Chapter three : The Speaking Skill______________________________________________

Chapter III : The speaking skill

Introduction

Speaking among the other foreign language skills (listening, reading and writing)
seems intuitively the most important one. As the process of learning and applying the skills of oral
English are so closely related, classroom should be a place where the use of spoken language is
sensitively supported since it enables students to make connections between what they know and
what they are learning, and it is the one through which they are going to be judged while the first
impressions are being formed, that's why according to (Ur, 1984):
"Many if not most foreign language learners are interested in learning to speak"
(P120)
In practice or in real classroom situation, those learners find it difficult to communicate
or interact using the target language. They think that speaking a foreign language perfectly with a
good pronunciation, fluency,…is a so complex task to fulfil.
This latter is the concern of the forgoing chapter. It aims at presenting a brief
description for foreign language speaking skill and its recent status in the light of what was
presented in the related literature particularly within the emergence of the recent communicative
approach to FLT. It tends to clarify the factors that affect students' speaking abilities, with specific
expression of the common dilemmas teachers face when trying to address the teaching of
speaking.
It covers some issues or points needed to tackle when dealing with speaking, as it
shows the necessary activities must be designed by the teacher in classroom in order to enable his
learners to produce a meaningful English oral performance as well as to overcome their weakness
and difficulties.

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[Link] production in a foreign language

Similar to listening, speaking is a skill which deserves much attention every bit as
much as other language skills are concerned, in both first and second languages since in EFL
classrooms, teaching speaking plays a great role for the learner's good oral achievement( Bygate,
1987).He quoted that:
"Speaking is the vehicle par excellence of social solidarity, of social ranking, of
professional advancement and of business .It is also the medium through which much
language is learnt, and which for many is particularly conductive for learning. Perhaps,
then, the teaching of speaking merits more thought" (P, 1)
So, besides this big importance, it is necessary to deal first with what good speakers of
a foreign language can do. Hence it was assumed that the ability to speak fluently is all the time
associated with certain characteristics to be owned by the speaker. This latter is presented in the
teaching of grammar, an amount of vocabulary with some care about pronunciation so that the
piece of the produced speech sounds as the native speakers' ones. But, now we all know that this
skill is more complex than that; it involves the cooperation of different types of knowledge with
the good command of certain skills. (Bygate, 1987).
A good starting dealing to tackle this skill is to ask ourselves; how we achieve this
ability? and how to do it all over again in a foreign language such as English .
Different factors are involved in speaking. The first one to emphasize is that this
human ability is an interactive process, its form and meaning depend on the participants, their
previous experiences, the physical setting and the purpose of speech (Brown, 1994).
Generally speaking , this process takes place in real time and is described to be linear ;
so this process follows a certain permanent series of stages ( words follow words an phrases
follow phrases) ( Thornbury, 1998 ). At the level of utterances, or the spoken presentation of
sentences, this produced speech goes utterance by utterance opposite to word by word with the
same rhythm from the part of the interlocutor.
In its production, speech nature is described to be contingent through which we find that each
word is dependent on the previous one and the same thing for utterances (interrelationship
between utterances) and this fact leads to what is called in speaking "spontaneity" and this concept
doesn't mean that speech is unplanned but as (thornbury, 1998 ) clarifies, the planning time is
limited . He adds that :

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" the planning of one utterance may overlap with the production of the previous
one " ( p, 7 ) , according to him all the previous explained characteristics are closely related to
"real time processing" which is well determined by (Bygate , 1984) to be :
" we have to produce sentences and adopt them to the circumstances . This
means making decisions rapidly, implementing them smoothly as unexpected
problems appear in our path"( P, 17 ) .

