ERIC Number: EJ1165001
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017-Dec
Pages: 5
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2203-4714
EISSN: N/A
Improving English Speaking Fluency: The Role of Six Factors
Shahini, Gholamhossein; Shahamirian, Fatemeh
Advances in Language and Literary Studies, v8 n6 p100-104 Dec 2017
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.
Descriptors: Speech Skills, Speech Communication, English (Second Language), Language Fluency, Second Language Learning, Qualitative Research, Age Differences, Educational Attainment, Teacher Characteristics, Second Language Instruction, Dictionaries, Notetaking, Performance Factors, Interviews, College Faculty, College Students, Foreign Countries
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Iran
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A