Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching

2016, Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 112–130

© Centre for Language Studies
http://e-flt.nus.edu.sg/ National University of Singapore

Speaking Skills Problems Encountered by Iranian EFL

Freshmen and Seniors from Their Own and Their
English Instructors’ Perspectives

Hassan Soodmand Afshar

(mailto:[email protected])
Bu-Ali Sina University, Iran

Ahmad Asakereh
(mailto:[email protected])
Bu-Ali Sina University, Iran

Abstract

The present study investigated the speaking skills problems faced by Iranian EFL freshmen and seniors from
their own and their English instructors’ perspectives. To this end, 238 Iranian EFL students (138 freshmen
and 100 seniors) and 30 English instructors from various universities participated in the study by completing
a validated speaking skills problems questionnaire. To triangulate the data, 30 EFL students (15 freshmen and
15 seniors) and ten English instructors, selected randomly from among the participants of the study, also sat a
semi-structured interview. The results of the study revealed that some socially-related and instructor-related
problems, the lack of teaching facilities, and the curricula of the education system of the country were among
the major problem-creating factors for the freshmen’s and seniors’ speaking skills. Furthermore, the t-test
results showed that overall there was no significant difference between the freshmen’s and the seniors’ per-
ceptions of their own speaking skills problems. The results of Chi-square analyses of the individual items of
the questionnaire indicated that there was no significant difference between the freshmen’s and the seniors’
perceptions except for item 1 (I am afraid of making mistakes). In addition, the results of one-way ANOVA
showed that overall there was no significant difference among the freshmen’s, the seniors’ and the instruc-
tors’ perceptions of speaking skills problems.

1 Introduction

Speaking is one of the four macro language skills which are required to be developed in order
for EFL/ESL students to communicate effectively in different contexts. Experts assume that the
ability to communicate orally is equal to knowing the given language since speaking is the main
means of human communication (Lazarton, 2001). However, as some experts in the field maintain,
speaking has proved to be a demanding skill for EFL learners. For example, Brown (2001) be-
lieves that colloquial language, reduced forms, performance variables, redundancy clusters, rate of
delivery, stress, rhythm and intonation are among the characteristics of speaking that contribute to
the difficulty of this skill. Lazarton (2001) also believes that spoken English is difficult since it is
almost always accomplished through interaction with at least one interlocutor. This necessitates
the existence of such factors as monitoring and understanding the other speakers, thinking about
one’s own contribution, producing the contribution and monitoring its effect, etc. Moreover, in
 Speaking Skills Problems Encountered by Iranian EFL Freshmen and Seniors 113

order for language learners to manage oral communication, they need to produce connected speech,
have interaction ability, speak in different contexts, develop a balance between accuracy and flu-
ency, and talk about unfamiliar issues based on their knowledge (Lindsay & Knight, 2006).
Some experts in the field hold that EFL students’ speaking skills might be affected by a multi-
tude of factors. Al Hosni (2014) states that EFL students may face numerous problems in the way
of developing their speaking skills regardless of their linguistic knowledge. These problems can be
traced back to their minimal direct exposure to the target language (Shumin, 1997).
Aleksandrzak (2011) also believes that the source of speaking skills problems in the EFL con-
text is the insufficient speaking varieties and opportunities in the EFL classrooms compared to a
multitude varieties and genres in real-life situations. Hojati and Afghari (2013) maintain that
speaking skills are under the influence of a number of linguistic and non-linguistic factors such as
grammar, vocabulary, pragmatic variables, affective factors, and so forth, which, when combined,
compound the problems of speaking skills. Therefore, EFL learners not only need to equip them-
selves with sufficient vocabulary and grammar knowledge, but also need to pay due attention to
both fluency and accuracy in order to manage meaningful communication (Hinkel, 2006).
Shumin (1997) states that speaking is a demanding skill for EFL learners as they need to have
not only grammar and lexical knowledge, but also knowledge of socially-appropriate language. He
further adds that age, aural medium, sociocultural and affective factors can affect adult EFL learn-
ers’ speaking skills. Thornbury (2005) also believes EFL speakers need to have sufficient
knowledge of culture, genre, speech acts, register, discourse, grammar, vocabulary and phonology
in order to manage oral communication in second language in different real-life situations. Moreo-
ver, Wang (2014) notes that cognitive, linguistic, and affective factors could affect the speaking
competence of EFL speakers.

1.1 Review of the literature

Bearing the above-mentioned factors affecting speaking skills in mind, some studies have in-
vestigated the main factors impeding EFL students’ speaking skills. The findings of the bulk of
studies conducted on the topic (e.g. Bardovi-Harlig & Griffin, 2005; Derwing & Rossiter, 2002;
Gregersen & Horwitz, 2009; Liu, 2006) reveal that EFL students might encounter psychologically-
related, linguistically-related, or sociopragmatically-related problems lying in the way of the de-
velopment of their speaking skills. Regarding linguistic problems, Derwing and Rossiter (2002),
for instance, found that EFL learners were not satisfied with their own pronunciation and that they
reported communication breakdowns due to their mispronunciation and inaccuracy of supraseg-
mental features. Concerning language learners’ pragmatic knowledge, Bardovi-Harlig and Grif-
fin’s (2005) study on 43 high-intermediate ESL students revealed that although students demon-
strated some pragmatic knowledge, their speech acts were different from the pragmatic norms of
the target language. With respect to psychologically-related speaking problems that EFL learners
might encounter, Liu (2006) found that a significant number of Chinese students at all levels of
language proficiency experienced anxiety while speaking in English, but the more proficient they
were, the less anxiety they experienced.
Senel (2012) conducted a study on 32 Turkish EFL students to investigate their oral communi-
cation problems. The findings of the study revealed that the students believed such factors as in-
structors’ interruption and error correction, lack of native instructors, instructors’ methods and
techniques of teaching, insufficient number of English courses and their inadequate content, and
insufficient use of English outside the classroom hindered their progress in oral communication
skills. A study on speaking skills problems of 566 Jordanian EFL students by Al-jamal and Al-
jamal (2014) also corroborated Senel’s (2012) findings to a great extent. The results of their study
indicated that the principal problems Jordanian EFL students encountered in the way of developing
their speaking skills were excessive use of L1, overcrowded classes and lack of sufficient time to
practice speaking.
Hamad (2013) also examined English speaking skills problems of 150 female EFL students
studying at the Saudi colleges for girls. The results of the study revealed that speaking skills prob-
114 Ahmad Asakereh and Hassan Soodmand Afshar

