Current Issues in Management Essay

Executive Summary Aim of this study This study is to analysis the selected airline business environment and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program implementations of some airline and compare with the selected airline. What is CSR CSR is an approach to business that takes account of issues associated with society and the environment in addition to more traditional business concerns of shareholders and profits. The low-fare airline â€Å"Ryanair† doing about CSR We can see the result of Ryanair CSR performance from the interviewee in this section. Analysis and discuss how the airline performance Corporate Social Responsibility. 1. INTRODUCTION In the last few decades, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has grown in importance, which is reflected by an increasing demand from consumers, employees, legislative systems, and the society for inclusive evaluations about how corporations are meeting acceptable standards. CSR plays an important role in the formation of airlines’ strategies due to the unique characteristics of the airline industry. Nevertheless, CSR in the airline industry has received relatively little attention from academics. The purpose of this study are to understand and analysis how the selected airline communicates to the outside world by implementing CSR programs. This research is exploratory by nature and is based on CSR reports published by the selected airline and related CSR information on the company websites. This topic has been chose because of the importance of CSR in business, more specifically in airline industry. What makes the application CSR programs in airline industry a particularly interesting topic to research is the highly competitive and pollutive nature of the industry. This competitive market has been caused by the price sensitivity of customers, and their desire to get good service at a decent price, as well as by the saturated nature of supply market due to multiple operators. In order to compete in the market, companies have to be cost efficient while providing best possible service. This, however, is difficult due to high operating costs that influence the whole industry. CSR is considered to be a vital part of any contemporary business strategy. In our mind focusing on CSR can provide airlines with both operational efficiency, as well as image benefits. People are becoming more aware of the social and environmental effects of their consuming habits, hence it be projected that innovative and responsible companies will continue to do well in the future, as their actions affect the purchasing behavior of customers.  The purpose of this study is to provide overview of CSR, discuss and analysis the performance of selected airline in corporate social responsibility. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ON CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN AIRLINE INDUSTRY Corporate are inseparable from society. Nowadays, the responsibility of corporations is not solely providing products and services, it must also take care of the welfare of the various stakeholders in society (Robin, 1987). Corporate nowadays do not primarily focus on profits but being society responsible which generates more intangible value. Consumers prefer to be associated with socially responsible cooperates and as a result of this, corporate will allocate response to this area and play a private role. First, the flying of airplanes will adversely affect the global environment (Miyoshi, 2009). Favorable public image can be created if the airline â€Å"greening† the environment. Secondly, promoting CSR is an attractive differentiation strategy, it gains competitive advantages and growing competition between airlines when airlines are offering increasingly similar products and service in marketplace. For meeting the expectations of various stakeholders and customers, airlines can fulfill their responsibilities as a corporate citizen especially for international airlines operates in multiple countries. There seems to be no universally agreed definition of CSR (Frankental, 2001). He even argues that â€Å"CRS is a vague and intangible term which can mean anything to anybody, and therefore is effectively without meaning†. The continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the community and society at large(Holmes and Watts, 2000). It is generally agreed that CSR refers to the obligations of the firm to society (Smith, 2003). 2.1 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY THEORIES AND STRATEGIES CSR includes four kinds of responsibilities: economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic. The economic responsibility refers to the firm’s obligations  to be productive, profitable, and to maintain wealth. Firm’s legal responsibility refers to carrying out their activities within the confines of legal requirements. For ethical responsibility refers to having ethical codes, norms going beyond mere legal frameworks, and being honest in their relationships with their customers and their own employees. Finally, the discretionary component includes voluntary or philanthropic activities aiming to raise the well-being and development of society as a whole (Carrol, 1911). CSR issues under a variety of headings: Marketplace, workplace, community and environment will be used as CSR components. Safety is the most important social responsibility for the aviation industry. From All Nippon Airways CSR report 2009, the company reports the preventive measures for two incidents occurred in 2008 that influenced stakeholder trust in the airline. In order to improve workplace relationship and employee morale, Korean Air has created an Employee Counseling Center to resolve complaints and receive suggestions from employees. For community, â€Å"I Can Fly† Program from Cathay Pacific, program is designed to encourage young people to fly high and to reach for their dreams. Being an international airline, Cathay pacific’s community investments also extend to communities outside of Hong Kong. Singapore Airline participates â€Å"the Asia and Pacific Initiative to Reduce Emission (ASPIRE)† Program in 2010, demonstrated green flight, which operated from Los Angeles to Singapore via Tokyo. As a result, it was able to use around 6% less fuel than normally required for a s imilar flight. Nowadays, customers are more aware of ethical consumption so that the airlines act in positive role in society by implementing some corporate social responsibilities’ programs. At the same times, consumers are also vulnerable to the problems and crises they are facing to, such as crisis in values and climate change, huge differences among people and also economic crisis in developed countries. Therefore, company can gain customer satisfaction and market value when they are applying the above CSR components. Corporate social responsibility means that organizations take on responsibility towards others in society, not merely on their shareholders and customers (Holloway, 2004). On the other hand, corporate social  responsibility also can improve our quality of life in the local community to solving environmental or socio-cultural problems locally or globally. CSR has found a positive relationship in both the short and long terms (Lee and Park, 2009). (Kang et al, 2010) examined the effects of positive effects of positive (proactive) and negative (reactive) CSR activities. 