Correlates of the Oral Language Performance of Sixth Grade Students Exposed to Multilingual Instruction in Private Schools in Tacloban City

Abstract

Multilingual instruction is a common practice nowadays wherein various languages are used as medium of instruction. This descriptive study sought to determine the oral language performance of grade six students enrolled in trilingual instruction in some private schools in Tacloban City, Philippines. Primarily, it aimed to find out the profile of the students in terms of some student, home and teacher factors; determine whether there is significant correlation between these factors; determine if they correlate with oral language performance; and, identify the most important predictor that may influence oral language performance. A total of 37 respondents from the 115 sample population drawn through simple random sampling, the respondents were asked to answer questionnaires and were given oral proficiency tests in English, Filipino and Chinese. The results revealed that the students were labelled as Limited Speakers in English and Non-Speakers in both Filipino and Chinese. Their oral language performance was influenced by the students’ attitude towards Filipino, their motivational orientation, the kind of school enrolled in, as well as the teachers’ age and years of teaching experience. The kind of school enrolled in found to be a significant predictor of oral language performance of the students.