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org © 2021 IJCRT | Volume 9, Issue 8 August 2021 | ISSN: 2320-2882

THE IMPORTANCE OF TEACHING

SPEAKING SKILLS
Malavika. R, Dr.T.MuthuKrishnan
PhD Research Scholar, Associate Professor
Bharathiar University, Coimbatore.
Abstract
In this modern world, communication skills play a vital role and one must have mastery over these
skills to get success in their respective fields. So, speaking is the most important skill among all the four
language skills in order to communicate well in this global world. As English is widely used all over the
world, there is a need for learners to acquire the communication skills of it to get success in their respective
fields. Thus, the classroom is the ideal platform to acquire good communication skills, especially, speaking
skills. The teachers have to understand the problems of the English language learners and try to implement
various teaching strategies in their classrooms in order to develop their learners’ speaking skills in English
classrooms. This is possible for the teachers when they change their methods and materials and by using the
latest techniques of teaching speaking skills. Therefore, the teachers should introduce some group and pair
activities in their regular English classrooms that the English language learners can develop their speaking
skills enormously. This paper sheds light on the importance of speaking skills in English classrooms. First
this paper discloses the significance of the basic language skills of English. Later, this paper also explains the
importance of speaking skills in English classrooms in a comprehensive way. it also suggests the English
language learners improve their speaking skills as these are very useful for them to build their future career
in a perfect way.
Keywords: English classrooms; English language learners; speaking skills.

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Introduction
In these modern days, the whole world has become a global village and people
communicate with each other in a common language, i.e., English. The English language is
spoken all over the world and it has attained the status of the global language. English is the
language widely used in the field of scientific research, education, business, the internet,
travel and tourism, media and newspapers, software, medicine, engineering, information and
technology, entertainment, banking and so on. English is the language that is used mostly for
business correspondence and internet purposes. Furthermore, most of the
books related to higher education are published in English. Due to several advantages of
English, many people are learning the English language to attain fruitful results in them.
The Basic Language Skills of English
As English serves the purpose of international communication, most of the foreign
language learners try to learn it. In this process, they have to acquire all the four basic skills
of the language, viz. listening, speaking, reading and writing. Listening and reading are
passive skills or receptive skills, whereas, speaking and writing are active skills or productive
skills. Listening and reading are considered to be passive or receptive skills as the learners
do not show their talent in exhibiting these skills. They just listen to the language or read it
without producing anything. Whereas, the learners have to produce sentences on their own
and they need a lot of practice and learn many things related to grammar, vocabulary,
sentence structure and usage. Therefore, speaking and writing are considered to be active or
productive skills.
The Importance of Speaking Skills
communication plays a vital role in getting success in all fields. Language is used as a tool for
communication. Moreover, people cannot achieve their aims, objectives, and goals without using proper
language to communicate. Therefore, there is a need for a language to communicate with others those who
live all around the globe. As English is considered the international language and it is spoken all over the
world, it serves the purpose of communicating with the people who live in different regions, states, countries,
and continents of the world. Speaking skill is the most important skill to acquire foreign or second language
learning. Among the four key language skills, speaking is deemed to be the most important skill in learning a
foreign or second language. Brown and Yuke (1983) say, “Speaking is the skill that the students will be judged
upon most in real life situations”. Regardless of its importance, teaching speaking skills have been
undervalued and most of the teachers have been continuing their teaching of speaking skills just as
memorization of dialogues or repetition of drills. The modern world demands for the requirement of
communication skills for the learners and the English teachers have to teach the English language learners the
needed skills so that they will improve their abilities in speaking and perform well in real-life situations. In
the present EFL/ESL teaching environment, oral skills are completely neglected whereas employability

