Improving English Speaking Fluency: The Role of Six Factors

Gholamhossein Shahini, Fatemeh Shahamirian

Abstract


This qualitative study, using an open interview, set out to investigate the roles six factors, including age, university education, teachers of English Language institutes, teaching English, dictionary, and note-taking, played in improving English speaking fluency of seventeen fluent Iranian EFL speakers. The participants were chosen purposefully based on the speaking scale of Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL). The findings indicated that early age had a great impact on the participants’ speaking fluency. They mentioned that they could not pick up fluency if they had started learning English at older ages. Moreover, university education had no effect on enhancing their fluency. They stated that not having enough opportunities to speak English in classrooms, being exposed to wrong amounts of input from their classmates or even from some university instructors, having no access to English native speakers in English Language Departments, professors’ talking in native language out of classes, in their offices or even sometimes in classes all led to their losing motivation after entering the university. In contrast, teachers in English language institutes had a supportive role in increasing the participants’ English learning. Although two participants quit teaching English since it had a negative influence on their speaking, it had a positive impact on improving speaking ability of the rest. And finally, fruitful strategies were suggested on how to use dictionaries and note-takings. 


Keywords


EFL, Speaking, Fluency

Full Text:

PDF

References


Amirnejad, A. (2015). The effect of using cell phone video recording features on Iranian EFL learners’ fluency. Scholars Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, 3(4B), 927-933.

Ausubel, D. (1968). Educational psychology: A cognitive view. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

Bahrani, T. (2011). Speaking fluency: Technology in EFL context or social interaction in ESL context? Studies in Literature and Language, 2(2), 162-168.

Bailey, K. M. (2003). Speaking. In D. Nunan (Ed.), Practical English language teaching (pp. 47-66). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Contemporary.

Brown, H. D., & Lee, H. (2015). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy (4th ed.). White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.

Chastain, K. (1988). Developing second-language skills: Theory and practice (3rd ed.). Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Council of Europe. (2001). Common European framework of references for languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Harmer, J. (2015). The practice of English language teaching (5th ed.). Harlow, UK: Pearson Longman.

Krashen, S. D. (1981). Second language acquisition and second language learning. Oxford, UK: Pergamon Press.

Lenneberg, E. H. (1967). Biological foundations of language. New York, NY: John Wiley.

McLaughlin, B. (1987). Theories of second-language learning. London: Edward Arnold.

Nation, I. S. P. (1989). Improving speaking fluency, System, 17(3), 377-384.

Nation, I. S. P., & Newton, J. (2009). Teaching ESL/EFL listening and speaking. New York, NY: Routledge.

Penfield, W., & Roberts, L. (1959). Speech and brain mechanisms. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Richards, J. C. (2006). Communicative language teaching today. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Rivers, W. M. (1981). Teaching foreign-language skills (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Shumin, K. (2002). Factors to consider: Developing adult EFL students’ speaking abilities. In J.C. Richards & W.A. Renandya (Eds.), Methodology in language teaching: An anthology of current practice (pp. 204-211). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Snow, C. (1983). Age differences in second language acquisition: Research findings and folk psychology. In K. M. Bailey, M. H. Long, & S. Peck (Eds.), Second language acquisition studies (pp. 141-150). Rowley, MA: Newbury House.

Tavakoli, P., Campbell, C., & McCormack, J. (2016). Development of speech fluency over a short period of time: Effects of pedagogic intervention. TESOL Quarterly, 50, 447-471.

Zaremba, A. J. (2006). Speaking professionally. Canada: Thompson South-Western.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.8n.6p.100

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Bookmark and Share


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

2010-2023 (CC-BY) Australian International Academic Centre PTY.LTD.

Advances in Language and Literary Studies

You may require to add the 'aiac.org.au' domain to your e-mail 'safe list’ If you do not receive e-mail in your 'inbox'. Otherwise, you may check your 'Spam mail' or 'junk mail' folders.