Summary

Al-Hosni (2014) identifies factors causing speaking difficulties as: Students are worried about
making mistakes, fearful of criticism, or simply shy. Students have no motivation to express
themselves… only one participant can talk at a time because of large classes and the tendency of
some learners is to dominate while others speak very little or not at all. Learners who share the
same mother tongue tend to use it because it is easier and because they feel less exposed if they
speak their mother tongue (Hosni, 2014: 123).

Tuan and Mai (2015) pinpoint the factors that affect students’ speaking performance such as
motivation, confidence, anxiety, time, planning, amount of support, standard performance,
listening ability and feedback during speaking activities. For students to have a successful
conversation, they must have good listening skills in order to understand what is said to them.

According to English language scholars, use of learner-centered classroom activities including

group discussions, speeches, storytelling, drama, debates, poem recitation, songs, and tongue-
twisters could alleviate the problem of low oral skills (Johnson, 2006, Villegas and Lukas, 2002,
Gathumbi and Masembe, 2005; Okech, 2005). These classroom activities improve student’s
active participation, motivate and expose students to authentic use of English language in
context.

A study done in Oman by Al-Hosin (2014) also indicated that learners were passive in class and
when given chance to discuss they used Arabic in their study groups due to inadequate
vocabulary, weak sentence building skills, grammar structures, fear of making mistakes in front
of their classmates thus kept quiet. Kenya just like Saudi Arabia the curriculum is wide. This has
led to teachers using teacher centered methodology like repetition drills, memorization and
lecture method (Mwamba, 2005). Boring and stressful classroom environments do not encourage
students to be creative or analytical, and tasks that only require students to listen and imitate
demotivate them. Students have no responsibilities in the classroom and are negative learners.
Even if they have the opportunity to participate, they will not take it, because they are afraid to
make mistakes. (Alharbi 2015: 108). Although classroom activities for instance discussion, role
play, speeches, dramatization encourage learners to practice using language in context, learners
cultural factors make them passive thus there is need for more effort by both teachers and
students to engage in learner centered strategies (Achmad and Yusuf 2014). In addition, the
learner centered classroom activities also encourage shy learners to speak by communicating
face to face, work independently, minimal involvement of the teacher hence improve their
speaking skills through practice (Alharbi, 2015: Achmad and Yusuf, 2014). Pair work, group
work, role playing and interviews … encourage shy students to participate and discuss their
opinions with their classmates instead of only with teachers. Employing various techniques in the
classroom also challenges students and caters for diversity in students’ learning styles (Alharbi
2015: 109).
Alonso (2014) observe that fluency controlled activities for instance storytelling, discussions,
debates, simulations and role play provide learners with room to practice using language for
instance the use of vocabulary and formulaic expressions are communicative and interactive.
These activities focus more on fluency and the teacher is a facilitator. Students also benefit from
these classroom activities because in real life performance is dynamic and improves with
practice in context.

Group work enhances students’ growth in language, building on conversational skills they
already possess and easing adaptation to school routines. As teachers, we are charged with the
task of developing students’ abilities to use language effectively.

Form, Functions and Social Context in Oral Language Use

As we begin to focus on our students’ oral language use, we need to take into account language
forms, functions, and social contexts. As we begin to facilitate students’ oral language
competence, we need to consider how social context affects choice of language form for a given
language function or purpose.

Petrin & Harrington (1987:121) pinpoint that the social context consists of the social setting, the
speakers, and the social and power relations among them. Language forms include choice of
words, grammar, and pronunciation. Language functions are the communicative intentions or
purposes of speakers’ utterances.

The table below outlines different language functions and the specific classroom experience that
each involves.

Language functions Classroom experience

Instrumental: Learners clarifying instructions from morning routines;
I want; language as a means of getting asking for supplies in play store or kitchen; asking for
something, of satisfying needs. book in class library.
Regulatory: Developing pantomimes and role-playing routines with
Do as I say; controlling the behavior, partners or in groups; determining steps for completing
feelings, or attitudes of others. projects.
Interactional: Working in cooperative and collaborative groups on
Social interaction, getting along with others. projects, art activities, and play.
Personal: Sharing and telling about oneself; dictating language
Here I come; pride and awareness of self, experience stories to others; sharing personal
expressions of individuality. experiences.
Heuristic: Asking the teachers and students how something
Tell me why; seeking and testing knowledge. works; explaining the ideas in a story or retelling a
story.
Imaginative: Using wordless books to create new stories; using
pictures to create stories; using creative dramatics to
Let’s pretend; making up stories and poems; act out original ideas.
creating new worlds.
Informative: Sharing ideas about what should be studied in a project
I’ve got something to tell you; or theme cycle; explaining what happened during a
communicating information, description, school event or describing a favorite television show.
ideas.
Divertive: Telling riddles and jokes during special time devoted to
Enjoy this; jokes, puns, riddles, language this purpose.
play
Table 1: Language Functions and Analogous Classroom Experience, according to Petrin &
Harrington 1987:121