[Link] between L1 and L2 speaking

According to (thornbury, 1998 ) , it is too important when dealing with the speaking
skill to clarify the difference between first and second speaking process.
The majority of foreign language learners complain about their lack in L2 fluency ,
low pronunciation level, no accuracy,…and so many dilemmas they confront in their oral
practices in classroom. Those learners need to know what can be the factors which lead to the
intribution of face to face interaction and more precisely the lack of confidence and often an acute
sense of anxiety .
Following the foreign language comments as being teachers of English , they argue
that many factors are considered to be causes of these problems or this failure in developing the
skill, thus, their grammatical and lexical knowledge isn't enough , the shortage of chances and
opportunities for practice as well as the shortage of interactive speaking in classroom atmosphere (
Thornbury ,1998 ).
So, in this lack of genuine speaking opportunities which account for many foreign
language learners to think that even their knowledge of grammar and vocabulary are acceptable
but , still they are enable to speak fluently , accurately with a good pronunciation , that's why the
first step towards finding solutions to speaking difficulties the learners meet in their learning is to
know first the difference or its better to describe it as the status of speaking in the native language
as well as the target one (L1, L2).
Through the comparison, specifically at the level of speaking as a mental process ,
there is probably no difference at all , since this process follows the same stages , Both L1 and L2
speakers produce speech through the processes of conceptualization , formulation , articulation
and self monitoring .
Like L1 speakers , L2 ones contribute similarly or share the same roles in
communication as (Thornbury,1998 ) states :

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" They will be attending to their interlocutors , adjusting their message

accordingly and negotiating the management of conversational turns " (p , 28).
From what is cited above , the skills of speaking seem to be completely the same in the
two languages (L1, L2) ,
"they are essentially the same and should , in theory , be transferable from the speaker's
first language into the second one " ( Tornbury,1998 , 28 ), but what is significantly different is
the first language itself , then L2 speakers' knowledge of the L2 ( grammar , vocabulary …)isn't
the same as in L1, and L2 speakers in this case are closely resembled to " Students who said , I
can't find words , I always use the same sentences " ( Tornbury, 1998 , 28 ). This problem
of knowledge difference may be more clarified when examining the availability of that knowledge
, this later is described by ( Tornbury,1998 ) to be insufficient integrated into the L1 speakers'
existing language knowledge and rarely accessed or not yet easily retrievable and most
importantly " the process of arranging the grammar of retrieving the word is not yet
automatic" (p 28) .
On the other hand , we must consult the factor of translation into L2 after the process
of utterances' formulation in L1 .This will rule incorrectly the self monitoring process which is in
this case overused and over prolonged in terms of speed , accuracy and effects negatively fluency
.Learners here have " troubles in their intentional capacity between planning and
articulation" (p29). Of course not all L2 learners are concerned with these extended mental
deliberations, since we find many speakers having different strategy which consists of " use the
little language they have at their linguistic " fingertips" so to speak rather than construct
novel utterances from scratch "(p29). The perfect use of this strategy for realizing a good
communication in L2 is called "strategic competence ".

[Link] speaking activities

In a foreign language classroom, being able to be clearly understood when speaking,

and the ability to use effective oral communication skills are so important particularly that given
speech remains the form of communication most often used.
To deal with speaking a foreign language, it requires a degree of real time exposure;
this latter can be realized through a set of classroom activities which have to be developed best in
a dynamic interactive learning environment where both teacher and learners collaborate and

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cooperate with one another to create a safe , comfortable and relaxed atmosphere for a perfect
productive talk in classroom .
For that aim , FL teachers try to develop their learners communicative competence
through the diversity of activities in their classes which must include the different types and styles
of expressions , the different accents and dialects of native speakers and acquainting students with
the different language discourses and situational as well as contextual expressions( business
English , post office , jargon…ect). Each teacher is going to select and adapt the suitable activity
and strategy that meets his learners needs , interests and goals . According to ( Harmer, 2001), in
the Oral expression course ; the most widely used speaking activities should:
" fall at or near the communicative end of the communication continuum" (p, 271).
Through the following classroom speaking activities , the teacher tries all the time to
create interaction by exchanging information and expressing ideas of course with an exclusive
care about the correct grammar (accuracy) , adequate vocabulary , acceptable fluency as well as a
good pronunciation to convey a meaning through speech which sounds like a native speakers '
one.
[Link].3.1. Discussion (debate):
Discussion is considered as one among the best ways of presenting speech and it is an
interesting form of oral practice in the classroom .
"it can provide some of enjoyable and productive speaking in language classroom"
( Harmer, 1995, 46 )
According to ( Thornbury, 1998 ), "many teachers would agree that the best discussions in
class are those that arise spontaneously either because of something personal that a learner
reports or because a topic or a text in the course book triggers some debate" ( p,102).
Discussion differs from conversation in the fact that it generally has an identifiable
purpose .Then, it is similar to conversation in the sense that both involve listening carefully,
considering what others say and speaking . Many of students conversational abilities will transfer
into a discussion situations.
Discussion in foreign language classrooms generally help FL learners to develop their
communicative abilities since it gives them practice in expressing ideas orally in an organized
manner and enables them to arrive at conclusions , to clarify or modify ideas , resolve differences
and find alternative solution because through discussion , learners can bring their personal
experiences and outside world into the classroom, where they tackle different topics and subjects
which concern every individual. (Littlewood, 1999) explains that through class discussions the

