Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities May 2020. Vol. 7, No. 2, 116-131 Developing Speaking Skill: Barriers Faced by the Bangladeshi EFL Learners Md. Mohsin Mridha Senior Assistant Secretary, Government of Bangladesh mridhamohsin@gmail.com Sheikh Md. Muniruzzaman * Lecturer, Department of English, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University, Bangladesh smmzaman@bsmrstu.edu.bd Manuscript received January 24, 2020, revised April 14, 2020, first published May 18, 2020, and available online May 21, 2020. DOI: 10.22373/ej.v7i2.6257 Recommended APA Citation Mridha, Md. M., & Muniruzzaman, S. Md. (2020). Developing Speaking Skill: Barriers Faced by the Bangladeshi EFL Learners. Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities, 7(2), 116-131. https://doi.org/10.22373/ej.v7i2.6257 ABSTRACT This study aims at investigating the prevailing barriers for developing English speaking skill faced by the undergraduate students in Bangladesh. The attempt was to locate the importance of speaking proficiency in English as one of the basic skills of a language in this “English” era. In this global age, the use of English has been inevitable and more often we cannot but use English in different phases of our life. But Bangladeshi EFL learners often fail to attain proper speaking proficiency for some reasons. The reasons behind the incompetence in speaking skill are many and some of them are the influence of mother tongue, lack of vocabulary, lack of practice, unfavorable environment, teachers‟ non-cooperation, shyness, fear, language „fossilization‟ etc. Moreover, students do not get the opportunity to develop English speaking skill in a „natural‟ environment. The nature of the study is quantitative and the data collection tool is a questionnaire. This paper pinpoints all those problems and presents plausible recommendations in order for developing English speaking skill. Keywords: Speaking; EFL learners; Barriers; Fossilization * Corresponding author mailto:mridhamohsin@gmail.com mailto:smmzaman@bsmrstu.edu.bd https://doi.org/10.22373/ej.v7i2.6257 https://doi.org/10.22373/ej.v7i2.6257 Md. Mohsin Mridha & Sheikh Md. Muniruzzaman Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities | Vol.7, No.2, May 2020|117 1. Introduction English has become the most widespread means of communication in the world from the beginning of the Second World War. It is the most widely used „lingua franca‟ in the present world. It is no longer in the unique possession of the English or the American; rather it is the language of the global world now (Shahidulla et al, 2001). Hence, English has been an integral part of our teaching and curriculum system. The teaching of English has traditionally been considered as teaching and making the students aware of certain language aspects such as grammar, vocabulary, translation etc. In this way, the students are hardly provided with adequate practice in the development of communicative skill through speaking. As a result, after years of study, students have known a great deal about English without being able to use it to express their thoughts and intentions. The language is usually studied in its written manifestation and often the conversation skill is set aside. Moreover, aspects of the spoken language are taught in a very superficial way. Teachers also prefer to teach writing elements as it is the most conventional form to teach (Rivers, 1968). For this reason, many teachers give up the attempt to teach speaking skill and concentrate on the writing aspects. There are also several techniques of developing conversational skill and these are often skipped in our teaching and learning system. For all, English is a matter of dire importance, our learners can hardly attain competency in English especially in speaking skill. As an independent nation, we do possess our mother tongue which has rather a glorious history as well as recognition. Nevertheless, it is a demand of time to make English widespread among the learners after Bangla. Prior to 1971, the medium of learning was English (Khan, 2003). After independence, Bangla received the constitutional recognition in the newly born state as for linguistic nationalism. Consequently, English learning in the country started to deteriorate. During the past five decades, multifarious policies were attempted to make it more effective. But the situation is yet to reach up to the mark. The downward situation of English proficiency is one of the prime issues of the education policy in the country. Keeping the situation in mind, a number of changes in the textbooks and syllabus have been made to gear up the situation. Many seminars, conferences and teachers‟ training workshops have been arranged from time to time that seem to be of no use. That language is primarily for communication is known to everybody and thus speaking is the elementary skill in any language. In recent years, the emerging and ever increasing importance of speaking skill in English both in educational and corporate areas has drawn our attention to the development of this skill. English has been made compulsory from the primary level in Bangladesh, but the outcome is not much satisfactory and it is still under working. After the completion of university education, our graduates can hardly speak in English and they can hardly prove their conversational worth. But the demand from the corporate area is that they often need people with good command of English and having a good Developing English Speaking Skills: Barriers Faced by the Bangladeshi EFL Learners 118|Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities | Vol.7, No.2, May 2020 proficiency in conversational skill. In the long run, both the employers and the employees suffer and they