Elementary Students’ Difficulties in English Learning: A Case Study of Elementary Schools in Pakistan

Abstract

The study explored the elementary school student’s perception of improvement in the English language. The research was quantitative. The main objective is to investigate what techniques students use to improve their English. Moreover, find the difference of opinion between males and females regarding English improvement. Moreover, find the differences of opinion among public and private elementary school students. The study's population was elementary school students in Lahore, selected by a convenient sampling method. The study sample was 300 male and female elementary school students from Lahore. The researcher uses a self-developed questionnaire for students. For data collection, a questionnaire was used. The questionnaire was adapted to explore secondary school students' perception of improvement in the English language. The tool consisted of a six-point Likert scale. The questionnaire was divided into two parts; the 1st part consisted of demographic variables (gender, types of schools, and age). Data were analyzed through SPSS by applying descriptive frequency distribution, one-way ANOVA, and t-test. Based on data analysis, it was found that a significant percentage of students engage in various self-directed English learning activities, such as reviewing their work (29.3%), seeking opportunities to use English outside of class (22.8%), and practicing pronunciation through reading aloud (26.7%). Additionally, many students use strategies such as looking up words in dictionaries (24.4%) and paying attention to errors when writing or speaking (26.4%) to improve their language skills. Moreover, there was no significant difference between secondary students categorized on a gender basis and also not found a significant difference between students of private and public schools. However, significance was found between different groups of ages