lems from the participants’ points of view included, among other factors, excessive use of L1, fear
of speaking English, not using L1 when it is necessary to clarify some issues, lack of sufficient
exercises for developing speaking ability, inefficient teaching techniques of instructors and insuf-
ficient time to speak in speaking classes. In the same vein, Soureshjani and Riahipour (2012) con-
ducted an inquiry into 215 Iranian EFL students’ and EFL instructors’ attitudes regarding speaking
skills problems. The findings of the study revealed that students believed that the lack of teaching
equipment, class facilities and instructors were among problem-causing factors for the develop-
ment of their speaking skills while instructors believed that the instructors, the amount of time
allocated for speaking classes and the classroom atmosphere were among problematic factors for
speaking skills.
As the literature illustrates, a multitude of factors in EFL contexts can thwart EFL students’
progress in developing their speaking skills. Therefore, the first step in solving the problems is to
identify the problems preventing EFL students from developing their speaking skills.

1.2 Background of the study

In Iran’s education system, students begin studying English in middle school, and Grammar
Translation Method (GTM) is primarily employed to teach English, which indicates that speaking
and listening skills are of secondary importance in the education system of the country. Moreover,
in the BA programs in Iran, which normally last for four years in total, Iranian EFL students are
supposed to take around 119 English credits, out of which only eight credits pertain to listening
and speaking skills courses which have to be taken during the first year of their academic studies.
The rationale for selecting EFL freshmen and seniors for the present study was to investigate
whether EFL seniors’ perceptions of their speaking skills problems would change after years of
study at university level. Moreover, EFL instructors are expected to be cognizant of speaking skills
problems faced by EFL students so that they can seek a solution to the problems impeding students’
progress in developing their speaking skills. As Shumin (1997) points out, EFL instructors need to
examine the factors, conditions and components affecting speaking skills in order to maximize the
effectiveness of their instruction. Thus, it is of paramount importance to investigate whether EFL
instructors are aware of the speaking skills problems encountered by their Iranian EFL freshmen
and seniors.

1.3 Statement of the problem

Speaking is one of the primary elements of communication. In EFL contexts, it requires special
attention and instruction. Like other non-natives, Iranian English students might encounter certain
problems in developing their speaking skills, which can prevent them from communicating orally
when they are required to do so.

1.4 Significance of the study and research questions

To the present researchers’ knowledge, several investigations (e.g. Al-jamal & Al-jamal, 2014;
Hamad, 2013; Şenel, 2012) have been carried out on speaking skills problems, but few studies
have been conducted in the EFL context of Iran. To this end, this study deems it necessary to have
an investigation into Iranian EFL freshmen’s and seniors’ speaking skills problems impeding their
progress. Moreover, little research seems to have been conducted in either the Iranian or non-
Iranian context to compare or contrast the speaking skills problems from the freshmen’s, the sen-
iors’ and their English instructors’ perspectives (Hojati & Afghari, 2013). Thus, drawing upon
what was mentioned above and to fill the research gap noted, the following research questions
were formulated for the present study:
1. What are the most frequently reported speaking skills problems faced by Iranian EFL
freshmen and seniors from their own perspective?
 Speaking Skills Problems Encountered by Iranian EFL Freshmen and Seniors 115

2. What are the most frequently reported speaking skills problems faced by Iranian EFL
freshmen and seniors from their EFL instructors’ points of view?
3. Overall, is there any statistically significant difference between Iranian EFL freshmen’s
and seniors’ perceptions of their own speaking skills problems?
4. Are there any statistically significant differences between Iranian EFL freshmen’s and sen-
iors’ perceptions regarding specific speaking skills problems as measured by individual
items of the questionnaire?
5. Overall, are there any significant differences among Iranian EFL freshmen’s, seniors’ and
instructors’ perceptions of speaking skills problems?

2 Methodology

2.1 Participants

A total of 238 Iranian EFL undergraduate students (138 freshmen and 100 seniors) and 30 Eng-
lish instructors from four state universities (Zanjan University, Bu-Ali Sina University-Hamadan,
Shahid Chamran University-Ahvaz, and Khoramabad University) participated in the study. The
universities were selected randomly from among the state universities across the country. Moreo-
ver, the participants were selected based on cluster random sampling. That is, all the EFL students
in the first and last years of their tertiary education (freshmen and seniors) as well as their EFL
instructors were selected from the above-mentioned universities. The students’ and instructors’ age
ranged from 19 to 30 and from 26 to 55, respectively. 140 of the students were female and 98 were
male; 21 of the instructors were male and 9 were female.

2.2 Instruments

2.2.1 Structured questionnaire

The instrument employed for the data collection was a 35-item speaking skills problems ques-
tionnaire (both instructors’ and students’ versions), adapted from a speaking skills problems ques-
tionnaire from Irismet (2006), all the statements of which were negatively oriented on a Likert
scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). To ensure the validity and reliability
of the questionnaire, the following steps were taken:
1. Before the study began, 20 similar EFL freshmen and seniors and ten similar EFL instruc-
tors sat a semi-structured interview. The questions of the semi-structured interview were
utilized after they were approved by two experts in the field. The reason behind this was to
make sure that all the problems which Iranian EFL freshmen and seniors and their English
instructors might face in speaking classes were included in the questionnaire, the main
items of which were to be drawn from the interviews.
2. The questionnaire hence constructed was piloted with 73 similar Iranian EFL freshmen
and seniors. To further ensure the validity of the questionnaire, exploratory factor analysis
was run. Since the results of the factor analyses indicated that some of the items correlated
poorly with others, nine of the items with low anti-image correlation were omitted from
the 41-item speaking skills problems questionnaire and three new items (i.e. My instruc-
tors do not teach us how to express appropriate speech acts; My instructors do not tell us
what to do when we cannot find the correct and appropriate word, structure and sentence
during our speaking; and there is no cooperation spirit among my classmates in my speak-
ing classes) were added. Thus, the questionnaire was finally based on 35 items. Then, it
was validated and factor analyzed for the second time with 154 EFL freshmen and seniors
from the same population, and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling ade-
quacy and Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity were calculated, the results of which are summa-
rized in Table 1. As indicated in Table 1, the results show an acceptable KMO index
116 Ahmad Asakereh and Hassan Soodmand Afshar

(0.71). Principal component factor analysis was also conducted, the results of which are
presented in Appendix A.

