The Role of Vocabulary Knowledge in Speaking Development of Saudi EFL Learners

Abstract

Speaking in a foreign language is considered to be a challenging aspect of language learning that demands competence and mastery in learning any foreign language. Vocabulary learning verifies to play an important role in oral communication. However, literature lacks the studies where both English as a foreign language (EFL) students and teachers' views are obtained to provide analyses of the situations in which learners are not showing desired results in speaking. The current study explores the problems of lack of vocabulary that Saudi EFL students face with special focus on their speaking proficiency. It aims to seek EFL teachers' opinions on the extent to which lack of vocabulary has influence on EFL students' performance in listening, and conversation classes, and in expressing their ideas and feelings, and especially in speaking skill. A questionnaire was used for the responses from the students and an interview for the teachers to reveal their perceptions about the vocabulary hindrance in speaking skills. 20 EFL instructors and teachers of Preparatory Year Program (PYP) section of a public university and 110 EFL students participated in this study. The analysis of the data showed that both teachers and learners indicated that lack of vocabulary is one of the major factors in students' inability to speaking English. In the current study, among many other suggestions it is proposed that the inclusion of mobile assisted language learning could be useful way of developing vocabulary for spoken proficiency of Saudi EFL learners.

The Correlation Between Students’ Vocabulary Mastery and Speaking Ability at Grade 8 of Junior High School

“…The students with large vocabulary performed comparably with the students with much smaller vocabulary in speaking activities. In line with Seffar (2015) and Khan (2018) found that both teacher and learners indicated vocabulary deficiency as the major factors in students' inability to speak English.…”

“…There were several studies that conducted about vocabulary and speaking in the past. Seffar (2015) and Khan (2018) analysed teacher and students' perception of the role of vocabulary and students' speaking performance. Moreover, Fhonna (2014), Yuwinda (2015) and Uzer (2017) have conducted the study to investigate the correlation between vocabulary mastery and English-speaking ability for senior high school students.…”

The Reality of Continuous Assessment Strategies on Saudi Students' Performance at University Level

“…On the other hand, the subject of how the co-occurrence of different types of assessment contributes to the improvement of student learning has received less attention, particularly research that focuses on different higher education institutions. Khan, Radzuan, Shahbaz, Ibrahim and Mustafa (2018) asserted that technology is playing its part in the development of language learning and various researchers are using technology in teaching and learning language (Khan, Radzuan, Alkhunaizan, Mustafa, & Khan, 2019;Shahbaz & Khan, 2017); thus the role of continuous assessment is vital. There is a gap in the literature in relation to studies that compare the students from the English Language Department across different higher education institutions on the relationship between assessment and student learning.…”

Attitudes of Saudi EFL Learners towards Speaking Skills

“…The greater the vocabulary knowledge, the higher speaking proficiency learners have. Khan, Radzuan, Shahbaz, Ibrahim and Mustafa (2018) prove that there is "a strong correlation between speaking proficiency and vocabulary knowledge" (p. 414). This means that there is a direct proportion between vocabulary and language proficiency.…”