ASSESSING ENGLISH SKILLS DEVELOPMENT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE CLASSROOM: THE CASE OF ONE GRADE 12 SECONDARY SCHOOL IN FICHE TOWN, NORTH SHOA ZONE, OROMIA REGION, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

This study was conducted to assess factors that affect students’ communicative English skills development in English classroom at Fiche Secondary School Grade 12 students in focus. Descriptive survey design which includes quantitative and qualitative data collection method were employed to achieve this goal. The participants were 5 English language teachers and 260 students. Questionnaires with close-ended items for students, semi-structured interview questions for English language teachers, and classroom observation by the researcher were employed as data collection instruments. The data collected through questionnaires were described using frequency and percentage while data those collected through interview and classroom observation were explained qualitatively and data from all sources were triangulated to increase reliability of the findings. The results suggested that teachers’ related factors such as knowledge about the subject, poor efficiency and poor teaching approach affected the students’ speaking skills. These factors strongly affected learners’ speaking skills. Another result suggested in the study was students’ related factors that students did not try to practice English both in and outside the classroom due to lack of motivation, fear of making mistakes, lack of self- confidence, poor grammar knowledge, shortage of vocabularies, lack of exposure, and their poor background experience. Another result indicated in the study was lack of available instructional resource materials to teach speaking skills. Lack of these materials tend the students to inadequate proficiency in English speaking skills. Therefore, it is primarily suggested that, teachers need to develop their quality of teaching, English knowledge and teaching approach. In addition, teachers should employ their maximum potential to assess and activate the students’ English-speaking skills .Secondly, students should develop their motivation, self- confidence, be aware of the role of making mistakes in grammar and vocabulary. Thirdly, the school should fulfill necessary instructional resource materials for better improvement of students’ speaking skills