2.2 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY CHALLENEGES AND ISSUES Despite the potential of a Value Chain approach, the following issues need to be considered if the airline is planning to adopt or develop further more comprehensive CSR activities. Financial implications The Low-Fares Airlines business model relies on cost-reduction (Grob and Schroder, 2007). There are costs associated with implementing a CSR strategy but many are already accounted for within existing budget lines such as: Charitable giving, environmental management programs, corporate sponsorship and etc. Staffing Monitoring, evaluation and management of CSR objectives and related actions do require a staffing commitment in order to facilitate accurate reporting of costs and benefits. The size of the staffing commitment depends on the size and commitment of an organization. British Airways at the time of writing employed 30 staff working on CSR related initiatives (GreenAir 2008) Time Implement on CSR is a medium to long-term commitment that can only be fully achieved with realistic timescales built in from the start. However, there are some objectives, or â€Å"quick wins†, that can be realized in the short-term. 2.3 SUMMARY OF KEY CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ELEMENTS Review of the corporate social responsibility theories, strategies,  challenges and issue has shown that most of the international airlines (for example, Cathay Pacific Airline, Air France-KML, British Airways and etc) are very proactive in some of CSR components, for example, climate change and environment; customer relations by proving a level of customer service and comfort that ensure customer loyalty by focusing safety and security; staff personal development of the airline’s staff by offering personalized career advice, training and encouraging job mobility within the group. However, some of budget airlines, they are not really focus on CSR as a business strategy, the reason are airlines didn’t want to spend too much money on CSR because they need to control expenses for other resources to ensure tickets are low prices. Therefore, those budget airlines only focus on environment and community only. 3.1 COMPANY BACKGROUND Ryanair was established in 1985 by the Ryan family with  £1 share capital and 25 staff. Operation started with daily flights from Waterford in the southeast of Ireland to London on 15 Bandeirante aircraft (Ryanair, 2010). In 1987, the company acquired their first jet aircraft and as a result increased their network with 15 scheduled routes from Dublin to Liverpool, Glasgow, Manchester, Cardiff and opened new routes from Luton to West of Ireland. Consequently the number of passengers increased to over 600,000, but the company soon faced intense price competition with Aer Lingus and British Airways resulting to  £20m loss. During the 1990s, Ryanair decided to restructure the company by copying Southwest Airline low fares model (Ryanair, 2010). 3.2 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AUDIT OF RYANAIR From the above audit, it showed that community projects, local skill training, advertising, disability access and ethical policies are not good from interviewee’s view. CO2 emissions, charity giving, pricing, training investment and safety are just fair. However, Ryanair are good in environmental responsibility for example: paper usage, water usage and waste. To understand why the interview gave this result, it will be discussed by using the following evidences. 4. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSS OF RYANAIR CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY PERFORMANCE Ryanair Corporate Social Responsibility activities report in 2011, it showed  environment, emissions trading, ethical codes and staff benefits will be implemented in coming year. For instance, Ryanair released two press releases about its 2008 Cabin Crew Charity Calendar, seven press releases for its 2009 Cabin Crew Calendar, and one press release for its 2012 Cabin Crew Calendar. Also, they even created a website for greening the environment. However, the charity calendar and other philanthropic efforts were not mentioned since 2008 annual report. In 2011 annual report, it also didn’t mention what kind of activities they did for the environment and how much fuel consumption they used. The following are the Corporate Social Responsibility performance of Ryanair between 2009 and 2012. For community, Fredrick (1986) developed the CSR analysis to include an ethical base to managerial decision taking in the form of corporate social rectitude and terms this CSR3. The theory claims that the study of business and community needs an ethical anchor to allow a systematic critique of business’s impact upon human consciousness and human continuity. When consumers book tickets at their website, charged price at the purchased stage is higher than the showed price at book tickets page. Real price has been hidden, it also counted as unethical. If the company’s action can have either a positive or a negative impact on the quality of a group or individual’s life, then the group or individual is a stakeholder of that company (Lepineux, 2005). On the other hand, Ryanair was not willing to provide services to those people who are disabled and older passengers has resulted in court ruling and got fines from court. After that, the airline increased the fare to all passengers and started lobbing airport and airlines, not to provide free services to disabled passengers. In 2010, The central London Country Court found it had acted unlawfully due to there was a passenger who I suffering from cerebral palsy and arthritis and be charged GBP18. Eventually, the one claimed GBP1136. Another important example of Ryanair’s unethical practices is their advert in 2012. Two UK newspaper adverted for Ryanair have been banned after complaints from readers that they were sexist and treated women as objects (BCC News, 2012). The advertising Standards Authority (ASA) received 17 complaints of this advertising, and said they were likely to cause offence. However, the airline said the adverts promoted its cabin crew charity calendar and used  images taken directly from it (BBC news, 2012). The company faced probe