Rethinking speaking in ELT: Where does intelligibility stand in the EFL classroom?

Abstract

Learning a Foreign Language (FL) is, as a rule, seen by experts as a major asset for global understanding and the mobility of people. English is found at the top of the pyramid as the number one language to achieve these goals. Nowadays, being able to express oneself intelligibly in English is decisive for students who want to thrive both academically and professionally. Indeed, the concept of intelligibility is now firmly established in the field of Applied Linguistics as one of the key factors in explaining success or otherwise in communication between interlocutors from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Accordingly, the essence of this article lies in the analysis of the communicative teaching practices of EFL teachers in Portugal and how they reflect on the learners’ speaking proficiency and intelligibility. Findings show that English continues to be taught with little regard to its real-world use, creating a gap between the learners’ needs/expectations and their true learning. Overall, the article focuses on the need for a reconceptualisation of speaking within an intelligibility frame of mind. Thus, it poses a challenge to traditional approaches to language teaching and learning practices by claiming a need to rethink approaches to learners’ oral proficiency grounded in the intelligibility principle.