Abstract:
The purpose of the study was to investigate poor speaking skills among students of
Adobewora Community Senior High School. The main concern was to identify
factors causing students‟ poor speaking skills and to identify appropriate teaching
methods as well as teaching and learning materials (TLMs) used in teaching speaking
skills in English. Mixed research approach and a descriptive survey design was
employed to gather data on students‟ poor speaking skills in English. The target
population comprised two hundred and sixteen (216) students and four (4) teachers of
English. The sample size comprised one (1) randomly and two (2) purposively
selected classes, comprising 87 students; and four (4) teachers of English. Data were
collected using questionnaires, interview guide, and observation. The analysed data
were presented descriptively using tables and simple percentages. The study found
that Lack of Confidence, Shyness, Mother tongue influence, Lack of Motivation, Peer
Influence, Anxiety, and lack of appropriate vocabularies were the main factors
causing students‟ poor English language speaking ability. The researcher
recommended that students should be exposed to contexts where they can develop self
confidence in themselves.
Description:
A thesis in the Department of Applied Linguistics,
Faculty of Foreign Languages and Communication Studies,
submitted to the School of Graduate Studies,
in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the degree of
Master of Education
(Teaching English as a Second Language)
in the University of Education, Winneba
OCTOBER, 2020