Level of English Proficiency of Grade 7 Students in the National High Schools of San Juan District: Basis of Enhancement Program

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

This study aimed to assess the level of English Proficiency in terms of grammar, vocabulary, and reading comprehension of Grade 7 students in the national high schools of San Juan District for the school year 2016-2017. Specifically, this study sought to answer what the profile of the respondents is in terms of age, gender, language spoken at home, and reading materials used.

METHODS

There was no significant difference between the proficiency level of male and female respondents in terms of vocabulary as evinced by its computed t-value of 1.12 at 5% level of significance which went beyond 1.96 critical region. There is a significant relationship between the level of the male and female respondents as reflected by the obtained t-value of 7.67 which is beyond the critical region of 1.96 at 5% level of the significance. The computed t-value of 11.19 was much higher than the critical region of 1.96 at 5% level of significance, thus rejecting the null hypothesis that there is no significant difference between the proficiency level of the male and female students in reading comprehension.

RESULTS

The respondents found listening to English music/news and watching English movies very interesting as justified by their weighted mean of 3.41 and 3.30 respectively. On the other hand, the average weighted mean of 2.86, 2.66, 2.60 are justifications of categorizing the following activities as interesting to the respondents: speaking in English materials, memorizing English words or vocabularies and participating and reciting in English discussions. Meanwhile, writing English essays were found neutral with a weighted mean of 2.39.

DISCUSSIONS

There are more male than female respondents. They began practicing English at the age of 11-15 and were using Filipino at home. Majority of the respondents were reading pocketbooks and magazines as their reading materials. They disclosed that English-related activities like listening to English music and watching English movies were very interesting. The students had satisfactory performance in terms of vocabulary, grammar, and reading comprehension. There was no significant difference between the proficiency level of male and female respondents in terms of vocabulary, grammar, and reading in English. An action plan was proposed to enhance the proficiency level of students in English.