Factors that influence high school students' English oral communication skills in Ecuadorian face-to-face learning environments

Abstract

Abstract: Developing speaking skills in English is often considered a challenging task. That is because the tittle of this research is "Factors that influence high school students' English oral communication skills in Ecuadorian face-to-face learning Environments." This study aimed to examine the linguistic and psychological factors that affected the speaking skills of high school students in face-to-face English learning environments. The research was conducted with one English language teacher and 45 students in their first year of secondary school at a private educational institution in Salinas, Ecuador. The study used quantitative and qualitative approaches to gather and analyze data, including surveys, student interviews, and observation sheets, to obtain the information. The findings revealed that linguistic factors, such as limited vocabulary, lack of fluency, and accuracy, were the main obstacles preventing students from effectively succeeding in oral communication skills in English. Additionally, emotional factors, including fear, unwillingness, and lack of confidence, significantly hindered students' ability to speak English in the classroom. The research findings highlighted that emotional and linguistic factors significantly impacted students' speaking performance in their classes.