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Home⇛International Journal of Multidisciplinary: Applied Business and Education Research⇛vol. 7 no. 1 (2026)

Mixed-Methods Analysis of Oral Proficiency of Tertiary ESL Students: Basis for Pedagogical Intervention

Maribeth A. Bante

Discipline: Education

 

Abstract:

State universities and colleges in the Philippines adopted English as the primary medium of instruction, with speaking playing a signifi-cant role as part of the four basic skills when learning a language. Therefore, the study explored the perceived oral proficiency of ter-tiary students in a state university, with ESL teachers suggesting pos-sible interventions to improve the effectiveness of teaching and learn-ing oral English skills. A sequential explanatory mixed methods de-sign was used, where simple random sampled respondents among tertiary students answered online survey questionnaires, while con-veniently sampled ESL teachers answered the supplementary open-ended questions based on the initial quantitative results. Through de-scriptive analysis, students were found to have generally decent oral proficiency skills, with strong to neutral agreement on the influence of environmental and psychological factors. The teachers then inter-preted the quantitative results, saying that for oral proficiency skills, students had satisfactory skills, a lack of self-assurance in those skills, and a need for targeted support for those skills, while for environmen-tal and psychological factors, students had confused self-concepts, primarily extrinsic motivation for learning, and an appreciation for their learning environment. ESL teachers suggested speech practice and integration, interactive activities, and real-world experiences as pedagogical interventions for oral proficiency and motivating experi-ences, acceptance of mistakes, and safe learning environments for the factors of oral proficiency. Besides taking into consideration the pos-sible pedagogical interventions, the researcher recommended ex-panding research on the structures and variables that affect oral pro-ficiency skills.



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