Academic Performance through Contextualization and Localization

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

In preparation for the K to 12 Curriculum, teachers have attended various seminars and training conducted by the Department of Education to learn various techniques and strategies for them to meet the challenges of this new curriculum. Though a Teacher's Guide and Learner's Modulewas provided by the Education Department, they only provided teachers with the Curriculum Guide. And so, they have resorted to the internet for downloading videos as learning materials, photocopying printed materials at their own expense and even using the traditional "manila paper" in writing the lessons as visual aids. These are added work for teachers. This gave the proponent the idea to prepare and use contextualized and localized instructional materials during the third and fourth quarter. At the end of the school year, it was found out that there has been an improvement in the MPS of English in the Grade 8 students.

METHODS

The proponent obtained the Average MPS of the Grade 8 Aristotle and Grade 8 Galileo during the First and Second Quarter. Grade 8-Aristotle got an average of 58% while Grade 8-Galileo got 48%. It was about the same time that teachers have decided to use materials from the internet. During the start of the third to the fourth quarter, the proponent used contextualized and localized materials with Grade 8-Galileo, while in Grade 8-Newton, the proponent used materials from the internet.

RESULTS

Although there was a 4.04% increase in the Average MPS of Grade 8-Aristotle without the use of Localized and Contextualized Instructional Materials, there was an increase in the average MPS of Grade 8-Galileo which was 19.86%, during which the teacher used localized and contextualized instructional materials.

DISCUSSIONS

Localized and Contextualized Materials are instructional materials produced by the teachers and the students using the objects and local products/materials around them. In the immediate community, they should be prepared and used in classroom lessons to improve the academic performance of students. This action research is heuristic in nature for only materials found within the town were used during the process. The primary purpose of this action research is to encourage teachers to use localized materials in teaching English to improve the Mean Percentage Score of Grade 8 students.