Underlie Speaking Effectiveness

General Introduction Among the most important skills that EFL students need to develop is speaking since it stands as a primary concern for most of them. With a growing need for more effective, successful and active ways of foreign language learning. Innovation in the language field has been stimulated by a special concern for learning through active and collaborative setting. The predominant view is that language is best learned when students are interacting with each other in groups-completing a task or learning a content or resolving real life issues - where their attention is not directed toward the language itself, except when a focus on language forms is necessary. Many researchers have called into question the importance of investigating

In EFL (English Foreign Language) teaching, it is an aspect that needs special attention and instruction. In order to provide effective attention, it is necessary for a teacher of EFL to carefully examine the factors, conditions and components that underlie speaking effectiveness. This chapter will give an overview about this important ability.

1. Speaking:

1.1. The Definition of speaking: Speaking is an indispensable skill that language learners should master with the other language skills. It is defined as a convoluted process of sending and receiving messages through the use of verbal expressions, but it also includes non verbal symbols such as gestures and facial expressions. Hedge (2000) defines speaking as “a skill by which they [people] are judged while first impressions are being formed."(p.261).That is to say speaking is an essential skill which deserves more attention in both first and second language because it reflects people’s thoughts and personalities.

Speaking is said to be an active or productive skill. Widdowson (1978: 57) suggests that: (inverted

What has been said about speaking was conceived to the knowledge of linguistic rules i.e. “language usage”, rather than to the way it is realized in communication i.e. “language use”. By language use, is meant the ability to use the language to achieve communicative purposes. With reference to “usage”, it is absolutely true that speaking is an active or productive skill. If we think of speaking in terms of “use”, “it involves putting a message together, communicating the message, and interacting with other people.” (Lindsay and Knight, 2006: 57). Speaking skill is considered as a principle skill that should be accomplished while learning a second or foreign language. According to Atma (2010, p. 19) Speaking skill is an interactive process of constricting meaning that involves producing and processing data. The speaking skill includes a communicative ability to use language to chat and transmit messages in various and appropriate circumstances. It is to interface with participants and convey a message of some