by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) after a string of complaints and the rules have been breached seven times in two years (BBC News, 2009). Corporate Social Responsibility as the purpose of business and the knowledge and abilities of those that run the business (Worthington and Britton, 1997). Of course, every company is making profit, even Ryanair. Therefore, their operation and the impact on the environment have to be administrated. Ryanair is not very good in marketplace of the CSR components. They got a lot of complaints of cancellations, missing bags and denied boarding. In 2011, the aviation watchdog revealed that Ryanair and EasyJet were subject to the most complaints from British airline passengers in 2010. From Ryanair website, it shows that baggage complaints per 1,000 passengers have increased from 1.18 to 1.88 from 2010 to 2011 respectively. EasyJet had the most complaints with 719 and Ryanair following with 673. It was also noted that Ryanair complaints have risen by 70% since 2005 and the Liberal Democrats said that the numbers proved service standards is a casualty of lower fares (Guardian, 2010). As explained earlier safety is the most important social responsibility for the aviation industry. However, the flight to East Midlands Airport was forced to make an emergency landing and oxygen masks were deployed (The Sun, 2012). There are differences between Ryanair and its competitors in terms of services and how they are delivered. Ryanair pledges simply to get passengers from point A to B safely and at lowest price. Some seats are sold as little as  £1 or â‚ ¬ 1, however, if flights are delayed, passengers should not expect free refreshments (Emerald, 2007). At the same time, the airline treats their employees are different with other airlines e.g. Southwest airline. Southwest airline believes that customers deserve respect, fun and dignity but that their employees come first. This is because employees would treat customers the way they are been treated (Emerald, 2007). Employees from Ryanair are disregard. Also the company is in major dispute with its operation being socially irresponsible. 5. STRATEGIC CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR RYANAIR Corporate Social responsibility is very important for growth of the business so that the airline should be more social responsible by addressing the demands of the stakeholders. Building the sense in the organization being socially responsible will improve corporate image to create value. In my opinion, environmental issues should be considered the most important. Despite the airline can only contribute few percent to global CO2 emissions, there still are so many people will consider flying to be much more harmful. Therefore airlines are pressured into contributing to the environment and reducing their environment impact. Moreover, focusing on environmental issues airline can gain competitive edge through improved image and operational efficiency. Fuel efficiency, waste and recycling should be the most important to be addressed. CO2 emissions nowadays can be considered. To tackle the issue of emissions, most of the airlines have implemented programs that aim to reduce overall emissions within a certain time period. For example, Air France aims to reduce CO2 emissions 1-2 % annually. This is also important in order to achieve emissions target set by IATA. Most of the airlines focus on improving fuel efficiency, as it is by far the biggest source of emissions. Ryanair should reduce fuel consumption immediately, improved maintenance and engine washing, improved route planning and navigation. Waste and recycling are the second important environmental topic. Waste produced by in-flight operations comprises of aluminum, plastic, mixed paper and organic waste. Chemical waste includes deicing and antifreeze products, paint and detergents used in washing airplanes and engines. Other waste sources are normal business operations where paper is the predominant material. Most airlines reviewed are trying to reduce waste and focus on recycling. Airlines should move towards recycling and reduction of waste production in all operational areas. In my opinion this can be achieved by favoring longer lasting, recyclable or biodegradable materials i.e. in  catering operations. Airlines have a high impact on neighborhoods and communities surrounding their major hubs. The airline should support communities by recruiting and training staff, offering educational support and etc. i.e mentioned previously â€Å"I Can Fly† Program from Cathay Pacific. Creating the organizational culture of shared values where employees are willing and enjoy to work. Empower employees to do their job, support and encourage them in their decisions. When employees are empowers to do their job and be respected at work place, they will feel that they are part of the organization and their decision are appreciated, then they will work wholeheartedly at the airline. It can improve customer servicing, reduce complaints and improve airline performance. Safety measures also to be one of the most important areas of airline business, concerning customers as well as employees. Therefore various systems should be implemented to support safe business operations. In order to ensure work safety, trainings supported by risk management systems should be implemented. Key performances should be regularly measured and improved according to the legal requirements. 6. CONCLUSION In the recent years the importance of CSR has been increasing immensely in the airline industry. Although in many aspects airlines are still behind in comparison to other industries, it has been made apparent that environmentalism and social responsibility issues will only increase in importance in the coming years and decades. Having a business strategy is as essential as never before due to a high need in business life for forecasting, measuring and developing business actions further. There will always be competitors that are potentially doing better business regarding overall revenue which consequently leads to a need of efficient and structured operations to ensure long lasting business success. Businesses that are going to last and also be profitable in the future are the ones  with CSR incorporated into their business strategy. We therefore believe that implementing it is inevitable. Like many other business aspects a clear vision on how to implement CSR is crucial. Therefore a â€Å"road map† needs to be developed in order to ensure a successful outcome. It allows the firm to be successful whilst using its resources within its unique environment to meet market needs as well as meet stakeholder expectations (Industry Canada 2006, pp. 32-33). 