“the vehicle by which a chunk of reality is

brought into the classroom to be worked over by

the class and the instructor. A good case keeps
the class discussion grounded upon some of the
stubborn facts that must be faced in real life
situations.”
-Paul Lawrence
(quoted in Christensen, 1981)
They “bridge the gap between theory and
practice and between the academy and the
workplace” (Barkley, Cross, and Major 2005,
p.182).
CASE STUDY
 What is Case Study?
 Case study is an ideal methodology when a
holistic, in-depth investigation is needed
(Feagin, Orum, & Sjoberg, 1991).
Case studies, on the other hand, are
designed to bring out the details from the
viewpoint of the participants by using
multiple sources of data.
Case study is known as a triangulated
research strategy.
Types of Case Study
According to Yin (1993)
Descriptive

Exploratory

Explanatory
 • A case study with the learning
process of grade school children
Descriptive
who are identified with ADHD
case
• A case study of the how many
- describes hours people spend time on social
an media
intervention • A case study of structural
or ambiguity among Arab Learners of
phenomenon English.
and the real- • A case study of water pollution
life context in control in Pasig River using water
which it quality management.
occurred • A case study of the addiction to
(Yin,2003) pornographic through social
media
 • A case study of the role of
social networking sites as an
Exploratory effective marketing
case communication channel
- are • An investigation of animal
abuse and its connection to
sometimes criminal behaviour.
considered as • An assessment of the role of
a prelude to call-center agents on consumer
behaviour in food industry in
social Philippines
research. • A case study of abortion as an
option for population control
• A case study of exploring the
meaning of “ano” in
conversation under Philippine
context
Explanatory • A case study of the effect of
sleep deprivation on the
case academic performance of a
college student
–studies may
• A case study of the effect of
be used for depression in the social life of a
doing causal college student.
• A case study of the effects of
investigation depression upon alcohol
s. consumption
• A case study of the impact of E-
classroom in the acquisition of
English language among
students of secondary schools.
• Suicide: Personal Trouble or
Public issue?
Stake (1995) included three others:
Intrinsic - when the researcher has an
interest in the case;
Instrumental - when the case is used
to understand more than what is
obvious to the observer;
Collective - when a group of cases is
studied. Exploratory cases are
sometimes considered as a prelude to
social research.
 Step 1. Determine and
Steps 
Define the Research
Questions
Use in  Step 2. Select the Cases and

Case Determine Data Gathering

and Analysis Techniques

Study  Step 3. Prepare to Collect

the Data
 Step 4. Collect Data in the
Field
 Step 5. Evaluate and Analyze
the Data
 Step 6 Prepare the Report
Step 1. Determine and Define the Research Questions

Why do non-profit organization

participants use the network?
How do non-profit organization
participants determine what to place
on the electronic community network?
Do the non-profit organization
participants believe the community
network serves a useful purpose in
furthering their mission? How?
Step 2. Select the Cases and Determine Data Gathering and Analysis
Techniques
Many communities have constructed electronic community networks on
the world wide web.
At the outset of the design phase, the researcher determines that only
one of these networks will be studied and further sets the study
boundaries to include only some of the non-profit organizations
represented on that one network.
The researcher contacts the board of directors of the community network,
who are open to the idea of the case study.
The researcher also gathers computer generated log data from the
network and, using this data, determines that an in-depth study of
representative organizations from four categories -- health care,
environmental, education, and religious -- is feasible.
The investigator applies additional selection criteria so that an urban-
based and a rural-based non-profit are represented in the study in order
to examine whether urban non-profits perceive more benefits from
community networks than rural organizations.
The researcher considers multiple sources of data for this study and
selects document examination, the gathering and study of organizational
documents such as administrative reports, agendas, letters, minutes, and
news clippings for each of the organizations.
 Step 3. Prepare to Collect the Data

First contacting each organization to be studied to gain their

cooperation, explain the purpose of the study, and assemble
key contact information. Since data to be collected and
examined includes organizational documents, the researcher
states his intent to request copies of these documents, and
plans for storage, classification, and retrieval of these items, as
well as the interview and survey data.
The researcher develops a formal investigator training program
to include seminar topics on non-profit organizations and their
structures in each of the four categories selected for this study.
The training program also includes practice sessions in
conducting open-ended interviews and documenting sources,
suggested field notes formats, and a detailed explanation of
the purpose of the case study.
 Step 4. Collect Data in the Field
Investigators first arrange to visit with the board of directors of each non-profit
organization as a group and ask for copies of the organizations mission, news
clippings, brochures, and any other written material describing the organization
and its purpose.
The investigator reviews the purpose of the study with the entire board, schedules
individual interview times with as many board members as can cooperate,
confirms key contact data, and requests that all board members respond to the
written survey which will be mailed later.
Ex:
Research Question: Why do non-profit organization participants use the network?

