Influence of the pre-service teachers’ language proficiency to their teaching competence

Abstract

One of the often-overlooked competencies of a global teacher in the Philippines is language proficiency. The use of English as a medium of instruction in primary education occurs in Grade 4, succeeding the mother tongue-based instruction from K1-Grade 3. This research analyzed the impact of the language proficiency of the pre-service teachers to their teaching competence. The language proficiency is divided into two categories: linguistic performance and paralinguistic features. The former is the verbal skills in communication while the latter encompasses body language, facial expression, gestures, and voice. Pre-service teachers were observed and assessed during class facilitation. Most have received an ‘Average Proficiency’ rating in linguistic performance although pronunciation rating is the lowest due to phonological features that are influenced by first language. The assessment on voice projection and their pronunciation rating proved to have significant impact to their teaching competency. The coefficients suggest that pronunciation is positively associated to teaching competency while voice factor is negatively associated to teaching competency and good pronunciation increased their teaching competency; however, voice projection negatively affects their teaching competency. Their overall experience in using English as medium of instruction proved to be helpful to them as it helped bridge the gap between them and the students. It is recommended that pre-service teachers may go through an intensive communication enhancement program to prepare themselves before they are exposed to actual practice of teaching.