Philippine E-Journals

Lived Experiences of Gifted and Talented Students in an English as a Second Language Classroom

Ma. Christina B. Dionisio

 

Abstract:

The main purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the lived experiences of the gifted and talented students in acquiring proficiency in English as a second language. It also aimed to determine the strategies that gifted and talented students employed to be proficient in English as a second language and to discover the insights that study participants could share in learning the English language. This study utilized the purposive sampling technique which included gifted and talented grade six students. Indepth interview and Focus Group Discussion were employed in the data collection. Various themes were significantly identified using the thematic analysis. Early head start, parental influence and motivation, teachers’ stimulus and direction as well as notion of English were the major themes for the experiences of gifted and talented students in acquiring proficiency in English as a second language. The strategies that gifted and talented students employed to be proficient in English as a second language were speaking the language whenever possible, watching and listening to others speak the language , reading books and other materials in English, and self-learning and initiative. The insights that study participants could share in learning the English language were learning English can be fun and pleasurable, teachers play a big role in providing motivation, learning English required some effort and learning English had its rewards.