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learners are able to use the foreign language as a medium to talk about their experiences and
express their views , opinions and handling their social relationships.
Besides this great importance , FL teachers generally claim about what is named
"discussion failure "(Harmer,2001,272). The reason of this later as he explains is that FL learners
are reluctant to give their opinions in front of the whole class because of a noticed lack of self
confidence ( shyness and fear of making mistakes, lack of adequate vocabulary and accurate
grammar…)
"Many students feel extremely exposed in discussion situation" (Harmer,2001,272)
In this stream , (Harmer,2001) suggests a technique to realize a successful oral discussion and to
avoid all the speaking difficulties which might encounter the learners , this will be through " Buzz
group" which is based upon the formation of small groups , it gives the learner the chance to talk
and interact at the same time .
Through this" Buzz group" ' application , Before being asked to perform orally in
front of the whole class , the level of learners stress will be reduced . (Harmer, 2001) has
illustrates some examples to show the usefulness of the cited technique for a whole range of
discussions, for example :
1/ Let students to predict the content of a reading text or invite them to talk about their
reactions to it after reading.
2/ Discuss what should be included in a news broadcast or have a quick conversation about
Types of music for example.
3/ The topic may be fashion and the statements to discuss might include the following:
- Fashion is universal.
- Fashion is an art form .
- People shouldn't be judged by what they wear .
- Fashion is just a way of making people spend money.
- Fashion celebrates diversity ,…
Extracted from ( Thornbury , 1998 , 102).
• of course all these statements should be reinforced with a view of eliciting a more
personal response phrased as questions during the discussion such as ;
- How important is the label on an item of clothing?
- How often do you shop for clothes ?
- How would you describe your style of dressing?

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4/ To train learners to respond directly and spontaneously through ' instant comments ' through
showing them pictures or introducing any topic at any stage of the lesson then ask them to
make their first impressions .
5/ An other example for EFL classroom oral discussion involves 'formal debate' where
students are asked to prepare arguments in favour or against various prepositions ( Harmer,
2001) , e.g.
An invigilator during an official exam catches a student sheeting from a hidden notes .The
class should discuss the topic of sheeting in exams in general and decide about the following
statements :
- The invigilator should ignore him.
- She should give the student a sign to show that she has seen him, so that the
student will stop.
- She should inform the exam board so that the student will not be able to pass
that exam again.
As a result, the important factor to consider when dealing with oral discussions
in FL classrooms is students engagement with the topic and their interest, provide them with
period for thinking, arrangement of ideas and language expressions they will use.

[Link].3.2. Role plays

It is among the very common classroom speaking activities, according to (Ur, 1984 ), it is
one way to consider when a teacher wants to vary the kinds of the spoken interaction
experienced in classroom. Role plays provide the opportunity for students and revise their
understanding and perspective by exploring thoughts and feelings of characters in a given
situations.
More precisely (Ur ,1984) comes to define it as follows:
" Role plays […] is used to refer to all sorts of activities where learners imagine
themselves in a situation outside the classroom[…] , sometimes playing the role of
someone other than themselves , and using the language appropriate to this new
context" (p , 131).
This special speaking activity is said to have many positive impacts on learners
in classroom
- It gives them empathy as they examine others' ideas, feeling and points of
views.

