Factors Affecting the English Proficiency of Junior High Students

A Research Paper

in partial fulfillment of the subject

ENGLISH 10

Submitted to:
Adessa A. Rendon

Submitted by:
Gomez, Gertrude Miyacah L.
Junio, Jemina Joyce P.
Libatique, Alexander M.
Raguindin, Dysebell V.
Urbano, Jerwyn
 INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

English proficiency is an individual’s skill or capability to produce or understand English which

includes reading comprehension, writing, grammar intellect, and listening abilities. English
stands as one of the universal languages used by many countries considering that it has
become the global lingua franca. It is also the language of international communication, the
media and the internet. Sometimes, foreign races can communicate with each other using the
English language. Learning English keeps the brain activity functioning, broadens the
knowledge of an individual not only in school but also in other environments. It is important to
learn English for socializing and entertainment as well as work. A strong English proficiency
increases an individual’s chances of job opportunities in a local country or even abroad.
English proficiency of today serves as a competitive edge for a lot of students. A lot of people
suffer from having poor English proficiency because of different reasons. Mainly, students from
different junior high schools experience low English proficiency because of many factors.

B. Objectives of the Study

This study intends to determine the factors that affect the English Proficiency of junior high
students. Furthermore, it aims to answer the following questions:

1. What are the factors affecting students’ grammar competency?

2. What are the problems faced by students’ low English Proficiency?
3. What disadvantages occur of students’ weak English?
4. What are the ways to improve students’ English Proficiency?
5. As a Junior High student, how useful is it to be proficient in English?
 C. Significance of the Study

This study will be of great benefit to the following:

 Researcher. The researchers are able to help the teachers, students, and parents to
spread awareness about English proficiency. This study helps the researches to teach the
importance of learning English proficiency from students to adults. Researchers also
develop their skills and knowledge in preparing for other researches.

 Teachers. This study helps them to identify the factors that affect the English proficiency of
their students. It also encourages them to improve their strategic skills in teaching English.
Teachers also give attention to those students who experience low English proficiency and
guide them for better improvement.

 Students. This study provides knowledge about the importance of English proficiency in
their life and understand the factors that negatively affect the English proficiency of
students. This study also helps the students to focus on the ways to improve their English
proficiency.

 Parents. This study lets them guide their children to learning better English and to improve
their grammar competence. It also helps them to motivate their children in learning English
as well as providing answers whenever their children would ask questions regarding
English matter.
 D. Related Literature

According to the study of Prof. V. Chandra Sekhar Rao, it is evidently known that
English communication skills are an important pre-requisite for a career at national or
international level. English proficiency is a key factor for employment success and
advancement as English language is the window to the world and it is widely accepted as the
formal medium of communication.

Based on a research about English Proficiency in the Philippines, the English language,
which is the closest thing to a lingua franca around the world, is another means for us to join the
stream of world culture. This is where English proficiency becomes vital in today’s world and
country. English proficiency is the ability to speak, read and/or write in English. In Philippine
education system, high school students with ages ranging from 12 to 17 are expected to have
already basic knowledge of English and the four communication skills which will enable them to
function satisfactorily in certain English communication situations. The basic goal of high school
English is to enhance the students’ knowledge and skills so that they can function effectively in
any situation. Policies and practices with respect to educating English learners (ELs) in the
United States have historically been driven largely by beliefs and attitudes about how best to
ensure that they acquire high levels of functional proficiency in English as quickly as possible
(Espinosa, 2013).

Research on factors affecting the international students' academic success in foreign

institutions is ongoing, not only due to increasing numbers of international students, but also
due to changing demographics of international students.

There are many researches concerning about students’ English grammatical learning
and grammatical competence improvement, but the previous researches are mainly about
foreign language learners’ grammar level as a whole, very few researches are about the
individual differences in learners’ grammatical knowledge acquisition and competence
improvement. English grammar acquisition in non-native context is a complex mental process
which needs to be further studied.

Based on the research of Hui He, he believed that though the existing researches have
broadened the scope of English grammar study, the research on how to help FL learners
internalize their explicit grammatical knowledge into their grammatical competence in non-
native context is still in its infancy. In acquiring a foreign language, grammar has long been an
early obstacle to overcome. As we know, English grammar acquisition in non-native context is
not only an indispensable part but also a complex process which remains to be further
explored.
 BODY

Among all the factors that affect the English proficiency of students, here are the most
influential factors that influence their grammar learning effect. (1) Anxiety had the biggest
impact. Students cannot avoid the feeling of nervousness whenever they recite in English
especially in front of a crowd. (2) Another factor is lack of student’s learning motivation. A
student cannot learn or grow without achieving a goal or purpose in doing so. (3) Weak
curriculum design and lack of English teachers are also one of the most influential factors.
Some teachers even lack strategic skills in teaching English which results to students’ lack of
learning motivation. (4) Student’s attitude also affects their English proficiency negatively in
such a way that they do not take the subject seriously or they do not value the language.

