A Phenomenological Investigation of Senior High School Learners with Low English Language Proficiency

Abstract

Several studies have been conducted locally to internationally, revealing the deterioration of the English proficiency of Filipinos, especially high school learners. Still, only a few have determined the causes of why it is constantly happening. Hence, this phenomenological study investigated the experiences of public senior high school learners under the Technical-Vocational-Livelihood (TVL) track with low English language proficiency to identify various reasons why they are still encountering such problems in English and create an intervention program for them to enhance their skills. Specifically, this research utilized transcendental phenomenology and applied triangulation of the three methods: observations, field notes, and interviews. Also, the researcher followed Colaizzi's Method of Phenomenology, as presented in Morrow, Rodriguez, and King (2015), in analyzing and interpreting the data gathered from the individual interviews. Based on the testimonies and shared experiences of the participants, they knew they had difficulty learning English as early as elementary, while others were during their Junior High School (JHS) and Senior High School (SHS) years. In this study, the following themes emerged: traumatic experience, language anxiety, external factors, learners' motivation and interest, self-awareness, academic performance, learning styles and strategies, and the essence and value of the English language. The researcher recommends that teachers address the learners' problems to enhance their English proficiency and academic performance. It was also recommended for future researchers to investigate the teachers' perspective and assessment based on their experience since they are considered one factor in the learners' low English language proficiency.

Unlocking Language Competence: Challenges and Strategies of English Language Educators in the Post-Pandemic Landscape

“…Participant behaviors during lessons were influenced by their perceived language competence (Dolighan & Owen, 2021). This observation aligned with the interview findings, where Participant 4's belief that students' language skills improved when teachers exhibited confidence in their language proficiency was evident in practice (Romero et al, 2023). Additionally, the role of language as a tool for explanation and clarification became apparent during lessons, reinforcing the points raised by Participant 1, who emphasized language competence's role in effective concept delivery (Rautionaho et al, 2018).…”

“…The research setting was specific to a particular context, and the findings may not be fully transferable to other settings or educational levels. Limitations related to self-reported language proficiency were acknowledged (Romero et al, 2023), and potential temporal limitations in the post-pandemic era were considered. The subjective nature of qualitative data collection tools, such as interviews and observations, was acknowledged, potentially introducing researchers' biases.…”

Online Games and English as a Foreign Language Vocabulary Learning Among Eighth-Grade Students

“…Moreover, the lack of motivation among students was very noticeable because they qualified English as something quite complex and boring because their teachers rarely used technology and focused primarily on teaching grammatical rules for writing sentences. The aforementioned problems were also found in other studies, which indicated that students struggled to learn vocabulary because it is tied to passive teaching methods that are not interesting, do not increase motivation, and require translation, fill-in-the-blanks activities, and word memorization (Alnatour & Hijazi, 2018;Derbouche & Hamadouche, 2016;Hasram et al, 2021;Pintado-Peñaloza & Fajardo-Dack, 2022;Romero et al, 2023).…”