Factors Affecting EFL Students Oral Communication Skills

Abstract

Abstract: The principal objective of this study is to identify the factors that affect public high school students proficiency in English oral communication. The study took place at Eduardo Salazar Gómez high school in Pifo, Quito, Ecuador. The sample for this study was a course of the first grade of senior high school. The method used has two approaches, qualitative and quantitative. The technics used in this study were survey, interview, and class observation. To collect the information needed for the analysis three instruments were used: a teacher s questionnaire, a student s questionnaire, and a class observation sheet. The data from the interviews and surveys were organized into two tables to be analyzed and compared with the class observation. The results of this analysis revealed the most common pedagogical factors affecting students during the learning process, some of these factors are: teacher s professional development, approaches, strategies, methodologies, motivation, and resources. The results also show that during the class students were affected by individual factors, such as their lack of vocabulary, low motivation, lack of discipline, anxiety, and problems with grammar and pronunciation.