PUPIL: International Journal of Teaching, Education and Learning ISSN 2457-0648 Available Online at: http://grdspublishing.org/ 258 Bañez et al., 2019 Volume 3 Issue 1, pp. 258-280 Date of Publication: 2 nd May 2019 DOI-https://dx.doi.org/10.20319/pijtel.2019.31.258280 This paper can be cited as: Bañez, M. M., Sarmiento, M. B., & Bañez, R. M., (2019). Cognitive Models and Literary Competence of Junior High School Students. PUPIL: International Journal of Teaching, Education and Learning, 3(1), 258-280. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA. COGNITIVE MODELS AND LITERARY COMPETENCE OF JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS Marichar M. Bañez Graduate Studies and Applied Research, Laguna State Polytechnic University – San Pablo City Campus, San Pablo City, Philippines maricharbanez@gmail.com Michelle B. Sarmiento Graduate Studies and Applied Research, Laguna State Polytechnic University – San Pablo City Campus, San Pablo City, Philippines michellebsarmiento1024@gmail.com Richard M. Bañez Graduate Studies and Applied Research, Laguna State Polytechnic University – San Pablo City Campus, San Pablo City, Philippines unsunghero25@yahoo.com Abstract This descriptive-correlation study examined the relationship of the public junior high school students’ perception on the relevance of cognitive models in studying literature to their literary competence. Utilizing a questionnaire and a literary competence test in gathering data, the results revealed that the 251 respondents deemed that cultural model as relevant for this model prepare them to be multi-culturally literate individuals. They also found that the vicarious experiences gained from studying literature enabled them to make personal connection with literary texts especially on the universality of human existence that afforded them to perceive personal growth model as relevant. Also, the respondents perceived language model as relevant