(Article In Press)Identifying Factors that Negatively Affect the Speaking Skill among High School Students. A case study conducted in a high school in Amman, The Capital City of Jordan.
Identifying Factors that Negatively Affect the Speaking Skill among High School Students.
A case study conducted in a high school in Amman, The Capital City of Jordan.
Researchers:
1-Author: Dr. Mousa Khalil Abunawas
Abu Dhabi university
ORCID: 0000-0003-3078-8495
Assistant professor of English Language Methods
0508395426
ABSTRACT
This study tries to identify the factors that negatively affect the students’ speaking skill among students at a High School in Amman City, Jordan, according to the students’ and teachers’ perspectives. It also investigates the problems that are encountered by the students and teachers when students speak English. Based on the students’ and teachers’ perspectives, the factors will be determined. After collecting the data from the questionnaires, results revealed that most of the students are highly affected by certain factors that make them unable to speak English. At the end of this study, some suggestions and recommendations are stated to enhance the students’ speaking skill. For example, teachers and students should use English inside the classroom and outside the classroom
Introduction
“When people hear someone speak, they pay attention to what the speaker sounds like almost automatically. On the basis of what they hear, they make some tentative and possibly subconscious judgments about the speaker’s personality, attitudes, home region and native/ non- native speaker status” states Luoma (2011). In a world where means of communication increase rapidly, English became a world-wide language used almost everywhere. There’s no doubt that English language is considered as a lingua franca. In other words, it became the common means of communication for speakers who speak different languages. Hence, the importance of the speaking skill outweighs the other four skills in English. Despite the importance of the speaking skill in learning a language, mistakes made in this field are largely committed. Today’s education takes measures to ensure that learners are using English effectively and accurately while communicating with other speakers. However, not all learners can speak confidently and fluently. Moreover, many of them find difficulties in communicating while they find it easy to answer a paper exam that’s filled with questions of grammar and vocabulary. Such problems need to be identified and solved so that learners work on their weaknesses and speak without
having any issue. Also, The Kingdom of Jordan is taking a new measure in education that enables learners to be apt for future careers and opportunities which require dealing with English language because such a country is a multilingual one. Nevertheless, the speaking skill remains as the students’ weakness and to help them overcome their weakness, it is essential to determine the problems and factors affecting the speaking skill of such learners.
Problem of the Study
Being able to speak English is now a must for almost every aspect in life. Many careers and jobs list the English language as a primary and fundamental requirement. However, it is clear that students or learners at school face difficulties in speaking English and hence their weak performance can harm their future career. Therefore, this study aims to clarify the reasons behind such problems on both sides of teachers and students as shown in the following hypotheses:
- The students’ hometown affects the way they speak
- The students do not pay efforts to enhance their speaking by looking for other sources of learning language
- The teachers don’t use a variety of teaching methods to enhance the students’ speaking
- There are certain problems that affect the students’ speaking
- The listening skill is related to the speaking
As most of the studies discuss the symptoms of the problem like the mistakes committed the most, regarding the linguistic or grammatical aspects, only few tried to look for the source of the problem and why these mistakes are committed in the first place or tried to fix it. Hence, this research spots the reasons behind speaking problems among the students and focuses on the ways and suggestions to get through these problems hoping that it will benefit both students and teachers.
Purpose of the study
As we have mentioned above, this study aims to clarify the reasons behind the speaking skill problems on both sides of teachers and students. In doing so, the research aims at investigating the following objectives:
- To investigate whether teachers and their methods of teaching affect negatively the progress of speaking skill among school students.
- To investigate whether English students practice enough speaking and look for sources to enhance their skills other than the teacher only.
Limitation of the study
This study is limited to a sample of 77 female students of grades 9, 10, 11, and 12 studying at High School in Amman City, Jordan, and a sample of 4 male and female teachers at the same school. The teachers’ age range between 23-35 years old with different social and economic classes. Those teachers hold a bachelor degree in teaching English, with a 2-15-year teaching experience in different educational institutions. While the students’ age range between 13-18 years old.
Literature investigation
There are several problems and factors that affect the students’ speaking skill and lead to a weak speaking performance. Classrooms contain multinational students who came from their countries with their families to settle in the Jordan. Most of these students grew up in a country where the English language is hardly practiced or not practiced at all. So, this leads us to the first factor which is hometown or the place where the person grew up.
