Our school, Colegio de San Francisco Javier’s vision to provide a relevant and
innovative education not only to our community and country but also to the
international region, we chose to investigate an area that would align with our school’s
mission to produce graduates with Javierian values and 21st century skills that make
them responsive to the needs not only of the local and national communities but also
of international communities.
OBJECTIVES:
The researchers of the study aim to:
1. Find out the extent of our college students’ skill in using spoken English
2. Identify difficulties which could provide a basis for a school intervention
program that could address this necessity
3. Investigate the level of difficulty in pronouncing the interdental sounds in
English, the voiceless or soft /th/ [θ] and the voiced or hard /th/ [ð].
Methodology
Survey through interviews and word error analysis methods of descriptive
research were used in the study with the aid of selected passages for reading aloud.
Respondents
The respondents of the study were the college students of Colegio de San
Francisco Javier 60 of which were randomly picked from each college.
Research Instrument
Three brief narratives containing soft /th/ sounds and three other brief
narratives containing hard /th/ sounds taken from Luke and Hollie Barber of
HomeSpeechHome and Word Vault (2010) were used as research instruments.
Research Procedure
1. Audio record or hypothesis transcript is compared to the reference transcript
downloaded from the HomeSpeechHome speech clinic.
2. We calculated the word error rate under 4 phases: retrieving of reference
transcript, hypothesis transcript collection from actual contact with
respondents, transcribing the audio into text, error counting between hypothesis
and reference transcripts.
3. The error serves as our data. Word Error Rate Formula: Number of Errors/
Number of Words in the Reference Transcript
Gathering of Data:
Data collection in this study was done in two ways, namely by conducting read
aloud sessions with the respondents and recording.
Treatment of Data:
Data gathered from the results used Frequency Counting and Percentage.
Key Findings and Discussion
1. At the average error rate of 34.11%, the level of difficulty among college
students is Challenging, as it falls within the range of high error rate of
30-50%.
2. The level of difficulty in producing the voiceless soft /th/ sound among college
students is Challenging as its average error rate of 37.5% falls within the range
3. The level of difficulty in producing the voiced or hard /th/ sound among college
students is Challenging as its average error rate of 36.21% falls within the
range
Conclusion
The college students of Colegio de San Francisco Javier demonstrated a
Challenging level of difficulty which is the midpoint level. In a range of 6 levels of
difficulty, these students are third from the top (Easy) and third from the bottom
(Extremely Challenging).
Recommendations
Based on our findings, we recommend that Colegio de San Francisco Javier
implement the Pronunciation Remediation for Communication Improvement Program
to enhance students' communication skills. Additionally, all teachers, regardless of
their subject, should integrate oral performance activities to prioritize communication
skill development over traditional lecture methods. We also encourage future
researchers, particularly English majors, to explore similar variables on a broader
scale to validate our results. Further studies should examine topics such as Filipino
students' adaptability to learning languages, effective practices for phonological
fluency, teacher motivation in using oral activities, the extent of English language
usage among students, and the influence of home orientation on English proficiency.
These recommendations aim to foster globally competitive graduates with strong
communication skills.