English Proficiency of Elementary School Teachers, Pupils' Reading Comprehension Level, and National Achievement Test (NAT) Performance

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

In public schools, the English language has been used for three major subjects such as English, Mathematics, and Science. Teachers need to be proficient in the English language for them to be able to teach the major subjects effectively. There has been this belief that teachers’ English proficiency affects pupil's proficiency of the language. Teachers' proficiency in the subjects they teach including competence, as well as students' readiness to absorb what is taught them, must be the focus in knowledge transmission through communication. Toward this end, the Department of Education through the National Education Testing and Research Center issued Department of EducationMemorandum No. 12, S. 2012, on the administration of the Test of English Proficiency for Teachers (TEPT) to all permanent public-school teachers.To be able to help teachers upgrade their communication skills and English proficiency, a lot of trainings and assessments were designed by the Department of Education. However, the results of the Test of English Proficiency for Teachers revealed that the quality of teachers and their grasp of English are deteriorating. Most often, Filipino teachers do not have the proficiency in using the English language. This study is aimed to determine the relationship of Level of Teachers' English Proficiency, the Pupils' Reading Performance, and the National Achievement Test (NAT) performance of the pupils in Mamatid Elementary School.

METHODS

This study used Descriptive Evaluative Design which determined the relationship between the level of the teachers' English proficiency to the reading performance and the National Achievement Test (NAT) performance of the elementary pupils. Another research design of this study was the Documentary Analysis used to determine the reading performance of the elementary pupils and the level of the English proficiency of teachers

RESULTS

Results revealed that the mean percentage score of teachers' English proficiency level in three macro skills (Reading, Writing, and Grammar) is categorized as Moderate Proficient and Low Proficient. It means that teachers' English proficiency is not the only factor that contributes in improving reading performance of the pupils. Moreover, the mean percentage score of teachers' English proficiency level as categorized by moderate and low proficient explicates that the recorded significance to the increase in NAT results for Grade 3 and Grade 6 pupils can be partly explained by the aforementioned proficiency of the teachers. It means that the resulting small percentage can be translated to the amount of effort exerted by the teacher towards increase in NAT performance in school.

DISCUSSIONS

Teachers in Mamatid Elementary School have Moderate and Low Proficiency Level of the English language. They have difficulties in three macro skills of proficiency such as Writing, Reading, and Grammar. The pupils' improvement in reading performance was made possible through teachers' persistence in planning, designing, and implementing reading programs. The teachers' English Proficiency Level is not significantly related with the reading performance of the pupils. This means that being proficient in the language is not a guarantee for making the pupils good or bad readers. Teachers' dedication towards work, compassion to pupils, techniques, and strategies of teaching are still significant contributing factors in pupils' understanding of the concepts to become good readers.