Self-Assessment on the Oral Communication of Filipino College Students Lenis Aislinn C. Separa 1 , Leonila J. Generales 2 , Ruby Jean S. Medina 3 1 Faculty, Department of Education, Polytechnic University of the Philippines Bataan 2 Faculty, Department of Accountancy, Polytechnic University of the Philippines Bataan 3 Faculty, Department of Information Technology, Polytechnic University of the Philippines Bataan Abstract Though teaching of English has been a part of the curriculum in the Philippine educational system, the language can yet be considered as an automatic language for the Filipinos. To validate this, 151 college students were surveyed on how they perceive themselves in terms of being speakers of English as a second language. Results show that a significant number conveyed the different aspects of oral communication which they consider as problem areas. And these areas of difficulty can be said to be rooted from their concepts of what must be the standards of English. Key words: oral communication, English language, speech, second language learning, bilingualism INTRODUCTION In the Philippines, the languages considered official are Filipino and English. Considering that the English language is the medium of instruction for almost all subjects in the different levels of basic education, it is, then, expected that every individual who reaches college can speak fluently in both languages. This system may be rooted to the belief, The earlier English is taught, the better the results. [1] The Philippine Educational System, before the implementation of the mother tongue-based instruction in pre-elementary, students are taught English in class through different content areas. This can be rooted in the colonial years under the United States of America in the 1900s wherein culture is being propagated through language used in schools [2] . Being exposed to English language for the first ten years of education gives an impression that students gained communicative competence through language learning in school. On the contrary, the language practice of engaging in casual conversations with the use of the Filipino language becomes the basis for their language acquisition. Such case can be deliberated by Stephen Krashen’s Monitor Hypothesis [3] . But reality in the academe shows that a number of college students in the Philippines are still not comfortable using the English language, most especially during times when they are required to do oral presentations, recite and report in class, and even engage in casual conversations. Their lack of confidence in facing people due to some factors that hinder them from talking can be attributed to Leon Festinger's Theory of Cognitive Dissonance [4] . When this happens, students are being deprived of the most humanizing activity in which people engage in – that is, conversing with other people [5] . To help students in analyzing their oral communication skill training needs, this study has been conceptualized having the following objectives: (1) to know the socio-demographic profile of students; (2) to describe the perception of students on their oral communication skills; and (3) to identify the problem areas in speech they need to improve on. MATERIALS AND METHODS A group of 151 second year college students who belong to different courses taking the subject Speech Communication at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines Bataan Branch served as the respondents for the one-shot survey soliciting information on how they view themselves as speakers of the English language. Initial part of the survey contains the demographic profile of the respondents while the second part contains statements on English proficiency and fluency traits from which respondents rated themselves using Likert Scale. At the last portion of the questionnaire, problems in speaking and possible interventions to improve such were solicited. Descriptive statistics using frequency, percentage and mean are used in the presentation of the first two parts. Meanwhile, the thematic approach was