Mending Students’ Speaking Deficiencies in Moroccan EFL Classes

Abstract

This paper presents an attempt to help students enhance their speaking skills in Moroccan English as a foreign language (EFL) classes. It was observed that students in Moroccan high schools are generally not able to speak their minds out freely and imaginatively in English. This paper studies the causes for students’ weak speaking skills in the English language and suggests solutions to mend the situation. An observation of the teaching and learning practices took place in a sample Moroccan high school and interviews as well as questionnaires were administered for the aim of tracing the obstacles students face in their learning process as well as their preferences that they wish to have applied in the speaking sessions. Several speaking activities were tested and proved effective in encouraging students to speak English in class and defeat their shyness and reluctance to express their opinions. These activities are provided in this paper for teachers to use starting from common core classes passing by 1st year Baccalaureate (Bac) and ending with 2nd year Bac (common core being the first year of high school in Morocco and so on) and include watching films and conducting projects in the framework of a cooperative learning. They outline a project of forming good speakers of English in Morocco and maybe elsewhere in the Arab world.