7. References Alle, M. M and Schmitz, A. M. (2004). â€Å"Ryanair plc†. Sà ©minaire d’elaboration d’un Business Plan, p. 1-45. Moir, L. (2001). â€Å"What do we mean by corporate social responsibility†. Corporate Governance, 1, 2, p. 16-22.Y CO Worthington, I and Britton, C. (1997). â€Å"The business environment†. 2nd Edition. Pitman Publishing: London Holloway, C. J. (2004). Marketing for tourism. Harlow etc.: Prentice Hall Lee, S., Park, S.Y., 2009. Do socially responsible activities help hotels and casinos achieve their financial goals? International Journal of Hospitality Management 28, 105–112 Kang, K., Lee, S., Huh, C., 2010. Impacts of positive and negative corporate social responsibility activities on company performance in the hospitality industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management 29, 72–82. Alle, M. M and Schmitz, A. M. (2004). â€Å"Ryanair plc†. Sà ©minaire d’elaboration d’un Business Plan, p. 1-45. Appelbaum, H.S and Fewster, M. B. (2004). â€Å"Safety and Customer Service: Contemporary Practices in Diversity, Organizational Development and Training and Development in the Global Civil Aviation Industry†. Management Research News. 27, 10, p. 1-26. BBCNews. (2008). â€Å"Ryanair faces probe over adverts†. [on-line] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7337165.stm [Accessed: 13/03.2010]. Bowman, C and Faulkner, D. (1995). â€Å"The essence of competitive strategy†. 1st Edition. Prentice: Hall. Carr, S., Penson, R and Bendell, T. (1995). â€Å"The quality gurus-their approaches described and considered†. Managing Service Quality. 5, 6, p. 44-48. Chilosi, A and Damiani, M. (2007). â€Å"Stakeholders vs shareholders in corporate government†. Munich Personal RePEc Archive. PN, 2334, p. 1-50. Davies, W. (2000).†Understanding strategy. Strategy and Leadership. 28, 5, p. 25-30. Data Monitor. (2008). â€Å"Ryanair holdings plc†. Data Monitor Europe: London. Data Monitor. (2009). â€Å"Ryanair holdings plc†. Data Monitor Europe: London. Donaldson, T., Preston, L.E. The stakeholder theory of the corporation: concepts, evidence and implications. Academy of Management Review. Vol, 20, 1, 1995, pp.65-91. Emerald. Easyjet and Ryanair flying high on the Southwest model. Strategic Direction. Vol, 22, 6, 2006, pp. 18-21.

Remedial Reading Essay

Introduction One of the most valuable skills a person can acquire is the ability to read well. It is difficult to discover any ability in the school, in the home, in business, or in any other field of endeavor today that does not require reading. People read to get information, to buy things wisely, for recreation, and for a great many other reasons. More reading is being done today than it ever was in the past. According to Smith (1988) reading is an important factor that greatly affects an individuals’ adjustment in life. It is a key to success in school, to the development of out-of school interests, to the enjoyment of leisure time and to the personal and social adjustment. It helps one to adjust to his/her age mates, to become independent from parents and teachers to select and prepare for an occupation and to achieve social responsibilities. Villamin (1999) considers reading as an essential key that unlocks the door to the world of enlightenment and enjoyment and the basic tool for learning in the content field. The absence of reading skill will greatly affect an individual’s adjustment in life. William Gray, known as the father of reading defines reading as a four- step process: perception of the word, comprehension of its meaning, reaction to the meaning in terms of prior knowledge and integration of idea into one’s background of experience. In every chosen field, the proficiency in reading is extremely important because it plays a vital role in achieving success. The ability to read well, leads many students to be competent and be more confident in meeting all the challenges in the field of studies. As defined in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Reading is a complex cognitive process of decoding symbols in order to construct or derive meaning. It is a means of language acquisition, of communication, and of sharing information and ideas. Like all language, it is a complex interaction between the text and the reader which is shaped by the reader’s prior knowledge, experiences, and attitude. It is one of the best ways of broadening one’s knowledge and expanding one’s horizon. The ability to read means the ability to comprehend any printed text. Reading skills and ability play a vital role in raising academic performance of every individual specifically the high school students. With the fast pace of life today and the great knowledge explosion, there is so much printed material around us that the ability to read rapidly has become a most important asset. Rapid reading habits enable a student to accomplish more in a comparatively shorter time, to finish the school requirements, and still have time for leisure or recreational reading. But in spite of the proliferation of different printed reading materials, it’s quite distressful to accept the fact that mostly of the students today are still experiencing difficulties in reading. This is evident in their academic performance in school. The development of varied printed materials cannot solely solve the upsetting problems in reading. Department of Education has been applying varied interventions and innovations to respond to these problems, many schools are using the DepEd programs about reading like the Phil-IRI for elementary and SRI for secondary; nevertheless non-readers in many public schools still cannot be eradicated. As a result, performance indicators of many schools are affected. The inability to read by these students may cause drop-outs or failure. A number of struggling readers have been increasing yearly, specifically in public schools. This present scenario is quite alarming thus reading interventions must be given immediate emphasis. One intervention that could be applicable for the existing problem is remedial reading. Reading remediation can be identified as a general process of re-teaching. It can be directed toward each child’s specific needs and inadequacies. Various remedial measures could be used by any educational institution to diagnose factors responsible for reading disabilities and to improve those who are poor or indifferent readers. Villamin enumerates the basic principles or remedial reading. They are as follows; treatment must be based on the understanding of the instructional needs, remedial instruction must be organized, reading process must be made meaningful to the learners, every child’s principle must be considered, reading activities must be encouraging, materials and activities must be suitable to the child’s reading ability. Such principles mentioned, once applied to actual remedial reading instruction might contribute a lot for the success of the program. Background of the Study One of the usual dilemmas of reading teachers in high school is the