The Importance Of Oral Skills

To discuss the results, we return to our research questions. They addressed the relationship between self perceived communication competence and learners’ oral output. Dependent variables measured were ‘accuracy’ (operationalized as the percentage of error-free clauses in the total number of clauses), ‘complexity’ (operationalized as the ratio of lexical to grammatical words), and ‘fluency’ (operationalized as the number of words per minute). The independent variable was ‘SPCC.

There are definitely many factors influencing individuals' estimation of communicative ability. That is, what makes a person to assess his own communication one way or another must be sought in some internal or external factors. The factors might be found in one dimension

Therefore, the current study focuses on the relationship between Iranian intermediate EFL learners' self- perceived communication competence and oral skill. In the process of foreign language learning, SPCC plays a significant role. In addition, speaking is believed to be at the center of anxiety provoking tasks (Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986). Finding any relationship, therefore, is of great importance. In the study, the researcher found that there exists considerable relationship between SPCC and the three aspects of oral skill. As it was observed, a significant correlation is perceived between individuals' SPCC measure and their speech fluency. It seems that the more fluent individuals are in the use of their oral skill, the higher they estimate their communicative competence. This, in turn, might provide motivation for them to engage in oral communication. Motivation is typically examined in terms of the intrinsic and extrinsic motives of the learners (Brown, 2000). Intrinsic motivation is concerned with the individual's willingness to engage in an activity because he finds it enjoyable and fulfilling. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation has got to do with the desire to do something in order to receive an external reward or avoid punishment. It seems that intrinsic orientations are more powerful learning stimuli (e.g. Maslow, 1970; Crookes & Schmidt, 1991; Dornyei, 1998). However, in both cases, the essential factor for successful learning depends on the degree of motivation that an individual learner possesses (Gardner, 1985). This finding, in line with that of Chen’s study (2009), implies that those who have good oral competence tend to have stronger confidence and are more willing to communicate. The more that they communicate, the better their strategic competence will become. This result helps to explain why self-perceived oral competence