AN INVESTIGATION OF THE PERSONAL AND SOCIAL VARIABLES AFFECTING ENGLISH LANGUAGE ATTAINMENT OF NORMAL (TECHNICAL) PUPILS IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

The mam purpose of the study was to determine the extent to which certain selected variables affect the language attainment of the Normal Technical Stream pupils in Singapore. The variables investigated were socio-economic status as measured by family income, parents' level of education, language exposure at home, parental attitude and home support, pupils' attitudes and motivation. English Language attainment referred to attainment in the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) conducted by the Ministry of Education. The study is based on the conceptual model that social and personal factors contribute to English Language attainment. Personal factors such as learner's attitude and motivation may predispose a learner to learn or not to learn a language. Social factors include the use of language in interpersonal communication and extensive exposure via the media and reading, and exposure to a "good' language environment. Equally important is the level of home support and parental attitude which may influence the learning of a second language and Language attainment. The sample consisted of 200 Secondary One and 170 Secondary Two pupils, aged from twelve to fifteen years, of both sexes, from three different schools. The measuring instrument employed was a self-administered, Likert-type questionnaire to measure the independent variables : parental attitudes and home support, language exposure, pupils' attitudes and motivation. Data on parents' level of education and family income as a measure for socio-economic status were also obtained from the questionnaire. Pupils' PSLE English grades were obtained from the pupils' data bank. The PSLE English Language grades constitute the dependent variables. The data were collated and analysed. The variables which accounted for the Normal Technical pupils' low English Language attainment were language exposure at home and intensity of motivation. Parents' level of education did not make much difference to pupils' language attainment as pupils whose parents had a higher level of education (post-secondary) did not perform any better than pupils -whose parents had only secondary education or less. The majority of the pupils in this category attained a D grade or lower in the English language. Likewise, the level of family income, a determinant of socio-economic status, did not seem to have any significant effect on language performance. Again, those from the higher income group did not perform any better than those from the middle and lower income groups. A majority of those from the middle and lower income groups attained a D grade or lower. Parental attitude and support, integrative and instrumental motivation, though high, did not reflect a high level of attainment except for pupils' attitude. Those who scored highly in attitude performed better than those who scored lower. Two variables which did account for the low level of attainment were language exposure at home and intensity of motivation. A majority of the pupils had moderate and low exposure. Likewise, a higher proportion of the 370 samples studied had moderate to low level of intensity of motivation. These two variables appeared to have a significant effect on the pupils' language attainment.