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Effects of Contextualization on the Reading Comprehension

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Effects of Contextualization on the Reading
Comprehension Performance of Filipino Learners
Ruel T. Bonganciso1
1
Faculty of Language and Literature, College of Teacher Development, Philippine Normal University Visayas, Boy Albert St. 6121 Cadiz City,
Negros Occidental, Philippines

ARTICLE INFORMATION ABSTRACT

Article History Contextualizing reading comprehension

Received : 12/7/2015 instruction places the learners in a vivid
Received in revised form: 2/11/2016 and meaningful authentic situation.
Accepted: 5/26/2016 Contextualization can be done through
designing the reading lessons and activities
that center on the learners’ field of
Keywords: interests and environment. The present
Contextualized learning approach, reading study attempts to determine the effects
comprehension, experimental design of Contextualized Teaching and Learning
on reading comprehension performance
*Corresponding author: Ruel T. Bongancisco of the learners. There were thirty-three
([email protected]) (33) Bachelor of Science in Information
Technology learners who participated in this
quasi-experimental study. A researcher-made
reading comprehension test was used to
measure the learners’ reading comprehension
performance. Results revealed that the
reading comprehension performance of the
learners during pretest is within the average
(M=9.12, SD=2.56), and the posttest result is
above average rating (M=12.91, SD=2.38).
Furthermore, there was a significant increase
of the reading comprehension performance
of the students from pretest to posttest.
Hence, contextualizing the reading tasks
of the learners has positive effects on their
comprehension performance. Contextualized
teaching and learning is recommended in
helping learners improve their performance
in reading.

Academic Senate for California, 2009) defines

Introduction contextualization as the notion in teaching
and learning which relates the lesson or the
Contextualized Teaching and Learning content of a subject matter into a real world
(CTL) is known to have a great impact to setting. Mazzeo, Rab, and Alssid (2003)
the students’ academic performance. It described contextualization as instructional
promotes positive learners’ engagement and strategies developed to smoothly connect
improves learning skills among learners. the learning of basic skills to career-related
Berns and Ericson (cited in Center for content through teaching and learning
Student, Research and Planning Group, & solely on real applications in a particular

Volume 3      Issue No. 1              ASIA Pacific Higher Education Research Journal 1
context. Moghaddas (2013) explained that them for their future occupation.
contextualization is a profound learning
which occurs by connecting the thoughts
and principles within and across disciplines. Purpose of the Research
This means that in teaching, the teacher must
place the target skill in authentic situation The main purpose of the study was
to make the process of learning significant to find out the reading comprehension
to the learners. Context should not be taken performance of the BSIT students before
for granted and should be considered when and after the instruction employing
a teacher plans, designs, and develops contextualization. Specifically, it answered
instructional learning activities. the questions:

Improving students reading 1. What is the reading comprehension

comprehension performance is a crucial task performance level of the students
which most of the teachers and learners find in their pretest and posttest?
difficult in dealing with. Likewise, students
nowadays do not read a lot because of the 2. Is there a significant difference
presence of high technology gadgets which between the reading
occupied their spare time. Books and print comprehension performance level
materials are sometimes set aside due to of the students in pretest and
the influx of reading articles on the internet. posttest?
In addition, learners today, seldom read
articles which are not relevant to their needs
and interest. This situation posed a problem Conceptual and Theoretical Framework
to the reading teacher. Teacher will face
difficulty during reading lessons if he does Theories on Contextualized
not know how to arouse the interest of the Teaching and Learning
students. In capturing the students’ interests
in reading instruction, teachers must design Malcolm Knowles’ theory of
a lesson which does not bore the students. Andragogy also known as the adult learning
To address this problem, teachers need to theory (Pappas, 2013) explained that in
contextualize the reading lesson. Materials the learning process, the students serve as
should be within the concern and within an agent in the process of learning and that
the context of the students to foster higher an adult learns differently from a child.
performance in reading comprehension. Concept learners are presumed to be: self-
directed, has a reservoir of different personal
Teaching reading to the first year experiences, motivated to learn, life-
college Bachelor of Science in Information centered, activity and problem focused, and
Technology (BSIT) students is a difficult task. stirred by internal factors. According to the
Most of the students’ fields of interests are Center for Student, the PRGroup, & Academic
more related to computer hardware servicing Senate for California (2009), a procedural
and software innovation programing. The scheme that uses life experiences is the
students’ future career is basically on basic layout in andragogical model. Mezirow
computer Information Technology (IT) (2000) explains “meaning system” that acts
related industry. Thus, there is a need to as strainers for information as learners
contextualize their instruction for them to tries to link novel information. He further
be able to function well in their chosen field, elaborates the importance of the students
which gives the teacher or the researcher the to be analytically cognizant of their implicit
reason to employ contextualized teaching assumptions and outlooks and evaluate
and learning in reading comprehension to their application for making an explanation.
capture students’ motivation and to prepare Basically, this concept elucidates the