inability to read and comprehend by the students specifically the grade seven learners. In fact mostly of the public high school English teachers are experiencing this. Some of the learners had been promoted from elementary even they are not proficient in reading and comprehending as well. Same situation is happening in San Cristobal National High School, a school that is located in the remote barrio in San Pablo City. A school that lies beneath the mountains of Mt. Cristobal and Mt. Banahaw where the usual residents’ source of living are farming and hog raising. Due to the barrio’s distant from the city, the former Brgy. Chairman, Gabriel Enabore together with the Brgy. Council prepared an ordinance of establishing a Baragay High School, presented it to the City Mayor for approval and endorsed to the Ministry of Education. Upon approval of the city government through the Ministry of Education, the Barangay High School was established immediately to respond to the immediate needs of the residents in the area. However there were no enough budgets for the purchase of lot and for the construction of the high school building as a result, the high school students were temporarily housed to the elementary school. Mr. Venus Avanzado, a former part-time CAT instructor of the school that time, donated a parcel of his land to be utilized in putting up the high school building. Almost all the parents of the high school students are grateful due to the establishment of the said school; nevertheless, since most of them are not well educated, they are not aware of monitoring the status of their children in school. After 18 years of teaching fourth year students in San Cristobal National High School, the researcher was designated to attend the K-12 training and was also assigned to teach the Grade 7 formerly first year high school students. During the first year of teaching in grade 7, the researcher became quite alarmed of the up growing number of students having difficulty in reading. The former freshman teachers in fact admitted that mostly of the freshmen students can read but without comprehension. These students cannot read within, between and beyond the lines, in short they are considered as struggling readers. As shown in the Secondary Reading Inventory Test (SRI) records, the researcher noted that a number of first year high school students fall under frustration level. For this reason the academic performance of these students declined as proven in the NAT result record. Aside from the NAT records, the academic performance of a number of students in every grading period in English is not increasing due to their difficulties in reading and comprehending as well. This current scenario prompted the researcher to conduct a study to address the needs of the students and the school as well. In the light of these observations, it is out timely to conduct this study to find out some possible variables about remedial reading and its affect on the academic performance of the Grade 7 learners in San Cristobal National High school, San Pablo city for the school year 2013-2014. Theoretical Framework Murray’s Interactive Theory cited by Tejero (2010) postulates that reading is an interaction involving the reader and the text being read. Meaning it is not only in the mind of the person during the reading act nor is it only in the text being read. It is instead the interaction between the text read and the reader’s various sources that determine the amount and type of comprehension that take place. Reading models have been conceptualized in the following; bottom-up, top-down and interactive models. For Gough’s bottom-up model mentioned by Tejero (2010) his essential element is the text rather than what the reader brings to the text. Goodman’s (1985) top-down model cited also by Tejero (2010) focuses attention on the reader. Thus the reader brings information based on past experience. On the other hand, Rumelhart (1985) also cited by Tejero (2010) postulates interactive model which is the combination of bottom-up and top-down views of reading. For him a reader may be top-down if he is reading familiar material and bottom- up when reading unfamiliar information. Other related theories of reading are; The Traditional view, the Cognitive view, the Metacognitive view. In the traditional view of reading, novice readers acquire a set of hierarchically ordered sub-skills that sequentially build toward comprehension ability. McCarthy (2004) has called this view ‘outside-in’ processing; referring to the idea that meaning exists in the printed page and is interpreted by the reader then taken in. This model of reading has almost always been under attack as being insufficient and defective for the main reason that it relies on the formal features of the language, mainly words. The Cognitive view The ‘top-down’ model is in direct opposition to the ‘ bottom-up’ model. According to Nunan, et. al (2005), the psycholinguistic model of reading and the top-down model are in exact concordance. From the study of Goodman (1966) as cited by Paran, (2002) presented reading as a psycholinguistic guessing game, a process in which readers sample the text, make hypotheses, confirm or reject them, make new hypotheses, and so forth. Here, the reader rather than the text is at the heart of the reading process and structure. The Metacognitive view involves thinking about what one is doing while reading. Klein et al. (2004) stated that strategic readers attempt the following while reading: Identifying the purpose of the reading before reading Identifying the form or type of the text before reading thinking about the general character and features of the form or type of the text. For instance, they try to locate a topic sentence and follow supporting details toward a conclusion. The Conceptual Framework The conceptual framework of this study is shown in the research paradigm which illustrates the relationship between the respondents’ remedial reading effects and related factors (independent variables) and the learners’ academic performance in English (dependent variables) RESEARCH PARADIGM Independent VariablesDependent Variables 1. Respondents’ Related Factors Age Gender Parent’s educational attainment Availability of reading materials at home 2. Remedial reading related variables 2. 1 Student related factors: Physiological Intellectual Psychological Linguistic Sociological 2. 2 Teacher related factors Competency Instructional materials Evaluation techniques 3. Reading Level Independent Instructional Frustration Figure 1 Shows the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. Frame 1 consists of the independent variables namely; profile of the respondents, remedial reading related variable; student related, teachers related and impact of remedial reading. Frame 2 shows the dependent variable which is the learners academic performance in English. Statement of the Problem. This study dealt with the remedial reading and its effect on the academic performance of the Grade 7 learners in San Cristobal National High School, San Pablo City during the School Year 2013-2014. Specifically, this attempted to answer the following questions: 1. What are the respondents’ related factors in terms of : 1. 