Factors affecting speaking ability for EFL secondary school male students in Jazan, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

There is a need to examine the factors and conditions affecting speaking skills for students in Saudi Arabia. It is of higher importance that EFL teachers and educational authorities in Saudi Arabia are aware of these factors. Several studies investigated speaking skills problems in Saudi Arabia, but no previous researches were conducted in the context of secondary schools in Jazan, Saudi Arabia. To this end, this mixed-method study aimed to determine the factors that are negatively affecting speaking abilities for EFL secondary grade students in Jazan, Saudi Arabia as well as to investigate how these factors affect their speaking performance. The sample of the study was 323 secondary grade students selected by a random stratified sampling method from three secondary schools. It utilized a semi-structured interview as a qualitative method and a close-ended questionnaire as a quantitative instrument. Upon analyzing the findings and results, it was found that there are three main factors with some reported problems that are the reason behind that: linguistic factors (poor grammar, lack of vocabulary, difficulties in pronunciation, and the influence of the mother tongue), internal factors (fear of making mistakes, shyness, anxiety, lack of motivation, and lack of confidence), and external factors (Arabic context, teachers and teaching methods, English curriculum, class and school environment, classmates). It was also found that linguistic and psychological factors are negatively correlated to the participants’ speaking performance and that there is no significant relationship between the external factors and the participants’ speaking performance. The influence of L1, lack of vocabulary, poor grammar, and fear of making mistakes were the most major among all problems to affect the speaking performance of the study sample. Finally, the recommendations of this study are to help the stakeholders in Jazan, SA to help students overcome the problems mentioned in the study.