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- It is a chance to practice their oral skills and interpretations as they use the
foreign language to describe perceptions, emotions and reactions .
- It provides them with the opportunity to practice decision –making and
problem-solving skills as they gain experience in an independent thinking and
cooperative learning.
- It develops both speaking and listening activities .
(Doff, 1988) presents those advantages saying that ;
" Role play gives a chance to use language in new contexts and for new topics […]
, because they are 'acting out' a situation .Role play encourages students to use natural
expressions and intonation, as well as gesture" ( p, 240).
-In role plays students have to imagine a role (e.g. a farmer ) and a situation (e.g. accidents).
A role play in EFL classroom is a drama like activity , it can take many forms :
[Link].3.2.1. Role cards
"Participant are given a situation plus problem or task, as in simulation, but
they are allotted individual roles, which may be written out on cards" (Ur, 2000, 132).
So, role cards as a role play technique gives the opportunity for learners
'performances to be guided through instructions presented in cards for enabling them to act
out what may occur.
Example A
Student A:
Situation A
You are a student, you have lost your bag and you are in the police station reporting it to the
police
Student B:
Situation B
You are a police officer and you are going to ask the student for more details.
Example B
In this example we illustrate a role card where the participant has the task easier since they
are given more details about the topic they act.
Student A
Situation A
You are a parent of a six- year –old girl. You are doing your best to bring up your
child, and you are moderately strict .The big problem, you feel, is your own parent (your

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daughter's grandparent), who lives with you .He/she is always spoiling your child. You want
this to stop, and you will now complain to your parent. Here are some example of the
behaviour that upsets you:
- Giving her too much candy and too many sweets in general (cakes, ect).
- Allow her to leave her meals half eaten.
- Letting her watch too much TV.
- Buying her too many toys.
- Allow her to stay up as late as she likes.
- Buying her whatever she wants in the supermarket
- (Think about more!)
You remember that your parent was much stricter with you when you were a child!
You will speak first. Say, "Mom/Dad, could we talk, please? There's something I've been
meaning to discuss with you" then listen and respond.
Student B
Situation B
You are the parent of a grown –up child who has a six –year-old daughter .You live together,
and these past six years you have really been enjoying being a grandparent . You feel it's more
fun than being a parent , because you have all of the pleasures of parenthood without the
heavy responsibilities .In recent years ,your philosophy of child –rearing has changed .

You now believe:

- Children should enjoy food and eat what they like.
- Forcing a child to eat can lead to weight problems.
- TV helps develop a child's imagination.
- Toys and other playthings are essential to a child's development.
- Children have lots of energy, and shouldn't be put to bed too soon.
- It's best to let children learn to make decisions (about shopping, ect.)
Right now your son / daughter wants to speak with you. He/ she will speak first .Listen and
respond.

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[Link].3.2.2. Simulation
It is another role play activity which can be to develop oral fluency, "where
student simulate a real life encounter […] as if they were doing so in the real world as
themselves" (Harmer, 2000, 274).
It is similarly defined by (Ur,19984):
"In simulation the individual participants speak and react as themselves, but
the group role, situation and task they are given is an imaginary one" (132).
For a simulation to work it must according to (Kenjohns reported in Harmer ,2000)
have the following characteristics :
- "Reality of function"; where students feel their complete involvement in the
situation as if it really exists and they act as a real participants .
- "A simulated environment " created by the teacher
- "Structure " in which students must have a general view about the tasks to be
performed and the activity to be done
Furthermore , it seems somehow difficult to distinguish between the two sorts of activities (
role play and simulation as a type of a role play) , but the clear difference lies in the fact that
simulation is more difficult than role play since it requires learners not to act as characters that
are not their own but get more personally involved ( using their own background and
knowledge to the situation).
In simulation students generally work with small groups to feel confident,
cooperative, sharing ideas and create motivation.
Example:
You are the managing committee of a special school for blind children. You want to
organize a summer camp for them, but your school budget is insufficient .Decide how you
might raise the money"
(Ur, 2000, 132).

[Link] gap activities

Another type among the classroom spoken interaction activities is what is
described by (Harmer, 2002 ) to be ;
"Where two speakers have different parts of information making up a whole
,because they have different information, there is a gap between them"(p,88)