1 age 1. 2 gender 1. 3 parent’s educational attainment 1. 4 availability of reading materials at home 2. What is the perception of the respondents in the remedial reading related variables in terms of : 2. 1 student factors Physiological Intellectual Psychological Linguistic Sociological 2. 2 teacher factors. Competency Instructional materials Evaluation techniques 3. What is the reading level of the respondents as to: 3. 1 Independent 3. 2 Instructional 3. 3 Frustration 4. What is the academic performance of the respondents in English? 5. Is the academic performance in English of the respondents significantly related to the following: 5. 1 Respondents related factor 5. 2 Remedial reading related variables 5. 3 Reading level Research Hypothesis After a careful study, the following were considered as hypothesis. 1. The academic performance in English of the respondents is not significantly related to the following factors: 1. 1 Respondents’ related factors 1. 2 Remedial reading related variables 1. 3 Respondents’ reading level SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY The result of this study had proven the importance to the following domain: The administrator may discover inventive designs in improving the academic performance of the students by advocating the importance of enhancing the student’s reading skills and ability. The teachers will determine the different factors that may affect the reading skills and ability of the Grade 7 learners and that they may use innovative strategies in teaching reading to improve their academic performance. The parents will realize the role and importance of parental assistance in motivating and developing the interest of the students in reading. The students will recognize the importance of reading as it is their basic tool for learning. Scope and Limitation of the Study This study focused on the remedial reading and its effect on the academic performance of Grade 7 learners in San Cristobal National High School, San Pablo City during the Academic Year 2013-2014. Eighty out of one hundred thirty learners were the respondents of this study. These eighty respondents were learners who fall under instructional and frustration level during the Secondary Reading Inventory Pre-test. This Definition of Terms For better and clearer understanding the following terms were defined operationally. Age. One of the variables under the respondents’ profile that refers to the chronological age of the grade 7 learners who are the subject of this study. Gender. Pertaining to the respondents gender as to male or female Parents’ educational attainment. The highest level of education obtained by the respondents’ parents. Availability of reading materials. The respondents’ available reading materials at home. Physiological factors. Refers to the respondents’ physical attributes and capability. Intellectual factors. The respondents’ ability to recognize, comprehend, interpret and analyze any printed word. Psychological factors. It is the respondents’ emotional readiness and stability. Linguistic factors. The respondents’ exposure in the use of language and the background they have obtained. Sociological factors. Refers to the respondents social well being/ behavior and eagerness to deal with the peer. Competency. Refers to the teacher’s competence in teaching reading, his skills and strategies, including his experience and professional growth. Instructional materials. The instructional tools used by the teacher in teaching reading. Evaluation techniques. Refers to the types of assessments used by the teacher in evaluating the students ability and performance. Independent. It is the respondents’ reading level where the reading comprehension falls under independent or 90-100% and the reading speed falls under fast. Instructional. The respondents’ reading level where the reading comprehension is instructional or75-89% and the reading speed is average. Frustration. The respondents’ reading level where the reading comprehension falls under frustration or below 75% and the reading speed is either average or slow. Introduction One of the most valuable skills a person can acquire is the ability to read well. It is difficult to discover any ability in the school, in the home, in business, or in any other field of endeavor today that does not require reading. People read to get information, to buy things wisely, for recreation, and for a great many other reasons. More reading is being done today than it ever was in the past. According to Smith (1988) reading is an important factor that greatly affects an individuals’ adjustment in life. It is a key to success in school, to the development of out-of school interests, to the enjoyment of leisure time and to the personal and social adjustment. It helps one to adjust to his/her age mates, to become independent from parents and teachers to select and prepare for an occupation and to achieve social responsibilities. Villamin (1999) considers reading as an essential key that unlocks the door to the world of enlightenment and enjoyment and the basic tool for learning in the content field. The absence of reading skill will greatly affect an individual’s adjustment in life. William Gray, known as the father of reading defines reading as a four- step process: perception of the word, comprehension of its meaning, reaction to the meaning in terms of prior knowledge and integration of idea into one’s background of experience. In every chosen field, the proficiency in reading is extremely important because it plays a vital role in achieving success. The ability to read well, leads many students to be competent and be more confident in meeting all the challenges in the field of studies. As defined in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Reading is a complex cognitive process of decoding symbols in order to construct or derive meaning. It is a means of language acquisition, of communication, and of sharing information and ideas. Like all language, it is a complex interaction between the text and the reader which is shaped by the reader’s prior knowledge, experiences, and attitude. It is one of the best ways of broadening one’s knowledge and expanding one’s horizon. The ability to read means the ability to comprehend any printed text. Reading skills and ability play a vital role in raising academic performance of every individual specifically the high school students. With the fast pace of life today and the great knowledge