Students with low English proficiency experience lack of confidence and shyness. Fear
of making mistakes in peaking the English language is also one of the big problems that
usually the students faced. The students are afraid of making mistakes in speaking the English
language that their classmates laugh on them or looking silly in front of their classmates, or
even criticize in the classroom which can result to bullying. Lack of good communication skills
serves as a big disadvantage for those who experience low English proficiency. Without good
communication skills, it will be difficult to find job opportunities from around the world.

There are five ways on how to improve students’ English proficiency: listening,
comprehension, writing, reading, and most importantly speaking. Listening to English lectures
helps the students to become familiar with English words that they have or haven’t heard yet.
One of the best ways to improve comprehension is to read books that are in English, watch
English movies and tv shows. Another area to improve your English proficiency is through
writing. Writing is easier than speaking because a student can take the time they need to think
about what they want to write, which they obviously cannot do when they're speaking and
trying to hold a conversation. Writing can also be difficult because of the challenging spelling
and punctuation rules in English. Reading serves as one of the best ways to improve students’
English proficiency. Students could ask questions or search for the meaning of an unfamiliar
word in the textbook. Speaking is one of the most difficult parts to master in any language,
especially in English. Because of the pronunciation required as well as the intonation,
mispronunciation of a single word can result in the breakdown of the entire sentence. To
improve this, it helps to listen to recordings of native English speakers pronouncing certain
words and try to repeat those out loud as much as possible.

Being proficient in English helps student to excel in school. It helps them to be confident
in oral recitations and public speaking. Students can cope up with foreign countries when it
comes to English grammar.
 CONCLUSION

It is evident that English is not an easy language to learn in a short amount of time. It
takes a lot of hard work and obstacles to be able to master the English language. However, it
is very important for an individual to understand and learn everything about the English
language. Students are expected to focus more on improving their English proficiency as it is
part of the curriculum of their school. There are hindrances that affect the English proficiency
of students negatively. This research focused on determining the factors that affect the English
proficiency of Junior High school students. According to most respondents, there are more
than just one factor that negatively affect their English learning competence. The fundamental
factors they acknowledged were anxiety, lack of confidence, and lack of professional English
teachers. This study may provide insights to many teachers and parents to work on improving
their students’ and children’s English proficiency. The teachers may focus on improving their
strategic skills in teaching and provides their students a better learning environment. The
parents may guide their children by providing them with motivation in learning English at home
and at school. Our study also provides insights for the reformers and educators about how to
give richer understanding while diluting the barriers among the students, with culturally and
contextually more sustainable environment in the classroom.

RECOMMENDATION

Since “personal factors” was mostly rated “very influential” as the different variables in
this research were considered, it is therefore a must to develop programs that will target the
attitude of Junior High school students themselves towards valuing English as a significant tool
in understanding and communicating the technical subjects that they were supposed to teach
in the near future. The present study focused only on the factors influencing English
proficiency among junior high school students. It is recommended that further research should
be done by taking into considerations other variables like different multiple intelligences and
learning styles. Since “factors influencing English proficiency” is significantly related to the
academic achievement, there is a must to seriously design and implement intensive English
Program considering these influential factors of the English proficiency as bases. Other
researches could replicate, confirm, disprove or expand this study by making deeper analysis
of the variables being studied.
 References

English Language Center, (November, 2013). 4 Reasons Why Learning English is so

Important. https://www.elc-schools.com/blog/4-reasons-why-learning-english-is-so-important/

Hui He, (August, 2016). On FL Learners' Individual Differences in Grammar Learning and Their
Grammatical Competence Training.
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e22a/925e20fc8604c4181a847b921fd925322eb7.pdf

https://www.bartleby.com/essay/factors-affecting-the-english-proficiency-of-fourth-
F3CJ6JJE36YYS

NAZURAH ABDUL RAHMAN, (2016). Factors Affecting the Level of English Proficiency.
https://www.grin.com/document/383545

Prof. V. Chandra Sekhar Rao, (2016). A Brief Study of English Language Prroficiency:
Employability.

Sadia Asif1 , Rahat Bashir1 & Shabana Zafar1, (2018) . English Language Teaching; What
Are the Factors Affecting the Use of English Language in English-only Classrooms: Student’s
Perspectives in Pakistan. http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/elt/article/view/75332

VANESSA JOY Z. JUDITH, Ph. D. (May, 2018). FACTORS INFLUENCING ENGLISH

PROFICIENCY OF THE BACHELOR OF TECHNICAL TEACHER EDUCATION STUDENTS:
AN ASSESSMENT. http://www.ijesrt.com/issues%20pdf%20file/Archive-2018/May-
2018/35.pdf