2 ASIA Pacific Higher Education Research Journal              Volume 3     Issue No. 1
significance of the experiences and maturity it provides a way to develop not only the
of the learners which is the principal core content knowledge of the reader but also
for the achievement and enthusiasm of the in improving career-related opportunities,
adult learners. since students will be reading an article
based on their field of interest. (Berns &
Another theory on Social Erickson, 2005).
Constructivism by Lev Vygotsky (Aljasan,
2011) states that the social milieu is Contextual learning theory which
responsible in the first conception of one’s states that learning happens when one is
knowledge. Social constructivists said that, able link between the content of the text and
learning is a dynamic process, finding of the context. In other words, the lesson or the
principles, theories, and realities should reading text must be related to the students’
be discovered by the learners themselves. interest and are familiar to them. Since this
Thus, the importance and promotion of study is for BSIT students, contextualized
critical learning in reading is encouraged. learning is needed because their course
According to Curpoz and Salandan (2006), is used heavily in career and in technical
constructivists view learning as a dynamic education. Their instruction must be specific
practice that results from self-constructed and students must relate the content to the
meanings, a meaningful connection is world through many different avenues.
established between prior knowledge and
the present learning activity. They further Resnick (1987) states that symbol
elaborated that this is anchored on the manipulation and conceptualization were
belief that every learner constructs and emphasized by the education department,
reconstructs meanings depending on past instead of learning things which are useful
experiences. They continue reflecting and outside the classroom or in the real world.
evaluating accumulated knowledge with an She added that, decontextualizing the lesson
end in view of constructing new meaning. makes the content of the lesson futile
Social Constructivism Theory relates to because it has no meaning for the students.
the teaching of reading comprehension,
focusing on the experience and background Moghaddas (2013) has cited different
knowledge of the students. To understand sources of the elements of contextualization.
the text, readers must also rely on prior There sources involve interdisciplinary
knowledge to fully grasp what the text is teaching and learning in which varieties of
trying to say (Kukla, 2000). instructional content are put together to cater
the needs of the students; the experiences
Contextualized Learning of the learners outside from the school
which acknowledges the significance of the
According to Berns and Erickson students’ out-of-the-school experiences
(2005), contextual learning theory assumes inside the classroom; the cooperation and
that learning make sense if the learners can collaboration among teachers to determine
deal with novel data within their own frame authentic materials in teaching which applies
of reference. Through this learning approach, teachers teamwork in distinguishing the real
the learner’s mind will look for the meaning materials and activities to be included in the
of the text within the context, that is the lesson; student-focused learning that deals
reader’s mind will associate what is written with putting the students in the center of
in the page to his/her previous knowledge the educative process; use of clear learning
and experiences so that the text will emerge strategies that emphasizes the simple
valuable (Contextual Learning, n.d). This instructional plans which suits student’s
must be the reason why contextualizing the level of interest ; and authentic assessment
reading lesson is required in developing which tries to avoid the traditional paper-
reading comprehension skills, because pencil evaluation.

