5-Minute English Only Policy: Its Impact In Addressing Poor English Oral

Communication Skills Among Grade 11 Benevolence Students In Purisima

National High School

An Action Research Proposal

Presented to the Faculty In Purisima National High School

Gibbs N. Murillo

Noemy Jane Macabenalar

 March, 2020

I. Introduction

English as a universal language plays an essential role in a person's life; it is

considered a window to the world that can relate people from every country

(Khristianawati, 2012). The language enables to knock down barriers, allows a

person to broaden his world, and changes his life from job opportunities to the ability

to communicate easily with fellow global citizens. As Tunario (2017) argued in his

article, "Why is it important to speak English?", education is vital to improve the

quality of life in general. Additionally, English empowers young minds not only for

academics but also for effective communication. Thus, English plays a crucial role in

communication and is, no doubt, one of the essential tools of discussion all over the

world (Ahmed, 2016). However, learning and speaking English is perceived as

challenging.

In the class of grade 11 Benevolence of Purisima National High School

located at Barangay Purisima, Tago, Surigao, del Sur, English communication is

perceived difficult. This outlook could be attributed to students' negative attitudes

towards the language (Senobio, 2015). They feel awkward whenever they will be told

to speak English due to their age. According to Conger (2009), as students get old,

their ability to learn the second language will be weakened, compared to those

young learners who can learn English naturally. Students today rely more on their

first language in learning the second language. Recent research has shown that the

primary language can serve essential cognitive, communication, and social functions
in communicative foreign and second language classrooms. However, the use of the

first language in today's learners is not that effective anymore in learning the English

language. Many studies have indicated that English language development has

mostly been neglected in the classroom, and most of the time, it is used more by

teachers than students (Hosni, 2014). According to Elsevier (2011), the use of the

first language is counterproductive to the learning process of students. With these,

the researchers came up with a strategy called "5-Minute English Only Policy" to

address poor oral communication skills among students to ensure that the English

language will be utilized not only by teachers but with students as well.

In this strategy, the researchers decided to allocate 5 minutes per English

speaking subject so that students may not feel deflected and to avoid too much

pressure because, according to Damm (2018), high pressure is harmful and can lead

to increased stress levels and negative behavior on a particular issue. Besides,

students learning more English in the classroom is not a matter of forcing them to

speak, but ensuring that they enjoy while practicing it (Vaz, 2013).

With this, the administration of Purisima National High School will have a

concrete understanding of teachers' perceptions of students' English oral

communication skills. The result of this will also inform the leadership of the school

on the influencing factors of this existing problem. This will give way towards the

formulation of tailored fit strategies and approach to help students attain the

standards set by the department.

 II. Proposed Innovation, Intervention, and Strategy

5-Minute English Only Policy

5-minute English only policy is an intervention designed to provide students

better chances of practicing their English oral communication skill on a daily basis,

especially in the classroom setting. This strategy which is a collective idea of

teachers with English as the main medium communication is inspired by incentive-

driven approach and has the following steps:

Orientation

According to Lance (2009), academic advisers serve as information agents

who connect students to the better version of themselves. They help students

understand academic expectations and empower them with the skills necessary to

meet educational goals. Usually, they are the ones to handle the first subject of the

class. Because of this, the adviser will he the one to announce that subjects that

utilize English as the medium of communication will observe strict 5-Minute English

only oral communication, regardless of purpose, especially when information

dissemination will be done within the classroom. Orientation aims to provide students

with information and awareness necessary to help them cope to the intervention that

the researchers proposed.

Bullying Discouragement

It is easier to judge the actions than the motives of a person's action (Tenner,

2017). No matter how right a person is, criticism is always present. Sometimes

criticism turned into bullying. This, the teacher should prohibit students’ actions that

could demoralize their peers. Any form of mockery and shaming shall be

discouraged to ensure maximum participation even from students with serious

difficulty in using the language. Without the presence of bullying, the students is

expected to boost self-confident and may feel less pressure in participating orally

(Futterman, 2016).

Integration of “chip” mechanism

An adequate system of behaviour change in the classroom often includes

rewards. According to Renard (2017), "Reward system increases student's

motivation in learning." The student may show interest and raise their participation in

everyday classroom tasks, responsibilities and learning. Thus, in this intervention,

the reward system will be exercised. Cooperative students will be given a chip

equivalent to 2 points which will be added in the performance task of the students.

However, accumulated points should not exceed 10 points within the conduct of the

intervention, since the primary purpose of this intervention is to enhance students'

English oral communication skills, not the effectiveness of giving points in order to
make students badly participate. This argument is based on the assertion of Toney

(2011) that, overused of reward system can make a student work for a wrong

reason. The intervention will run for a week to assure the improvement of students'

English skills because according to Al Zoubi (2018), maximum exposure to a new

language is needed in order to learn it. The more exposure a student to English, the

more he can be literate to it.

To ensure optimum attainment out of the desired goals, the following ground

rules will be set:

5-Minutes. Only 5 minutes will be utilized to conduct the intervention.

No Intimidation. Any students caught with any forms of mockery and

shaming his classmates or any other persons in the classroom, will have his points

forfeited.

Never Speak Other Language. To improve students' English oral skills, they

should not speak any other language or no points shall be rewarded.

III. Statement of the problem

This study aimed to assess the impact of “5-Minute English Only Policy” in

addressing poor English oral communication skill among PNHS- SHS Students.

Specifically, this study sought to find answers to the following sub-problems:

1. What were teacher’s perception on English oral communication skill of

students?

2. What were the factors that influence students English oral communication

skill?
3. What changes were observed after the implementation of 5-minute English

only policy?