It is an undeniable fact that the exposure to the English language since childhood can help the students to speak the language very well. According to Bierre (1987), the exposure to a language over time in formal and informal linguistic environments can influence the acquisition
of the language. In other words, those students who learnt the language inside and outside classrooms speak better than those who had only formal teaching at school.
As Smith (1994) discusses, the way someone learns a language does not depend on one complex system but on a complex of different systems each based on different principles. Hence, in order to speak a language accurately and appropriately, one should understand how these systems interact with each other. One important thing to keep in mind is that although some say that different fields of language activities have one general learning principle, some fields have principles of learning that are different from any other areas. From another aspect, EFL learners may differ in the way they learn and receive information, as there are always individual differences between learners. Some of them would understand from one system of teaching or learning the language, but others would prefer different systems. For instance, some students will acquire the speaking skill through listening activities, or speaking with native speakers. Others would prefer to practice alone in front of a mirror.
According to Jack C. Richards and Willy A. Renandya (2002), “A large percentage of the world’s language learners study English in order to develop proficiency in speaking.” However, “the moment people hear something in English, they feel uneasy. They also find difficulty in listening and understanding English Language. As a result, teachers handling English classes face a lot of difficulties.” Students often encounter fear and anxiety when they try to speak English because they are afraid of committing mistakes and getting criticism from both the students and the teacher. Littlewood (2007) states that “it is easy for a foreign language
classroom to create inhibition and anxiety.”
Moreover, teachers usually encounter many students during the speaking test who are unwilling to speak due to their lack of knowledge or lack of interest. Rivers (1981) believes that “the teacher may have introduced a topic which the learners find uninteresting or about which he knows very little, and as a result they have nothing to express, whether in the native language or the foreign language.” In addition, the students may know certain words or have poor grammatical structure. As a result, they can only talk about topics they know.
Moreover, as we all know that the English language has been divided into four main skills namely, listening, speaking, reading and writing. These four skills are further classified into two categories which are receptive skills and productive skills. Mary Spratt, Alan Pulverness and Melanie Williams (2005) state that “Speaking is a productive skill, like writing. It involves using speech to express meanings to other people”. Hence, speaking is regarded as one of the
most difficult skill to obtain. It has to be practiced and practicing requires both the learners’ and the teacher’s effort.
Some teachers would let their students make mistakes during speaking activities and wouldn’t correct them or give them a good feedback. On the other hand, other teachers would give the students a feedback on the spot. Harmer (1991) believes that correcting the students’ mistakes depend on “the stages of the lesson, the activities, the types of mistake made and the student who is making that mistake”. In other words, the spontaneity and the flow of the speaking activities will be eradicated. Moreover, correcting students all the time can lead to a student who is afraid to speak.
Hamad (2013) asserts that “Speaking skills are regarded a very important and unique skills, it is the first output of any language and the only skill which you need partner to practice. You can listen to audio resource alone, you can read a book alone, you can write a letter alone, but you can’t speak alone, you need someone to speak to.” So, the speaking skill depends on the listening skill. Students must understand what they hear so they can speak.
And according to Geetha Nagaraj, “The objective in any language classroom is to get the learners to learn the target language and use it, which is done best when they are involved actively in the learning process”. However, if the learning process is not carried out properly, then the learners will not be able to master this skill. For that reason, factors and problems affecting the speaking skill should be identified and resolved.
Methodology
Data collection and sample
To identify the problems and factors affecting the students’ speaking skill, the researchers conducted a quantitative study, and distributed a student questionnaire among 77 female students studying at High School in Amman City, Jordan, in grades 9, 10, 11 and 12, and a teacher questionnaire among 4 male and female teachers teaching at a high school in Amman city, Jordan. The teachers hold a bachelor degree in English language with long years of experience. Their ages range between 23- 35 years old with different social and economic classes. While students are between 13-18 years old. Participant details are summarized in Table 1 below.
Table 1
|
Participants |
Students |
Teachers |
|||
|
Female |
Total |
Female |
Male |
Total |
|
|
Questionnaire |
77 |
77 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
Procedure
At the second term of the school year 2019/2020, the researchers distributed the two questionnaires among 77 female students and 4 (2 males and 2 females) teachers at a high school in Amman City. The students and the teachers were selected randomly depending on “Every Keith Item” in order to elicit their responses about factors that negatively affect the students’ speaking skill. The questions in both questionnaires were developed by Shaimaa Ziara (2015). Some of the questions were modified and other were omitted. Also, the researchers added few questions based on her experience and knowledge. The questions are designed to fit the time and the level of the students.
