Enhancing Speaking Skills for Non-Native Speakers of English

Listening, speaking, reading, and writing are the four essential skills in the learning process of a foreign language. A learner should have proficiency in all of these skills to form a proper, clear and accurate communication. If the process of learning lacks one of these skills, the outcome will be insufficient. Among all the four basic skills, writing and speaking are regarded as the most active, therefore the most challenging skills, to be acquired for non-native speakers as both of them are skills of expression. Although it seems quite onerous to master speaking, there are some methods for a better speaking experience.

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Stop Over Monitoring Yourself

Krashen purports that one of the foremost internal factors adversely affecting speaking skills is the foreign language learner’s over monitoring themselves (1981). With the lack of self-confidence, the speaker feels anxious about making mistakes while trying to express ideas or feelings and as a result he prefers not to talk at all. While dealing with this problem, the speaker should be encouraged to speak freely as much as possible even with grammatical errors. Creating situations where the speaker is obliged to speak will also be useful. The level of accuracy of speaking can be increased through usage on every occasion. This method can be supported with rich educational experiences such as creating debates in a warm classroom environment which engages all learners into the process by reflecting, exchanging and questioning ideas.

Learn How to Listen

Another method for developing speaking skills is to learn how to listen. Studies show that listening has proved to be a very efficient means to develop non-native learners’ speaking competence. When being exposed to the listening process, speakers are able to absorb the usage of the words, the pronunciations, the grammar structures and the whole idea about the speech. Thus, they get acquainted with the useful phrases and structures that come in handy while forming their own sentences. Learning new words or the different meanings or usage of formerly known words while listening is also a plus when developing speaking abilities.

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Read a Lot!

Last but not least, one other most beneficial way of advancing oral abilities is extensive reading. While expanding the extent of vocabulary, reading helps the learner to improve the capability to express ideas. Bright and McGregor claim that reading is ‘the most pleasant route to command of the language’, because it is via reading ‘the student is most likely to find words used memorably with force and point’ (1970, p.53). That is to say, speech can only be produced with vocabulary knowledge and it is crucial while performing speaking. Therefore, as learners develop stronger skills in reading, they are able to build up more sophisticated oral skills.

In conclusion, since speaking is one of the basic skills of the learning process of a foreign language, learners should follow different methods to develop this skill. Creating self-confidence through daily speaking experiences is useful for learners. Also performing listening and reading activities thoroughly will help learners build up a better speaking skill. It will also help them expand their vocabulary knowledge. Integrating basic skills will let them deepen their understanding. As enhancing speaking proficiency requires a multi-perspective approach, learners should be aware of the significance of all these methods.

References

Krashen, S. D. (1981). Second Language Acquisition and Second Language Learning, Oxford: Pergamon Press.

Bright, J. A., & G. P. McGregor. (1970). Teaching English as a Second Language, London: Longman, p.53