Volume 3      Issue No. 1              ASIA Pacific Higher Education Research Journal 3
Methodology of English Instruction. The reliability test
was done through the use of Split-half
This study used the quasi-experimental Method using Kuder-Richardson Reliability
design (Calmorin and Calmorin, 2007) Coefficients (KR20) Formula, the whole test
specifically it used the One-group Pretest- yielded a reliability of 0.71 which means
Posttest design (Creswell 2014). that the whole test is reliable. The reading
comprehension test included the following:
Model of One-Group Pretest-Posttest Design noting details, evaluating judgment, drawing
conclusion, drawing inferences, getting
the main idea and supporting details,
O1 Y O2 recognizing fact from opinion, and getting
information. This researcher-made test was
Pretest Treatment Posttest composed of twenty - multiple choice items
with four options. Revised course syllabus,
(Contextualized Teaching Leaning Approach) validated reading comprehension lessons
(See appendix A for a sample lesson) and
The symbol O refers to the observation power point presentation were also used
on the measurement of the dependent during the experiment.
variable which is the level of comprehension
performance of the students. The symbol
Y represents the exposure of the group to Data Collection
the treatment which is the Contextualized
Teaching and Leaning. The measurement of In the first session, the students took
the dependent variable comes before and the pretest of the reading comprehension
after the treatment Y, through the pretest test online using the personal Google Form.
and the post test. The data were collected and analyzed.
On the next two sessions, the researcher
Subjects extensively oriented the students on reading
comprehension class. The orientation
The subjects of this study were the was done with the aid of a Power Point
thirty-three (33) BSIT 1B freshman students presentation. Then, the succeeding
of the West Visayas state University, 20 session were devoted solely to the
Extension Campus at Himamaylan City. They experiment. Discussions on the strategies
were the students of the researcher in Eng on how to develop the students’ reading
101 – Study and Thinking Skills Course in the comprehension skills were thoroughly
first semester of the School Year 2012-2013. delivered. The content of the reading
materials and activities were mostly IT
Instrumentation related and interdisciplinary. Reading
assignments were done through letting the
A validated and a reliable researcher- students search the article in the internet
made reading comprehension test was used using their laptops or by going to the internet
to measure the reading comprehension café. When the students were in the sessions,
performance of the students. This they were given tasks to accomplish the
researcher-made instrument test underwent activities that foster the development of
item analysis in which it was conducted to a the reading skills with the aid of a power
group of IT students from other IT School in point presentation and sometimes in a print
Negros Occidental. Discrimination Index and copy. Students were also told to practice
the Index of Difficulty were also computed. reading comprehension by taking a reading
There were items that were retained, comprehension test online. They were
revised and rejected. Also, the instrument requested to submit a print-screen of their
was evaluated by three experts in the field reading comprehension results. After this

4 ASIA Pacific Higher Education Research Journal              Volume 3     Issue No. 1
experiment, the students were asked again Table 2
to answer the reading comprehension test. t-test results on the differences of the students’
Data were gathered and were analyzed. pretest and posttest reading comprehension
performance
Data Analysis Compared
DF Mean SD t-ratio t-Prob.
groups
The statistical tool used in the CTL
interpretation of data includes mean and Pretest 32 9.12 2.65 7.958 .000
paired t-test. Mean was used to determine Posttest 12.91 2.38
the reading comprehension level of the P<.05 Significant at .05 alpha
students while paired t-test was used to
know if there is a significant difference Table 2 shows the difference between
between the pretest and posttest reading students’ pretest and posttest reading
comprehension level of the students. The comprehension performance. The t-test
level of significance (α) was set to 0.05 level computations reveal significant differences
of confidence. on the students’ pretest and posttest reading
comprehension performance, t(32)=7.958,
p=.000. Further, there is a mean difference
Results and Discussion of 3.79 on the reading comprehension
performance of the students pretest to
This part discusses the results and posttest. It can be inferred therefore, that
findings of the study. contextualizing the reading lesson of BSIT
students can really increase their reading
Table 1. performance. This result shows that
The reading comprehension level of BSIT freshman contextualization has a positive effect to the
students before and after the experiment reading performance of the students.
Category Mean SD
CTL The aforementioned results are
Pretest 9.12 2.65 supported by the study conducted by Kuncoro
(2008) on improving reading competence
Posttest 12.91 2.38
using contextualized teaching and learning of
Grade 8 students. Kuncoro showed that the
Scale Range Interpretation
use of Contextualized teaching and learning
16.21 - 20 Outstanding in increasing reading comprehension has
12.41 - 16.2 Above Average a significant influence on the improvement
8.61 - 12.4 Average of reading competence of the students.
Moreover, according to Berns and Erickson
4.48 - 8.6 Below Average
(2005) contextualized learning approach
1.00 - 4.8 Needs
Improvement to teaching provides ways for improving
career-related and educational proficiencies
Table 1 shows the pretest and posttest in a greater level which supported the
results on the reading comprehension level study of Moghaddas (2013) on the effect
of the students. Results revealed that the of contextualization on the Iranian EFL
reading comprehension level of the students learners’ performance in reading tasks,
in pretest is average (M=9.12, SD=2.65) his findings show that learners taught in
while in the posttest, the students’ reading contextualization framework gained better
comprehension level is above average (M = result. It shows that putting the lesson
12.91, SD = 2.28). within the interest of the students would
mean increase of academic performance.
Resnik (n.d.), the leading theorist of
contextualized education, states that the

