Teachers’ Perceptions on the Oral Language Development of Early Learners at Valencia City Central School

Abstract

This study explored the oral language development of early learners at Valencia City Central School during the School Year 2025–2026. It aimed to describe how early learners communicate during conversations in terms of language use, vocabulary usage, sentence construction, expression of ideas, and interaction skills, and to determine the factors that influence their oral language development. A qualitative descriptive research design was employed in this study. Three Grade 2 teachers were selected through purposive sampling. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis.
The findings revealed that the communication patterns of early learners are characterized by multilingual flexibility and code-switching across Mother Tongue, Filipino, and English. The study further identified a reliance on contextual and environmental vocabulary, structural simplicity in oral speech, and narrative descriptive expressions that utilize non-verbal cues. Additionally, social dynamics and conversational patterns were found to be driven by peer imitation and teacher-led scaffolding. The study determined that oral language development is significantly shaped by the home and family microsystem, school-based scaffolding and socialization, and external media influence.
Overall, the study concluded that oral language development among early learners is a collaborative and adaptive process shaped by the combined influence of home, school, and digital environments. These findings suggest that supporting early learners requires bridging their domestic linguistic habits with structured classroom interventions and emotional security.