start learning English again getting admitted to English Learning Centres. Eventually, our educational system has not proved its efficiency in making our students apt in speaking English. Few years back, our curriculum and syllabus were not in the favor of contextual communication system. It was rather Grammar Translation Method of teaching where speaking, though an important skill, was set aside. Communicative language teaching approach was introduced in our country in 1997 (Ahmed, 2003). Although speaking is an important skill, it has not been yet included in our syllabus and public examination system of SSC and HSC levels † . So, this important skill has to be re-examined and emphasized properly. The study tries to examine the existing problems and the causes underlying them. The study will also recommend some measures in order to minimize those problems and develop conversational skills in English. 2. Literature review This section presents an overview of related literature including problems in developing speaking skill, importance of speaking as a skill and related research. Conversations serve a variety of purposes (Rivers, 1968). The different kinds of conversational interactions can be divided into those in which the primary focus is on the exchange of information (transactional) and those in which the primary purpose is to establish and maintain social relations (interactional) (Brown & Yule, 1983). However, the teaching of speaking skill is affected by whether the primary purposes involved are transactional or interactional. According to Krashen‟s (quoted in Ellis, 1985) Monitor hypothesis input (listening) supersedes output (speaking). A number of factors such as fear, fatigue, inattention etc. affect one‟s speaking skill. Practice in the process of learning speaking is also an important factor to be done. Students should be encouraged for free practice. As the student becomes more and more independent of his thoughts and ideas, he should be encouraged to practice talking to himself and thinking in the foreign language as often as possible: describing to himself the things he sees on the way to school, recounting to himself what he has done during the day or what he intends to do. The forging of the instrument is not enough to prepare the student for the act of speaking in the foreign language; he needs guided practice (Richards, 1990). The more one practices, the more one improves his/her own oral skill as well as helps others improve their skill. The ideal way for one to develop the speaking skill to the fullest is to go and live among the people who speak the language. For an average student it is hardly possible to have frequent contact with native speakers of the language in his own country. We can, however, import to him in the classroom with † SSC means Secondary School Certificate and HSC means Higher Secondary Certificate in Bangladesh Md. Mohsin Mridha & Sheikh Md. Muniruzzaman Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities | Vol.7, No.2, May 2020|119 basic attitudes and fundamental skills upon which one can build rapidly when the opportunity for real communication presents itself. Speaking is an act of communication we are influenced by our environmental cues (Richards, 1990). Feedback from the teacher is considered very important in developing speaking, because feedback from a listener (facial expression, interoperations etc.) gives us indications of the meaning he is extracting. If the student has an unsympathetic relationship with his teacher or does not feel homely with his classmates, s/he may feel that what s/he would like to say can be of little interest to them or would not be appreciated by them (Richards, 1990). Congenial environment for free speaking is next to nothing in developing speaking skill in any language. In some places, free conversations may cause unpleasantness and embarrassment for speakers or for the people with whom they are conversing. Psychological experiment has shown that people are more likely to continue a conversation when other people agree than when they disagree (Verplanck, 1955). Success in a language is measured in terms of the ability to carry out a conversation in the (target) language. Therefore, if students do not learn how to speak or do not get any opportunity to speak in the language in the classroom, they may soon get demotivated and lose interest in learning. On the other hand, if the right activities are taught in the right way, speaking in class can be a lot of fun, raising general learner motivation and making the English language classroom an effective and dynamic place (Nunan, 2003). Some other aspects contribute to speaking as well. For example, speaking and listening are complementary language skills (Brown & Yule, 1983). Certain psychological factors which enter interpersonal communication are highly relevant to the process of developing speaking abilities in a foreign language. In a class group, the teacher must be alert to recognize personality factors which are affecting participation in foreign language discussion. Some students are talkative, others are shy or taciturn. These characteristics affect student performance in the oral part of the lesson. It has been noted that the talkative extroverts among missionaries learned language faster than quiet and studious people (Nida, 1957). 