Volume 3      Issue No. 1              ASIA Pacific Higher Education Research Journal 5
need to provide a learning environment to use their schema in understanding the
that will help the students’ use their full text, connect the text and context, and, can
potential is important because according to boost students’ confidence because reading
him students can function well if they are at instructions are within their framework.
ease with the place where they belong. However, results may not be very conclusive
since this study was employed to only one
Similarly, this study maintains group of subjects. There might be other
the findings about contextualizing the significant variables which influences the
instruction and its impact on the reading result of the posttest.
comprehension of the students. Berns &
Erickson (2005) found that those educators Based on the results of the study, the
who incorporated more genuine literacy following recommendations are established.
activities, more often had learners who
displayed greater development both in First, it is recommended that the
comprehension and writing. The effective Contextualization of Reading instruction
use of contextualized learning in the may be used in developing the reading
teaching of reading comprehension is also comprehension performance of the BSIT
supported by Kuncoro’s study. He found students. Second, contextualized teaching
out that using this approach can really help and learning approach may be an alternative
students improve their reading competence. approach in the teaching of reading
The results also support the contextualized comprehension in Eng 101 course not
learning theory because, students were only in the BSIT students but also to other
able to increase their comprehension level courses. Lastly, replication of this study is
when the texts presented to them have highly recommended using two groups of
connections to their lives and to their own subjects to prove the veracity of the claims
structure of orientation. in this paper. Studies like the correlation of
fluency rate and reading comprehension
level using Contextualized Teaching and
Conclusion and Recommendations Learning in reading lessons and variables
such age, gender, IQ, motivation, level of
Most of the educators agreed that a learning, learner’s self-awareness, and
teacher must have a reservoir of teaching attitudes towards reading must also be
methods and techniques to help the students explored in the study.
improve their academic performance. █ █ █
Educators explained further that a one-size-
fits-all approach is not recommended in the
teaching of language especially in reading
comprehension. However, practitioners in References
the academe have encouraged teachers and
instructors alike to look for approaches, Barceros, E. L. (2005). Communication skills
techniques and strategies which will 1: Improving study and thinking
help students develop their academic skills. Manila: Rex Book Store.
competence. Thus the study reveals a good
point that using contextualized teaching Belen, V. M. (2003). Effective Study and
and learning in improving the learners’ Thinking Skills. Bulacan: Trinita
reading comprehension performance has a Publishing, Inc.
significant effect. Also, it can be concluded
that the use of contextualization in the Baley, R., Mercado, K. A., & Villacorta, J.
classroom once again had proven the theory (2009). The relationship between
of adult learning. This theory postulates that motivation and second language
the students are motivated to learn, able reading comprehension among

