IMPROVE SPEAKING

SKILLS OF EFL
RESEARCH

Mohammed
Abu.Haib
Improving Speaking Skills of EFL

Literature Review

Improving speaking skills is very important for EFL

learner in order to express his ideas freely . The learner
must perfect his English especially his listening and
speaking skills and try to have an accent . He should take
notes of idioms and expressions and find out what they
mean then try to use them in his everyday speech (Victor
A. Bloomfield, Esam E. El-Fakahany2008) . The best way to
improve speaking skills is to speak as much as possible
because if you do not try to speak, then you will not
forever (S. Burger(. ((students should be given opportunity
, to develop greater and greater skill in encoding their
thoughts in ever more complicated patterns of the foreign
speech))(Wilga M.rivers1972) . Also every day try to listen
to native English speakers on radio stations and television
and so on, (Roberta Steinberg 2008 ) because listening
helps you to improve your language generally and
speaking skills especially . You will notice that problems
with speaking can, in fact, be related to poor listening
skills or strategies, pronunciation difficulties, a lack of
vocabulary or grammatical inaccuracies.( Melissa Megan,
2000). In order to speak English well, you have to be a
good English listener and reader as well, according to (Jo

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Condrill, Bennie Bough 1999) . some students think that only
studying book can improve their communication

ability so Wilga says in the book ,teaching Foreign-

Language skills(( learning a whole lot of stuff from a book,
and that being able to speak the language is some far
distant)),also he adds((phonological,morphological,and
syntactical habits of the foreign language must be
practiced and practiced to a point of overlearning ….
Student can use them at any moment without any
conscious effort)). The learner should make a lot of
conversations to improve his speaking skills. Language
does not come to his mouth without any effort .

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Introduction :
Many EFL learners suffer of speaking difficulties . when
they speak English they become nervous , hesitate , sweat
and shack… etc . They always ask theirselves why these
things happen to us . Some of them have good English
but they can not speak it well .The main cause of this
problem due to the poor speaking skills . These skills must
be developed daily in order to avoid such problem. So the
questions are how can EFL learner improves speaking
skills . what the ways and techniques used to improve
them . This research paper is going to discuss this issue
then will provide with beneficial techniques for speaking
skills improvement, that will help EFL learner to overcome
the difficulties that prevent him of expressing his ideas
and enable him to communicate with people in English
whether native and non-native speakers properly .

Body
The body is going to answer the question, how the EFL
learner improves his speaking skills? Here I included some
techniques that help him to improve these skills. they will
be divided under three verbs , that learners has to do in

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order to achieve such goal .So when he does these actions
with their techniques ,he will be able to communicate with
people in English freely then be capable of expressing
himself and his opinions and he will be motivated to learn
English more. The verbs are:

To Speak
EFL learner has to speak as much as possible.

That will help him overcome his speaking difficulties, also

will make him familiar with the language and its
pronunciation and expressions. There are many ways of
practicing speaking in order to improve speaking skills:

Delivering a speech and making presentations.

They are very helpful for EFL learner to speak English

better, because he is going to learn how to communicate
in English, confront people, organize his ideas and express
himself better. So these advantages are important for EFL
learner when he speaks English.

Try to communicate with people in English.

EFL learner should use his English in his daily

conversations . Even with learners or native speakers of
English.(( in give-and-take of conversation , many learned
structures and phrases prove to be appropriate and
responses containing these structures are strengthened ,

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so that they become more readily available for future use .
ability to conversing by frequent practice in that
language)) (wilga M . Rivers1972). EFL learner should not
be afraid of conversational mistakes ,but even these
mistakes are very beneficial for him, (how!), because he
can make use of them in improving his speaking
skills.((Little children learn to speak their language by
continual prattling ,frequently using incorrect
forms,)).(Willga M .Rivrs1972).

Speaking Techniques

These are very important techniques for EFL

learner when he speaks English:

1) Speak slowly and do not hesitate.

2) Make yourself clear while you are

speaking.

3) Speak freely and do not be under the

pressure of making a mistake and
embarrassment.

4)Think in English while you are speaking.

5) Express your feelings by your voice tone

and do not talk like a robot.

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 6) Use the body language while you are
speaking((by using your body and
emotions you can learn English 4-5 times
faster!)) (Dr. James Asher, a language
teaching expert, researched the role of
the body in language learning).

