Exposure to English Linguistic Environment and Oral Proficiency of First Year College Students in Davao Del Norte LARCYNEIL P. PASCUAL, LPT, MAED Department of Teacher Education UM Tagum College, Mabini St., Tagum City (084) 655 - 9607
[email protected] ABSTRACT communicative competence so as to interact with people in one’s The study evaluated the oral proficiency of students according to own field and with those from other countries. their level of exposure to English linguistic environment. The After years of learning, majority of the students in Taiwan are study further aimed to determine the significant relationship neither fluent nor confident English speakers. Some may attribute between exposure to English linguistic environment and oral this deficiency to the limited time for oral practice in classrooms proficiency of first year college students in selected Higher and the lack of conversational opportunities outside of them, Educational Institutions (HEIs) in the province of Davao del especially in English as a Foreign Language setting. However, it Norte. The study employed the descriptive – correlation method may, in fact, stem from the myths that students hold regarding in investigating the research problems. Using a two-part communication in a foreign language, such as the necessary questionnaire, this study found out that the level of exposure to possession of excellent pronunciation, a good accent, a large English linguistic environment of the first year college students is vocabulary size, and an in-depth knowledge of grammar. moderate and their level of oral proficiency in terms of Moreover, some learners who perform well in English classes still comprehension, fluency, grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary find themselves at a loss when interacting with native speakers in is low.