Attitude of Grade 11 Students towards Speaking in English
Introduction
With a focus on both oral and written skills, English's status as the universal language has
unquestionably elevated it in international communication. However, as a study has noted,
speaking in English appears to be particularly challenging for pupils in the secondary level in the
Philippines.
The process of learning to speak English is influenced by a number of factors, including them is
attitude. The individual's behavioral beliefs—beliefs about the results or qualities of engaging in
the behaviors—are weighted by judgments of those results or qualities to determine attitude.
The concern on the learners’ attitudes towards the target language was emphasized by Gardner
(1985). He stated that the learners’ attitudes towards learning another language play a key role in
enhancing and motivating them to learn that language.
According to certain theories, students who have optimistic viewpoints about language
acquisition tend to spread similar viewpoints to other students. Both first and second language
scholars have focused a lot of emphasis on attitude, which is thought to be a crucial component
affecting language performance.
There are many reasons why student's attitude toward language learning is important. Attitude is
one of the factors that influence foreign language learning because how much effort students put
into language learning depends partly on attitude (Gardner, Lanlonde and Moorcroft, 1985).
Thus, it can be inferred that learners with positive attitude towards speaking English will be more
involved in speaking activities and may try to make use of more strategies that help them deal
with their difficulties in the course of conversation; and learners with negative attitude will be
less willing to participate in speaking activities. Conversely, negative beliefs may lead to class
anxiety, low cognitive achievement, and negative attitudes (Victori & Lockhart, 1995).
Furthermore, in the study concluded by Cabansag (2013) titled “The Attitudinal Propensity of
Students towards strategies in English Language Learning” it was found out that positive attitude
towards English may lead to awareness of the importance of English and learn it as a compulsory
subject.
The concept of attitude is regarded as being crucial to language learning. Therefore, learning a
language should be based on a positive attitude. The study of learner personalities is crucial.
Because of this, language study should take the effective perspective, especially attitude, into
account.
The idea of attitude is examined in this study as one of the main positive factors that students
need to succeed in speaking English. It focuses more specifically on senior high school students'
views on speaking English while taking into account profile factors as strand.
Objectives of the Study
The goal of the current study was to better understand students' attitudes toward speaking in
English by assessing if these attitudes significantly differed according on their profile
characteristics, such as their academic track strand.
Methodology
As Most of the students I could survey are grade 11 the main research I could do is from their
attitudes. The method of data collection employed for the present study was the random
sampling.
Instruments: As the present study’s context is the same with that of Bui and Intarapresert (2013),
their English Speaking Attitude Questionnaire (ESAQ) was used. It was constructed on the basis
of the Language Learning Attitude Questionnaire (2004) and Okert’s (2010) language learning
questionnaire. The statements in the ESAQ specifically pertains to their feelings towards
speaking in English, reasons why they speak in English, reasons why English is important to
them as well as their perceived English speaking capability.
Procedure
I just send the google docs to my classmates and friends. In hopes that they actually use it.
Results and discussion
So far the responses are only 3. It is easy to collect the data coming from the survey.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1evIL8XCxauP1bYwaUu6JjKdxPQcfnyZTCz-CZipUi_0/
edit#responses
Statements Response Description
1) You enjoy speaking 3 Agrees Strongly Agree
English.
2) Being able to speak 3 Agrees Strongly Agree
English often makes you
happy.
3) Speaking English is 2 Agree, 1 Disagree Agree
important to you in general.
4) You speak English 2 Agree, 1 Disagree Agree
because it will make your
parents or your teacher
proud of you.
5) Being able to speak 2 Agree, 1 Disagree Agree
English gives you a feeling of
success.
6) You speak English 2 Agree, 1 Disagree Agree
because you want to do well
on oral tests
7) You speak English 2 Agree, 1 Disagree Agree
because you want to
communicate with foreigners.
8) Speaking English is 3 Agrees Strongly Agree
important to you because you
want to make friends with
foreigners.
9) Speaking English is 3 Agrees Strongly Agree
important to you because you
might study overseas
10) Speaking English is 3 Agrees Strongly Agree
important to you because you
might need it later for your
job.
11) You speak English 2 Agree, 1 Disagree Agree
because all educated people
can do that.
12) You speak English 2 Agree, 1 Disagree Agree
because you have to do it.
13) You think you speak 2 Disagree, 1 Agree Strongly Disagree
English well.
