Development of Life Skills among High School English Learners: A Survey Study

Abstract

This study investigates the level of communication, creative thinking, and critical thinking life skills among high school English learners. Despite increasing emphasis on life skills in twenty-first-century education, empirical evidence examining these competencies within English language learning contexts remains limited. Therefore, the present study aims to examine the level of selected life skills among high school English learners. A survey research design was employed using a structured questionnaire consisting of 30 items covering three dimensions of life skills. This study involved 150 high school students from five schools in Sivagangai District, selected through simple random sampling, including both male and female learners from grades IX and X. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a one-sample t-test. The findings revealed that students demonstrated a moderate level of communication, creative thinking, and critical thinking skills, with communication skills showing the highest mean score. Furthermore, correlation analysis showed positive relationships among communication skills, creative thinking skills, and critical thinking skills, suggesting that these competencies are interrelated. The study highlights the need to strengthen life skill development within English language learning contexts.