Perspectives of EFL Students' Difficulties in Speaking: a descriptive study

Abstract

Speaking is one of the ways to express ideas, feeling, experiences and knowledge to other people in a formal or informal situation. Lacking the ability to communicate orally, people cannot succeed in school or society, so the main purpose of language learning is to develop speaking proficiency. This descriptive study was applied in a high school in Loja city. The research instrument applied to collect information was a survey. The results, media, and frequency were analyzed in a program called SPSS. The findings indicated that students face different difficulties when speaking English. Students only have a limited vocabulary of English terms. In addition, students have trouble pronouncing certain words since they listen and practice during English class, and they lose track of what they have learned at home because they do not apply it. Another common problem or difficulty in teaching speaking is class management; students have limited time to practice speaking. This descriptive study can be helpful for EFL teachers who want to help their students to overcome the oral obstacles mentioned in this study.