ASSESSING FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS’ ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILL IN EFL CLASSROOM: THE CASE OF GRADE 10 STUDENTS GADEBANO SECONDARY AND PREPARATORY SCHOOL, IN GURAGHE ZONE, SNNP REGIONAL STATE.

Abstract

In language learning, speaking has been well known as one of important aspects of communication in which the ability of language learner measure by the ability to carried out the language in oral communication. This study was conducted to assessing factors affecting students’ speaking skill in EFL classroom at Gadebano Secondary and Preparatory school. During the actual research four data collecting tools: observation, questionnaires, interviews and textbook analysis were implemented. Accordingly, an attempt was made to assess the teachers practice to teach English speaking skill and assess students’ challenges to learn English speaking skill in EFL classroom. Besides, data were gathered through questionnaires and interviews from forty six students and from four English teachers respectively. The collected data were analyzed and discussed in quantitatively and qualitatively under main specific and sub-specific categories. Thus, the findings of the study showed that teachers and students had known the importance of English speaking skill and the actual classroom practices oral interaction activities were ineffective. This happened due to four main dimensional constraints: lack of student speaking performance, teacher related factor, textbook related factor and inappropriate method use. Student related factor include having less of vocabulary words, less motivation to learn speaking skill, lack of confidence and having poor background of linguistic proficiency. Teachers related problems were mainly less emphasis on speaking lesson, inability to control the students’ activities and inappropriate use teaching speaking skill etc. Therefore, this study was very important in a way of giving deep inspection about speaking skill to the teacher and students and shows the way to teach and learn English speaking skill in classroom.