Factors Affecting Second Language Speaking Skills of Junior High School Learners

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

In the English as a Second Language (ESL) learning context, speaking English has always been a critical skill to develop. One of the essential activities of man is communication; it is where he/she shares his/her thoughts, ideas, and feelings toward each other. Speaking before a group or public has been a long standing issue in the communication and language arena. Students tried to avoid speaking in public because of embarrassment, shaky voices, rapid heartbeat, feeling of discomfort, inferiority complex and low self-respect. This study is only focused on the Second Language Speaking Skills among Junior High School Learners of Mahayag National High School of S.Y. 2018-2019 with the different factors that can affect the speaking skills of the learners using English.

METHODS

The researcher used quantitative research design utilizing a questionnaire in a checklist form. To cater the number of respondents to be included in the study, the researcher used the Stratified Random Sampling. The total number of JHS students during the described school year is 200, while the actual number of respondents was only 133 based on the utilized sampling procedure.

RESULTS

The study is focused on the grade 7 students. The research investigated the demographic profile of the learners which contains the age, year level, ethnicity and sex; among all, sex was mostly showing a significant relationship to the second language speaking skills of the JHS learners in the teaching-learning process of English as a second language. On the factors that affect the learners' speaking skills, a slight difference was seen in instructional factor.

DISCUSSIONS

The results showed that classroom activities and methodologies as well as teaching aids could have affected students' speaking in the classroom, especially if the teacher makes use of activities that challenges the students confidence such as those speaking activities requiring learners/students to display their critical thinking skills, when this occurs in the classroom, students' performance specifically their speaking performance would be affected.