Perspectives of EFL Student’s Difficulties in Speaking: A Descriptive Study

Abstract

This article reports EFL students’ difficulties in speaking in a state high school in Ecuador. The instrument included 40 Likert type scale statements and questions that measured qualitative aspects of student’s experiences in terms of speaking activities, reactions to speaking tasks, and weaknesses and strengths. The survey was sent via Google Forms to 74 students, the excel document that was exported by the program was edited, tabulated, analyzed and processed through SPSS statistical program. The findings included means and frequency percentages that showed that student’s perspectives tilt to a lack of oral activities in the classroom and presence of anxiety when engaging in speaking tasks. The study confirms the existence of limitations like anxiety in oral production and the influence of some factors in the class interaction time. The findings are significant for future upgrades and advances in curriculum design and teaching practice of English language.