Table 1. The results of the KMO and Bartlett’s test for speaking skills problems questionnaire

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy 0

.71
Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity Approx. Chi-Square 1
.38
df 5
95
Sig .
000

3. The reliability of the questionnaire (Appendix B) was also calculated using Cronbach’s
Alpha, which shows that the questionnaire possessed an acceptable internal consistency (α
= 0.72).

2.2.2 Semi-structured interview

To maximize the validity of the data, to make the findings more generalizable and to have a
more in-depth analysis of the participants’ speaking skills problems, the data collection procedure
was triangulated. That is, 30 EFL students (15 freshmen and 15 seniors) and ten EFL instructors,
selected from among the participants of the study based on stratified random sampling, also sat a
semi-structured interview in addition to filling out the questionnaire. Attempts were made to select
participants from all the above-mentioned universities. Moreover, the open-ended and opinion-
based questions of the semi-structured interview were utilized, after they had been approved by
two experts in the field.

2.3 Procedure

As already mentioned, first, 238 Iranian EFL students (138 freshmen and 100 seniors) and 30
EFL instructors from different universities across the country were selected based on cluster ran-
dom sampling. Second, the questionnaire (both instructor’s and student’s versions) was adminis-
tered to the EFL students, who were told there would be no right/wrong answers, and also received
an assurance that their answers would have no effect on their academic scores, as well as to the
EFL instructors in the classroom. Although the required instruction was given on the front page of
the questionnaires, the participants were provided with further explanation on how to complete
them. They were also informed that there would be no time limit for completing the questionnaires;
however, it took, on average, 15 minutes to complete the questionnaires. Finally, 30 EFL students
(15 freshmen and 15 seniors) and ten EFL instructors (from whom informed consent had already
been obtained), selected based on stratified random sampling from among the participants of the
study, sat a semi-structured interview around a week after the questionnaire administration.

2.4 Data analysis

2.4.1 Quantitative analysis

Descriptive statistics (means and standard deviations) was applied to address the first two re-
search questions. That is, speaking skills problems with higher means were considered to be prin-
cipal speaking problems from Iranian EFL freshmen’s and seniors’ and EFL instructors’ points of
view. To answer the third and fourth research questions, independent samples t-test and Chi-squire
 Speaking Skills Problems Encountered by Iranian EFL Freshmen and Seniors 117

analysis were employed, respectively. To address the last research question, a one-way ANOVA
was employed.

2.4.2 Qualitative analysis

The participants’ responses to the interview questions were audio-recorded and transcribed.
Then, the common patterns and recurring themes of the responses were identified, coded, “quanti-
tized” (Dörnyei, 2007) using NVivo software, and were subjected to frequency analysis. Finally,
both the qualitative and quantitative results of the study were analyzed and discussed.

3 Results

3.1 Questionnaire results

The results of the first research question, which set out to investigate Iranian EFL freshmen’s
and seniors’ most frequently reported speaking skills problems from their own perspectives, are
summarized in Tables 2 and 3 below.

Table 2. Iranian EFL freshmen’s most frequently reported speaking skills problems from their own
perspective

Rank No. of item Mean SD No. of respondents

1 28 3.62 1.09 138
2 29 3.31 1.08 138
3 11 3.30 1.10 138
4 25 3.29 1.21 138
5 1 3.26 1.11 138
6 23 3.23 1.18 138
7 6 3.20 1.18 138
8 7 3.18 1.26 138

Table 3. Iranian EFL seniors’ most frequently reported speaking skills problems from their own
perspective

Rank No. of item Mean SD No. of respondents

1 22 3.76 1.72 100
2 28 3.66 1.01 100
3 29 3.63 0.97 100
4 25 3.58 1.21 100
5 7 3.33 1.16 100
6 27 3.32 0.97 100
7 11 3.27 1.16 100
8 6 3.10 1.24 100

As indicated in Tables 2 and 3, the following speaking skills problems were commonly shared
by both freshmen and seniors:
1. Insufficient speaking and listening courses in the BA program;
2. Inefficient educational system of the country;
3. Lack of two or more speaking instructors teaching speaking;
4. Inefficient and insufficient facilities in language laboratories;
5. Difficulty in finding the opportunity to practice one’s English outside the classroom; and
6. Inefficient speaking classes
The above-mentioned findings demonstrate more or less all the problems which are commonly
shared by the freshmen and seniors pertaining to the education system of the country and ineffi-
cient facilities.
118 Ahmad Asakereh and Hassan Soodmand Afshar

The results of the second research question, which explored Iranian EFL freshmen’s and sen-
iors’ most frequently reported speaking skills problems from EFL instructors’ perspective, are
reproduced in Table 4.