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In foreign language classrooms, gap activities are proved to be among the most
useful in second language acquisition since "it provides negotiation of meaning and the
conversational adjustment which push students to more accurate output" (Hedge ,2
,281).
This activity has a requirements for information exchange
"It involves each learner in a pair or a group possessing information which the
other learners do not have"(Hedge ,2000 ,281).
Of course in practice, this information has to be shared through right questions. It exists many
variants of information gap activities, for example ;"describe and draw" activity, in which one
learner has a picture which mustn't be shown to the other learners , what the rest of the class
has to do is to draw the same picture without looking at the original one. Of course the role of
the first student is to give instructions and descriptions to act as a guide for his partners who
have to ask questions. (Harmer, 2002 ).
A further extension of the information gap activities in suggested in stories
where for example the teacher provides his learners with an unfinished story and it depends on
the rest of the class to guess and discuss the way it ends.
In another gap activity, students are given incomplete dialogue and they have to
complete it such as the following example:
A: Good morning, can I help you?
B: …………………………………
A: I'll see what I can do.
B: Yes ……………………………
A: Yes, of course, Sudely castle, I think it's open all the day.
B:…………………………………
A: Yes, it costs 4,86£ for adults and £3 for children
B: ……………………………….
A: Oh, it's a museum, an absolutely fascinating collection of all sorts of things like clocks,
masks, cabinets…ect
B: ……………………………….
A: Enjoy your visit, good bye.
These information gap activities are seen by ( Hedge,2000) to" have their
own advantages and limitations, they assist language acquisition, but they do not involve
students in conversational strategies in the same way as role plays or discussion" ( P 281)

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[Link] circles
Talking circles provide safe environment where students are given the opportunity to
share their points of view with there partners using the target language, of course without fear
of criticism or judgment. This activity is useful when the discussed topic has no right or
wrong answer, when students are sharing, feeling, considering moral or ethical issues as well.
It is an effective strategy for reaching group consensus and for real life problem solving.
In class, the students sit in a circle and each one has the opportunity to speak .
During this spoken activity, both parts of interaction have some guidelines to follow:
- Only one student speak at a time, while the others listen and remain non
judgmental.
- Address all comments to the issue or topic, not to comments made by other
students (avoid both positive and negative responses to another student's
comments).
- Encourage listeners to focus on the speaker supporting him by taking an
interest in what he/she says, rather than turning and thinking about what they
will say when it is their turn.
- Encourage speakers to share their comments in a way that is easiest and most
comfortable for them( e.g. personal story, examples or metaphors, analytical
statements).
-
[Link].3.5. Storytelling based activities
This type of activities has always been one of the main means of practicing speaking in
classroom . It functions as a clear tool towards autonomy and takes many forms;
a) Guess the lie:
In this activity learners tell each other three short personal anecdotes , where two
among them are true and the third one is untrue and it depends on the others to guess the lie
and to find the untrue anecdote so they argue their guesses. They can be allowed to ask a
limited number of questions after the story has been told by their colleague (Thornbury,1998
,96).

Example:

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Think about a lucky or unlucky experience you have had .You are going to tell your
partners about it, choose from the list below the things you want to talk about .think about
what you will say and what language you will need.
o Was it a lucky or unlucky experience?
o When did it happen?
o Where were you?
o Who were you with ?
o What happened?
o Why was it lucky or unlucky?
o How did you feel afterwards?
b) Insert the word:
Each student is given a card in which an unusual word or expression is written and has
to be kept secret. The student has to tell his colleague an anecdote in which he / she
incorporates 'the secret item ' as unobtrusively as possible, by the end ,the students have to
guess the secret word .
Still in the same concern of storytelling based activities, student are allowed to tell
jokes since the repeated practice of jokes in EFL classroom "Fulfils an important
function of good speaking tasks" (Thornbury, 1998, 96).

[Link]
Questionnaires are useful as a communicative tool in classroom. They serve as "a way
of provoking conversation and opinion exchange "(Harmer, 2000 ,89).
This activity by being pre-planned by the students themselves becomes more useful, as
(Harmer, 2000) had argued;
"Questionnaires are useful because, by being pre-planned, they ensure that both
questioner and respondent have something to say to each other" (p, 274).
The questionnaire as a spoken activity is considered to encourage the natural use of
some repetitive language patterns (Harmer, 2000) . Generally speaking , the questionnaire
'results can be taken as a basis for different oral tasks like : prepared talks , discussion and
even written works(Harmer, 2000).

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● Example

TV Watching Questionnaire

● Do you like watching TV?

- Yes
- No
● If 'No', why?
…………………………………………………………………
● If ' Yes', How many hours do you normally watch TV
……………………………………………………………….
● What do you prefer to watch?
- films
- movies
- talking shows
- news
- others
● Explain why
……………………………………………………………………..

In classroom, with practicing questionnaires , students are allowed to go around the

class and talk to their classmates and this latter allows them to have
" a bit of physical movement and provide a welcome variety of interaction"
( Thornbury , 1998 , 90).

