Chapter II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presents the various literature and studies related to the

teachers’ voice modulation, teaching strategies’ and students' learning.

Foreign Literature

Algrenita Silvina Budjalemba and Listyani (2020) in its journal " Common

Factors contributing to students’ difficulties in academic writing class"

defined writing is one of the most difficult skills in learning English as a

Second Language (ESL) or English Foreign Language (EFL). Many language

learners encountered difficulties from the writing process. In Secondary

school, students are obligated to write academic essays which can be

challenging and cause them getting frustrated. There are two factors that

contributed to this difficulty as results of the findings in researchers study.

The two factors were internal and external. Internal factors include lack of

knowledge, self-confidence, self-motivation and pressure feeling. While, the

teaching style, classroom environment, resources, and writing aspect were

considered as external factors.

Furthermore, There are many problems that students encounter in an

Academic Writing course and a Research conducted by Bacha (2012) reveals

that "teachers find students' academic writing weak". This is because when

students are assigned to write an English composition, they may get nervous
because they are worried over using the wrong language structures, such as

grammar and vocabulary.

On the other hand, Jeen Peter and Prof. G. Singaravelu (2020) in its research

"Problems in writing in English among high school learners” stated that

writing skill in English is very crucial in modern times. A skilled and proficient

English writer may build wider connections with a variety of people. But

unfortunately, researchers feels that many students in high school are not

capable enough to present or explain a certain idea on their own.

Additionally, Nabeela Sanjana Chowdhary (2015) investigated the problems

in writing at secondary level. The participants were the teachers and

students of class six and seven. Class observation, students' interview and

assessment of students' writing were the tools used in the study. It is

revealed after that analysis, grammatical errors are the biggest problems for

most of the students. Apart from that, organization of information,

translation problems, spelling mistakes, and usage of inappropriate

vocabulary are the other problems.

Moreover, Alfaki (2015) classified several factors that contribute to writing

problems and difficulties. These are The Nature of Writing Process, Lack of

Learners’ Motivation, Inadequate time, Lack of practice and Teachers

feedback.

Local Literature
Suelto (2018) explained that understanding the English language is very

beneficial. This helps students to express themselves effectively. In order for

the students to become productive in different settings, they need to know

the English language particularly in the aspect of writing but unfortunately

English proficiency now in the Philippines is declining.

On the other hand, Michelle D. Domanty and Luviminda Q. Ramos (2018) in

its journal of advance studies " English writing skills of grade 11 students of

Malasique National High school in Pangasinan "states the observation of

English teachers that their students can hardly comprehend the lessons in

written in English since they are not using this language at home and in daily

conversation.

Meanwhile, According to MANILA, Philippines, ”Some senior high school

students (SHS) cannot even write a decent English sentence.” An article by

the think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (2020) said SHS

difficulty in writing in English was particularly evident in research projects.

And according to Kristel Brillantes, consultant at PIDS, students were

submitting projects for compliance only, preventing them from applying their

learning from the SHS curricular.

Furthermore, Al Fadda (2012) argued that academic writing in English at

advanced levels is a challenge and difficult even for most native speakers,

especially second language speakers like most Filipino SHS students.

Mutimani (2016) asserts that when students enter a university, they are
confronted with a new and unfamiliar context of teaching and learning

through writing different tasks. It is truly evident that students’ academic

success is associated with their ability to write academic papers effectively.

The SHS training should prepare students for these situations as they enter

tertiary or university education. Despite the moves of the educational sector

to scaffold students' writing skills, it is apparent that many students still

experience difficulties in dealing with academic writing endeavors.

Foreign Studies

The study of Al Fadda (2012), found out that the main challenges ESL

students encounter are differentiating between written and spoken words

and phrases, reviewing grammar including subject-verb agreement and

joining sentences together to make a coherent paragraph. Generating ideas

about their topics could be also a barrier that hinders students to move on in

their writing (Al Murshidi, 2014).