Before distributing the questionnaires to both teachers and students, the researchers introduced to them the purpose of this study and gave them a general idea about it. In both
questionnaires, there are a total of 6 questions to answer. Four questions are based on Likert scale with 5-level Likert items. The other questions are multiple-choice questions.
After distributing the questionnaires to both student and teachers, the researchers asked them to read the instruction which is found at the beginning of the questionnaire. The researchers also asked them to read the questions carefully. While they were answering, both of the students and teachers were interested. In addition, the researchers were willing to illustrate any questions. After both of the students and teachers finished answering, the researchers collected the papers.
Analysis, Results, and Discussion
It is worth mentioning that the researchers thmeselves analyzed the data gathered from the two questionnaires by giving percentages for each question. In fact, both teachers and students believe that there are some problems and factors that negatively affect the speaking skill. However, they are distinguished in their perspectives about it.
All of the questions included in both of the questionnaires test the hypotheses stated above. The results of the questionnaires are summarized in tables. The first question in the second part in both teachers’ and students’ questionnaire tests the first hypothesis stated above. See Table 2 for the first question.
Table 2
|
Hometown Affects the Speaking Skills |
Student |
Teacher |
||
|
Total (77) |
Percentage |
Total (4) |
Percentage |
|
|
Yes |
30 |
38% |
4 |
100% |
|
No |
47 |
61% |
0 |
0% |
This table shows that 30 out of 77 students grew up in countries that has a strong education system that fosters the speaking skill while 47 of them came from countries that don’t enhance their speaking skill. Almost in all grades, the percentage for choosing ‘No’ is higher
than ‘Yes’. This variation of results indicates that the speaking skill is affected by the place where the students grew up. If a student didn’t learn English or use English in the early years, this will result in a student ending up in grade 12 with poor English. It is worth to mention that there are some students who speak English very well were educated first in British schools then they moved to American schools. Teaching students while they are young is more effective than teaching them at higher levels. The table shows also that all of the teachers agreed that hometown affects the students’ speaking skill. This further emphasizes the fact that the place shapes the students’ educational skills.
The second question tests the second hypothesis for both students and teachers. The second question is about using or speaking English outside the classroom. See Table 3 below for the questionnaire data.
Table 3
|
Practicing English outside the classroom |
Students |
Teachers |
||
|
Total (77) |
percentage |
Total (4) |
Percentage |
|
|
Always |
11 |
14% |
0 |
0% |
|
Usually |
21 |
27% |
2 |
50% |
|
Sometimes |
32 |
41% |
2 |
50% |
|
Rarely |
8 |
10% |
0 |
0% |
|
Never |
5 |
6% |
0 |
– |
A majority of the students, about 41%, use English outside the classroom not all the time but sometimes. It can be seen that the students take part of the blame for their poor English speaking skill. Students only focus on the material given by the teacher and they don’t endeavor to find other sources for enhancing their speaking skill. Also, about 11% of them use English outside the classroom all the time and this is a low percentage compared to the other percentages while 21% of them use English usually. Lower percentages are shown in using the English rarely and never with 10%, and 6% respectively. Similarly, the percentages of the teachers using English outside the classroom is divided equally into 50% using English usually and 50% using English sometimes. It is marked that none of the teachers use English all the time outside the
classroom and this is a critical issue. If teachers don’t use English outside the classroom, the students will not be able to practice their English. Based on the results, it’s noteworthy that the teachers are also to be blamed for the students’ poor speaking skill.
The third question is a complement to the third hypothesis in terms of teachers using different teaching methods to encourage students to speak or use English. See Table 4 for more details.