6 ASIA Pacific Higher Education Research Journal              Volume 3     Issue No. 1
 fourth grade Filipino students. The Mazzeo, C., Rab, S. Y., & Alssid, J. L. (2003).
Philippine ESL Journal The Beginning Building bridges to college and
of Knowledge. Retrieved April 12, careers: Contextualized basic skills
2011, from http://www.philippine- programs at community colleges.
esl-journal.com/Vol-2.pdf. Brooklyn, NY: Workforce Strategy
Center.
Berns, R. G. & Erickson, P. M. (2005).
Contextual teaching and learning: Mezirow, J. (2000). Learning as transformation:
Preparing students for the new Critical perspectives on a theory in
economy. Retrieved from http:// progress. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
www.cord.org/uploadedfiles/.
Moghaddas, B. (2013). The effect of
Calmorin, L. P. & Calmorin M. A. (2007). contextualization on the iranian efl
Research methods and thesis writing learners’ Performance in reading
(2nd ed.). Manila: Rex Book Store. tasks. International Journal of
Educational Science and Research
Creswell, J.W. (2014) Research design. (IJESR). 3(2), 11-20. Retrieved
Qnatitaitve, qualitative and mixed from https://www.researchgate.
method designs approaches. (4th Ed.). net/publication/236665438_the_
California: Sage Publishing, Inc. effect_of_contextualization_on_the_
iranian_efl_learners’_performance_
Center for Student Success, Research and in_reading_tasks.
Planning Group, & Academic State.
(2009). Contextualized teaching & Pappas, C. (2013). The adult learning
learning: a faculty primer. Retrieved theory-andragogy. eLearning
February 6, 2015, from http://www. Industry. Retrieved from http://
cccbsi.org/websites/basicskills/ elearningindustry.com/the-adult-
images/ctl.pdf learning-theory-andragogy-of-
malcolm-knowles.
Contextual Learning (n.d.). North Central
Regional educational laboratory. RAND Reading Study Group (2002). Reading
Retrieved June 12, 2012, from for understanding towards an R&D
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/ program in reading comprehension.
issues/envrnmnt/stw/. Retrieved from http://www.rand.
org/content/dam/rand/pubs/
Kuncoro, R. (2008). The improvement monograph_.
of reading competence through
contextual teaching and learning Resnick, L. (n.d.). Learning in school and
in 8th grade students of SMP N out. Retrieved from http://
I Karnangdowo Klaten Second methodenpool.uni-koeln.de/
Semester of Academic Year 2007- situierteslernen/Resnick2.htm.
2008. Retrieved from http://
pelajarmetroindonesia.blogspot.com Salandan, B. B. (2007). Principles of Teaching 1.
Quezon City: Lorimar Publishing, Inc.
Kukla, A. (2000). Social constructivism and
the philosophy of science. New York: Takalou, F. & Noor, P. (2011). The effect of
Routledge. metacognitive strategy Instruction
on EFL learners’ reading
Martin, D. (1990). How to be a successful comprehension performance and
student. Retrieved from http://www. metacognitive awareness. Asian EFL
marin.edu/~don/Study/7read.html. Journal. 13(1), 275-320.

Volume 3      Issue No. 1              ASIA Pacific Higher Education Research Journal 7
 APPENDIX A

Sample Lesson for Contextualization in Reading Comprehension

I. Objectives: B. Presentation and Lesson Proper

At the end of the lesson the students • Have the students analyze their
will be able to: output and have them list down the
clues and phrases which helps them
a. define unfamiliar vocabulary derive their inferences.
found in the selection;
• Guide the students to arrive the
b. use the vocabulary in a following:
sentence;
i. Why do you think __________?
c. draw inference from the
selection read; and ii. How did you know __________?

d. cite facts that supports their iii. What probably caused

conclusion. ___________?

II. Subject Matter: iv. Can you infer ___________?

Topic: “Drawing of Inference” and “Russia v. What clues led you to believe
computer experts who detected Flame __________?
malware issue warning”
vi. How might __________ feel
Materials: Projector, and Laptop __________?

Concept: An inference is an idea/thoughts or vii. I predict __________.

a deduction that is taken from the evidence
and reasoning. It is considered as an educated viii. I think that __________.
guess. By personal experiences, one may
learn some things. However one gains other ix. My guess is __________.
knowledge by inferencing – the method of
inferring things created on what is already • Tell the students about the
know. objectives of the day.

III. Learning Activity • Have the students work vocabulary

development
PRE READING ACTIVITIES

A. Motivation Vocabulary

• Present computer related objects Directions: Encircle the letter of the correct
before the class. Group the students meaning of the italicized word.
and have them share ideas about
the person/s who might own the 1. IT experts claim that cyber
objects. Have a representative from espionage is like stealing
the group to report their output. something from an individual.

8 ASIA Pacific Higher Education Research Journal              Volume 3     Issue No. 1
 a. The practice of obtaining SETTING THE PURPOSE FOR READING
secrets without the
permission of the holder of the Activity 1
information from individuals
using internet. 1. M
ake some guesses about the
b. The action of giving your selection based on its title “Russia
secrets to others. computer experts who detected
c. The act of obtaining permit Flame malware issue warning”
from the government using
computer.
d. The right to procure an item
from a computer. 2. Observe the picture and say
something about it.
2. Some of us are called not by our
real name by our moniker at
home.