3. Research questions The research questions of the study are the following: a. What are the barriers Bangladeshi EFL learners encounter while attempting to develop speaking skill? b. What is the importance of speaking skill in English? c. Why are most of the students of Bangladesh inefficient in speaking skill? d. How suitable are the present syllabus and curriculum system of the Secondary and Higher Secondary levels for developing conversational skill? Developing English Speaking Skills: Barriers Faced by the Bangladeshi EFL Learners 120|Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities | Vol.7, No.2, May 2020 4. Rationale of the study This research is an authentic scenario of the EFL learners in Bangladesh. Different linguistic factors of second or foreign language learning have been investigated in this research. This is a potential source of study for the teachers, teachers‟ trainers, stakeholders, policy makers, and researchers who want to carry out further research on language learning. Furthermore, the Ministry of Education, National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB), and different educational institutions could benefit from this research. 5. Limitation of the study There are some limitations of this research. The limitations can be mentioned as follows: a. Some students might not provide real information about their competence. They were asked about the classroom environment and teachers' performance. In this case, they might get feared if the results were disclosed to their teachers though there was no option for respondents' names in the questionnaire. Some students were not familiar with research activities and thus they took the survey as merely time waste. b. The survey has been conducted on the students of Departments under the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. It would be convenient if the survey could be extended to other faculties and a comparative study could be made. c. Another limitation of the study is that the data have been collected from students studying in five Departments and coming from different parts of the country, but they will represent the Bangladeshi students in general. d. Because of the shortage of time, detailed interviews with teachers have not been possible. 6. Methodology of the study The study is a quantitative research and hence it incorporates field work. For collecting data, a survey as part of the study was carried out for ten days in five Departments under the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh. 6.1 Subjects The participants of the survey include 100 students. They were selected from five Departments; 20 students from each Department. The students were selected from the Departments of Bangla, History, Philosophy, International Relations and Archaeology other than English Department. The students studying in the English Department have been excluded, because they do not represent the general students of Bangladesh. All the students were selected from 38th Batch (BA Honors, 3rd year) as they study in the middle of Bachelor program and serve the best purpose of the survey. There was a balance of gender in conducting the research. There were a few indigenous Md. Mohsin Mridha & Sheikh Md. Muniruzzaman Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities | Vol.7, No.2, May 2020|121 students among the participants. They all hailed from different parts of the country and hence they all could represent the overall learning situation of the country within a limited scope. English is a language primarily used for communication and so it is studied under the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. 6.2 Instruments A questionnaire was used to collect data. The questionnaire contained three types of questions and there were total 13 questions or statements. The subjects were required to answer those questions by putting a tick mark on the appropriate answer. They could answer single option for question number 1-3 and they could choose multiple options for question number 13. They were asked questions or statements about their present speaking performance, their classroom environment, teachers‟ cooperation and performance, their past activities in the English classroom at SSC and HSC levels, their opinion about the contribution of SSC and HSC syllabus and textbooks to develop conversational skill etc. Students‟ background information was also taken in the questionnaire. But there was no option for students‟ names for maintaining confidentiality. 6.3 Procedure The survey was conducted directly going to the respondents and the duration of the survey was ten days. The purpose of the survey was clarified to the respondents at first. Then, the items of the questionnaire were clarified to them. It took them 8-10 minutes to answer the questions. However, many of them were found very enthusiastic in answering the questions. The data analysis framework of the study is as follows: Table 1 Data analysis framework Research Tools Nature of Data Sample Size Sampling Procedure Mode of Analysis Approach of Analysis Questionnaire Quantitative 100 Purposive Statistical Analysis (%), Organizing, Identifying Thematic analysis 7. Presentation of the findings Mutual understanding or mutual communication or transfer of message is the prime concern in any language. In this regard, speaking, one of the four skills of a language meets the purpose best as it is the primary and most direct way of communication in any language. Thus, the first statement in the questionnaire is that speaking is very essential in English language. The respondents were asked how Developing English Speaking Skills: Barriers Faced by the Bangladeshi EFL Learners 122|Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities | Vol.7, No.2, May 2020 strongly they agree or disagree with the statement. Nearly 81.71 % respondents strongly agreed with the statement and another 18.29% respondents agreed. It is important to note down here that nobody disagreed with this statement. Table 2 Speaking skill in English is essential. Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree 81.71% 18.29% The second question was about the speaking skill of the respondents. The respondents were asked if they could speak in English and if they could, how fluently they could speak while communicating with others. The survey shows a staggering ratio of their competency in speaking skill. It shows that only 5.76% respondents could speak English fluently. Another 19.23% respondents could speak English moderately, 43.26% respondents could speak English little and another 21.15% respondents spoke very little. Again, 10.57% respondents were unable to speak English and they were not capable of making any communication with others through speaking in English. Table 3 Can you speak English? Fluently Moderately Little Very Little Unable 5.76% 19.23% 43.26% 21.15% 10.57% In developing speaking skill, practice and contextual conversation play important roles. Conversations with classmates and peers enable them to develop their skills. To find out the information, respondents were asked if they conversed with their classmates. The findings show that 9.52% respondents never speak with their classmates, 29.52% respondents rarely speak with their classmates, and 53.33% respondents speak sometimes, 6.67% respondents speak often and only 0.95% respondents speak English always. Table 4 Do you speak English with your classmates? Never Rarely Sometimes Often Always 9.52% 29.52% 53.33% 6.67% 0.95% Md. Mohsin Mridha & Sheikh Md. Muniruzzaman Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities | Vol.7, No.2, May 2020|123 In Bangladesh, students often use Bangla naturally for communication. Very few students use only English while communicating with others for some reasons. Some students may use other languages such as Chakma or other indigenous languages. This question was asked in order to note what type of language they use if they communicate with their friends or classmates. Their answers show that nearly 63.20% respondents use both Bangla and English for communication, 33.01% respondents use only Bangla, and 3.79% respondents use other languages, for instance Chakma language. But the number of respondents speaking only English for communication is nil. Table 5 What type of language do you use if you communicate with your friends or classmates? Both Bangla and English Only Bangla Only English Others 63.20% 33.01% Nil 3.79% A question about teachers and their performance in the classroom was asked because teachers‟ role in language learning class is very important. Teacher talks and learners learn language through mimicry and repetition. This question was asked specially to know if our EFL teachers practice themselves and make the learners practice in the classroom. About 1.86% respondents opine that teachers never use English in the classroom. 15.88% respondents opine that teachers use English in the classroom rarely. Another 64.48% respondents opine that their teachers use English sometimes in the classroom. Then, 15.88% respondents assert that their teachers use English often and only 1.90% respondents assert that their teachers use English always in the classroom. Table 6 How often does your teacher use English in the classroom? Never Rarely Sometimes Often Always 1.86% 15.88% 64.48% 15.88% 1.90% In order to develop speaking skill, learners are required to speak in the classroom. Classroom speaking consolidates their conversational skill since they grow perfect speaker through practice, group discussion etc. This very specific question was asked to know if they have to speak English in the classroom. 26.16% respondents never speak in the classroom, 30.84% respondents speak rarely, 35.51% respondents speak sometimes, 4.67% respondents speak often and only 2.82% respondents always speak English in the classroom. Developing English Speaking Skills: Barriers Faced by the Bangladeshi EFL Learners 124|Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities | Vol.7, No.2, May 2020 Table 7 Do you have to speak English in the classroom? Never Rarely Sometimes Often Always 26.16% 30.84% 35.51% 4.67% 2.82% Any language comprises four skills- reading, writing, listening and speaking. Reading and listening are considered as input whereas writing and speaking are considered as output skills. Our SSC or HSC syllabus does not tend to put equal stress on all the four language skills. Hence, the respondents were asked if they think it is necessary to put equal stress on all the four language skills in the SSC and HSC syllabus. 54.45% respondents strongly agreed with the notion that it is necessary to put equal stress on all the four language skills. 36.63% respondents agreed, 6.93% respondents were neutral and 1.99% respondents disagreed with the statement. Table 8 It is necessary to put equal stress on all the four language skills in the SSC and HSC syllabus. Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree 54.45% 36.63% 6.93% 1.99% Nil The textbooks in the SSC and HSC levels and their efficiency are important to be considered, i.e. how sufficient they are for developing speaking skills. The respondents were asked to opine with the statement that the textbooks in the SSC and HSC are not sufficient for developing English skill. 35.92% respondents strongly agreed with the statement that the textbooks are not sufficient for developing students‟ speaking skill. 47.57% respondents agreed with the statement, 9.71% respondents were neutral and another 6.80% respondents disagreed with the statement. Table 9 The textbooks in the SSC and HSC are not sufficient for developing speaking skills. Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree 35.92% 47.57% 9.71% 6.80% Nil Md. Mohsin Mridha & Sheikh Md. Muniruzzaman Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities | Vol.7, No.2, May 2020|125 The overall English proficiency among our students is not satisfactory and even after obtaining the highest degree from University they fail to communicate through speaking with others. Obviously, there are many reasons for such incompetence in the oral skill of English. Some of them are more problematic and they should be overcome. In this question, there are multiple answers and the respondents were asked to define the main reasons for lacking proficiency in English from the answers. Table 10 What do you think are the main reasons of lacking competency in English? Lack of Lack of Syllabus Fear Unfavorable Lack of Non- Speaking practice vocabulary does not environment good cooperation is emphasize teachers from considered teachers less important 90.91% 68.18% 68.18% 50% 50% 50% 45.45% 27.21% The respondents think that lack of practice (90.91%) is the main reason for lacking proficiency in English. Then, lack of vocabulary (68.18%) and our defective syllabus (68.18%) that does not emphasize on speaking are also responsible for lacking competency. In addition to these, fear (50%), unfavorable environment (50%), and lack of good teachers (50%) are responsible. Again, non-cooperation from teachers (45.45%) and the notion of many students that speaking is not so important in our country (27.21%) are also responsible for lacking competency in English speaking skill. Spontaneity is important while using English for communication in any situation. If a student does not feel comfortable while using English with others, his or her competence level may go down in the tertiary level. This particular question was asked to observe how favorable the environment of the respondents is and if they feel comfortable in using English in the classroom. DO YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE IN USING ENGLISH IN THE CLASSROOM? Among them, 35.84% respondents replied in the affirmative that they feel comfortable using English in the classroom. But 64.16% respondents replied in the negative that they do not feel comfortable using English in the classroom. This question is about the English classes at schools and colleges of the respondents. Students should practise speaking from their school level. Since language learning is more fruitful before puberty, according to Lenneberg‟s Critical Period Hypothesis (quoted in Ellis, 1985), our school and college teachers‟ role in this case is very important. This question was asked in order to know if they used to speak English in their English classes at schools and colleges. Developing English Speaking Skills: Barriers Faced by the Bangladeshi EFL Learners 126|Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities | Vol.7, No.2, May 2020 DID YOU USE TO SPEAK ENGLISH IN ENGLISH CLASSES AT SCHOOL AND COLLEGE? 40.38% respondents replied in the affirmative that they used to speak English. But 59.62% respondents replied in the negative that they did not use to speak English in their English classes at schools and colleges. Of late, English speaking courses run by different coaching centres and institutes have been introduced. The mushrooming of coaching centers throughout the country is the direct indication that our students do not feel that their academic classes are sufficient for learning English. This very question was asked to the respondents if they have done any English speaking course so far. HAVE YOU DONE ANY ENGLISH SPEAKING COURSE SO FAR? 26.67% respondents replied in the affirmative that they have done English speaking course and 73.33% respondents replied in the negative that they have not done any English speaking course so far. 8. Analyses of the findings Speaking or conversation is a “multifaceted activity” (Richards, 1990). It includes production of message, transmission of message, decoding of message and reception of message. In speaking, a speaker transmits a message and the hearer decodes and receives the message. The hearer also plays the role of speaker and speaker the role of hearer by turn. Weaver (1949) shows the model of communication through speaking: Carroll (1964) presents another model: Both the above mentioned diagrams demonstrate the importance of speaking in the transfer of message. That is, speaking is very necessary for transferring messages and interpersonal communication. Through speaking, man expresses his emotions, communicates his intention, reaches to other persons and situations, and influences other human beings. Spoken language is, thus, a tool for communication and social role Md. Mohsin Mridha & Sheikh Md. Muniruzzaman Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities | Vol.7, No.2, May 2020|127 relationship (Brown and Yule, 1983). It is a matter of irony that our students feel the necessity of conversational skill, but they are unable to communicate. There are a number of barriers in the ways of developing speaking skill. The student who is to speak a language to express his personal meaning needs much practice. Frequent practice enables a student to have mastery over conversation. In this regard, students need to converse with their classmates in English. But many students hardly converse with their classmates. Even, a number of students never speak English with their peers. Such kind of phobia for speaking on the part of students reduces their ability. Thus, there is an absence of spontaneity for natural communication. Another important finding of the study that hampers students‟ English skill is the interference of mother tongue. In the case of ESL learners, the transfer of different elements from mother tongue is inevitable and natural. But when they interfere foreign language in an excessive way, the target language remains in the static position. Most of our students speak Bangla naturally as it is our mother tongue. But Bangla is even spoken in the English classroom and it