Table 4
|
Teachers using different ways and sources to improve the speaking skill |
Student |
Teacher |
||
|
Total (77) |
Percentage |
Total (4) |
Percentage |
|
|
Always |
28 |
36% |
0 |
0% |
|
Usually |
24 |
31% |
2 |
50% |
|
Sometimes |
17 |
22% |
2 |
50% |
|
Rarely |
6 |
7% |
0 |
0 |
|
Never |
2 |
2% |
0 |
0 |
As the table states, most of the students, about 28%, believe that their teachers provide them with different ways and sources to improve their speaking skill. Those students added to
the 24% students and the 17% students who chose usually and sometimes make a total of 69% students claiming that their teachers use different techniques of teaching or enhancing their speaking skill students. While 6% of the students see that their teachers rarely use any method and 2% of them claim that their teachers never use a variety of teaching methods. In other words, the students admit that their teachers are trying their best to build up their ability to speak English. Similarly, about 50% of teachers usually implement different techniques of teaching or enhancing the students’ speaking skill, and 50% of them selected sometimes. It seems that the
teachers aren’t quite satisfied with their teaching methods considering the fact that none of them chose always. Probably the reason is that teachers don’t find good interaction from the students or they sometimes find good interaction. In other words, when the teacher notices no progress in the classroom, usually he/she blames himself/herself first. All over, there are some problems that affect the progress of such a skill. These problems will be examined in the next question.
The fourth question examines the students’ perspectives on situations preventing them from speaking in English and teachers’ perspectives on their reactions toward such problems. It tests the fourth hypothesis. For more details, see Table 5 and Table 6.
According to table 5, about 42% of the students are unable to speak English because they are afraid of getting criticism or students laughing at their mistakes, while 47% of them speak English very well but they are shy to speak in front of the class. About 3% of the students see that the teacher correcting their mistakes all the time prevent them from speaking English and about 6% of them don’t understand what the teacher is talking about. It seems that the majority of the students know how to speak English but they are shy. Probably, the reason behind such a problem is the teacher’s role. In order to prevent shyness, both of the students and teachers must make tremendous efforts. The teacher must encourage his/her students and the student has to practice English outside the classroom. As for table 6, all of the teachers keep quiet and encourage their students to continue speaking when they commit a mistake. This is an effective way to enhance the students’ speaking skill, however a feedback afterwards is a must. It is noticeable that none of the teachers write a feedback and give it to the students afterwards. This can affect the way the students speak, because they will not know their mistakes and will keep repeating them over and over again.
The fifth question tests the last hypothesis to see whether the listening skill is related to the speaking skill or not. Table 7 below illustrates the results.
Table 7
|
The students’ listening skill |
Student |
Teacher |
||
|
Total (77) |
Percentage |
Total (4) |
Percentage |
|
|
Bad |
2 |
2% |
0 |
0% |
|
Average |
9 |
11% |
0 |
0% |
|
Good |
39 |
50% |
4 |
100% |
|
Excellent |
27 |
35% |
0 |
0% |
It seems that about 39% of the students have good listening skills and about 27% of them have excellent listening skills. On the other hand, 2% and 11% of them have bad and average
listening skill respectively. In other words, the students are good listeners, so they understand what the teacher is saying but some of them are afraid of speaking English. A possible explanation is that students may feel shy or anxious, that’s why they can’t speak English.
Similarly, the teachers agree that their students have good listening skills.
To sum up, the results of the questionnaires suggest quantitatively that both of the students and teachers are aware of the problems and factors that affect the speaking skill. The results have also shown that the speaking skill of students is affected by the place where they come from, the amount of practice, the teacher’s methods and techniques in teaching, shyness, and the ability to listen. Therefore, the five hypotheses are confirmed depending on the findings above.
Summary and Suggestions
The findings of this research include the problems and factors that negatively affect the students’ speaking skill. The speaking skill is one of the most important and essential skills that is required for a student. If a student is unable to speak, he/she will not be able to communicate with other people, because nowadays, the English language became a global language.
Moreover, being weak at speaking decreased the chances or opportunities of getting a future career. Therefore, students and teachers should search for the best ways to enhance the speaking skill. The findings of this research have deepened the students’ and teachers’ insights about the speaking skill and its negative problems and factors.
As stated above, the researchers obtained the results from a questionnaire distributed among 77 female students and 4 male and female teachers. The students are in grades 9 , 10, 11 and 12. Their age ranges between 13-18 years old and are studying at a high school in Amman, Jordan. All of the teachers hold a bachelor’s degree in teaching English at a high school in Amman City, Jordan. This study shows how the results matched the five formulated hypotheses.
