English language teachers play a major role in enhancing the development of students' speaking skills. However, only if teachers are proficient in speaking English, may they support their students in improving their oral proficiency. This qualitative case study aims at unearthing pre-service English as a foreign language teachers' (henceforth PSEFLTs) perceptions with respect to the reasons for their low level of oral proficiency, exploring the current initiatives PSEFLTs take to improve it, and finding out their suggestions concerning the improvements for the initial English as a foreign language (hereafter EFL) teacher education program they are enrolled in to assist them in the endeavors they have been making. The results obtained by administering a survey and a semi-structured interview with freshman PSEFLTs indicated that they did not deem their level of oral proficiency adequate, and lack of emphasis on teaching speaking and the pressure placed on them by high-stakes testing in their prior English language learning experiences adversely affected their oral proficiency. The findings also revealed the necessity for offering all courses in initial EFL teacher education programs in English. Teacher educators, policy makers and researchers investigating the reasons lying behind PSEFLTs' and/or EFL learners' low level of oral proficiency and probing distinct ways of increasing it could benefit from the findings of this study.