Socio-Economic Status and Its Effect on the Grade One Learners Participation in English

Abstract

To further concretize the claim that the economic status of students highly affects their performance in classrooms, this study was conducted. The results of the study will provide concrete data based on actual students, thus making the result juiced out from primary information. The purpose of this study is to determine the factors affecting the learning ability of Grade One pupils from lower socio-economic status and to know the possible reasons why the pupil do not excel in English subject. In order to determine the factors affecting the children's performance in the English subject, a set of questions was given to the pupils to answer. They were asked individually. This was done because group discussion involving their personal life may alter the information or may cause discomfort to the students. This study focused on the performance level of pupils in English language of Balele Elementary School. It is limited to 26% of the total population, equivalent to 43 pupils out of 166 Grade 1 of BES this academic year of 2018-2019 were diagnosed with reading difficulties in the English Language. The study will provide knowledge on how children from lower socio-economic status affects their learning ability. Children from low-socioeconomic environments acquire language skills more slowly, exhibit delayed letter recognition and phonological awareness, and are at risk for reading difficulties. It is clear that the educational process reflects many elements such as the native and acquired skills of the teachers, the development of new teaching techniques, the advances in textbook and reference materials, and innovative devices and patterns. All of this has contributed to the progress of education. In this research, several rough estimates as to how a student in lower sections of pupils posted a partial grade in English and the relationship of these scores to the different factors that may affect their learning experience. It has to be noted that the sampling pool (total number of students is enough to make a fair conclusion from the statistics gathered) have satisfied the number needed to make a normal distribution, thus the patterns observed as the data was compared indeed gave a clear idea in further understanding a clear behavior of learning across different social status of children. It is recommended, however, to further the research using the more comprehensive yet easier survey to grasp the information about the students' socio-economic status.