LEARNER RELATED FACTORS AFFECTING GRADE 10 STUDENTS’ SPEAKING SKILL: THE CASE AT DANGILA SECONDARY AND PREPARATORY SCHOOL

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate student related factors leading to speaking difficulties from both learners and their teachers' perspectives. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, a descriptive case study design with a mixed research method was used. The participants of the study were 120 grade 10 students and 7 grade 10 English teachers. Simple random sampling technique was used for selecting students whereas teachers were selected using availability sampling technique. The data required for the study were gathered through questionnaire and interviews. The close ended questionnaire was analyzed by counting numbers and percentage quantitatively whereas qualitative data analysis was used to analyze semi-structured interview. The study revealed that students having poor background, their bad beliefs about language learning, mother tongue use and lack of adequate vocabulary were the major factors that lead to poor performance in speaking. The study also showed that some of the major manifestations of poor speaking performance. Such as, the tendency to shift to mother tongue and feeling shy, inability to produce speech and lack of motivation to express themselves. The findings of the study further revealed that English language teachers did not properly help the students during speaking class. Based on the findings, recommendations were made.