In addition, According to the study by Al-Khairy (2013), his participants

declared that their major problems comprise are grammatical errors, he

inappropriate choice of vocabulary, irregular verbs, and incorrect

punctuation and spelling. Other causes that could lead to the difficulty
in academic writing are L1 interference, inadequacy of ideas, and

unclear instructions of the task (Chou, 2011).

On the other hand, Rosemary Nabiryo (2011) conducted investigation on

the difficulties that influence the basic writing skills of the students in

English language in selected schools in Rubaga Division of Kampala

Districts, which revealed that though learners like writing, they do not

practice enough to develop their writing skills. Very few students are

equipped with writing skills in their former schools. Teachers had never

encouraged the students to read a lot and practice writing.

Furthermore, Fareed, Ashraf, and Bilal (2016), in their study “the problems

and difficulties that hampered Pakistani undergraduate students in their

writing skills.” found out the major problems with regard to linguistic

proficiency, writing anxiety, lack of ideas, L1 reliance, and lack of

organizational structure. The study also stated other challenges included

teachers, teaching methods, the examination system, lack of practice,

classroom large, and lack of motivation and ideas.

Meanwhile, An Investigation into the Difficulties Affecting the Writing

Performance of EFL Saudi University Students (2019), examined the writing

performance of Saudi university students and identified difficulties such as

motivation, attitude, and writing anxiety as significant predictors of writing

proficiency. The study found that students who were more motivated to write

and had a positive attitude toward writing tended to produce better-quality

to produce lower-quality texts. The study suggested that teachers should be

aware of these difficulties and design instruction that addresses students to

improve their writing performance.

Local Studies

Teachers today in most Philippines high school classrooms complain

that many students can pass a grammar test but cannot speak or write

meaningful sentences or paragraphs. And with the presence of Information

Technology, text messaging has an even more significant problem in written

communication as this makes the students more careless about spelling,

punctuation, and language rules

Meanwhile, Analyn D. Saavedra (2020) conducted a study on difficulties that

contribute to the poor writing skills in English and Filipino of the Six Grader

elementary pupils in one of the Divisions in the Zamboanga Peninsula. The

study revealed that there are five difficulties that language teachers

considered to have influenced the poor English and Filipino writing skills of

elementary pupils. Based on their experiences and observations while

instructing writing to their learners, the following was recorded: 1)

Insufficient knowledge of vocabulary in the target language; 2) Challenges in

expressing and structuring ideas; 3) Students' belief that writing is a difficult

task; 4) Limited motivation and interest in writing; and 5) Difficulties with

skills of elementary students in English and Filipino.

Additionally, Andrei Vista Batalla and Pedro T. Orata (2019) in their study

“Difficulties in English writing skills of sophomore college students”

determined the level of difficulties in English writing skills of the said

learners. The study showed that most of the respondents got a rating fair in

their academic performance in English writing courses. However, this study

provides recommendations for students to read different reading materials in

English and scribble various types of essays and academic writings. It is also

proposed that faculty members of the university should employ different

types of learning tasks for the students. It is also highly recommended that

future researchers explore other indicators to writing skills such as focus,

purpose, main idea, research, and style in sentence structure, word choice or

tone, details and examples.

Moreover, Nur Hikmah, Akmal, and Francia Buffe (2019) in their study of

Writing Skills of Junior High School Students, determined the levels of writing

skills of Grade 8 students in the University of Saint Anthony in Iriga City,

Philippines. Based on the findings of their study, the students are good in

writing contents, style and organization but they are still poor in mechanics

and grammar. Furthermore, researcher conclude that the students have

more errors in subject-verb agreement, proper usage of tenses, organization

of thoughts, contracted words, distribution of thoughts per sentence, and

on mechanics wherein students have errors on usage of punctuation,

sentence breaks.

On the other hand, Study of Balanquit Mary Grace (2019), examines the

difficulties that influence the skills of grade 10 in developing their English

writing skills in the Philippines context. The researcher investigates the

relationships between students' writing proficiency and several factors such

as language learning strategies, motivation, self-efficacy, and writing

apprehension.