EXPLORING EFL LEARNERS DIFFICULTIES IN DEVELOPING ORAL FLUENCY

Abstract

The present article aims to identify the factors that hinder the development of oral fluency among learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) at the first year LMD level in Khemis Miliana University. To this end, the present study employs a quantitative method. Thirty students were randomly selected from the LMD students of the English department and four oral teachers. This dissertation is divided into two main parts theoretical and practical one Section one is a general overview of speaking skill, which aims to evaluate its recent status within the framework of EFL teaching, to explore aspects and characteristics of speaking performance, to consider both communicative and linguistic competencies in view of different writers, to tackle what should be taught in 2L course without neglecting the effect of communication practice on second language learning. Section two deals with problems and factors influencing EFL speaking performance; as well as, the difficulties learners encounter in developing their oral fluency. The practical part covers, the research methodology, the sample population and data collection instruments. The data was collected through an oral interview and a questionnaire. Which consisted of both face to face and online interviews. The data obtained was analyzed using descriptive analyses. The results revealed that there are psychological problems such as (anxiety, shyness) and a lack of motivative factors, such as time pressure, classroom practices and materials. Furthermore, it was found there are learner related factors such as lack of motivation especially in the case of negative attitudes towards learning English as a foreign language. From data analysis and interpretation researcher could come up with interesting points in which the findings indicate that there are some difficulties which underline EFL learners‟ failure in developing their oral fluency. It is hoped that this paper will help future EFL teachers and learners design effective tasks for oral fluency in their classes.