Interview Questions: How did the organization make the decision to place data on
the World Wide Web community network? What need was the organization hoping
to fulfill?

Research Question: How do non-profit organization participants determine what

to place on the electronic community network?

Interview Questions: What process was used to select the information that would
be used on the network? How is the information kept up to date?

Research Question: Do the non-profit organization participants believe the

community network serves a useful purpose in furthering their mission? How?

Interview Questions: How does the organization know if the electronic community
network is beneficial to the organization? How does the electronic community
network further the mission of the organization? What systematic tracking
mechanisms exist to determine how many or what types of users are accessing the
organization information?
 Step 5. Evaluate and Analyze the Data

The assigned investigator studies each organizations

written documentation and survey response data as a
separate case to identify unique patterns within the data
for that single organization.

Cross-case analysis follows.

Investigators examine pairs of cases, categorizing the
similarities and differences in each pair.
Investigators then examine similar pairs for differences,
and dissimilar pairs for similarities.
As patterns begin to emerge, certain evidence may stand
out as conflicting with the patterns.
The investigator conducts follow-up focused interviews to
confirm or correct the initial data to tie the evidence to
the findings and to state relationships in answer to the
research questions.
Step 6 Prepare the Report
 Strengths of Case Studies
• Comparatively flexible — emphasize
exploration rather than prescription or
prediction.
• Inclusive — allows researchers to begin with
broad questions and try different methods in
order to narrow their focus as their experiment
• Emphasis on Context — specialize in “deep
data” or “thick description”
• Vividness and concreteness — carry a
powerful intellectual and emotional impact on
the reader.
 Weaknesses of Case Studies
• Inherent subjectivity — can be stereotyped
as the weak sibling among social science
methods. “Investigators who do case studies
are often regarded as having deviated from
their academic disciplines, and their
investigations as having insufficient precision,
objectivity and rigor” (yin 1989).
• Time consuming — take time to include
different research methods in order to get an
inclusive case study.
• High investment — involve learning more
about the subjects being tested since it
emphasize on “deep data”, it can take a budget of
$10,000 to examine 200 subjects.
• Ethical consideration — the personal
integrity, sensitivity, and possible prejudices and
biases of the investigators
• Common complaint — investigators change
direction during the course of the study unaware
that their original research design was
inadequate for the revised investigation.
 General characteristics
• Guba and Lincoln (1981) — “thick”
description, grounded, holistic and lifelike,
conversation-style format, illuminates
meaning, builds on tacit knowledge
• Helmstadter (1970) — can be used to
remedy or improve practice, results are
hypotheses, design is flexible, can be applied
to troubled situations
• Wilson (1979) — particularistic,
longitudinal, qualitative

• Stake (1981) — inductive,

multiplicity of data, descriptive,
specific, heuristic
Designing
• a single-case design are ideal for
Case studying unique or extreme cases, to
Study confirm or challenge a theory or for
cases where the researcher did not
have access to before. However, the
researcher should be careful not to
misrepresent what was observed.
• Multiple-case designs are more suited when
the researcher is interested in using more than
one case to gather data from various sources
and draw conclusions from the facts. They
serve to confirm or corroborate evidence which
enhances validity of the study. Multiple-design
cases may require more than one investigator
and training may be required covering aspects
such as the reason for the study, the type of
evidence to collect and what variations might
be expected.
A CASE STUDY
OF READING
INSTRUCTION
IN A
PHILIPPINE
CLASSROOM
CASE STUDY SAMPLE
 RESEARCHERS Abstract
• In this article, we describe the reading
Maria Selena practices in a public and high-achieving 6th
grade English classroom in the Philippines.
Protacio Western By utilizing a four resources model, we
Michigan discuss the different roles that students
assume in this classroom. Students in this
University, class are mainly code breakers and text
selena.protacio@w users and have limited opportunities to
mich.edu Loukia assume the other two roles of the four
resources model. This case study provides a
K. Sarroub different view of reading, specifically a view
University of of a culture of reading wherein higher status
Nebraska-Lincoln, is given to oral reading performance rather
than comprehension. We describe the way a
lsarroub@unl.edu high-achieving 6th grade Philippine
classroom perceives reading. Through this
article, we would like to contribute to the
research literature on Philippine education
and increase our knowledge of reading
practices as they are conceived and
practiced in this particular classroom.
 Research Research methodology

