STRATEGIES-BASED INSTRUCTION: A MEANS OF IMPROVING ADULT EFL LEARNERS’ SPEAKING SKILLS

Speaking skill has been claimed to be at the core of language learning. The claim has been expanded with the assumption that aptitude for accomplishing successful oral production is the equivalence of successful language learning. Many factors such as motivation level, methods and materials used in the classroom, atmosphere of the setting where learners are taught, the amount of chances for practicing target language can be mentioned among the broad range of factors exerting influence on speaking skill. One of the compromised conceptions about the proficiency of Turkish adult EFL Learners regarding their speaking skill is upon the entanglements encountered by them in due course of oral communication. Thus, this study which was conducted on 72 university prep-class students whose age rank differed between 18-21 years monitored the progress in the speaking skill of the experimental group (N=37) exposed to strategy training relevant to speaking for four months and compared the collected data with the data of the group (N=35) not trained specifically on language learning strategies. Speaking strategies questionnaire, speaking test, semi-structured interview, researcher’s diary, and minute papers were the instruments utilized in order for data collection. Findings obtained from the qualitative and quantitative data showed that the students in the training group made a meaningful improvement in their speaking skills as compared to those in the comparison group.