Exploring the Relationship between Students’ Concentration and Speaking Ability in an Indonesian EFL Senior High School
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24256/foster-jelt.v7i4.470Keywords:
Concentration, Correlational Study, EFL Students, Speaking AbilityAbstract
This study examines the relationship between students’ concentration and their speaking ability at SMA Negeri 2 Gunungsitoli. Speaking is considered one of the most important skills in learning English, as it enables students to express ideas, opinions, and feelings effectively. However, many students still face difficulties in speaking due to psychological factors such as low concentration, anxiety, and lack of confidence. Therefore, this study aims to investigate whether students’ concentration has a very weak positive relationship with their speaking ability. This study employed a quantitative approach with a correlational design. The sample consisted of 35 eleventh-grade students’ selected using total sampling technique. The instruments used in this study were observation, a questionnaire, and a speaking test. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson Product Moment correlation. The results show that the mean score of students’ concentration is 73.943 and the mean score of speaking ability is 72.343, both categorized as moderate levels. In addition, the concentration variable showed a range score of 28, a standard deviation of 6.1832, and a variance of 38.232, while the speaking ability variable showed a range score of 36, a standard deviation of 7.7836, and a variance of 60.5849. The correlation analysis reveals that the correlation coefficient (r) is 0.12, indicating a very weak positive relationship between students’ concentration and their speaking ability. This means that concentration is related to speaking performance, but its contribution is very limited. This study contributes to understanding the role of psychological factors in EFL speaking performance among senior high school students. In conclusion, students’ concentration has a very weak positive relationship with speaking ability. This finding suggests that speaking ability is influenced by multiple factors, such as anxiety, confidence, vocabulary mastery, and classroom environment. Therefore, improving students’ speaking skills requires a comprehensive approach beyond focusing on concentration alone.
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