Developing Ethnic Students’ English Speaking Skills through the Use of Peer-assisted Learning Activities

Abstract

The objective of this study was to develop ethnic students’ English speaking skills
based on peer-assisted learning activities. The population was 23 prathom 6 students in
their 2nd semester of academic year 2014 at Maeaeb School under Chiang Rai Educational Service Area Offce 3. The research instruments were lesson plans using peer-assisted learning
activities, assessment form on speaking English for communication, and evaluation form
on student’s satisfaction towards learning English.
The results showed that, after implementation of peer-assisted learning activities,
thestudents’Englishspeakingmeanscorewerehigherthanthatofthepre-implementation
at 3.22 that accounted for 14.35%. The scores were also higher than the set threshold of
60%. In overall, students showed satisfaction toward learning English at the high level as
the mean score was 4.26. For individual aspects analysis, the aspect holding the highest
mean was teachers accounting for 4.52, while the aspects holding the high level satisfaction were learning activities, learning content, assessment and evaluation with the mean
scores at 4.02, 4.21, and 4.32 respectively.