CHAPTER
ONE: THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE STUDY
Chapter One: The Identification of the Study
This chapter includes the statement of the problem, the
purpose of the study, significance of the study and the research questions and
hypothesis.
1.1 Statementof the Problem
The ability of students to be able to communicate naturally in
English is one of the long term goals that language teachers would like to
achieve in class. The problem in teaching a foreign language is to prepare
students to use the language. Indeed, it is a demanding task for language
teachers to provide sufficient inputs for students to be competent speakers of
English. Usually, students feel insecure about their level of English and they
face problems communicating as well as expressing themselves in the target
language.As a result, they rather remain silent as they are in fear of making
mistakes and do not show active participation in speaking lessons.
In addition, language teachers at schools do not give full
on speaking activities due to some contraints. They are required to prepare
materials for lesson, be involved in non-academic duties etc... Moreover, some
EFL teachers prefer individual and pair work in class due to the fixed seating
arrangement. Thus, emphasis should be given to address this problem as speaking
is an important element in mastering the English language.
1.2 The Purpose of the Study
The purposes of the study are:
- To examine the issues of students' speaking in an EFL
classroom,
- To identify the students' perspectives with regards to their
involvement in oral group activities
- To determine the potential implication of group work
activities on the students' individual performance in speaking assessment.
1.3 The Significance of the Study
This study helps to determine the effectiveness of group work
in teaching speaking in EFL classroom. It provides language teachers to carry
out oral group work activities in class to improve students' speaking skills.
This study also gives suggestions to EFL teachers to develop successful oral
group activities as they can identify the major problems faced by their
students. Thus, teachers are conscious with the advantages of group work in
teaching and learning process.
In addition, students will appreciate and with the
strengths of others. This will increase, planning and discussion skills and
eventually improve their speaking capabilities. Students will be involved as
participants and decision- makers in oral groupactivities. Besides, the value
of group work in EFL classroom will be determined. Hence, this study is helpful
to provide knowledge on ways to develop natural ways in speaking activities.
1.4
Research Questions
This research work aims at finding out answers to the
following question.
1- What is the effect of group work technique on the
development of students' speaking ability?
2- What are the activities used to teach speaking in group
work context?
3- How does group work technique lead to a better achievement
in communicative competence?
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