Table 4. Iranian EFL freshmen’s and seniors’ most frequently reported speaking skills problems from
English instructors’ perspective

Rank No. of item Mean SD No. of respondents

1 29 4.38 1.12 30
2 33 4.30 0.94 30
2 26 4.30 0.85 30
3 32 4.16 0.71 30
4 1 4.07 0.86 30
5 35 3.92 0.75 30
6 3 3.84 0.80 30
6 4 3.84 0.89 30

As can be seen from Table 4, Iranian EFL instructors’ view of the most important speaking
skills problems of their EFL students included:
1. Inefficient educational system of the country;
2. Students’ thinking in their mother tongue during speaking English;
3. Over-crowded classes;
4. Students’ lack of collocational knowledge;
5. Students’ being afraid of making mistakes;
6. Students’ mispronunciation;
7. Shyness; and
8. Low self-confidence
Given the aforementioned speaking skills problems by the instructors, one of the problems (i.e.
inefficient educational system of the country) was shared with those mentioned by freshmen and
seniors. That is, both instructors and students unanimously agree that the education of the country
is not efficient enough to contribute to Iranian EFL students’ progress in developing their speaking
skills.
To answer the third research question as to whether, overall, there was any statistically signifi-
cant difference between the freshmen’s and the seniors’ perceptions of speaking skills problems,
an independent samples t-test was run, the results of which are summarized in Table 5.

Table 5. T-test comparing EFL freshmen’s and seniors’ views of speaking skills problems

Student Mean SD N t dfSd Error difference Sig (2-tailed)

Freshmen 2.96 0.24 138 .362 236 .064 .71
Seniors 2.94 0.29 100

As the results in Table 5 indicate, overall, there was no statistically significant difference be-
tween the freemen’s and the seniors’ perspectives regarding their speaking skills problems (df=
236, t= 362, sig= .718>0.05).
In order to answer the fourth research question (i.e. to compare specific speaking skills prob-
lems of the freshmen and seniors), a Chi-square analysis was run on each individual item of the
questionnaire, only those results of which that were significant are presented in Table 6 for the
sake of brevity.
 Speaking Skills Problems Encountered by Iranian EFL Freshmen and Seniors 119

Table 6. Chi-square analysis comparing EFL freshmen’s and seniors’ perceptions of their own
speaking skills problems

No. of item Percentage Pearson Chi-square value Df Sig

Freshmen Seniors
1 5% SD 19% SD 15.22 4 .004
Note. SD: strongly disagree

As Table 6 displays, there was no statistically significant difference between Iranian EFL
freshmen’s and seniors’ perception of their specific speaking skills problems regarding only item 1
(I am afraid of making mistakes) (X²(4, N=238) = 15.221, p =.004).
In order to answer the fifth research question as to whether there were any significant differ-
ences regarding the perception of the freshmen, the seniors and the instructors on the freshmen’s
and seniors’ speaking skills problems, a one-way ANOVA was run, the results of which are sum-
marized in Tables 7 and 8.

Table 7. Descriptive statistics for the EFL freshmen’s, seniors’, and instructors’ perspectives on
speaking skills problems

Subjects Mean SD N Std.Error

Freshmen 2.96 0.24 130 0.041
Seniors 2.94 0.29 100 0.049
Instructors 3.07 0.93 30 0.158

Table 8. One-way ANOVA comparing the EFL freshmen’s, seniors’ and instructors’ perspectives on
speaking skills problems

Sum of squares df Mean Square F Sig.

Between Groups .349 256 .174 .508 .603
Within Groups 34.98 2 .343

As indicated in Table 8, overall, there was no statistically significant difference between the
three groups in terms of their perception of EFL freshmen’s and seniors’ speaking skills problems (F
(2, 256) = .508, p = .603).

3.2 Interview results

As already stated, a semi-structured interview was conducted with 15 EFL freshmen, 15 EFL
seniors, and ten EFL instructors, selected based on stratified random sampling from among the par-
ticipants of the study, the results of which are presented in Tables 9, 10 and 11, respectively. In the
aforementioned Tables, “F” and “P” stand for the frequency and percentage of the recurring themes
of the responses, respectively.
120 Ahmad Asakereh and Hassan Soodmand Afshar

Table 9. EFL freshmen’s responses to the semi-structured interview questions

No. of the Response F P

question
1 Low self confidence 3 20
Getting anxious when called on to speak 2 13
Being afraid of making mistakes 8 53
2 Having no chance to speak outside the classroom 9 60
3 Lack of cooperation among students 3 20
Being distracted by one’s classmates 6 40
The classmates’ unwillingness to speak 2 13
4 Unfriendly atmosphere of the classroom 3 20
5 Lack of due focus on speaking skills in educational system of Iran 12 80
6 Lack of facilities in language laboratories 9 60
Instructors’ negligence to use facilities 8 53
7 Being confused by different accents of instructors 2 13
Instructors’ negligence to care about students’ face 1 7
Instructors’ negligence to teach language functions 1 7
Getting threatened by instructors to speak 1 7
Being ignored in the classroom 1 7
8 The speaking course book being inappropriate in terms of its proficiency level 9 60
9 passive vocabulary knowledge 2 13
Not having sufficient vocabulary knowledge 8 53
Not having sufficient grammar knowledge 5 33
poor pronunciation 5 33
10 Inappropriate time of speaking classes; classes held early in the morning (8 am) 12 80
or early in the afternoon (2 pm)
11 Insufficient courses in speaking and listening in BA program 14 93

In sum, as is evident from Table 9, the Iranian EFL freshmen’s speaking skills problems are re-
portedly attributable to their insufficient courses in speaking and listening in the BA program (i.e.
item No. 11), inappropriate time of speaking classes (No. 10), lack of due focus on speaking skills in
educational system of Iran (No. 5), having no chance to speak outside the classroom (No. 2), lack of
facilities in language laboratories (No. 6), inappropriate speaking courses in terms of their proficien-
cy level (No. 8), being afraid of making mistakes (No.1), instructors’ negligence to use facilities (No.
6), instructors’ inappropriate method of teaching (No.7), and lack of vocabulary knowledge (No. 9).
Although some of the speaking skills problems reported by the freshmen are associated with the
instructors’ teaching methodology, being afraid of making mistakes and lack of vocabulary
knowledge, the findings indicate that education system and facility related problems are among the
principal speaking skills problems, which corroborates what the freshmen reported in the question-
naire to a great extent.
As indicated in Table 10, Iranian EFL seniors mostly blamed such factors as lack of extensive
speaking practice opportunities (item No. 2), lack of due attention to speaking skills in the educa-
tional system of the country (No. 5), lack of spoken vocabulary knowledge (No. 9), insufficient
speaking courses in the BA program (No. 11), inappropriate time of speaking classes (No. 10), lack
of efficient and sufficient facilities in language laboratories (No. 6) and lack of sufficient grammar
knowledge (No. 9).
The findings illustrate that EFL seniors also consider education system and facility related prob-
lems as the main stumbling block to their speaking skills, substantiating what they reported in the
questionnaire to a great extent.
 Speaking Skills Problems Encountered by Iranian EFL Freshmen and Seniors 121

