The effects of lower proficiency in English towards senior secondary students’ academic performance

• Main Author: Liew, Grace Thing Yi
• Format: Final Year Project / Dissertation / Thesis
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: H Social Sciences (General); L Education (General)
• Online Access: http://eprints.utar.edu.my/5084/1/fyp_ED_2021_GL.pdf; http://eprints.utar.edu.my/5084/

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of lower proficiency in English towards senior secondary students’ academic performance. Academic performance is highly looked up in Malaysia’s education system however many students are failing in English have been going through at 11 years of English lesson. In this study, language although they a total of 50 senior middle class students in a Chinese Independent School participated in a survey. The survey consisted 15 questions about the challenges faced by students in learning English and the reason of low proficiency in English which were answered through Five the students through Zoom due to the pandemic. Point Likert scale. It The major findings from the was distributed to survey main chal displayed the lenges and main reasons that students faced in learning English and low proficiency in English respectively . The main challenges for students were to write English academic essays, read English passages and speak proper English to another person. On the other hand, the main reason of students’ low proficiency in English were because of their hesitation in speaking English with others, unfamiliarity with English words and lack of chances in speaking in class. findings suggested that importance should be The placed on students’ exposure to English languages as well as avoid giving negative feedback to students especially on their speaking ability. Teachers should encourage students to motivate them to learn. The study had its limitation as researcher was e to meet with participants face to face during pandemic time and too little of a sample size. Future researchers should increase their sample size and adopt provide better insight about students’ attitude in learning E different research instruments as to English. In conclusion, the research objective was fulfilled as the findings provided a clearer view about students’ understanding and approach to English language.