The Role of Classroom Interaction in Overcoming Students’ Obstacles in Speaking

Abstract

Nowadays, speaking has become surely one of theimportant skills in learning and developing language, especially English which is admitted in approximately all domains. For EFL learners, Speaking English is not an easy task; it requires much effort to produce good and fluent language. This dissertation aims at investigating EFL students’ obstacles and difficulties met in speaking skill at the Department of English at Abdelhamid Ibn Badis University, Mostaganem. .the research alsoattempts to explore the role of classroom interaction in improving learners’ performance in the speaking skill. Two research instruments are created for first year LMD teachers and students. First, a classroom observation was used to diagnose the common speaking difficulties in a natural setting. Second, a questionnaire was conducted to know what psychological factors impacting students’ oral performance. The results obtained from the study showed that students encounter several problems in the speaking skill such as: grammar mistakes, pronunciation level, inhibition, and the use of the mother tongue, in addition to negative psychological variables that affect student’s performance namely: the lack of self-confidence, anxiety, lack of self - esteem and the absence of motivation. From another perspective , EFL teachers agreed that speaking is one of the important skills in the English language and effective interaction inside the classroom plays a role in reinforcing first year English students’ speaking . Finally, this research ends up with offering some beneficial and effective suggestions and recommendations for both EFL students and teachers to develop their learning and teaching process.