Table 10. EFL seniors’ responses to the semi-structured interview questions

No. of the Response F P

question
1 Shyness, low self-confidence and anxiety 5 33
2 Not having enough opportunity to speak English out of class 14 93
3 Students’ negligence to take English classes seriously 5 33
4 Unfriendly behavior of the classmates 2 13
5 Lack of due focus on speaking skills in educational system of Iran 14 93
6 Lack of efficient and sufficient facilities in language laboratories 9 60
7 Instructors’ having poor pronunciation 5 33
The class being teacher-centered 2 13
Instructors not encouraging us to speak 5 33
Instructors not having good command of speaking skills 2 13
Instructors not giving us enough opportunity to speak 2 13
Instructors not correcting us 3 20
Instructors putting less emphasis on speaking 2 13
Instructors’ inappropriate methods of teaching speaking 2 13
Instructors not paying enough attention to me 2 13
Instructors pushing us to speak which makes me anxious 2 13
8 No problem reported 0 0
9 Not having sufficient vocabulary esp. spoken vocabulary knowledge 11 73
Poor pronunciation 5 33
Not having enough grammar knowledge 8 53
Not having collocation knowledge 2 13
Lack of sufficient listening 3 20
10 Inappropriate time of speaking classes; classes being held early in the morning 9 0
(8 am) or early in the afternoon (2 pm)
11 Insufficient courses in speaking and listening in BA program 11 73

As indicated in Table 11, EFL instructors believed the freshmen’s and seniors’ speaking skills
were negatively affected by being afraid of making mistakes, shyness and low self-confidence, not
finding the chance to speak outside the classroom, lack of due focus on speaking skills in the edu-
cational system of Iran, students thinking in Persian when speaking in English, lack of cooperation
spirit (i.e. pair/group work) among students, lack of efficient facilities in language laboratories,
students’ lack of vocabulary and grammar knowledge, students’ poor pronunciation and insuffi-
cient speaking and listening courses in the BA program.
The above-mentioned findings show that although instructors revealed that the inefficient edu-
cation system of the country and the lack of facilities are among speaking skills problems, match-
ing what the EFL students stated. They believed that psychologically- and linguistically-related
problems are among the main speaking skills problems as well, corroborating the findings of the
questionnaire.
122 Ahmad Asakereh and Hassan Soodmand Afshar

Table 11. EFL instructors’ responses to the semi-structured interview questions

No. of the Response F P

question
1 Being afraid of making mistakes, shyness and 8 80
low self confidence
2 Students not finding the chance to speak outside the classroom 8 80
3 Lack of cooperation spirit among students 6 60
4 Competitive situation leading to unfriendly atmosphere 1 10
5 Lack of due focus on speaking skills in educational system of Iran 8 80
6 Lack of efficient facilities in language laboratories 6 60
7 Instructors’ pronunciation not being good enough 1 10
8 No problem reported 0 0
9 Students not having sufficient vocabulary and collocational knowledge 6 60
Students thinking in Persian when speaking in English 8 80
Students not having sufficient grammar knowledge 6 60
Students’ poor pronunciation 7 70
10 Inappropriate time of speaking classes 4 40
11 Insufficient courses in speaking and listening in BA program 7 70

4 Discussion

The results of the questionnaire, corroborated by the interview findings, indicated that Iranian
EFL freshmen and seniors basically shared the same speaking skills problems. This means that
Iranian EFL students’ speaking skills problems probably continue to exist even after several years
of studying at university level.
The first speaking skills problem commonly shared by Iranian EFL freshmen and seniors was
the difficulty in finding the opportunity to practice English outside the classroom. Senel’s (2012)
study on 32 Turkish EFL students also indicated that one of their oral communication problems
was the lack of L2 use outside the classroom, a problem rampant in most EFL contexts. However,
in the context of Iran, it seems the problem is even more serious, as Iranian EFL students cannot
find opportunities to have direct contact with native speakers of English owing to the current polit-
ical issues, which has led to the decrease of native English tourists in Iran. In the interview, an
individual participant also mentioned: “I cannot find a partner with whom I can practice my speak-
ing skills outside class.” Thus, encouraging students to hold debate and discussion sessions outside
the classroom could be facilitative in the EFL contexts where students have less opportunity to
practice their speaking.
The second speaking skills problem commonly shared by Iranian EFL freshmen and seniors
was inefficient speaking classes. The participants in the interview stated this is due to the tech-
niques and unauthentic materials and/or tasks their instructors employ in speaking classes, which
seems to stem from the instructors’ lack of practical and theoretical knowledge in teaching speak-
ing skills. Corroborating this, Kayi (2006) believes that although speaking skills play an important
role in human beings’ communication, EFL instructors typically fail to focus appropriately on this
skill; rather, they primarily focus their attention on drills, repetition, and the memorization of Eng-
lish conversations. He further suggests that EFL instructors employ techniques such as discussions,
role plays, simulation, information gap, brain storming, storytelling, interviews, story completion,
reporting, playing cards, picture narrating, picture description, and so forth, to help EFL students
develop a good command of spoken English.
The third speaking problem commonly shared by the majority of Iranian EFL freshmen and
seniors was the lack of team-teaching in teaching speaking. The EFL freshmen and seniors be-
lieved that it would be more fruitful if there were more than one instructor teaching English speak-
ing so that they could be provided with different speech models, which could give them a more
comprehensive picture of English pronunciation, accent, lexical resources, grammatical repertoire,
discourse management, and so forth.
 Speaking Skills Problems Encountered by Iranian EFL Freshmen and Seniors 123

