EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LITERARY APPRECIATION SKILLS AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AMONG STUDENTS

This study aimed to determine the relationship of literary appreciation skills and academic performance of students in Bachelor of Secondary Education Major in English at Jose Rizal Memorial State University-Main during the academic year 2023-2024. A quantitative descriptive-correlational research design was employed as the research method. There were 182 student respondents involved. Frequency count, percentage, weighted mean, standard deviation, Kruskal-Wallis H-Test, Spearman Rank-Order Correlation Coefficient were used as the statistical tools. The study revealed that the perceived level of literary appreciation skills of the respondents was high with an overall mean of 4.15. They demonstrated particularly strong understanding in recognizing author’s point of view, character introduction, purpose of the title, parts of the plot, tone/mood/style, and relating stories to their lives. Areas where students showed slightly lower proficiency but still considerable understanding included recognizing imagery, judging texts, recognizing evidence, finding solutions in stories, recognizing personal philosophy, and generating enrichment activities. Majority of the students achieved grades categorized as “good” ranging from 1.6-2.5. Moreover, there were no significant differences in perceived literary appreciation skills based on age, year level, and gender. The age and gender also did not indicate a significant difference with the academic performance, however there is an observed significant difference in academic performance based on year level. In terms of the link between the two variables, the results in the study showed that there was no significant relationship observed between perceived literary appreciation skills and academic performance, suggesting that factors other than literary appreciation skills may influence academic outcomes. Hence, it was recommended that future researchers would explore other variables that could be correlated with literary appreciation skills to expand the body of knowledge in literature.