Republic of the Philippines

COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION

DARAGA COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Salvacion, Daraga, Albay

FACTORS AFFECTING GRADE 9 STUDENTS’ ENGLISH FLUENCY AT

CAMALIG NATIONAL HIGHSCHOOL

Maricar A. Alim

Camelle V. Toledo

I. CONTEXT AND RATIONALE

English language is an important subject for people whose English

language is not their native language. For surviving in society, they have to learn,
understand, and speak English language fluently. For communicating and
sharing thoughts with people who belong to other regions who speak different
languages, English language is a common language (Muhammad Adil).
'Fluency' is often used in conjunction with 'accuracy'. One could speak fluently
(smoothly without pauses) but be extremely inaccurate (making lots of
grammatical or lexical mistakes throughout). In the EFL, fluency is defined as
having the ability one has to speak smoothly and freely (Chia Suan Chong ).

Communication with others can be done in a variety of ways. Either

through speaking or making gestures. The most popular form of communication
for understanding messages is speaking. In this way, we are able to express our
thoughts and ideas clearly. Speaking verbally gives us the chance to improve our
listening or speaking abilities. Which is a crucial skill for learning English fluency.
Fluency is defined as the capacity to communicate fluently or quickly without
halting. It is the ability to articulate ideas clearly and fluidly especially when
speaking. The explanation may have a few occasional grammatical errors, but it
should be presented in a way that is clear and demonstrates your command of
the language.
 Republic of the Philippines
COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION
DARAGA COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Salvacion, Daraga, Albay

English is our universal language; we use it to connect with people

from other nations. However, to be able to learn and be fluent in speaking
English, there are a lot of factors you will encounter. Not everyone speaks
English effectively because there are several reasons why most people do not,
and it takes time to become fluent in the language.

Speaking English fluently is one of the things to which a teacher and

student should pay attention. English language instruction's primary goal is to
provide students with a basic understanding of the ability to communicate
effectively and correctly in English as a second language. Because it is not just a
language that we can use inside the classroom. However, it is a year-round
learning experience that we can have while living and interacting with
others. English may have become part of our subject since we were in primary
school, but because of some factors, we can clearly observe why some students
are still having a hard time learning to be fluent in it. Tuan and Mai (2015) found
out that, some of the challenges faced by the ESL learners are lack of motivation
and self-confidence, anxiety, inhibition and limited knowledge of vocabulary.

Furthermore, a lot of studies shows that lacking of English fluency

affects the performance of students in school. It creates a negative result toward
students way of interacting and socializing with others. In result to this,
researchers come up into finding those factors affecting students English fluency.
In order to assist students in improving their speaking abilities. The researcher
chose to concentrate on Camalig National Highschool because it was the subject
of their greatest desire to contribute to and share their knowledge in the field in
which they had previously done their observation.

This study was done to aid students in building strong English-

speaking skills by focusing on the elements that fill the gaps.
 Republic of the Philippines
COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION
DARAGA COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Salvacion, Daraga, Albay

II. ACTION RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The aim of this study is to help improve English fluency skills. This study is
guided by the following research questions, which will help determine and
analyze the factors affecting English fluency.

a. Is English frequently spoken in the ninth-grade class?

b. Aside from mother tongue what language does the ninth-grade learners
use when communicating?

c. What are the strategies or techniques that the teacher will use to help
the students who have been facing this kind of problem?

III. INNOVATION, INTERVENTION, AND STRATEGY

The factors affecting students' English fluency are identified through the
survey questionnaire. The questionnaire determines the hindrances affecting
students ability to fluently speak English.

The questionnaire has eighteen (18) items which consist of 13 closed-ended

questions and 5 open-ended questions. As the result reveals what factors affect
the speaking fluency in English of Grade 9 students at Camalig National
Highschool. The researchers propose an intervention which is an English-Only
Policy during English class. The teacher will be giving a chip to every student
who will be speaking the English language only during the period. The color of
those chips has to consist of a point. The color red will be 5 points if they
somehow speak another language during the subject. And the color blue will be 8
points, a higher point. Which is, if they use the English language only during the
period especially in reciting.
 Republic of the Philippines
COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION
DARAGA COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Salvacion, Daraga, Albay

This proposed study will effectively help students to:

a. Enhance pronunciation

b. Encourage students to practice their English both inside and outside of

the classroom.

c. Improve self-esteem

The output of research will give more understanding in dealing and helping
students who have difficulty speaking English, particularly when the subject is
English. Through the utilization and dissemination of results and proposed
prevention and intervention, teachers will be more enlightened on the topic
making them more aware of responding to students' needs. The teachers will
have a reference on the topic which will provide inputs and valuable insights in
responding to such factors.