A Study of the Factors Affecting the Learning of English Speaking Skills

Abstract

It is generally assumed that language is a purposeful goal-oriented activity; its main objective is the internalization of a system of rules which defines correct linguistic competence accompanied by the required communicative competence. Added to that, Language is a unity of four major skills, namely listening, speaking, reading and writing. Recently, it has been argued on both linguistics and psychological grounds that the speaking English should be the principal objective in language teaching. Speaking is a very significant skill which overlooks other four sub-skills namely, fluency, accuracy, grammar and comprehension. The current study has been conducted to investigate English language teachers’ perspective of the sources of problems that encounter basic school learners during their learning of English-Speaking Skills from. Moreover, the present study aims at answering the following question: What are the problems that basic school learners face during their learning of English-speaking skills from English language teachers’ perspective? This has been done through a questionnaire prepared by the researcher, based on the relevant literature review and previous studies, and presented to a panel of juries in English language to check its validity and reliability. The questionnaire was then applied to a sample of teachers. The collected data have been statistically analyzed. In the light of the results arrived at, a set of concluding point, some recommendations and suggestions for further research have been put forward.