a. Middle name
b. Family name
c. Nickname
d. Real name

3. The next century is said to be

the cyber warfare (a political
motivated hacking to conduct Computer experts at Kaspersky Lab in Moscow, which
sabotage and espionage) age. detected the sophisticated Flame malware, issue
warnings about cyber war. (Sergei L. Loiko / Los Angeles
Times / May 30, 2012)
a. actions by a nation-state to
penetrate another nation’s
computers or networks for
the purposes of causing Russia computer experts who detected
damage or disruption. Flame malware issue warning
b. war among nations though
computers/internet The sophisticated program is a powerful
c. Penetrating other computer weapon for cyber espionage, Kaspersky Lab
through the use of cyber experts say. Others warn that cyberspace has
program. become the new battleground.
d. Act of send virus to others.
By, Sergei L. Loiko, Los Angeles Times
4. A sophisticated computer May 31, 2012, 5:00 a.m.
network was developed in a most
advanced way. MOSCOW — Computer virus experts at
Kaspersky Lab, acting with the blessing of the
a. complex and very up-to-date United Nations, were searching for a villain
b. beautiful and tempting dubbed the Wiper when they came across
c. powerful and dangerous a much more menacing suspect requiring a
d. threatening and extreme new moniker: Flame.

The malicious program left experts all but
certain that a government sponsor intent
on cyber warfare and intelligence gathering

Volume 3      Issue No. 1              ASIA Pacific Higher Education Research Journal 9
was behind some suspicious activity, in Kaspersky Lab has uncovered damage to at
part because of the likely cost of such a least 189 computers in Iran, 98 in Israel and
sophisticated endeavor. the Palestinian territories, 32 in Sudan, 30
in Syria, 18 in Lebanon, 10 in Saudi Arabia
“We entered a dark room in search of and five in Egypt. Many more computers may
something and came out with something have been infected by Flame, Kamlyuk said.
else in our hands, something different,
something huge and sinister,” Vitaly Experts are still studying the software
Kamlyuk, a senior antivirus expert at program and trying to determine the point
Kaspersky Lab, said in an interview of entry.
Wednesday.
A previous worm-like malware known
Kamlyuk said Flame can copy and steal as Stuxnet targeted computers in Iran
data and audio files, turn on a computer controlling centrifuges at nuclear facilities
microphone and record all the sounds in its and was believed to be an effort by Israel, the
vicinity, take screen shots, read documents United States or both.
and emails, and capture passwords and
logins. “Stuxnet’s goal was to identify infrastructural
ties with industrial systems of Iran and
The program can communicate with other cause material damage,” Kamlyuk said.
computers in its radius via the infected “The malware could reprogram the control
computer’s Bluetooth capability and locate of [uranium enrichment] centrifuges,
their whereabouts even without an Internet command the speed of the engine, keep it to
connection, he said. the maximum without rest and eventually
destroy the equipment.”
“We haven’t figured out yet whether it can
carry out some destructive actions but we Kaspersky then found a way to oppose that
can say with confidence that it is a powerful threat and protect its clients but stopped
universal set of tools for cyber espionage,” short of identifying the culprit.
Kamlyuk said.
Analyzing Flame, which is considered a far
“Many people still think that cyber warfare is a more powerful weapon than Stuxnet, may
myth and a fantasy but as we reassemble and take many months, but Kaspersky experts
study one by one the numerous components have little doubt that it is a government-
and modules of this unique program we see backed program carried out in secrecy.
that it is a real weapon of this undeclared war
that is already going on.” “Cyber weapons like Stuxnet and Flame
can be potentially considered serious
Experts worldwide have been surprised and threats to national security,” Kamlyuk said.
impressed by the emergence of Flame, which “Humankind has entered a new era, the era
Kaspersky Lab detected after being asked of cyber war, but we don’t want to paint
several weeks ago by the United Nations’ scary scenarios and provide potential clues
International Telecommunication Union for current and future perpetrators of such
to check reports of suspicious computer attacks.”
activity. It is believed that a wide variety
of computers belonging to individuals and Despite the accomplishments of a private
state-related organizations were targeted in company such as Kaspersky Lab, some
the Middle East and North Africa, including analysts in Russia said the country remains
Iran, Syria, Lebanon and Sudan. unprepared for cyber war.

10 ASIA Pacific Higher Education Research Journal              Volume 3     Issue No. 1
“It is a natural process that all these new something different, something
breakthrough technologies immediately huge and sinister”.
attract military and intelligence agencies,”
Leonid Ivashov, vice president of the
Academy on Geopolitical Affairs, a Moscow-
based think tank, said in an interview. 3. Give the subject of the selection.