question Data collection

How is
ethnographic case study approach was
used for this study.
reading Fieldwork was conducted in the 6th grade

perceived in pilot section in a public school in Laguna, a

province 54 miles south of Metro Manila.
this The town in which the school is located is

classroom? an urban municipality with a population of

approximately 82,000, and its population is
a mix of upper middle class to working
class families.
 Theoretical Perspective
FREEBODY AND LUKE’S (1990) FOUR
RESOURCES MODEL, WHEREIN THEY
POSIT THAT TO BE A SUCCESSFUL
READER IN A SOCIETY, AN
INDIVIDUAL USUALLY ENACTS AND
SUSTAINS FOUR ROLES OR FAMILY
OF PRACTICES (LUKE & FREEBODY,
1999): CODE BREAKER, TEXT
PARTICIPANT, TEXT USER, AND TEXT
ANALYST.
 Participants • Student participants included Miguel,
Mrs. Mendoza served one of the high achieving students in
as the primary the class who obtained the second
participant of this highest grade point average at the end
study as she was the of 5th grade. Mrs. Mendoza described
adviser and English
teacher of the pilot him as one of the leaders of the class.
section. Mrs. Mendoza • Michelle was the other high achieving
initially taught in a
private school for 5 focal student. Mrs. Mendoza described
years, but she her as a good student who kept to
transferred to the herself.
public school system
and had been teaching • Richard and Angel were average
in Garcia Elementary achieving students. Richard was one of
School for 16 years. the students that Selena immediately
noticed because Mrs. Mendoza called
on him frequently to read aloud.
 Cont… Data analysis
Tony and Jayca The field notes and interview
transcripts were analyzed and coded
were the lower based on recurring themes, patterns,
achieving focal and ideas.
students. Tony Open and focused codes were applied to
the field notes (Emerson, Fretz, &
was new to the Shaw, 1995). Examples of open codes
pilot section as were reading aloud, student response,
and spelling drills. Triangulation of
he transferred codes and themes was applied across
from section 5 interview transcripts, field notes and
after passing various classroom and school artifacts.
As we noticed patterns, we collapsed
the qualifying some open codes into focused codes. For
exam. example, reading as performance, the
main theme of this article, emerged
from open codes such as reading aloud,
pronunciation drills, and pronunciation
emphasis.
 o Findings • During the first observation, the teacher
within the four resources
model, students were also called on Richard, a focal student. The
text participants, but as we
analyzed our field notes, we field note excerpt illustrates that
found that comprehension Richard read well, but as he read for 10
was not much of a focus in
this classroom. Rather, our consecutive minutes, he committed
analysis suggests a
prominent theme, that more and more reading miscues.
reading was perceived as a
performance. The role that • During one part of the story, though,
seems to be especially salient Richard pronounces the word as ah-
in this classroom is that of a
text user, which indicates terred and Mrs. M corrects him and says
that reading and writing
have a contextual it is uttered. Richard goes on to read the
component. Indeed, in this story, but a couple of paragraphs later
class, being a good reader
was not about decoding or he says lounge shed and Mrs. Mendoza
comprehension. Rather, the
focus was more about
corrects him, saying it is pronounced as
becoming a fluent reader, languished. Richard commits more
one who is able to read
accurately and with proper miscues towards the end of the story.
pronunciation and By this time he had been reading for 10
expression
straight minutes.
 Cont… • Researchers found out in the interviews with
The topic of correct Mrs. Mendoza and the focal students there was
some hesitancy and even some resistance to
pronunciation conducting the interviews in English.
seemed to be a • Out of the six focal students, four chose to
source of anxiety respond in Filipino. Two of the students, Miguel
for some students and Tony were interviewed together. Tony, one
in the classroom. A of the lower achieving students in the class as
key example of well as one of the new students in the section,
asked Selena if it was possible for him to join
this was Michelle. Miguel’s interview. During the interview Miguel
She was one of the was the first one to answer, and he replied in
higher performing English. When it was Tony’s turn to reply, he
students in the also replied in English. It was interesting that
these two students, one a high achiever and
class, but she was one a low achiever, could both communicate
not called on as fairly well in their second language despite the
often as Miguel or disparity in their reading performance and
Richard to read status in the class.

aloud to the class.

