Differentiated Instruction: Strategy in Teaching Literature

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Teachers are faced with various problems in terms of improving the performance level of the students. Despite the different strategies used in the teaching-learning process, the result of the National Achievement Test (NAT) is still very alarming.Moreover the students have their own learning style which needs varied instruction in order to meet their needs. They can learn in different ways and demonstrate what they know in their own preferred style.It was the aim of this study to determine the effectiveness of Differentiated Instruction in teaching literature in order to provide intervention that would increase the performance of the Grade 7 students in Filipino.

METHODS

This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of differentiated instruction in teaching literature in Grade 7. A quasi-experimental design was used in this study. The respondents of this study were the 70 students from Grade 7 of Rizal National High School. The researcher used the teacher-made test in gathering the data which was composed of 50 items.

RESULTS

(1) Based on the pretest, the level of performance of the controlled group is 40.63 while 42.17 for the experimental group which has a descriptive rating of Did Not Meet Expectation. (2) Based on the post-test, the performance level of the controlled group is 46.57 which means Did Not Meet Expectation while 78.51 for the experimental group which means fairly satisfactory. 3) The computed t-value of the experimental group was 22.916 which is higher to the critical value of 1.6918. The computed t-value of the controlled group is 5.236 which is also higher to the critical value of 1.66993. (4) There is a significant difference in the performance level of comprehension in the literature between the two groups. This shows that there is a problem in the performance of the students in literature. This means that the comprehension level needs to be improved.

DISCUSSIONS

The performance of Grade 7 students is very low. Both groups have a descriptive rating of Did Not Meet Expectation based on the pretest. After the posttest the level of performance of the experimental group increased. The teacher-researcher utilized differentiated instruction in teaching during the data gathering.The suggested intervention may be employed to increase the level of performance of the students. Likewise, teachers may undergo training with regard to the strategies in teaching literature in order to cope up with the academic needs of the diverse learners.