TEACHERS AND STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF PRACTICING SPEAKING SKILLS IN EFL CLASSROOMS: THE CASE OF KULA SECONDARY SCHOOL IN SUDE WOREDA, ARSI ZONE

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to assess the perceptions of teachers and students towards practicing speaking skills in EFL classes. The study was conducted at Kula Secondary School of Sude woreda in Arsi zone. To this end, a descriptive research design was employed to achieve the research objective .Nine EFL teachers and one hundred sixty eight students were selected using comprehensive and systematic sampling techniques respectively. The data were collected through three instruments: questionnaire, interview and classroom observations. The data gathered through questionnaire and interviews were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively and triangulated with the classroom observation data. The findings of the study revealed that the teachers were aware of the benefits of practicing classroom oral activities, though all of them were not able to implement it in classrooms. However, most of the students were not aware of the contribution of practicing speaking activities during oral lessons. Moreover, the teachers claimed to employ different techniques to develop learners’ oral proficiency, and stated that they frequently engage and invite students to participate in various classroom oral activities. Furthermore, the study identified the major barriers of classroom oral practice like poor speaking background, large class size, unsuitability of seats, vocabulary knowledge, mother tongue use, lack of practicing speaking, teaching methodology, teachers’ oral proficiency and method of evaluation. Finally, on the basis of the key findings, it was recommended that in order to improve students’ participation above all, students should practice speaking in the target language. To this end, teachers also ought to play prominent role. Besides, the regional, zonal and woreda education offices need to deal with the problem of large class size