Listen
Listening, one of the means of language communication, is
used most widely in people's daily lives. They listen to
other people , radio and music . To improve speaking
skills of EFL, the learner has to listen to English a lot
because when he listens, he acquires a new vocabulary
and expressions also will learn pronunciation and different
way of talking or accents ,that he will use in his every day
speech .In other word , he improves his speaking skills in
the same time that he improves his listening skill . ((The
learner must Perfect his English especially his listening
and speaking skills and try to have an accent . He should
take notes of idioms and expressions and find out what

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they mean then try to use them in his every day speech))
(Victor A. Bloomfield, Esam E. El-Fakahany2008) .

EFL student is like a little child when he learns his native

language. In the first two or three years of his life, he
listens and tries to imitate what other people say. Finally
he becomes a professional speaker of the language .So
from this perspective we have seen how listening is
important for speaking skills development. EFL learner
has to listen to the native speakers of English to achieve
that improvement .Rarely you can find one on the foreign
countries ,but there are some beneficial ways that allow to
EFL learner to listen and learn from the native speakers of
English:

Watching English Television and listen to radio .

This is not only a fun way to learn but it is also very
effective. By watching English films and listening to
English radios, EFL learner can expand his vocabulary and
hear the flow of speech from the actors. If he listens to the
news, he can also hear different accents. ((Every day try
to listen to native English speakers on radio stations and
television)), (Roberta Steinberg 2008).Also there are many
programs that teach English .

Listening to English songs.

Music can be a very effective method of learning English.

In fact, it is often used as a way of improving

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comprehension. The best way to learn though, is to get the
words of the songs you are listening to and try to read
them as the artist sings. There are several good internet
sites where one can find the words for most songs. This
way he can practice his listening and reading at the same
time and That will help him a lot in improving his speaking
skills.

READ
Reading is an important way of gaining information in
foreign language learning, it is a basic skill for a foreign
language learner. It's a mental process, Seeing how words
collocate (fit together), Seeing the structure of a sentence.
This helps EFL learner to build his own sentences and
utterances. Reading is probably the best way to learn new
words and how the new words connect to other words.
Learning these new words helps him to speak more clearly
about more subjects. Students who read orally improve
their speech and understanding of English. Also reading
provides EFL student with different words or expressions
from different fields . so reading has a lot of advantages
for EFL learner.

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EFL learner follows these vesrbs and their techniques he
will be able to speak with no problems,and makes him
more confident of himself then of his language as well .He
is going to express his comments ,opinions ,suggestions
with no fear of making a mistake and feel embarrassed.
That will be reflected positively on his level of education
and scores then will help him a lot whether in or out of the
school.

Conclusion
The main goal of learning a foreign language is to be
communicated .I so far discussed how EFL learner
improves his speaking skills in order to use the language
in everyday conversations with no difficulties. He should
do the three verbs or action(to speak, to listen, to read)
followed by their techniques but these things are not
enough ,also they need a strong will to achieve that goal
which every EFL learner hopes to achieve. I hope my
paper is going to be very helpful for all learners of English.

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References :
Self experience

Books
1. Wilga M.Rivers (1972). Teaching Foreign- language.

2. Richard Sherrington(1973)Oxford
University.Television and Language skills .

3. Henry sweet.1964 Oxford University.The Practical

Study of Languages ,A Guide for Teachers and
Learners.

4. AJ Hoge(E-book) powerful English Speaking.

5. Alan Gelb, Karen Levine. Cengage Learning, 2003 A

Survival Guide for Students: Tips from the Trenches.

6. Kathi Wyldeck. Lulu.com, 2007 .English for Everyone

- Book 2.

7. Jo Condrill, Bennie Bough. GoalMinds, Inc., 1999.101

Ways to Improve Your Communication Skills Instantly.

8. Joanna Baker, Heather Westrup .Continuum

International Publishing Group, 2003. Essential
speaking skills: a handbook for English language
teachers

9. Roberta Steinberg. McGraw Hill Professional.Perfect

Phrases for the TOEFL Speaking and Writing Sections:
Hundreds of Ready-To-Use Phrases to Improve Your
Conversational Ability, Develop Your Writing Skills,
and Build Exam Confidence.

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Websites:

http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/read/ere
adingsbr03/edlite-slide14.html
http://www.ukstudentlife.com/English/Sp
eaking.htm
http://www.english-at-
home.com/speaking/better-english-
speaking-skills/
http://lc.ust.hk/~sac/advice/english/spea
king/S1.htm
http://www.vp.rghh.com/t62861.html
http://books.google.com/
www.EffortlessEnglishClub.com

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