[Link] in a speaking test

The main goal in teaching speaking is to realize a good oral production , this
can be defined as "the ability to express one self intelligibly , reasonably , accurately
without too much hesitation otherwise communication may break down because the
listener loses interest or get impatient "
(Hughes,2002 extracted from Byrne 1986 ).
When we come to assessment , testing orally is very important to care about ;

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"Testing , both formally and informally takes place at the beginning and at the
end of most language course, as well as at various times during the course itself […] it
aims to test progress during the course ,or achievement at the end of it"
(Thornbury, 1998 ,124).
Following what has just been quoted above , to test learners' speaking abilities ,
teachers have many criteria to examine : pronunciation, fluency , accuracy and interaction.
[Link]

" A consideration of learners' pronunciation errors and how these can inhibit
successful communication is a useful basis on which to assess why it is important to deal
with pronunciation in classroom."
(Kelly,2000,11)
Pronunciation generally speaking refers to the ability produce comprehensible speech
to fulfil the speaking test requirements; its key indicators will be the amount of strain caused
to the listener, the amount of speech which is unintelligible and notice ability of L1 influence
.( Hughes ,2002 )
According to (Harris quoted in forum 1997 );"pronunciation is the most difficult to
assess , the central reason is the lack of general agreement on what good pronunciation
of second language means :is comprehensibility to be the sole Basis of judgment, or
must we demand a high degree of phonetics and allophonic accuracy and can we be
certain that two or more speakers will find the utterance of a foreign speaker equally
comprehensible"
Many scholars believe that teaching pronunciation in EFL classrooms tends to be
neglected .This fact is caused by two key problems .Firstly , teachers tend to make grammar as
well as lexis and vocabulary their first concern, as (Kelly,200) claimed that ;
" A look at the contents pages of most course books will show that we tend
to think of the organization of language in terms of grammatical structures , although
some more recent publications claim to have a lexically arranged syllabus" (p , 13).
Secondly, those teachers feel doubt how to teach it as they argue all the time that this
doubt is due to the lack of knowledge of the theory of [Link] , language learners
on the other hand show a great enthusiasm towards pronunciation and consider it as a very
important factor to realize a successful communication (Kelly, 2000). Even though,
pronunciation presents one among the difficulties learners encounter , that’s why when dealing

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with assessing speaking, it is considered as a clear factor to examine in oral tests as well as in
ordinary communication in classroom using the target language.

As a result , in a communicative test of speaking , students are asked to

pronounce the language intelligibly even if some influences from L1 remain or though residual
accent is acceptable (Hedge, 2000 ).They have to :
- Produce individual sounds correctly.
- Link words appropriately.
- Use stress and pitch to convey the intended meaning
- First language accents are acceptable provided and communication isn't
impeded
" the aim of pronunciation improvement is not to achieve a perfect imitation of a native
accent , but simply to get the learner to pronounce accurately enough to be easily and
comfortably comprehensible to other (competent ) speakers " (Hughues ,2002,68 quoted
in Ur 1996).
[Link]
It is necessary to determine the impact of fluency on foreign language
comprehensibility .It refers to the learners' ability to talk with normal level of continuity (
speed) , rate and effort to link both ideas and language together to form coherent connected
speech (Hughues, 2002), , . Its two key indicators are
-Speech rate .
-Speech continuity.
In assessing learners' fluency , they are not asked to produce speech fastly
following the same rhythm as native speakers one , but only to follow a normal speed with
clear continuity and logical sequencing of sentences (Hughues, 2002).
" testing fluency is to assess coherent spoken interaction with good speed , rhythm
and few intrusive hesitations" (Pye, Greenall,1996,99).

[Link]
On this scale ;
" Candidates are awarded marks for the accurate and appropriate use of syntactic forms
and vocabulary in order to meet the task requirement at each level "
( Hughues ,2002, 88).

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In addition , the key indicators for the grammatical accuracy are :

- The appropriate use of subordinate clauses, sentences structure and
specifically concerned the number of grammatical errors in a given
amount of speech and the communicative effect of error (Hughues,
2002).
According to (Hedge,2000) , to assess this concept , accuracy is highly through occasional
errors which do not impede communication are accepted . For advanced learners , this
accuracy must be consistently high.
Testing accuracy was seen by (Pye and Greenal ,1996) to examine :
" evidence of a wide range of structures and vocabulary .Errors minimal in
number and gravity " (p, 99).

