EFL Teachers’ and Learners’ Attitudes towards the Role of English Speaking Clubs in Improving EFL learners’ Oral Proficiency

Abstract

Speaking is considered to be an important skill and one of the major skills that EFL learners need to master. However, it is deemed to be a problematic area in language teaching and learning especially in regards to fluency and accuracy i.e. oral proficiency. The present study attempted to explore EFL teachers’ and learners’ attitudes towards the role of English Speaking Clubs (ESCs) in improving EFL learners’ oral proficiency. It was thus assumed that joining ESCs would be welcomed by both teachers and learners from the five levels. To test the assumption, this study employed both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Data was collected using an online student questionnaire and a teacher interview. The questionnaire was answered by 42 LMD English language majors who are at the same time members of some Algerian ESCs, namely The Hive, WATI, and an ESC at TEFL Academy. Additionally, a teacher interview was conducted with Speaking Class university teachers at the department of English at the University of Mohammed Seddik Ben Yahia, Jijel. The findings showed that regardless of the uncommonness of ESCs, EFL teachers and learners had positive attitudes towards the role of English Speaking Clubs in Improving EFL learners’ oral proficiency and they encouraged the establishment of more ESCs in Algeria.