explosion, there is so much printed material around us that the ability to read rapidly has become a most important asset. Rapid reading habits enable a student to accomplish more in a comparatively shorter time, to finish the school requirements, and still have time for leisure or recreational reading. But in spite of the proliferation of different printed reading materials, it’s quite distressful to accept the fact that mostly of the students today are still experiencing difficulties in reading. This is evident in their academic performance in school. The development of varied printed materials cannot solely solve the upsetting problems in reading. Department of Education has been applying varied interventions and innovations to respond to these problems, many schools are using the DepEd programs about reading like the Phil-IRI for elementary and SRI for secondary; nevertheless non-readers in many public schools still cannot be eradicated. As a result, performance indicators of many schools are affected. The inability to read by these students may cause drop-outs or failure. A number of struggling readers have been increasing yearly, specifically in public schools. This present scenario is quite alarming thus reading interventions must be given immediate emphasis. One intervention that could be applicable for the existing problem is remedial reading. Reading remediation can be identified as a general process of re-teaching. It can be directed toward each child’s specific needs and inadequacies. Various remedial measures could be used by any educational institution to diagnose factors responsible for reading disabilities and to improve those who are poor or indifferent readers. Villamin enumerates the basic principles or remedial reading. They are as follows; treatment must be based on the understanding of the instructional needs, remedial instruction must be organized, reading process must be made meaningful to the learners, every child’s principle must be considered, reading activities must be encouraging, materials and activities must be suitable to the child’s reading ability. Such principles mentioned, once applied to actual remedial reading instruction might contribute a lot for the success of the program. Background of the Study One of the usual dilemmas of reading teachers in high school is the inability to read and comprehend by the students specifically the grade seven learners. In fact mostly of the public high school English teachers are experiencing this. Some of the learners had been promoted from elementary even they are not proficient in reading and comprehending as well. Same situation is happening in San Cristobal National High School, a school that is located in the remote barrio in San Pablo City. A school that lies beneath the mountains of Mt. Cristobal and Mt. Banahaw where the usual residents’ source of living are farming and hog raising. Due to the barrio’s distant from the city, the former Brgy. Chairman, Gabriel Enabore together with the Brgy. Council prepared an ordinance of establishing a Baragay High School, presented it to the City Mayor for approval and endorsed to the Ministry of Education. Upon approval of the city government through the Ministry of Education, the Barangay High School was established immediately to respond to the immediate needs of the residents in the area. However there were no enough budgets for the purchase of lot and for the construction of the high school building as a result, the high school students were temporarily housed to the elementary school. Mr. Venus Avanzado, a former part-time CAT instructor of the school that time, donated a parcel of his land to be utilized in putting up the high school building. Almost all the parents of the high school students are grateful due to the establishment of the said school; nevertheless, since most of them are not well educated, they are not aware of monitoring the status of their children in school. After 18 years of teaching fourth year students in San Cristobal National High School, the researcher was designated to attend the K-12 training and was also assigned to teach the Grade 7 formerly first year high school students. During the first year of teaching in grade 7, the researcher became quite alarmed of the up growing number of students having difficulty in reading. The former freshman teachers in fact admitted that mostly of the freshmen students can read but without comprehension. These students cannot read within, between and beyond the lines, in short they are considered as struggling readers. As shown in the Secondary Reading Inventory Test (SRI) records, the researcher noted that a number of first year high school students fall under frustration level. For this reason the academic performance of these students declined as proven in the NAT result record. Aside from the NAT records, the academic performance of a number of students in every grading period in English is not increasing due to their difficulties in reading and comprehending as well. This current scenario prompted the researcher to conduct a study to address the needs of the students and the school as well. In the light of these observations, it is out timely to conduct this study to find out some possible variables about remedial reading and its affect on the academic performance of the Grade 7 learners in San Cristobal National High school, San Pablo city for the school year 2013-2014. Theoretical Framework Murray’s Interactive Theory cited by Tejero (2010) postulates that reading is an interaction involving the reader and the text being read. Meaning it is not only in the mind of the person during the reading act nor is it only in the text being read. It is instead the interaction between the text read and the reader’s various sources that determine the amount and type of comprehension that take place. Reading models have been conceptualized in the following; bottom-up, top-down and interactive models. For Gough’s bottom-up model mentioned by Tejero (2010) his essential element is the text rather than what the reader brings to the text. Goodman’s (1985) top-down model cited also by Tejero (2010) focuses attention on the reader. Thus the reader brings information based on past experience. On the other hand, Rumelhart (1985) also cited by Tejero (2010) postulates interactive model which is the combination of bottom-up and top-down views of reading. For him a reader may be top-down if he is reading familiar material and bottom- up when reading unfamiliar information. Other related theories of reading are; The Traditional view, the Cognitive view, the Metacognitive view. In the traditional view of reading, novice readers acquire a set of hierarchically ordered sub-skills that sequentially build toward comprehension ability. McCarthy (2004) has called this view ‘outside-in’ processing; referring