Impact of consistency in EFL use in the class

The beginner phase of second language development starts immediately on exposure to the new
language. Early on, the child may neither understand nor speak a word of English. Soon,
however, language comprehension develops as a result of opportunities for social interaction
with speakers of the new language and the comprehensible input that is generated. Although it is
important not to force beginners to speak, the fact is that shortly, within perhaps a week to a few
months, most students will naturally begin to speak on their own (Terrell, 1981). At this point,
their speech is likely to be limited to simple phrases and expressions that have highly functional
communicative payoffs, such as “OK,” “No,” “Wanna play,” “I wanna she go, too,” and “I
donno” (Wong Fillmore, 1983).

As beginners develop, they are able to generate utterances according to simple grammatical
rules, enabling them to carry out various tasks according to their own needs and purposes.

Strategies for promoting Oral Language Development in the Classroom

The classroom is a natural environment for a large variety of oral language learning
opportunities. As the teacher, you can organize your classroom in ways that encourage the two
most important elements of oral language development: comprehensible input and social
interaction. Keep in mind that a predictable schedule helps students adjust to the classroom and
provides easily acquired basic vocabulary with the repeated routines.

Strategies for sheltering, scaffolding, and group work

In addition to the basic routines of roll call, recess, snack, lunch, and dismissal, the use of routine
instructional events also provides oral language learning opportunities. Some typical routine
instructional events include circle time, journal time, literature study circles.
To the extent that these instructional events maintain the same structure while the content
changes, they provide a familiar routine with repetition of familiar language that scaffolds
student participation and learning (Boyle & Peregoy, 1991).

The format remains stable throughout the year, but the content, that is, the book being discussed,
changes. Another stable feature of the literature study circle is the discussion of literary elements
and the informal turn-taking procedures. Thus students become familiar and comfortable with
the literature study circle as an interactional format that supports their oral language use and
development.

Whether you are engaging your students in literature study, process writing, or theme studies, it
is always important to review your own instructional delivery to incorporate additional cues to
convey meaning, especially nonverbal cues, such as dramatization, gesture, pictures, graphic
organizers, and concrete objects. As a teacher–researcher you can analyze and evaluate ways in
which classroom activities and verbal/visual adaptations work with your English learners by
keeping a daily log or by videotaping lessons for later analysis. Verbal strategies that help
students understand your talk include paraphrasing, repeating key vocabulary in context, and
summarizing main points. Social interaction can be promoted in the classroom by encouraging
students to work in pairs and groups.

Using Games in EFL Classrooms

In our teaching at the elementary, secondary, and college level, we have used games, such as
simulation games, drama games, pronunciation games (Tatsuki, 1996), grammar games, story
games, and writing games, to improve student learning and to create an atmosphere of ease,
creativity, and fun.

We believe that any lesson that allows us to use a game improves student learning and attitude.
Games create experiences with language and ideas, and “experience is the glue that makes
learning stick.”

Songs

Songs bring levity, laughter, and beauty into your classroom. Songs also promote a feeling of
unity in the class, particularly important when differences among students prevail. In addition, all
students can participate at some level, regardless of English language proficiency. Some songs
may be related to a theme or topic of study, whereas others may be favorite tunes suggested by
your students. Bear in mind that songs are language based, so you will need to provide cues to
meaning, such as pictures, pantomime, or gestures. We recommend that you post song lyrics
accompanied by pictures or rebus symbols to convey meaning. In addition, you may wish to
copy lyrics for each student to illustrate and keep in a song book. Because songs are popular with
all ages, this activity can be successful throughout the grades.
Drama

Acting out stories and events can be a highly motivating way for students to process and present
information they have studied.

Dramatic enactments in the classroom range from informal to formal. For drama at its least
formal, you can provide props in a dramatic play center of your classroom. During free time,
students create their own dramas within the context of the props. Changing the props from time
to time is important to stimulate new interest and new topics for dramatic play.

In this self-expression process, children first dictate a story for you to write down. Later, a child
dramatizes the story with help from friends as you read the story during group time. A third way
to encourage informal dramatization is to make props available for enacting stories that are
currently being read in the classroom.

Dramatizing Poetry

Poetry also provides an excellent springboard for dramatization (Gasparro & Falletta, 1994) and
is effective with English learners of all ages. Selecting the right poem is essential. Poems that
present minidramas or that express strong emotions, attitudes, feelings, or opinions work best
(Tomlinson, 1986).