14) You think if you put much 3 Agrees Strongly Agree
effort in practicing, you can
speak English well.
15) You are not worried 2 Agree, 1 Disagree Agree
about making mistakes when
you speak English.
16) You are not afraid of 2 Disagree, 1 Agree Strongly Disagree
being laughed at when you
make mistakes in speaking.
As seen in the results above Students believe that speaking English is important because
they might need it later for their job as suggested in statement number 10. In general, speaking in
English is important to the students. More so, they think that if they put much effort in
practicing, they can speak English well. However, findings also indicate that the students are not
worried about making mistakes when speaking in English.
Along this line, Batang and Temporal (2018) opined that the negative attitude of students
could be ascribed to their inhibitions in using the English language especially when they are with
people who speak English well. They would rather not speak than commit mistakes and be
laughed at by their interlocutors. Students’ feeling of intimidation could also be spelled from the
worries and discomfort they experience both in and out of the classroom.
From what I could see students strongly agree in statements that is just speaking in
English in general and for communication but not what comes with it. Like discomfort and
worries in general. The intimidation factor of learning English is what drives some students away
from learning English wholeheartedly. This attitude may affect students from learning it as
worries and discomfort distract them in learning this language.
For instance, Shams (2008) conducted a study attempting to investigate students’
attitudes, motivation and anxiety towards the learning of English. The findings underlined that
the students had affirmative attitudes and high enthusiasm towards English. This also highlighted
that most of them showed positive attitudes towards English language and its learning which, in
turn, emphasized the value of English language efficiency in the daily life.
The findings of study by Al-Tamimi and Shuib (2009) on Petroleum Engineering
students’ motivation and attitudes towards learning English revealed that they had positive
attitudes towards the use of English in the Yemeni social and educational contexts. They also
showed affirmative attitude towards the culture of the English-speaking world.
These students are on Senior High School and are candidates either for employment or
further studies in college, thus they already realized the importance of being able to speak in
English for their future careers. Attitude is a very significant factor that could tell the success of
learning something but it must not end there. As suggested by Rastegar and Gohari, 2016,
improving the positive attitude of the students towards a particular academic subject may
increase their desire to learn it and an ability to apply what they have been taught. The academic
subject is much like Speaking in English.
According to Ellis (1985), language teachers should foster a high positive attitude in the
learners by paying a lot of attention to the way the learners find their way throughout learning
the language and should provide the lively and dynamic class environments where can help
students learn the language as best through the creation of a positive attitude towards the
language being learnt and towards the environments in which it can be learnt.
Interestingly, although speaking English is important to them, they admit that they do not
speak English well but with practice, they can improve their speaking in English. In a research
done by Goktepe (2013), it was found out that the students, who were 9th grade public high
school learners commonly believed that they could not speak English fluently. Therefore, these
results gave us some reasons to think the students were aware of the problem.
Conclusion
According to the study's findings, Grade 11 pupils have a positive attitude toward
communicating in English and generally value it. However, speaking in English is feared by the
majority of pupils because they are concerned about being ridiculed if they make mistakes. They
may not enjoy using the language since they are unconfident in their abilities to carry on a
conversation. Nevertheless, they believe that if given the chance to practice, they can speak
English well.
References
Gardner, R. & Lambert, W. (1972). Attitudes and motivation in second language learning.
Rowley, MA: Newbury House.
Batang, P. & Temporal, C. (2018). Language attitude and English proficiency of ESL learners.
Asian EFL Journal. Volume 20, Issue 2 pp.186-205Shams (2008)
Al-Tamimi, A. & Shuib, M. (2009). Motivation and attitudes towards learning English: A study
of petroleum engineering undergraduates at Hadhramout University of Sciences and Technology.
GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, 9(2), 29-55. Retrieved May 10, 2018 from:
http://www.ukm.edu.my/ppbl/Gema/pp%2029_55.pdfRastegar and Gohari, 2016,
Ellis, R. (1994). The study of second language acquisition. Oxford University Press.
Goktepe, F. T. (2014). Attitudes and Motivation of Turkish Undergraduate EFL: Students
towards Learning English Language. Studies in English Language Teaching, 2, 314-332.
http://www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/selt/article/view/239/219
(Victori & Lockhart, 1995).
Cabansag (2013) titled “The Attitudinal Propensity of Students towards strategies in English
Language Learning”
of Bui and Intarapresert (2013)
Language Learning Attitude Questionnaire (2004) and Okert’s (2010)
