Study Skills, Writing Strategies and Reading Habits: A Causal Model in Motivation in Learning a Language

Aims: To determine the best fit model of motivation in learning the Filipino language anong senior high school students.

Study Design: Descriptive-causal design.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted among private high schools located in Davao City during the school year 2021-2022.

Methodology: The respondents were 400 senior high school students from private educational institutions in Davao region, Philippines. The respondents were chosen using stratified random sampling. The data were collected using the online platform.

Results: The overall results showed that the respondents had a high level of study skills, writing strategies, reading habits, and motivation in learning the Filipino language. It also showed a significant relationship between the three variables, the study skills, writing strategies, and reading habits in the motivation in learning the Filipino language. Of the five models, model 5 fits best.

Conclusion: The high level of study skills, writing strategies, reading habits, and motivation in learning the Filipino language, suggests that the students have time management. As a strategy, it suggests that students read different writings by well-known writers to gather good writing methods, ask for help or consult a teacher, friend, or family member so that their writing will be done well. In reading habits, it suggests that students spend time reading different books. Lastly, on motivation, it suggests that students use the Filipino language daily so that they become more fluent. The significant relationship between the three variables means that the three variables are of great help to motivate the students in learning the Filipino language. Model 5 acceptable because all the indices met the set criteria against the obtained model fit value. This study proves that a high level of ability in study skills, writing strategies, and reading habits contributes to the motivation in learning the Filipino language.