Using Group Discussion as a Strategy to Promote Speaking Fluency in the Ecuadorian University EFL Classroom: Students’ Benefits and Teachers’ Challenges

Abstract

Speaking fluently is one of the greatest challenges faced by second language learners. However, most students find it difficult to achieve this fluency and even tend not to practice their speech because it does not sound as natural as intended. The purpose of this study is to gather the experiences of different university lecturers and to know whether the use of group discussion has benefited students’ speaking fluency. It will be conducted using a qualitative approach. The participants were five lecturers belonging to the same public university, who were chosen by the purposive sample. The data were obtained through a semi-structured interview applied to the five participants, assuring them that all the information provided in the interview would remain anonymous. The analysis of the data was done through thematic coding because it allowed identifying the ideas that were linked and creating a theme for the analysis. The data obtained were analyzed according to the different research questions, which referred to the benefits of the strategy, their opinion as teachers, and the challenges of applying it. The information given by the participants showed that there are certain challenges when applying this strategy. However, the data obtained corroborated that this strategy does benefit the student's fluency.