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depends more on communication than technology. As very less priority has been given to the important
elements of language such as phonological, morphological, semantic and syntactic aspects, it has become a
major impediment for the English language learners to acquire the speaking skills among the learners of
English. So far, more concentration has been given to reading and writing skills. After realizing the importance
of oral communication skills, more emphasis is now laid on developing the speaking skills of the learners to
pursue their studies successfully and excel in their fields once they finish their education. Moreover, English
is the language of getting opportunities for employment and getting success to achieve the desired goals in
life.
Moreover, these speaking skills are also useful for learners when they have to settle
down well in their professions. So, speaking skills play a vital role as everything depends on the way how
people communicate their messages with others.
Speaking Skills in English classrooms
In this world, there is a need to share our ideas and thoughts with the people
who live around the world in order to fulfil our desires? This is a competitive
world and each and every English language learner wants to improve his/her speaking skills
to sustain in this global market. Moreover, most of the selections in getting jobs depend on
the communication skills of the individuals, especially, their speaking skills. The interviewers
also recognize the talent of the individuals in the form of speaking skills within a short period
of time. The job seekers those who can prove their skills at that particular moment will be
occupying the best places in their career. Moreover, these speaking skills are also useful for
professionals to develop their career. With regular practice of these skills, they can deliver short speeches also
in the classrooms. Moreover, they build self-confidence among
themselves and become stronger in decision-making and problem-solving. The learners can also develop
sound business relationships with the other business partners and promote their businesses well. Furthermore,
the ELLs show better performance in their job interviews so that they will get the best opportunities to settle
down well in their career. They can also work well with their colleagues and try to develop their own career.
Therefore, speaking skills play a pivotal role in developing the English language learner’s overall
performance.
Even if there are four other skills in the English language, speaking skills are the most
effective one among them as a majority of communication is done through speech. Therefore,
speaking skills are the most important method of communication. There is no doubt that
proficiency in each skill is necessary to become a well-rounded communicator, but the ability
to speak skilfully provides the speakers with several distinct advantages. The main advantages of speaking
skills are:

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• To participate actively in pair or group activities in the classrooms.
• To give a maiden and impressive speech on different occasions.
• To participate actively in debates and group discussions.
• To develop critical thinking among the learners.
• To pursue higher studies in foreign countries.
• To interact with people all around the globe.
• To promote the sale of products in the business.
• To make living abroad simpler and easier.
• To get better employment opportunities.
• To make use of the internet effectively.
• To perform well in job interviews.
• To acquire more knowledge.

Since there are many advantages of speaking skills, the English teachers should
concentrate more on these skills and give the best priority to them as they are very useful for
the overall development of the English language learner’s performance. Thus, the teachers have to think of
various techniques and approaches of speaking skills to develop the learners’ oral communication which is
the most essential one in this contemporary world.
The English teachers have to adopt several techniques to develop the speaking skills
of their learners because some EFL/ESL learners have a deep fear of making mistakes and
some others have just plain shy and this is observed even in the native learners. At this
juncture, English teachers can introduce some fun activities in the form of language games to
get the learners to speak in English classrooms. Generally, most of the learners are interested
in playing games in the classrooms and it is quite common that they ask for more and more
games as they make them happy. When the learners practice these games in a fun
environment, it is sure that they really improve their speaking skills enormously.
Therefore, the teachers should introduce such activities in their regular classrooms in order to
involve the English language learners more and improve their speaking skills.
In this technique, the leaners have complete freedom to express any point that is related to the topic. Therefore,
it is the duty of the teachers to encourage their learners to produce as
many sentences as possible so that the learners' oral communication skills, as well as their
power of imagination, will be immensely developed in a pleasant and enjoyable atmosphere.

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conclusion
In this paper, an attempt has been made to highlight the importance of speaking skills
in English classrooms. First, the significance of the basic language skills of English has
been discussed elaborately. Then, the importance of speaking skills in the EFL/ESL
classrooms have been comprehensively explained. Furthermore, the need to teach speaking
skills in the classrooms have been illustrated. Later on, the kinds of speaking situations and the main
advantages of speaking skills have been explained sumptuously. Moreover, some
techniques to develop speaking skills among the EFL/ESL learners in the classrooms have
been thoroughly explained. Finally, the teachers are given some suggestions to improve
speaking skills among the English language learners in the English classrooms
Hence, the teachers have to take a special interest in improving the speaking skills of the English language
learners. For this purpose, the teachers have to refer to the latest material related to and try to adopt several
techniques and approaches to develop the speaking skills of the learners in the English classrooms.
References:
• British Council BBC. 2008. Productive Skills retrieved from
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/knowledge-wiki/productive-skills accessed on 11 December
2008.
• Eskey, D. (1988). Holding in the bottom: An interactive approach to the language problems of second
language readers. In P. Carrell, J. Devine, & D. Eskey (Eds.), Interactive approaches to second
language reading (pp. 93–100). New York: Cambridge University Press.
• Gower, M. 2005. Teaching Practice. Oxford: Macmillan Education
• Hinkel, E. (2006). Current perspectives on teaching the four skills. TESOL Quarterly, 40(1), 109–131.
• Troike, M. S. (2006). Introducing Second Language Acquisition. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
• White, R. (1981). Reading. In Johnson and Morrow (Eds.). Communication inthe classroom. (pp. 87–
92). London:Longman.

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