hampers their English learning. Another fact is that when our students speak English, they do not use only English, rather they mix both Bangla and English, popularly known as „Banglish‟. A teacher should take the role of facilitator in a language class. Teachers in the conversational class should encourage the learners to use English. He should speak English in order to make the students enable to speak the language. Besides, teachers in the English speaking class should find themselves talking less and listening more and becoming active facilitators of their students‟ learning. The study shows the negligence and inefficiency of teachers in the classroom. Teachers do not use English always in the classroom and many teachers rarely speak in English in the classroom. Students should have conversational contribution in the classroom and they should be given real life communication system. Our teachers might not be friendly enough to make the learners easy in making spontaneous conversation. The study shows that students are to speak English in the classroom rarely. A huge number of students never talk in the class. They do not even feel comfortable in using English. This is one of the main reasons for which our speaking proficiency does not develop because language learning cannot be fruitful if there is fear or shyness. Our SSC and HSC syllabuses seem to be less effective in developing communicative competence. It is a matter of hope that CLTA (Communicative Language Teaching Approach) has been introduced, but still dialogue making and other conversations are memorized. Our textbooks instruct our teachers for natural and contextual conversation such as situational talk, greetings, dialogue making, pair work etc. But they are followed neither by our teachers nor our students. The objectives of the textbooks are to enable our students to use the most common form of expression of the language freely and spontaneously. Students are forced to memorize because they need to pass in the examination and they can do it without much effort and even their minds reside elsewhere. Developing English Speaking Skills: Barriers Faced by the Bangladeshi EFL Learners 128|Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities | Vol.7, No.2, May 2020 Our public examinations fail to put equal emphasis on all the four language skills. Our SSC and HSC syllabuses mainly focus on reading and writing. Questions in the public examinations are set on reading and writing, but listening and speaking are excluded. Students always concentrate on the items necessary for passing and getting a good grade in the examinations. They do not focus on the conversational skills and other items though they are very essential in real life situations. Most of the participants of the study expressed their affirmation that it is necessary to put equal importance on all the four skills of English language. If our public examinations include speaking, the scenario may change a little bit. However, multifarious aspects also collectively contribute to the lack of competency in speaking skill. Firstly, natural and contextual practice is necessary for improving one‟s skill. But our students are indifferent to the practice of conversation in different contexts. Secondly, vocabulary is a very important component in any language. It is far more important than grammar. Only grammar cannot make us express our thoughts. But if one has only vocabulary, he/she can express thoughts and communicate with others. Vocabulary is unlimited deriving from a wide range of sources. In the consequence, our students fail to internalize the necessary amount of vocabulary. Again, they memorize vocabulary without any reference of context and when those are needed, they can hardly use those properly. Thirdly, unfavorable environment undermines students‟ proficiency in speaking skill. For developing speaking skill, a favorable environment is needed, where a student can practise his conversation without any hesitation or shyness. In Bangladesh, people trying to speak English are not cordially appreciated; rather they are scorned and laughed at. For this reason, Bangladeshi EFL learners do not find their environment congenial to the development of their skill. Fourthly, Bangladeshi EFL learners suffer from fear and hesitation while attempting to speak English. Fifthly, the role of teachers in English speaking class is to cooperate with students to develop their skill. But many of our teachers are not concerned about their responsibility and act as rulers over the students. Such kind of non-cooperation on the part of teachers highly contributes to the lack of competency in conversational skill in English. 9. Discussion and recommendations To teach the speaking skill, it is necessary to have a clear understanding of the process involved in speech. If we wish our students to speak with ease in the foreign language, we must ensure that they are given ample practice in expressing themselves in different situations. Students in a foreign language class will not learn to speak fluently merely by hearing speech although this is important in familiarizing them with the acceptable forms of language. The teacher should give the students many opportunities to practise speaking skill. The active practice of speech cannot be left to a later stage to be done. Students should be given the opportunity throughout the years of study to Md. Mohsin Mridha & Sheikh Md. Muniruzzaman Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities | Vol.7, No.2, May 2020|129 develop skill in speech and control in speech habits. If the students are able to practise speech habits, our problems will be reduced. Student motivation is also considered to be a strong factor in developing speaking skill. Students