and cant comprehend well. Her PHIL-IRI result proved
that she belongs under the instructional level of reading.

As a pupil, Kyra tries and participates in language activities inside

the classroom if something is familiar and grasps her interest but prefers to
use the first language instead of English language. From the preliminary
observation, Kyra can read basic English words but cant comprehend well
and write simple English words and struggled in speaking English language.

Data Gathering Procedures

In gathering the needed data, the researcher first talk the family
members and asked for their permission to be part of the chosen case study
subject. After then, the researcher started getting the data needed. In the
preliminary phase, the researcher focused on interviewing the family
members and persons involved in the subject being observed. Note-taking
and observing in my class during English subject. After gathering the data, the
researcher began organizing the data and looking forward to answer the
formulated research questions. Finally, the transcription and analysis of the
results were done followed by the interpretation of the gathered data.

Mode of Analysis

Data was collected through observation, note-taking, interview and

educe tasks. Interview and educe tasks served as instruments to complete
and noted observations, as the subject is directly involved in the process
through these two means of data gathering. The note-taking procedure has
supported the researcher as it provided her with general impressions and
specific actuation which occur in the midst of data gathering. Other activities
are also imposed to the case study subject such as giving HOTS (Higher
Order Thinking Skills) stories and writing activities which include tasks on
labeling and spelling.

The table presented are the data gathered regarding the subject’s
difficulties in speaking, reading and writing. This also tackles the causes of the
difficulties and the possible solutions based on the analyzed problems.

Table 1

SITUATION MOOD ACTIVITY ANSWERS DIFFICULT

1 Preliminary Nervous Spelling bee 1. Craying don’t know
Activity (Words that can 2. Nervos that
be seen in the 3. Running spelling of
story) 4. Ambyulans the
5. Standing complex
words
 Puzzled The teacher Naglibog jud don’t know
asks to unlock ko maam. the
the words being meaning of
spelled. the English
words
2 Ordinary Inattentive The teacher (Hesitant) Use of
Discussions asks the Wala ko mother
subject to nakaila tongue.
identify the maam.
characters of
the story.
3 Pair Hesitant The teacher Good dog, Mixture of
Conversation asks to identify ma’am si First
the Peter. language
characteristic of and second
the dog name language in
Peter. answering
the
question.
4 Class Activity Motivated The teacher (volunteers) Can’t speak
and asks for some Ang dog na si English
relaxed volunteers who Peter, ang language
will identify the amo ni Peter fluently.
story elements na si Don
based on Patricio ang
images characters sa
presented. story maam.
5 Presentation Puzzled The teacher Wala ko Not fully
asks questions nakabalo understand
about what maam. the story
happen to Peter being
when he was discuss.
being hit by the
car?
 Table 1 presents the summary of the subject’s answers and
moods, as well as the analyzed speaking difficulties. Her spoken language is
also characterized by frequent stops and the failure to think of correct English
words which results to often used of mother tongue. On the other hand,
moods also appear as a hindering factor in the comprehension skill of the
subject. It is evident from the table that when she is “nervous”,
“puzzled”,”inattentive” and “hesitant”,those were the times that she find the
questions difficult. For the mood “motivated” and “relaxed”, she can
communicate her ideas though his spoken language is still incomplete with
some pauses and grammatical errors.In the first situation, the subject can’t
spell some of the words correctly and can’t unlock the difficult words cause
she have no stock knowledge. The fourth situation also make sense that
when the subject is motivated and relaxed she can answer the question
correctly with confidence. These proves that his motivation and confidence is
also influenced by his knowledge on the topic or activity, supported by a
conducive environment.

To sum up, the causes of Kyra’s difficulties are influenced by the

interaction of social, cognitive, psycho-social and physiological factors.

IV Recommendations

Based on the findings and conclusions, the researcher formulated the

following recommendations ;

 As home plays a big role in language acquisition and learning,

teacher must have a heart to heart talk to the parents so that they
will monitored well their child’s progress.

 As the subject’s instructional level in terms of reading relates a lot

to his other difficulties, the teacher must give different strategies
based on the needs and interests of the learners.
  In terms of other skills as writing, comprehension and speaking
skills , teacher can improve by enhancing the practices that affirms
the learners motivation, confidence, knowledge, performance and
experiences.

 The teacher classroom must be conducive to learning or must

serve as a place of practice , motivation and engagement, not as a
threat to the learner.

 As there are the relationships present among the language skills,

the teacher can use reading to improve speaking. The importance
of word knowledge which facilitates speaking skills, has been a
major resource in the development of reading skills.

V References

A. BOOKS

Bernardo, A. B. I. (2008). English in Philippine education: Solution or problem? In

M. L. S. Bautista & K. Bolton (Eds.), Philippine English: Linguistic and literary
perspectives (pp. 29-48). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.

Saville-Troike, M. (2006). Introducing Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge

University Press: UK

Songco-Bautista, C. (2011). Designing an Intensive Reading Lesson. In Fernandez,

A.M.O, Paez, D.B., Paterno, M.G. (Eds.), Best Practices in Language and Literacy
Teaching (pp. 85). Quezon City: Cornerstone of Arts and Sciences

B. ONLINE ARTICLES AND RESOURCES

De Valoes, L. (2014) Importance of Language – Why Learning a Second Language is
Important. Retrieved from
http://www.trinitydc.edu/continuingeducation/2014/02/26/importanceoflanguagewhyl
earningasecondlanguageisimportant

Cabigon, M. (2015, Nov. 14). State of English in PH: Should we be concerned?

Philippine Daily
Inquirer. Retrieved from
http://opinion.inquirer.net/90293/stateofenglishinphshouldwebeconcerned

C. ONLINE JOURNALS

Gan, Z. (2012). Understanding L2 Speaking Problems: Implications for ESL

Curriculum
Development in a Teacher Training Institution in Hong Kong. Australian Journal of
Teacher
Education, 37(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2012v37n1.4

Ghabool, N. (2012) Investigating Malaysian ESL Students' Writing Problems on

Conventions,
Punctuation, and Language Use at Secondary School Level. Journal of Studies in
Education
Vol. 2(3). doi: 0.5296/jse.v2i3.1892

Raja, B.W.D. & Selvi, K. (2011). Causes of Problems in Learning English as a

Second Language
as Perceived by Higher Secondary Students. I-manager’s Journal on English
Language
Teaching, Vol. 1(4). Retrieved from files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1071073.pdf