The Relationship between Students’ Attitude towards Learning English, their Age and their English Proficiency: The Case of First Year Undergraduate Students of Ambo University

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between first year undergraduate students’ attitude towards English language learning, their age and their English language proficiency. It employed descriptive research design and guided by two specific objectives. First, it investigated the relationship between students’ attitude towards English and their English language proficiency. Second, it assessed the relationship between students' age and their English proficiency. To do so, a questionnaire of attitude and test of proficiency were used to collect pertinent data. First, the test of proficiency was administered to a randomly selected 172 first year students. Next, the participants completed a questionnaire of attitude towards learning English. The data collected were analyzed by using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The Spearman Rank-Order Correlation was run to determine the relationship between students' attitudes towards English language learning and their English proficiency. The findings disclosed that there was a low positive correlation (r= 0.097), and no significant relationship between students' attitudes towards English language learning and their English language proficiency (p= 0.206>0.05). On the other hand, Pearson Correlation Coefficient was used to determine how age correlate with language proficiency. To this end, it was found that there is a positive correlation between age and English language proficiency (r= 0.05) although there was no significant relationship between the two variables (p=0.514>0.05). Since learners’ language proficiency can be influenced by the belief they hold about the language, English experts and instructors should devise a strategy of shaping learners’ beliefs about the role of a language. Similarly, they should consider students’ ages while planning lessons, delivering and evaluating their progress.