The Impact of Social and Economic Factors on Students’ English Language Performance in EFL Classrooms in Dubai Public Secondary Schools
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Date
2012-03
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The British University in Dubai (BUiD)
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of social and economic factors on students’ English language performance in EFL classrooms in Dubai public secondary schools. The design exploited in this study is a mixed methods research.
One key instrument utilized in this research is statistical analysis in which descriptive figures and data-based inferences are used. Two questionnaires were designed to assess the effects of economic and social factors on students’ performance in learning the English language. The factors include the parents’ occupation, education, and financial status. Students from cycle 3 classes answered the two questionnaires reflecting on the effects perceived of those factors on their performance. Then, their responses were correlated with their grades obtained from their English language instructors and conclusions were drawn. The correlation is measured by Person’s correlation coefficient (r = 0.66) because by calculating according to the data given, it should be noted that “r” is a value that falls between -1 and 1.
The result was a significant and positive correlation between the parents’ level of education, income and occupation with pupil’s educational performance.
Another instrument utilized in this research was interviews. The interviewees were two male and two female teachers of English language, a male principal, and a female principal, all of whom were asked about their opinions on the relationship between students’ performance in learning the English language and their parents’ social and economic status.
Overall, teachers and principals view a relationship between parents’ social and economic status and children’s performance in learning the English language. Though they justify this relationship differently, the matter of the fact remains that there is a strong correlation between socioeconomic factors and students’ performance in the field of English language learning.
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Keywords
social and economic factors, English language performance, EFL classrooms, Dubai, public secondary schools, educational performance, English language learning