Recommendations
In the light of the results of the study, some recommendations are needed in order to enhance the students’ speaking skill:
- Students should use English most of the time inside the classroom and outside the
- Teachers must encourage their students to speak English wherever they go so they can practice and use the language
- Teachers should implement classes for public speaking so the students overcome their fear of speaking English.
- To improve the students’ speaking skill, teachers should write a feedback about the way their students speak, and give it to them after they finish talking.
- Students should enhance their listening skills by listening to programmes in English, or talking with a native
References
Adamson, H. D. (1990). ESL students’ use of academic skills in content courses. English for Specific Purposes, 9(1), 75-76. doi:10.1016/0889-4906(90)90029-C
Cook, G. (1994). Repetition and learning by heart: An aspect of intimate discourse and its implications. English Language Teaching Journal, 48(2), 133-139. Retrieved: Oct. 19, 2013, from: http://203.72.145.166/ELT/files/48-2-3.pdf
Cook, V. (1991). Second language learning and language teaching. London: Edward Arnold. Lindsay, C. & Knight, P. (2006). Learning and teaching English: A course for teacher. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Littlewood, W. T. (1984). Foreign and second language learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Macaro, E. (2003). Teaching and learning a second language: A guide to recent research and its applications. London: Continuum.
O’Malley, M. & Chamot, A. U. (1990). Learning strategies in second language acquisition.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Oxford advanced learner’s dictionary (7th ed.)(2005). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Richards, J. C. & Lockhart, C. (1994). Reflective teaching in second language classrooms.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Shmais, W. A. (2003). Language learning strategy use in Palestine. TESL-EJ, 7(2), 2-13.
Retrieved: Oct. 20, 2013, from: http://www.tesl-ej.org/wordpress/issues/ volume7/ej26/ej26a3/
Ziara, S. (2015). Speaking Problems among IUG English Students: Teachers’ Fault or Students’ Dereliction.
Appendix I
Questionnaire on Identifying Factors that Negatively Affect the Speaking Skill among Students at the high school in Amman.
Dear students,
I would appreciate your efforts in answering the following questions which don’t take much time. These questions have nothing to do with the evaluation of the course or the teacher. Please, don’t write your name or anything that exposes your identity.
Part I: Demographic Information
- What is your gender?
Male Female
- In which grade are you?
8 9 10 11 12
Part II: Research-related Questions
- Does your hometown have a strong education system that fosters the speaking skill of the students?
Yes No
- How often do you practice speaking English outside the classroom?
Always Usually Sometimes Rarely Never
- Do teachers provide you with different ways and sources to improve your speaking skill?
Always Usually Sometimes Rarely Never
- Do these situations prevent you from speaking in English? You can tick more than one
The teacher keeps correcting me all the time in front of the students.
I’m afraid of getting criticism or students laughing at my mistakes.
I know how to speak English but I’m shy.
The teacher asks me to talk about topics I don’t know anything about.
- Does the teacher encourage you to speak English and participate in the class?
Always Usually Sometimes Rarely Never
- How do you evaluate your listening skills?
Bad Average Good Excellent
Appendix II
Questionnaire on Identifying Factors that Negatively Affect the Speaking Skill among Students at the high school in Amman.
Dear teachers,
I would appreciate your efforts in answering the following questions which don’t take much time. These questions have nothing to do with your identity or any evaluations. Please, don’t write your name or anything that exposes your identity.
Part I: Demographic Information
- What is your gender?
Male Female
- What grades/grade do you teach?
8 9 10 11 12
- How old are you?
20-25 25-30 30-35 35-40 more than 40
- How long have you been teaching English?
less than 2 years 2-5 years 5-10 years more than 10 years
Part II: Research-related Questions
- Do you think that the student’s hometown affects the way he/she speaks English?
Yes No
- Do you speak English with your students outside the classroom?
Always Usually Sometimes Rarely Never
- Do you provide your students with different ways and sources to improve their speaking skill?
Always Usually Sometimes Rarely Never
- What is your reaction when your students commit a mistake while speaking?
Keep quiet and encourage them to continue
Stop them and correct them
Get annoyed
Write down a feedback and give it to the student afterwards
- Do you encourage your students to speak English and participate in the class?
Always Usually Sometimes Rarely Never
- How do you evaluate your students’ listening skills?
Bad Average Good Excellent