to the idea that meaning exists in the printed page and is interpreted by the reader then taken in. This model of reading has almost always been under  attack as being insufficient and defective for the main reason that it relies on the formal features of the language, mainly words. The Cognitive view The ‘top-down’ model is in direct opposition to the ‘ bottom-up’ model. According to Nunan, et. al (2005), the psycholinguistic model of reading and the top-down model are in exact concordance. From the study of Goodman (1966) as cited by Paran, (2002) presented reading as a psycholinguistic guessing game, a process in which readers sample the text, make hypotheses, confirm or reject them, make new hypotheses, and so forth. Here, the reader rather than the text is at the heart of the reading process and structure. The Metacognitive view involves thinking about what one is doing while reading. Klein et al. (2004) stated that strategic readers attempt the following while reading: Identifying the purpose of the reading before reading Identifying the form or type of the text before reading thinking about the general character and features of the form or type of the text. For instance, they try to locate a topic sentence and follow supporting details toward a conclusion. The Conceptual Framework The conceptual framework of this study is shown in the research paradigm which illustrates the relationship between the respondents’ remedial reading effects and related factors (independent variables) and the learners’ academic performance in English (dependent variables) RESEARCH PARADIGM Independent VariablesDependent Variables 1. Respondents’ Related Factors Age Gender Parent’s educational attainment Availability of reading materials at home 2. Remedial reading related variables 2. 1 Student related factors: Physiological. Intellectual Psychological Linguistic Sociological 2. 2 Teacher related factors Competency Instructional materials Evaluation techniques 3. Reading Level Independent Instructional Frustration Figure 1 Shows the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. Frame 1 consists of the independent variables namely; profile of the respondents, remedial reading related variable; student related, teachers related and impact of remedial reading. Frame 2 shows the dependent variable which is the learners academic performance in English. Statement of the Problem This study dealt with the remedial reading and its effect on the academic performance of the Grade 7 learners in San Cristobal National High School, San Pablo City during the School Year 2013-2014. Specifically, this attempted to answer the following questions: 1. What are the respondents’ related factors in terms of : 1. 1 age 1. 2 gender 1. 3 parent’s educational attainment 1. 4 availability of reading materials at home 2. What is the perception of the respondents in the remedial reading related variables in terms of : 2. 1 student factors Physiological Intellectual Psychological Linguistic Sociological 2. 2 teacher factors Competency Instructional materials Evaluation techniques 3. What is the reading level of the respondents as to: 3. 1 Independent 3. 2 Instructional 3. 3 Frustration 4. What is the academic performance of the respondents in English? 5. Is the academic performance in English of the respondents significantly related to the following: 5. 1 Respondents related factor 5. 2 Remedial reading related variables 5. 3 Reading level Research Hypothesis. After a careful study, the following were considered as hypothesis. 1. The academic performance in English of the respondents is not significantly related to the following factors: 1. 1 Respondents’ related factors 1. 2 Remedial reading related variables 1. 3 Respondents’ reading level SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY The result of this study had proven the importance to the following domain: The administrator may discover inventive designs in improving the academic performance of the students by advocating the importance of enhancing the student’s reading skills and ability. The teachers will determine the different factors that may affect the reading skills and ability of the Grade 7 learners and that they may use innovative strategies in teaching reading to improve their academic performance. The parents will realize the role and importance of parental assistance in motivating and developing the interest of the students in reading. The students will recognize the importance of reading as it is their basic tool for learning. Scope and Limitation of the Study. This study focused on the remedial reading and its effect on the academic performance of Grade 7 learners in San Cristobal National High School, San Pablo City during the Academic Year 2013-2014. Eighty out of one hundred thirty learners were the respondents of this study. These eighty respondents were learners who fall under instructional and frustration level during the Secondary Reading Inventory Pre-test. This Definition of Terms For better and clearer understanding the following terms were defined operationally. Age. One of the variables under the respondents’ profile that refers to the chronological age of the grade 7 learners who are the subject of this study. Gender. Pertaining to the respondents gender as to male or female Parents’ educational attainment. The highest level of education obtained by the respondents’ parents. Availability of reading materials. The respondents’ available reading materials at home. Physiological factors. Refers to the respondents’ physical attributes and capability. Intellectual factors. The respondents’ ability to recognize, comprehend, interpret and analyze any printed word. Psychological factors. It is the respondents’ emotional readiness and stability. Linguistic factors. The respondents’ exposure in the use of language and the background they have obtained. Sociological factors. Refers to the respondents social well being/ behavior and eagerness to deal with the peer. Competency. Refers to the teacher’s competence in teaching reading, his skills and strategies, including his experience and professional growth. Instructional materials. The instructional tools used by the teacher in teaching reading. Evaluation techniques. Refers to the types of assessments used by the teacher in evaluating the students ability and performance. Independent. It is the respondents’ reading level where the reading comprehension falls under independent or 90-100% and the reading speed falls under fast. Instructional. The respondents’ reading level where the reading comprehension is instructional or75-89% and the reading speed is average. Frustration. The respondents’ reading level where the reading comprehension falls under frustration or below 75% and the reading speed is either average or slow.

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