Résumé:
Abstract:
Speaking is one of the most significant skills to be developed as a mean of effective
communication. Speaking skill is viewed as one of the most difficult features of language
learning. Most pupils find difficulties to express themselves in a spoken language. They face
problems to use and to communicate with the foreign language in order to express their ideas
effectually. This study aimed to explore the factors that caused the EFL learners’ English
speaking difficulties and then investigate the successful learners’ strategy use to improve their
English speaking performance. In this research study, we investigate the major difficulties
encountered by EFL learners of Medjdoub Mokran middle School in Algeria (RAS EL
OUED) through questionnaire given to 40 pupils chosen randomly. The results of the analysis
showed that psychological problems (lack of self-confidence, anxiety, lack of motivation, fear
of making mistakes, shyness and inhibition) was the primary reason for English speaking
difficulties followed by linguistic problems (vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar) and
nonlinguistic problems such (use of mother tongue, low participation and nothing to say). A
majority of successful learners tended to use various speaking strategies to improve their
English speaking performance and particularly focused on linguistic fluency and accuracy by
practicing pronunciation and intonation. Furthermore, learners and teachers should follow
some strategies in order to avoid such problems and to develop speaking performance.
