EFL Speaking Acquisition: Identifying Problems, Suggesting Learning Strategies and Examining Their Effect on Students' Speaking Fluency
Journal Title: The International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Invention - Year 2017, Vol 4, Issue 1
Abstract
Qualitatively speaking this study aims at discovering, identifying and sorting out the most difficult EFL speaking problems Jordanian students encounter and the most effective speaking acquisition strategies that can overcome these speakingproblems. A representative sample of 100 male students is interviewed. This sample is randomly chosen from students who recently graduated their secondary school and started their first year in the different faculties at Yarmouk University in Irbid, Jordan. The problems are classified into a set of three major groups: (1) lack of lexis, (2) lack of listening and practicing and (3) psychological problems. Related strategies to face each problem are suggested. To quantitatively investigate the effect of the suggested strategies on the speaking fluency, a pretest-posttest is implemented. Two sections of 20 male students each are assigned for the investigational and control group. The investigational group is exposed to these strategies and the control group is taught the same material and exposed to different strategies. The t-test results demonstrates a significant difference between the two groups mean scores in the pretest-posttest on students’ speaking fluency in favor of the investigational group.Index Terms-EFL acquisition, learning strategies, speaking fluency, difficulties,problemsI. INTRODUCTIONA. Statement of the ProblemDeveloping productive skills (writing and speaking) seems to be more difficult than developing receptive skills (reading and listening) because the learner of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) needs to transform the language competence into an actual performance when dealing with the productive skills. And speaking seems to be more difficult than writing because EFL speakers need to communicate and use language faster than writers do; the time factor is vital in putting speaking into application. Speakers are not allowed enough time to produce their utterance whereas in case of writing writers have enough time to build their sentences, can consult the dictionary if necessary and revise the written text more than once.Because of the difficult nature of the speaking skill, it is a neglected skill in the classroom and EFL learners are given insufficient and inadequate exposure to it. Teachers find it uncomfortable to teach curricular speaking activities because students usually do not respond to teachers’ instructions. And very little research has been done on EFL speaking difficulties and strategies. This is a real problem which needs more and more study and research.B. Significanceand Aim of the StudyThis study aims at not only identifying and sorting out EFL speaking problems and difficulties EFL learners run into, but also accordingly suggesting learning strategies that can overcome these speakingproblems and difficulties. This study gains its significance from the way it follows to identify and discover these difficulties, namely interviewing EFL students themselves in an attempt to go deep in their minds and hearts to discover the real and actual problems they encounter. More significance is gained because the suggested strategies reflect the sufferings of those students as these strategies emerge form the interview made with those students. In addition, this study aims to implement a quasi-experimental design to examine the effect of the suggested strategies on EFL learners’ speaking fluency. Implementing such investigation represents an additional tool to reach reliable results and conclusions. Combining the qualitative part with the quantitative part adds more significance and strength to this study.C. Research QuestionsTo qualitatively explore, discover and identify the most difficult EFL speaking problems students encounter and the most effective speaking acquisition strategies that can overcome these speaking problems and difficulties, and to quantitatively investigate the effect of the suggested strategies on the speaking fluency, the following three questions are addressed.1-What are the most difficult problems that make most Jordanian EFL learners fail to effectively improve their English speaking skill?2-What are the most effective speaking strategies that can help Jordanian students overcome these problems and difficulties?3-Is there any statistically significant difference between the investigational group mean scores who used the revealed speaking strategies and the control group mean scores who used the speaking strategies introduced in the Headway Plus textbook on speaking fluency at ( α=0.05)?II. RELATED LITERATURE REVIEWIn this part of the study I try to introduce an intensive related literature review. This review is divided into two parts. The first part focuses on the speaking problems and difficulties EFL learners encounter. And the second part deals with the speakingstrategies EFL learners use so that they can prevail over these difficulties and problems.
Authors and Affiliations
Mamoon Muhsin Alaraj
Keywords
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