Miguel talked in English • From this excerpt, we can see that Tony
during the entire
interview. He sometimes was able to keep up with Miguel in
struggled to think of the English. Despite being one of the lower
right words, and there achieving students in the class, Tony
were grammatical lapses
in some of his sentences. was able to successfully communicate in
Tony sometimes injected English, meeting the Philippine
the Filipino word ano,
which literally means Department of Education’s goal of
what. Its connotative functional literacy for all students.
meaning is the rough
equivalent of like, as it is • The lower achieving students are
a filler word that many deprived of the chance to fully become
people inject when they
are thinking about what a member of the reading community in
to say next. In this the class since they are not chosen to
excerpt from the read aloud.
interviews, Selena asked
the students to describe
what they usually do in
English class.
Discussion and concluding thoughts
Educational research has become a global enterprise, with researchers
recognizing the need to be aware of educational practices in other
countries. Burbules (2002) notes that this international context makes
possible the sharing of knowledge and experience gained in relation to
reform and evaluation in different countries. Our case study offers an
example of reading instruction in a Philippine English classroom, a
context which has not been given much attention in the field of reading
research. It is our hope that through our study, we have shared with
literacy researchers and educators another view of reading instruction.
We can see that in this setting, reading is perceived as an oral
performance activity by Filipino students because reading aloud is used
frequently to negotiate the lack of resources in Philippine public
schools. Comprehension does not matter as much to these students;
rather, they are concerned with how they are perceived as oral readers
in English, which is their second language.
 Our case study findings provide a different view of reading, specifically a view of a
culture of reading wherein higher status is given to oral performance rather than
comprehension or fluency.
Our data also show that the predominant emphasis on oral performance satisfies
only two roles or family of practices in the “four resources model of reading”: code
breakers and text users. All of the students in the pilot section were not afforded
opportunities by the teacher to fully engage with the four resources, as the class
focused mostly on oral recitation as the main indicator for reading well. Students in
this class infrequently assumed the role of meaning-makers and text analysts (Luke
& Freebody, 1999; Underwood, Yoo, & Pearson, 2007). Instead, both students and
teacher privileged correct pronunciation and reading correctly aloud—getting the
accent right determined who the best students were in the class.
In the literacy field, comprehension is primarily identified as the goal of reading
(Duke & Pearson, 2002; Duke, Pearson, Strachan, & Billman, 2011). While we agree
that comprehension is of utmost importance, we argue that in this classroom context,
focusing on students’ fluency did not limit students’ development as readers,
particularly for those who were asked to read aloud. What we do feel strongly about
is the importance of providing all students opportunities to assume the role of
readers in this classroom by giving all students a chance to read aloud in class.
However, we noticed that, sadly, this was not the case. There were students such as
Richard and Miguel, who were proficient and motivated readers in English, and who
were regular “performers” in the classroom. We worry, however, about students such
as Tony and Jayca, and what their perceptions might be of themselves as readers
since they were not given opportunities to practice reading aloud.
Thus, we hope that the findings of this study will provide global
educators with a better understanding of English learners’ previous
literacy experiences (e.g., Smith, Jimenez, & Martinez-Leon, 2003) as
well as a deeper appreciation of cultural differences in learning and
teaching (Luke & Carpenter, 2003). We hope that this case study
offers researchers and educators the opportunity to see that literacy
instruction differs from context to context. What might be emphasized
in one country may be placed on the back-burner in another.
Consequently, it is important for teachers of immigrant students to
engage in conversations with these students about their reading
experiences in their native countries to better understand these
students’ conceptions of reading. In addition, teachers of English
learners need to be transparent with the goals of reading instruction
in students’ current classroom contexts. The findings of this study also
point to the importance of teachers examining their own perceptions
about reading and reading instruction (Edwards, Martin, Protacio, &
Razali, 2010). We suggest that this is noteworthy because students’
understandings and perceptions of reading might differ from teachers’
own perceptions of what counts as reading. This study, thus,
contributes another cultural notion of what literacy is (Jiménez,
Smith, & Martínez-León, 2003).
In summary, our research provides a detailed description of a classroom
that might look very different from those seen in other countries, whether it
be because of the lack of resources like textbooks, different curriculum foci,
or lack of attention to national exams. Further research could be conducted
in non-pilot and non high-achieving English classrooms in the Philippines
to better understand how teachers and students negotiate global and local
expectations for success in relation to reading, in English, Taglish, and
Filipino.

Electronic Sources:

Protacio, Maria Selena and Sarroub, Loukia K., "A Case Study of Reading Instruction
in a Philippine Classroom" (2013). Faculty Publications: Department of Teaching,
Learning and Teacher Education. 132.
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/teachlearnfacpub/132
THANK YOU
FOR
LISTENING!