The fourth speaking skills problem commonly shared by Iranian EFL freshmen and seniors
was the lack of efficient and sufficient facilities in language laboratories. In the interview, the par-
ticipants mentioned that the audio-visual facilities are insufficient, outdated and inefficient. A
large body of research indicates that there is a positive relationship between students’ achievement
and the quality of university facilities. The results of Uline and Tschannen-Moran (2008), for in-
stance, showed there was a link between the quality of university facilities and students’ achieve-
ment. Of course, it should be noted that facilities do not merely include laboratories and that there
might be no unanimous agreement today on the effectiveness of language laboratories, in particu-
lar, as contributing much to enhancing aural-oral skills. However, language laboratories should
provide the opportunity for EFL students to improve their speaking skills. That is, an ideal lan-
guage laboratory should have sufficient and efficient audio-visual equipment such as video projec-
tors and computers, as well as language software such as pronunciation checkers, and also provide
EFL students with Internet access so that they can have access to authentic materials and be ex-
posed to real-life situations.
The fifth speaking skills problem reported by both Iranian EFL freshmen and seniors was in-
sufficient speaking courses in the BA program. In the BA program of the English language in Iran,
EFL majors are only supposed to take listening and speaking courses 1 and 2 (eight credits in to-
tal) which students did not find sufficient to develop their speaking skills. This implies that the
curriculum designers and educational policy makers of the English language in the country should
exert more emphasis on speaking courses in the curricula and syllabi.
The sixth speaking skills problem commonly reported by Iranian EFL freshmen and seniors
was the inefficient educational system of the country. In Iran’s schools, where teachers gives min-
imum emphasis on speaking skills (Azizifar, 2009; Azizifar, Koosha & Lotfi, 2010), GTM is the
common method of language teaching. Consequently, when students start their tertiary education
as English students, they encounter serious problems in their speaking classes. Therefore, English
education policy makers need to strike a balance among all four macro language skills. However,
as Farhadi, Hezaveh and Hedayati (2010) maintain, changing an educational system is not an easy
task and requires enough evidence of the new theoretical framework, teacher training, materials
development, facilities, assessment procedure, administration, and so on.
Although some of the speaking skills problems were commonly shared by Iranian EFL fresh-
men and seniors, there were some speaking problems that were exclusive to either the freshmen or
the seniors, which are presented and discussed below.
Although being afraid of making mistakes was considered by freshmen as the principal prob-
lem in the way of their speaking skills, psychological factors were not regarded by the majority of
Iranian EFL freshmen and seniors as prime causes preventing them from progressing in develop-
ing their speaking skills. The findings of this study partly stand in contrast to those of Jamshid-
nejad (2010), who indicated that Iranian EFL students’ major speaking problems were attributed to
the psychological factors, and also contradict the findings of Soo and Goh (2013), who also re-
vealed that Malaysian EFL students’ reticence was due to affective factors. However, the findings
of the present study are in line with those of Liu (2005) as well as Grengersen and Horwitz (2009),
indicating that being afraid of making mistakes was among psychological factors affecting nega-
tively students’ participation in speaking classes. The reason for the freshmen being afraid of mak-
ing mistakes can be justified by the premise that they might not be thoroughly familiar with the
new academic context they have recently entered. Scrivener (2011) holds that students sometimes
cannot employ their full knowledge repertoire in speaking, since they might be afraid of being
laughed at or sounding ridiculous. Therefore, in order to avoid embarrassment, they might not be
willing to speak. EFL instructors should thus create a friendly and safe atmosphere for students to
take part in class discussions. The EFL freshmen believed their instructors made use of uninterest-
ing topics for discussion in speaking classes. Therefore, their EFL instructors need to know about
the area of their students’ interests in order to provide them with topics which can motivate them
to participate in class discussions. As Nunan (1999) maintains, interesting topics are prerequisite
for effective motivation. Moreover, sometimes, speaking activities or topics for discussion are not
as interesting and communicative as EFL instructors may think. That is, the topics and speaking
124 Ahmad Asakereh and Hassan Soodmand Afshar

