LANGUAGE BARRIERS TO ENGLISH PROFICIENCY: A STUDY

OF THE CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED

BY HUMSS STUDENTS

An Undergraduate Thesis
Presented to the
Faculty of the College of Education
Caraga State University
Ampayon, Butuan City

In Partial fulfillment
Of the requirements for the degree
Bachelor of Secondary Education
Major in English

Kathleen Mae T. Eslier

Rudy B. Fabe, Jr.
Truman L. Falcon

July 2023
 Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM

Every area of a student's education benefits from their proficiency in the

English language. The majority of students' knowledge and many of their abilities

are acquired through the English language. Learning English is primarily

intended to equip the student with the skills necessary to contribute effectively to

class discussions and articulate his or her opinions. Learning English is difficult

since it involves more than just understanding and using words in conversation.

Nevertheless, communicating and taking up its spirit requires an intellectual,

physical, and emotional reaction. Learning English requires assimilating a new

culture, way of thinking, and emotional state. The English language aids learners

in excellent communication, comprehension, and sharing of ideas and

experiences (Vecchio & Guerrero, 2019).

In the Philippines, according to the article by Business Mirror Editorial last

2019, the advantage for the Filipinos who are proficient in using the English

language is being eroded by rising competition from other Asian countries and

needs to step up its efforts in improving the teaching and learning of English,

developing it as a vital skill of the workforce.

Department of Education states that 10 out of 30 barangays that are

lacking the proficiency in using the English language are in Mindanao. The

reason behind its low rate in proficiently speaking the English language is the

lack of quality.
 Chapter 2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

This chapter discusses the researchers' opinions that are related to the

study that will be conducted. Theories are used in the literature review to support

this research. Chapter two presents the theories, including the Importance of

English proficiency, Language barriers, psychological barriers, students’

challenges in learning English, and sociocultural barriers.

Globalization has made English a necessary language for

communication, business, and education. It is frequently used for cross-cultural

communication, particularly online. Business, science, and technology are all

dominated by English (Marc, 2021). English is the most widely spoken language

on the planet, with roughly 20% of the world's population being able to speak in

it, according to Bravo (2022). International communication, both personally and

professionally, frequently uses English. It is the preferred language of

international organizations and is regarded as a prerequisite for participating in

intercultural communication. In a variety of settings, English facilitates cross-

cultural engagement, communication, and understanding.

The Philippines is regarded as one of the major English-speaking nations

because English is one of its official languages, according to study by Santos et

al. (2022). The EF English competence Index, TOEIC, and Filipino IELTS test
results, however, suggest that the English language proficiency of Filipinos has

been declining over time. In spite of this, Marias (2021) asserts that two-thirds of

CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter discusses the research design, research locale population

and study respondents, research instrument validation, data collection technique,

data scoring and qualifying, and statistics instrument.

Research Design

In this study, the researcher used the Descriptive research method to

perform exploratory research. It enables researchers to precisely and

methodically describe a population, circumstance, or phenomenon in detail

(Dovetail, 2023). Moreover, a quantitative research design to collect and analyze

the data on language barriers to English proficiency: a study of the challenges

the HUMSS non-native speakers face in learning English.

Research Locale

The research conducted at Agusan National High School Senior High

School, Butuan City. Agusan National High School is a secondary school that is

part of the Cagayan de Oro City Division of the Department of Education. With a

total land area of roughly 9,826 sq.m., the school site is located in the heart of

the barangay near the Agusan Barangay Hall, the Roman Catholic Church, and
the Philippine Independent Church. It's around 30 meters from the National

Highway and easily accessible by all modes of land transportation (Campus

Hunters, 2019).

CHAPTER 4

PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

This chapter presents the findings and result of the study. Appropriate

statistical tools were used to analyze data and eventually interpret results as

presented below. Findings are shown and narrative presentations are

sequentially discussed.

Problem 1. What is the profile of the participants in terms of age, sex,

gender, and ethnicity?

The following figures illustrate the findings of the profile of the participants.

The age profile of the participants

100
100
90
80
70
60
50 45

40
30
20
10 2

0
14-17 18-21 22-25
 Figure 3

Figure 3 present the age profile of the participants. It can be seen that

most of them; age bracket of 14-17 years old categorized as middle adolescent,

18-21; Late adolescence, and 22-25; Young adults.

Chapter 5
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter provides an overview of the research work, encompassing a

summary of the findings, the conclusions drawn from the study, and the practical

recommendations derived from the research.

Summary

This study entitled “Language Barriers to English Proficiency: A Study of

The Challenges Encountered by HUMSS Students” used purposive random

sampling, which involves selecting participants based on specific criteria relevant

to the research question. It utilized stratified a standardized questionnaire as the

research instruments.

The study was conducted at Agusan National High School Senior High

School, Butuan City. It covered 147 respondents from the Grade-11 HUMSS

students.

This study was conducted in learning to determine the difficulties and

challenges encountered among Grade 11 HUMSS students in Agusan National

High School Senior High School, in order to propose an Action plan to enhance

their academic performances.