[Link] communication
It is worth emphasizing that grammatical accuracy, fluency and pronunciation are not
all what is needed to test EFL learners' speaking abilities, but teachers when assessing
speaking need to examine their students' interactive abilities in classroom.
"Interactive communication" as (Thornbury, 1998 ) observes is;" The candidate's
abilities to interact with the interlocutor and the required speed and rhythm to fulfil the
task requirements. It includes the ability to use functional language and strategies to
maintain or repair interaction" (p, 129).
In assessing learner's interactive level, teachers have to look after their capability to
turn talking and without undue hesitation as well as their ability to participate competently in
the different interactive situations and to develop the variety of topics by initiating and
responding appropriately.
To conclude, students are asked to contribute with ease for most of interaction , "with
only occasional and minor difficulties or for advanced learners to contribute fully and
effectively throughout the interaction"
(Pye and Greenal ,1996, 99)
[Link]' speaking difficulties

In teaching speaking , it is necessary to care about not going to extremes , either by

being too exclusively concerned with theories and thinking about their application to teaching
, nor by following a certain routines; playing the tape recorder , asking and answering

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questions …, but the teacher must have an overall understanding of what speaking is and what
are the constraints or difficulties which may meet the learners to develop their speaking
performances, and finally how to bring the gap between an analysis of speaking and the actual
classroom teaching ( Yang, 1993).
Hence, foreign language students proclaim having obstacles in achieving a real and
perfect oral performance and this is due to the following factors:
[Link].5.1. Lack of motivation/ interest

Speaking a foreign language can be a very uncomfortable task or experience in

classroom. Yet, the majority of students find it hard to deal with it because of the non
motivational atmosphere, as (Littlewood, 1999) stated. He expresses his perspective noticing
that unless learners of a foreign language are giving full opportunities to express themselves,
to present their ideas and to communicate and integrate with the world around them
(classmates/ teacher), they aren't going to improve their speaking performance.
So, students' speaking skills develop best in a motivational atmosphere where dynamic
interactive learning is highly valued to encourage learners to feel safe , comfortable and
relaxed with little or no exposure to the target language .
Motivation is very important and is the key concept for avoiding inhibition. it is closely
related with interest , so the students' failure to participate orally may stem from their lack of
interest which can derive from the learners' impressions that the activities they tackle in
classroom are too difficult in one hand. In the other hand , they complain about the nature and
types of topics in discussion and they describe them to be boring and uninteresting as to put
them in critical status.
It depends heavily on the teacher to ensure motivation as well as interest in his
classroom, by choosing topics and issues that attract students' intention and interest as well as
carrying out activities that do not put heavy demands on the learners and give them the chance
to express themselves freely.

[Link]
Unlike the other skills, speaking requires what is called' real time exposure . Foreign
language learners are noticeably inhibited to talk or express their ideas in front of the others
using the target language (Ur ,19984).

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"It is too easy for a foreign language classroom to create inhibition

anxiety" (Littlewood, 1999,93 ). He adds that inhibition from one side results from learners'
feeling of ignorance in front of their teacher or instructor who they consider as the main source
of input and the principle possessor of knowledge.
Hence, from the other side, inhibition appears closely related with students' shyness
and fear of making mistakes as well as criticism. So , because of their feeling of linguistic
inferiority and their inability to develop their communicative skills, they become ashamed
when attempting to talk and they are cautious about making errors in their talk ;so they prefer
to reduce their speaking time and participation .In some cases this inhibition pushes learners to
prefer not to speak at all and remain silent.
"Learners occupy a permanent position of inferiority before a critical audience
with little opportunity for asserting their own individuality .They are likely to feel drawn
out to communicate with those around them […].On the contrary , may learners will
prefer to keep a ' law profile ', in the hope that they will not be called upon to participate
openly"
( Littlewood, 1981, 93).