activities are not challenging and lead students to only say “Yes” or “No” or give short answers,
which they do readily and then remain silent and feel bored.
The EFL seniors believed their instructors neglected to teach the use of oral communication
strategies (CSs). This might imply that their EFL instructors are not thoroughly aware of the sig-
nificant effect of oral CS instruction on speaking skills. Zhang and Goh (2009) believe that EFL
instructors need to increase EFL students’ oral communication strategy repertoire and enhance
their confidence to make efficient use of these strategies. Dörnyei and Thurrell (1991) also main-
tain that oral communication strategies can contribute to the EFL learners’ fluency and conversa-
tional skill. However, language instructors usually neglect to consider the important role of CSs in
EFL students’ speaking skills. Furthermore, the EFL seniors were not satisfied with the time of
their speaking classes held either early in the morning (8 a.m.) or immediately after lunch (2 p.m.),
because they stated that they felt sleepy and lethargic and were not thus willing to communicate.
Although the majority of the speaking skills problems faced by Iranian EFL freshmen and sen-
iors are rampant in every EFL context, it seems some problems in the way of Iranian EFL students’
speaking development are primarily endemic to the Iranian context, namely the inefficient educa-
tion system of the country, inappropriate methods employed for teaching speaking skills and an
inadequate focus on speaking skills. This suggests that the root of the problem cannot be eradicat-
ed unless a revolution occurs in the current education system of the country, in general, and in its
curriculum, in particular. That is, more emphasis on speaking skills from the primary school on-
wards and a shift of attention from GTM to communicative language teaching (CLT) can enhance
the situation to a great extent.
The second research question of the present study aimed at investigating the speaking skills
problems faced by Iranian EFL freshmen and seniors from their EFL instructors’ perspective. The
results of the semi-structured interview with ten EFL instructors also corroborated, to a great ex-
tent, what they reported in the questionnaire.
Although one of the speaking skills problems reported by the majority of the EFL instructors
was in line with what the majority of the EFL freshmen and seniors reported, the bulk of the EFL
instructors believed that psychological and linguistic factors were also among the most trouble-
making factors which prevented students from making progress in speaking, while the majority of
the EFL students did not believe so, except for “being afraid of making mistakes,” which the EFL
freshmen reported as their most-impeding psychological problem in speaking classes.
It seems that the EFL freshmen and seniors either were not aware of their poor pronunciation
or were not willing to report it in the questionnaire, while the EFL instructors believed their EFL
students did not possess a good command of English pronunciation. The instructors might thus
need to raise their EFL students’ awareness of their pronunciation problems. Moreover, the EFL
instructors believed that their EFL students thought in Persian when they spoke in English, a prob-
lem which becomes readily evident if one teaches English as a foreign language in Iran, even for
just a short period, due to mother tongue interference.
The third research question was concerned with whether, overall, there was any statistically
significant difference between Iranian EFL freshmen’s and seniors’ perceptions of speaking skills
problems. As the results indicated, there was no significant difference between the perceptions of
the two groups about speaking skills problems. To the present researchers’ knowledge, few studies
have investigated the differences between EFL freshmen and seniors regarding their perceptions of
speaking skills problems. Therefore, this study might pave the way for further research in this re-
gard. The results might imply that, overall, both Iranian EFL freshmen and seniors encountered
approximately the same kind of speaking problems. This might suggest that, even after years of
study at university, Iranian EFL seniors still continue to face the same speaking skills problems as
their EFL freshmen counterparts do, something that requires more investigation, consideration and
attention if we are to avoid wasting human and financial resources, time, efforts, and so on.
The fourth research question sought to investigate whether there were any statistically signifi-
cant differences between Iranian EFL freshmen’s and seniors’ perceptions regarding specific
speaking skills problems as measured by individual items of the questionnaire. As the results re-
vealed, there were no significant differences between Iranian EFL freshmen and seniors in this
 Speaking Skills Problems Encountered by Iranian EFL Freshmen and Seniors 125

respect except for item 1 (i.e. I am afraid of making mistakes). As already mentioned, no empirical
study could be found to have comparatively investigated speaking problems of the EFL freshmen
and seniors in Iranian context. The results of the study showed that Iranian EFL freshmen were
more concerned with making mistakes than their senior counterparts. This might be justified by
the premise that because freshmen are not fully acquainted with the new academic context they
have recently entered, they might be afraid of losing face or being evaluated negatively, especially
by their opposite-sex classmates, most plausibly due to the co-education system they encounter for
the first time when they enter university.
The fifth research question aimed at investigating whether there were any significant differ-
ences among Iranian EFL freshmen’s and seniors’ perceptions of speaking problems and those of
their English instructors. The results revealed that there was no significant difference among these
three groups in this regard. To the researchers’ knowledge, little research was found to have inves-
tigated speaking skills problems from the above-mentioned groups’ perspectives. However, a few
studies have been conducted investigating speaking skills problems from EFL students and EFL
instructors’ viewpoint. For example, Soureshjani and Riahipour (2012), investigating demotivating
factors affecting Iranian EFL students’ speaking skills from their own and their EFL instructors’
points of view, revealed that there was a significant difference between the two groups on the issue.
The results of Hojati and Afghari’s (2013) study on Iranian EFL students’ linguistic speaking
skills problems from their own and their EFL instructors’ perspectives also indicated that grammar,
vocabulary, pronunciation and fluency were among factors causing problems for Iranian EFL stu-
dents’ speaking skills. Students’ points of view differed significantly from those of their EFL in-
structors in terms of speaking skills problems, except for such problems as students’ lack of
grammar knowledge about which both instructors and students had the same view.

5 Conclusion

5.1 Summary and implications of the study

The findings of the study revealed that many of the speaking skills problems were commonly
shared by Iranian EFL freshmen and seniors. Moreover, the results showed that although one of
the speaking skills problems (i.e. inefficient educational system of the country) reported frequently
by instructors was in line with what the majority of the EFL freshmen and seniors reported, the
majority of the EFL instructors believed some psychological and linguistic factors were also
among the trouble-making factors which prevented students from making progress in speaking.
Furthermore, the findings demonstrated that there were no significant differences between Iranian
EFL freshmen’s and seniors’ perceptions of their speaking skills problems. In addition, the results
indicated that there were no significant differences between Iranian EFL freshmen’s and seniors’
perceptions regarding specific speaking skills problems except for item 1 (I am afraid of making
mistakes). Finally, the findings of the study revealed that, overall, there were no significant differ-
ences among Iranian EFL freshmen’s, seniors’ and EFL instructors’ perceptions of speaking skills
problems.
Some practical implications for language teaching could be suggested based on the findings of
the study. Firstly, the findings of the present study could encourage English education policy mak-
ers, curriculum developers, syllabus designers and materials developers to consider more efficient
and sufficient speaking courses in the BA program in order to meet the speaking skills needs of
students majoring in the English language. They are additionally recommended to strike a balance
among all four macro language skills in junior and senior secondary school English education and
to pay due attention to aural-oral skills, something that for the time being seems to be neglected.
Secondly, the findings of the study might suggest that program administrators consider sufficient
and appropriate time for speaking classes. That is, they are suggested to hold the speaking classes
at appropriate time, when students have sufficient energy and are more willing to take part in class
discussions, which seems to be easy to implement. However, it seems that the students’ needs are
not taken into account. Thirdly, EFL instructors need to encourage EFL students to create the op-
126 Ahmad Asakereh and Hassan Soodmand Afshar

portunity for themselves to practice their speaking outside the classroom extensively. Fourthly, the
findings might suggest that EFL instructors raise EFL students’ awareness of their lack of linguis-
tic knowledge and warn them not to overestimate their linguistic knowledge in speaking. Fifthly,
the findings might also imply that administrators equip language laboratories sufficiently and effi-
ciently in order to accelerate EFL students’ speaking skills progress. Finally, the results also sug-
gest that EFL instructors mitigate freshmen’s phobia about making mistakes and encourage them
to consider the phenomenon as a natural process of language learning.

