The lack of English oral proficiency among the Bidayuh students in rural secondary schools in Kuching and Samarahan divisions of Sarawak / Antel Set

The purpose of this study is to find out the causes that lead to lack of English oral
proficiency among the Bidayuh rural school students in Sarawak. The study also aims to
find out how much exposure and opportunity Bidayuh students have to speak the English
language, inside and outside the classrooms. One hundred form four Bidayuh students of
SMK Taee, SMK Tebakang, SMK Dragon and SMK Siburan in Samarahan and Kuching
Divisions of Sarawak are the samples of the study. 25 Bidayuh students were selected at
random from each school. Form 4 Bidayuh students were selected as target group as they
had spent their three years in lower secondary and this time is the most appropriate time
to look into their oral proficiency level. Two English teachers from each school were also
involved in this study. English teachers were selected as respondents as they had better
insight understanding toward students' oral proficiency level. The data for this study
were collected through two sets of questionnaire; Students and teachers as respondents.
The first set of questionnaires was based on students' perspective while the other set was
based on teachers' perspective. The selection of the four schools was done on the basis of
their rural locality. The findings revealed that rural secondary school Bidayuh students in
the two Divisions (Kuching and Samarahan) have a very low level of English proficiency
due to certain reasons: poor socio-economic background, minimal exposure to English at
home since childhood, preference for their mother tongue to English when conversing
with their classmates even during English lessons and a lack of initiative to upgrade their
oral skills by involving themselves in language activities or competition. On the other
hand, English teachers did not take this problem (lack of English proficiency) seriously.
Teachers tended to focus on students' performances in examination; drilled students with
exam formats and techniques of answering questions. Besides that, teachers did not use
English even during English lessons. Therefore, in most cases where students and
teachers were concerned, 'Oral Proficiency' has been neglected. The results of the study
indicate that the Bidayuh rural secondary schools students in Sarawak as well as their
teachers do not take English oral proficiency problem seriously but focus on students'
performance in written examination.