Investigation of Factors Influencing Speaking Performance of Saudi EFL Learners

Abstract

Equal focus needs be placed on teaching all four basic skills of language learning: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. However, it is observed that due attention is not devoted to developing speaking skills in Saudi EFL learners; this task is especially challenging as English is not widely used or spoken in their day-to-day communication. The current study aims to investigate the psychological factors which affect learners’ speaking performance by: (a) examining the strategies learners use for developing speaking skills, (b) identifying obstacles confronted by learners in developing speaking skills, and (c) suggesting ways to facilitate the acquisition of English speaking skills. The research seeks answers to these questions: (1) What are some psychological factors affecting speaking skills of students? (2) Why do learners find speaking in English so difficult? . I distributed a questionnaire among 200 female and male participants majoring in various fields at Majmaah university in Saudi Arabia. I employed SPSS to analyze the accumulated data and displayed the results in descriptive tables. The results reveal that affective factors impacting students’ performance in speaking skills are shyness, peer pressure, anxiety, and fear of making mistakes. Other factors that hinder speaking performance are paucity of necessary vocabulary, lack of exposure to the target language, and scarce opportunities to practice speaking outside the classroom. The study contributes to the existing English language learning (ELL) literature through its focus on the affective factors impacting speaking performance in Arabic-speaking EFL learners.

Speaking Challenges of Saudi EFL Learners

“…Saudi Arabia is one of those countries that ensured that learning English as a second language is important for the Saudi learners to cope and effectively communicate with the rest of the world. Despite the increasing number of governmental support given to teaching English in Saudi Arabia, the second language learning is still far beyond the expectation (Akhter, 2020;Alqahtani, 2016;Alrasheedi, 2020;Younes & Albalawi, 2016). It is elicited that Saudi English learners when they assigned to take English language proficiency exams such as the one operated the ETC educational company TOEFL, or the British version IELTS, Saudi EFL learners perform poorly.…”

“…This section scrutinizes the studies investigated the topic of second language speaking issues, and specially those studies who aimed at exploring Saudi EFL speaking ones. This study (Alrasheedi, 2020) discussed all four core abilities of language learning must be taught with equal emphasis: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. However, it has been found that the development of speaking abilities among Saudi EFL students receives insufficient emphasis.…”

“…At Majmaah University in Saudi Arabia, this study delivered a questionnaire to 200 female and male volunteers majoring in various subjects. This study (Alrasheedi, 2020) used SPSS to analyze the gathered data and present the findings in descriptive tables. Shyness, peer pressure, anxiety, and fear of making mistakes are found to be affective factors influencing students' performance in speaking skills.…”

Investigating the Impact of Obstacles on English Speaking Score

“…However, there are various barriers that Arab learners come across in their learning process, such as hesitating to speak and lack of confidence (Labouvie-Vief et al, 1989). In his study, Alrasheedi (2020) attempts to investigate the factors that impact speaking performance in Arabic speaking EFL learners, the results show that the factors impacting students' performance in speaking skills are fear of making mistakes, anxiety, peer pressure, and shyness. Another study by Emirza and Sahril (2021) investigated the personality (introvert) that affects students in speaking English and influences the students in their communication, the results of the study show that "From the linguistics factors, eight of thirteen students said vocabulary and grammar was the common problem, and six of thirteen students experienced difficulties in pronunciation".…”

Learning to Present in English: Exploring the Voices of Preparatory-Year Female Undergraduates in Saudi Arabia

“…In relation to research methodologies, quantitative methods which rely on questionnaires and surveys are commonly employed in language research within the Saudi context (e.g., Al-Khotaba, Alkhataba, Abdul-Hamid & Bashir, 2019;Alqahtani, 2015;Alrasheedi, 2020;Eissa, 2019;Javid, Al-Asmari, & Farooq, 2012, Soomro & Farooq, 2018. Qualitative methods, in contrast, do not seem to be similarly popular.…”