5.2 Suggestions for further research

Although the present study has attempted to investigate the freshmen and seniors’ speaking
skills problems thoroughly, it seems further research is required to have a better picture of the is-
sue. Therefore, the following suggestions are proposed:
1. Investigation can be conducted into how Iranian EFL freshmen and seniors cope with their
own speaking skills problems.
2. Other data collection methods, namely, observation and diary writing, can also be em-
ployed in order to investigate the speaking skills problems comprehensively.

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Appendices

Appendix A

Factor loadings for rotated factors

No. of Items Factor loadings Communality

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
10 .680 .56
24 .640 .69
12 .617 .65
18 .524 .53
14 .502 .53
20 .449 .62
23 .664 .58
19 .649 .52
15 .617 .49
17 .497 .57
03 .815 .76
05 .798 .72
02 .661 .67
04 .734 .67
01 .555 .68
06 .497 .54
34 .703 .59
32 .677 .61
30 .668 .66
07 .826 .70
09 .609 .60
03 .812 .76
23 .677 .58
31 .456 .61
08 .768 .67
13 .417 -.500 .53
Eigenvalues 2.21 2.09 2.02 1.78 1.77 1.69 1.63 1.58
% of variance 6.33 5.97 5.97 5.09 5.08 4.84 4.05 4.52

Appendix B

Speaking Skills Problems Questionnaire (student and teacher versions)

NO. Items SD D N A SA
1 I/students am/are afraid of making mis-
takes.
Affective-related problems

2 Some of my classmates/students speak very

effectively, but I cannot. This demotivates
me.
3 Shyness prevents me/students from speak-
ing.
4 I/students cannot speak well in the class-
room because my/their self-confidence is
low.
5 My/students’ anxiety is too high. This pre-
vents me/them from speaking well
 Speaking Skills Problems Encountered by Iranian EFL Freshmen and Seniors 129

6 I/students have difficulty finding opportuni-

Socially-related problems ties to practice my/their speaking outside
the classroom.
7 My/_ speaking classes are /were not useful
enough to help us/students communicate
with English speaking people.
8 I do not think I/they will make use of Eng-
lish speaking skills in my country.
9 There is no cooperation spirit among my
classmates/students in my/- speaking clas-
ses.
10 My instructors/I do not have a good com-
mand of English speaking skills.
11 It would be better if there were more than
one instructor teaching speaking so that
they could provide a speech model for stu-
dents.
12 My instructors/I make too much use of
our/students’ mother tongue in the class-
room.
13 My instructors’ pronunciation is not good
enough to be a model for us.
14 My instructors/I do not encourage students
to speak.
15 The/My intervention and error correction of
_/ my instructors is too harsh.
16 My instructors/I do not show the tendency
to speak English with me/students outside
the classroom when I/they try to do so.
17 My instructors/I neglect to focus on idio-
Instructor –related problems

matic expressions, proverbs, and colloca-

tions.
18 My classes are teacher-centered; therefore,
I/students cannot find the chance to express
my/their ideas and participate in class dis-
cussion activities.
19 My speaking instructors/I spend/spent a
large proportion of class time asking ques-
tions about things to which they/I already
knew the answers; therefore, no real com-
munication takes/took place.
20 My instructors/I do not encourage any
group work or pair work; this inhibits stu-
dent-student interaction in class.
21 My instructors/I do not teach us/students
how to express appropriate speech acts
(e.g., greeting, complaint, refuse invitations
or offers and so on).
22 My instructors/I do not tell us/students what
to do when we/they cannot find the correct
and appropriate word, structure and sen-
tence during our/their speaking. In other
words, they/I do not teach us/them oral
communication strategy use.
23 My instructors/I do not present interesting
topics for discussion.
24 My instructors/I put less emphasis on
 130 Ahmad Asakereh and Hassan Soodmand Afshar

speaking skills in comparison to other

skills.
25 There are not enough and efficient facilities
Iran educational system and facility-

in language laboratory.
26 Our class/classes is/are overcrowded.
27 The time of our/- speaking classes is
not/was not appropriate. That is, our speak-
related problems

ing classes are/were held at the time when

we/students do/did not have enough energy
to participate effectively in class discus-
sions.
28 Only speaking and listening 1 and 2 courses
in BA program cannot help us/students to
develop our/their speaking ability.
29 Educational system of Iran has contributed
to my/students’ lack of speaking ability.
30 My poor/students’ general English
knowledge results in my/their having diffi-
culty making questions and directing them
to my instructor/their instructor or my/their
Linguistically-related problems

classmates.
31 I/students do not have enough vocabulary
knowledge.
32 I/students do not have enough knowledge
of collocations.
33 I/they think in Persian when I/they speak in
English, which leads to my/their lack of
fluency and naturalness in speaking.
34 I/they do not have enough grammar
knowledge which leads to lack of accuracy
in my/their speaking.
35 My/students’ pronunciation is not good
enough which causes difficulty in my/their
communication.

Appendix C

Interview questions

1. What are some of the psychological problems you/students encounter during speaking in English?
2. What are some of the problems in the way of your/students’ speaking caused by Iranian context?
3. Are there any problems in the way of your/students’ speaking caused by your/their classmates?
4. Are there any problems in the way of your/students’ speaking caused by the atmosphere of the class-
room?
5. Are there any problems in the way of your/students’ speaking skills related to Iran educational system?
6. Are there any problems in the way of your/students’ speaking skills related to lack of facilities? Please
explain.
7. Are there any problems in the way of speaking skills related to your instructors and their methods of
teaching?
8. Are there any problems in the way of speaking related to the speaking course book?
9. What are your linguistic-related problems affecting your/students’ speaking skills?
10. Are there any problems with the time of the speaking classes? Explain please.
11. Can only listening and speaking 1 and 2 courses during BA program improve your/students’ speaking
ability?