“And it would be rash and stupid to hope that

those who still think of world supremacy
will not try to take advantage of these new 4. Why are nations afraid of malware?
technologies, which can help them conquer And what is its effect to us?
the world without bombs and missiles.”

Russia does not have adequate industry,

research centers, institutes or expertise 5. What is the significance of this
to meet the challenges of modern cyber information to us?
technology, said Ivashov, a former chief of
the Russian Defense Ministry’s international
military cooperation directorate.

Gennady Gudkov, deputy chairman of the For each of these statement, write Y (yes) if
security committee of the State Duma, the the conclusion is an accurate one, N (no) if the
parliament’s lower house, said the country’s information is inaccurate one, and CT (can’t
computer technology, largely dependent tell) if you do not have enough information
on foreign-made software and hardware, to make an inference (conclusion).
leaves it “extremely vulnerable and virtually
defenseless in conditions of cyber warfare.” 1. _____ Malwares are software
that deactivates all computer
(Source: Sergei L. Loiko (2012), Los Angeles Times. programs.
Retrieved June 5, 2012 from http://www.latimes.
com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-russia-flame- 2. _____ Cyber espionage is about to
cyberwar-20120531,0,4986511.story)
happen in the whole world.

3. _____ There was no stronger

POST READING ACTIVITIES software other than “Flame”.

Comprehension Questions 4. _____ Cyber age is making the

human more IT dependent.
Answer the following questions
5. _____ America and Russia do
not have the determination over
1. What is “Flame” and how does it world supremacy.
differ formStuxnet?
6. _____ Militaries nowadays use
computer gadgets to distinguish
their foes.
2. What does this line mean? “We
entered a dark room in search 7. _____ Computer programs are
of something and came out with extortions to state safekeeping.
something else in our hands,

Volume 3      Issue No. 1              ASIA Pacific Higher Education Research Journal 11
 8. _____ IT experts are still working
on more advance software to
the development of humankind 3. Based on the answers to the above
existence. questions, what conclusion can
you draw from the selection?
9. _____ The world is fully equipped
technology in preparation for
cyber war.

10. _____ The development of Group the students and have them use
malware is a government the graphic organizer below to come up with
sponsored activity. their inferencing. Have the students present
their output using PowerPoint presentation.
Clues from
Activity 2 Inference
What I know
the article
(My ideas/
(So…) (What the
Read the following article, then answer the thoughts)
Article tells)
questions that follow.

Paul Kennedy, a well-known futurist, foresees

the challenges facing the 21st century to be
driven by “the interaction of overpopulation,
pressure upon the land, migration and social
instability on the one hand and technology’s
power both to increase productivity and to
displace traditional occupation in the other.

According to this scenario, population

explosion will cause massive migration from
poor regions where population pressure is *Rubrics is used for assessment of groups presentation
heaviest to developed regions perceived to and output
be offerings better economic opportunities.
As a result, urban economic centers become
more overcrowded, giving rise to social C. Generalization:
instability and crime as resources for social
services are strained beyond capacity. How do we make inferences?

(Source: Scanning the Global Environment p. 91. Guide the students to arrive with the following
Megatrends: The Future of Filipino Children. Katha answers:
Publishing Co., Inc. 1998.)

Strategic Actions for Inferring

1. What are the challenges facing the
21st century? Readers:

• Understand what is stated but is

implied in the text (both print and
2. What will be the effects of illustrations)
population explosion?

12 ASIA Pacific Higher Education Research Journal              Volume 3     Issue No. 1
 • Make conclusions that are not D. Assignment:
stated but are based on information
found in the text or • Have the students practice
inferencing skills by doing some
• illustrations online activities.

• Make judgments about characters,

events, theme, and plot that have Directions: Browse the following link and
not been explicitly stated take the test on infrencing skills. Screen
shot your answer and submit it on the next
• Think about the deeper meanings meeting.
of text

• Recognize symbolism and use it to Links:

interpret the text
https://www.quia.com/rr/332704.html
• Develop theories that explain
characters’ motives or events http://www.philtulga.com/Riddles.html

• Develop empathy for characters h t t p : / / w w w. u s i n g e n g l i s h . c o m /

comprehension/
• Use background knowledge and
information from the text to form
theories about the significanceof
events

Source: Teaching for Comprehending

and Fluency, Fountas and Pinnell

Volume 3      Issue No. 1              ASIA Pacific Higher Education Research Journal 13

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