come to study English with the strong idea that they will be able to speak it. But they are often discouraged and as a result they lose interest when they find that English is just like other subjects learning a lot of matters from a book. Then they find that being able to speak English is some far distant goal, attainable only after a long time labor. But students should be taught language with a lot of fun and spontaneity. The students should be allowed to say something in English from the very beginning, no matter how simple it may be. Thus, they feel a great sense of satisfaction and their attitude towards language learning becomes much more favorable. Students should be given freedom in their selection of expression in language learning. They must be given the opportunity to apply what they have learned. Teachers should wait with patience until practice is completed. Students will select expressions themselves and such selection will develop their oral skill where they will create new utterances and expressions. Students may be encouraged to vie with each other in the production of affirmative, and negative, statements, questions, conditional utterances etc. The role of a teacher in a language teaching classroom is that of a facilitator. He should make everything amusing, exciting and enjoyable. He should make his students practise orally without the support of a written script. Teachers often try to provide with overlearning which causes fatigue and distaste on the part of the students. Teachers should take care of making quite clear the situational context such as the place, the time of the day, the type of activity involved etc. to the students and the relationships among the characters such as approximate age, gender, occupations, authority patterns etc. and the emotional overtone of their conversation such as friendly, formal, hostile, teasing, reprimanding (Rivers, 1968). The use of multimedia materials in the present age can be fruitful for developing speaking skill. In the traditional classrooms, objects, pictures, actions, gestures etc. are used for language teaching. With the easy availability in recent years film strips, slides, films, tapes etc. can be used. The picture with voice is very much effective for developing speaking skill. The ideal way for the students to develop the speaking skill is to go and live among the people who speak English. But most of our students do not have contact with native speakers in our country. For this reason, teachers should impart them to the real communication and classroom activities. Teacher‟s facial expression, interruption etc. affect students‟ learning. In the classroom, the teacher must be friendly and he will recognize students‟ personality as well as potentiality. If the students have an unsympathetic relationship with the teacher, speaking skill may not develop. In a foreign country, the students live in a natural speaking environment. Expression and conversation around them strike their ear continuously. Thus, they can Developing English Speaking Skills: Barriers Faced by the Bangladeshi EFL Learners 130|Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities | Vol.7, No.2, May 2020 internalize skill without conscious effort. This constant hearing from native speakers is missing in a country like ours. Hence, they must converse and practise themselves. A student should describe himself the things he sees on the way and remember what he has done during the day. In this way, he will have good practice and can develop his skill (Rivers, 1968). English is a foreign language and naturally it will seem difficult to us to attain. But our students and teachers should be more active, energetic and innovative. Teachers should change their outlook and they should be more dynamic as language learning is not like the teaching of other general subjects. They should have the role of a real facilitator. They should provide the students with every kind of possible motivation. They should talk in the class and should make it interactive and communicative. Our textbook writers and syllabus designers should give more attention to the natural conversation because speaking skill cannot be attained by fake memorization or force study. Listening is strongly connected with speaking and so students should listen to English news, discussions and dialogues as part of developing speaking skill. Students should shake off fear and shyness because they bring nothing but failure in language learning. Our students will need to be patient and persevering in improving their oral skills. In the existing scenario, our students face a lot of problems for which they cannot attain proper proficiency in English. Nevertheless, with the right attitude to the problems, we can minimize those and develop the oral skill in English among our students. 10. Conclusion To conclude, the competence of speaking skill has become a vital need in the present world. In this situation, conversational skill in English must be developed among our students though there are scores of barriers like the interference of mother tongue, lack of practice, vocabulary, immersion, student-teacher interaction, fossilization, anxiety etc. The emerging necessity influences our career path along with personal communication and interaction since different multinational companies and international organizations working in our country also use English as a means of communication. No doubt, we do love our mother tongue. Again, we need to have competency in the global language because we are also part of this globalized world and English as the most accepted language of the world has been made wide in different sectors of our country. References Bashir, A. 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