[Link] and grammar constraints:

A good knowledge of vocabulary and a correct mastery of grammar rules are very
important to speak a foreign language . In our context , many students show the desire to speak
and to participate but unfortunately they fail to present their messages verbally arguing that
they are unable to find out suitable words to specific topics or haven't enough vocabulary in
their linguistic repertoire
Thus , not only vocabulary is essential in speaking, but grammar competence has also
a great role to convey meaning .It is very important for learners so they will be able to
combine words, sentences , phrases … correctly to communicate .
"The learner must attain as high degree a possible of linguistic repertoire "
(Littlewood, 1981, 6).

[Link] listening practice

It is strongly shown, the relationship between listening and speaking .Thus, poor
listening practice will lead automatically to a poor speaking competence. So, students' inability
to produce speech isn't only due to their lack of motivation and interest, inability to find

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suitable words and use grammar correctly to combine them but it derives also from their
restricted experience in listening to English, as they listen only to their teacher 's model of
speaking and which isn't in fact the only model they encounter in their real life situation
Hence , our students should be aware about the importance of listening to native
speakers 'model of speech ( intonation , pitch , fall, facial expressions…), those features which
must exist for a successful listening , a good spoken production and an acceptable
communication.
[Link] 'problems
A consideration of learner's pronunciation errors and how these can inhibit successful
communication, it appears a crucial problem to consult. FL learners' inability to pronounce
well may affect their spoken performance and classroom participation.
In the case of the English language, a mispronunciation of one sound may lead to a big
misunderstanding and a change in meaning. Unfortunately, many learners have developed
habitual errors which cause an unrecognizability of certain words and in many cases the result
is communication 'problems.
"A learner who mispronounces a range of phonemes can be extremely difficult for
a speaker from another language to understand. This can be very frustrating for the
learner who may have a good command of grammar and lexis but have difficulty in
understanding and being understood by a native speaker"
(Kelly, 2000, 11).
In addition to words mispronunciation, other learners encounter the misuse of language
supra -segmental features such as (intonation, stress …).
"The inaccurate use of suprasegmental elements such as stress or intonation can
also cause problems". (Kelly, 2000, 11).
As it is outlined, problems caused by pronunciation errors led to problems in both
reception and comprehension of the meaning and the function of an utterance (Kelly, 2000).
He explained another problem which is the first language of mother tongue interference on the
pronunciation of second language in terms of accent and mood. Our students meet such kind
of problems since they share the same mother tongue and they tend to use it usually, as they
feel comfortable, natural and secure to speak it, and speaking a foreign language out of its
context or outside the classroom seems really unnatural for them. It is too difficult for them to
keep using it.

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To conclude, " all these problems are very real in our classrooms and worthy of
investigation and remedial action in the classroom (Kelly, 2000, 12).

Conclusion

Throughout this chapter, we have tried to consult or examine some of the theoretical
aspects that concern foreign language speaking skill. We have demonstrated the role the oral
communication generally and of speaking specifically in the process of learning and find that
speaking is appropriate for learning objectives. In this chapter , we have shown what is meant
by a successful oral performance stating that it is the ability and right to speak freely and
clearly , unashamed , to fully vocalize , to choose to make contact with a word and to
communicate that word successfully . Besides, this oral performance is so complex to realize
and the speaking skill is extremely difficult to practice where foreign language learners
encounter many constraints.
Yet, our FL teachers try to overcome these difficulties adopting a variety of tasks and
techniques that feat the learners' interest , needs and level in order to develop discussion skills
, interpersonal skills , critical listening , group interaction and problem solving …
All in all we came up to the following points:
- To participate actively in class, students must be able to communicate
clearly, effectively and appropriately in a variety of moods and
contexts.
- Speaking is the oral articulation of ideas; it influences the development
of critical thinking, problem solving abilities and general learning
outcomes. It is an intellectual, social function .It shapes students
perceptions of the world and represents these perceptions as knowledge
and encourage FL learners to transform it as they shift through
observations, evaluate information and compare views.
- Students become more proficient speakers as they adopt their
capacities to use the language and the ideas appropriate to the situation
, respond to listeners verbal and non verbal cues , restate ideas , ask

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questions to clarify understanding , use the language to create images

and to produce emotional responses.
- For realizing the learners' active engagement in the speaking process,
teachers need to determine the areas of difficulties their learners meet.
So, they should structure, plan meaningful tasks and experiences within
the classroom environment and present them in a more realistic and
authentic manner.
- Teachers have to encourage students to use the foreign language
outside the classroom and try to provide them with suitable
opportunities to do so .

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