Proficiency in English as a Second Language (ESL) of College Students in Varied Courses and Laboratory High School Students of Laguna State Polytechnic University (Siniloan Campus)

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Language is a living subject that evolves over time since people use it to communicate. With this, Filipinos are said to be one of the fluent speakers of the English language among the neighboring countries in Asia. Their capacity to communicate well with the other races had been a competitive edge for them in job market. In this context, with the trend towards globalization and international industries the demands for human resources who are proficient in the English language were really high.

METHODS

This study used the descriptive correlational research method to gauge the ESL performance of 702 college students from ten courses and 104 secondary laboratory students from Laguna State Polytechnic University. It was determined and studied in terms of their profile and proficiency level in ESL's five areas of competencies. The relationship between and among variables were analyzed using the one-way and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), regression and unpaired t-test.

RESULTS

Findings revealed that the performance of the respondents in ESL test was significantly influenced by their profile specifically by the course taken, year level and sex. Also, percentage of students' enrolment decreases as they progresses to the next year level which may be attributed to various reasons such as financial difficulty and poor scholastic performance. It also appeared that high school students were financially well off than their college counterpart. Moreso, it was revealed that the respondents performed well in advanced vocabulary idioms while they struggles under tenses of verbs of the ESL test given. Furthermore, significant differences occurred among the eleven courses investigated as well as among the five areas of competencies indicating that the courses taken by the respondents had significant bearing on their performance in the ESL tests.

DISCUSSIONS

These imply that the respondents' ESL performance can be attributed to some differences in the admission criteria and course requirements for enrollees. It further implies that their level of competency in the five areas significantly differed from one another. It is therefore recommended that the university may adapt a standardized test that can be used for admission among college entrants.