ANALYSIS OF LEXICAL RICHNESS IN PREPARED SPEECHES

This study examined the lexical richness of prepared speeches delivered by fifteen Grade 11 Humanities and Social Sciences (HUMSS) students from Bulan National High School during the school year 2024-2025. Specifically, it assessed the students’ speech outputs in terms of lexical sophistication, lexical variation, and lexical density using the online tool VocabProfiler. The research employed a descriptive qualitative design and purposive sampling, targeting the top five students from each of the three HUMSS sections based on their Grade 10 General Weighted Averages. The results revealed that the overall lexical variation at 50.05%, and lexical denticity at 55.20%. These figures suggest limited use of advanced vocabulary, moderate diversity in word choice, and only fair information density in speech delivery. Verbatim excerpts from students demonstrated overreliance on common vocabulary and redundancy, supporting the quantitative findings. In response, a Strategic Intervention Material (SIM) titled “Beyond the Words: The Art of Prepared Speech” was developed to address these gaps. The study underscores the importance of integrating lexical-focused instruction in oral and written communication courses to a localized understanding of oral and written language proficiency and offers practical pedagogical interventions to improve the quality of students’ speech outputs.