Epistemological Beliefs: Implications to the Grade 11 Senior High School Students’ Academic Performance in English

Personal epistemological beliefs engage students in a sophisticated way of knowing and learning that knowledge acquisition is linked to their academic performance in English. This study investigated the students’ epistemological beliefs concerning their academic performance in English. The survey participants were Senior High School Students in one of the public schools in Zamboanga Del Sur for the School Year 2018-2019. Employing the descriptive correlational research design, the study involved 129 students from four sections. Schommer (1990) designed and developed a pilot-tested research instrument for collecting the data under investigation. Descriptive statistics and Pearson r Coefficient were employed. Findings reveal that students’ personal epistemological beliefs, such as the source of knowledge, the certainty of knowledge, the structure of knowledge, speed of knowledge acquisition, and innate ability, were significantly correlated to their academic performance in English. This implies that Personal epistemological beliefs contribute to student’s academic performance in English subjects. The study, therefore, recommended that English teachers give importance to the students’ epistemological beliefs to strengthen their academic performance in English.