For poem enactment, you begin by reading the poem aloud, modeling not only pronunciation but
also dramatic intonation and stress. You may wish to have the poem copied on chart paper with
some pictures to help convey meaning. During the first readings, you need to clarify difficult or
unusual words, making sure that your students generally understand the poem. If you like, you
may next invite all your students to read the poem chorally. Finally, in pairs or groups, your
students prepare a dramatic rendition of the poem to be presented to the entire class. If you find
that you and your students enjoy dramatizing poetry, you will want to start a collection of poems
that fit in with content areas.

Show and Tell

Show and tell, a strategy teachers have used for years, involves children bringing a favorite
object, such as a teddy bear, to the class and telling the class about it. The situation is context
embedded because all the children can see the prized possession, making it easier for the
audience to understand the child’s words. This is a beginning activity for young language
learners that can be expanded to more advanced, context-reduced oral language use by simply
asking children to place the favorite object in a paper bag so that it is not visible to classmates.
Then the owner of the object begins describing the object to the class. Because the object is not
visible, the speaker must be more specific about the object to assist classmates in guessing what
it is. Later in the year, students can work with more difficult objects that are not in a bag but in
their imagination, or they can have pictures in front of them that they describe to others. The
variations of show and tell can scaffold children’s early speaking with objects on hand and can
induce more accurate descriptions when their comfort and language levels are more advanced.

One Looks, One Doesn’t

In an activity called “One Looks, One Doesn’t,” you place a transparency of a picture on an
overhead projector after telling students that one of them may look at the transparency while the
other one looks away. The student who looks at the transparency describes it to his or her
partner, who attempts to draw a picture of it. Because the describers can see their partner
drawing the picture, they can adjust their language to assist the drawer; thus, the task is both easy
and fun for the students. After five minutes or so the picture is revealed to all of the students and
they get to see how accurate their communication was. This activity can also be developed for
different levels of language use and proficiency.

Taping and Dubbing a Television Show

One activity students enjoy is taping and dubbing their favorite television show, such as a
cartoon, a sports event, or a situation comedy. You begin by taping the show and showing it to
the students without the sound. Alternatively, the original program may be played all the way
through with sound first if you think it will help your students understand the original story.
Then your students create their own script for the show and dub it either on the original
videotape or onto an audiotape to play along with the video. Students work with partners or in
small groups to recreate their own television show, which is then played back for their
classmates. It’s especially fun to see the different ways each group has treated the same visual
story.

This taping and dubbing activity allows students to choose some of their favorite television
programs, negotiate the meaning of the pictures, and create their own drama to present to the
class. Because they are familiar with the show, they are able to use its story structure to create
their own play. Moreover, in small groups children assist one another in understanding and
recreating their own stories.

Riddles and Jokes

Riddles and jokes can be a lot of fun for students at the intermediate English proficiency level.
You will need to consider the extent to which the age and cultural backgrounds of your students
will affect their understanding of the humor, though. You might read some riddles and jokes that
you think are appropriate for the age, language level, and cultural backgrounds of your students,
modeling for them what they will do when they have practiced their own riddles and jokes in
small groups. Then you can set aside a day for your students to share the jokes. As an alternative,
you might make riddles and jokes a part of your regular classroom routine, inviting student
participation on a volunteer basis. The activity allows students to have fun with something they
enjoy doing, helps them become more comfortable speaking in front of the class, and gives them
a chance to rehearse before making their presentation.

Bibliography

Al Hosni, Samira, (2014). Speaking Difficulties Encountered by Young EFL Learners.

International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature (IJSELL) Volume 2, Issue 6,
June 2014, pp. 22-30.

Alonso, A. Rosa, (2014). Teaching Speaking: An Exploratory Study in Two Academic Contexts.
PORTA LINGUARUM 22, Junio 2014.

Achmad, D. & Yusuf, Y. Q. (2014). Observing Pair-work in An English Speaking Class.

International Journal of Instruction. January 2014, Vol.7 No. 1.

Mwamba, Richard, (2005). An investigation into factors that hinder the instruction of oral
communication skills in English Kenyan secondary schools: A case of Kisii district’’. Eldoret
Moi University; (Unpublished M.Phil thesis)

Alharbi, A. Heba, (2015). Improving Students’ English Speaking Proficiency in Saudi Public
Schools. International Journal of Instruction Vol. 8, No. 1 Jan 2015.

Tuan, N.H., & Mai, T.N. (2015). Factors Affecting Students’ Speaking Performance at LE
Thanh High School. Asian Journal of Educational Research Vol. 3 No.2, 2015.