An Analysis on Oral Communicative Competence in the Teaching and Learning Process of English as a Foreign Language

Abstract

This document is an educational research work, which adopts a survey design about oral communication competence in the teaching and learning process of English as a foreign language. The surveys are addressed to three types of participants: teachers, students and student teachers of Compulsory Secondary Education. The aim of this project is to analyse oral communicative skill in the teaching and learning process of English as a foreign language (EFL) in a Secondary Education context. A total of twenty surveys have been administrated, nine are intend for students, four for teachers and seven for student teachers. This analysis pursues the following specific objectives: to classify the resources and methodologies most used to teach EFL speaking skill; to establish the current status of oral competence; to identify general fears, strengths and weaknesses on oral communication skills during the EFL teaching and learning process; and finally, to sequence the most used and most useful ways of practicing speaking skill. The main results show the importance of oral skills and also the preference of working this skill by most of the participants surveyed. Besides that, the results also show how little this oral skill is practiced and the way it is usually worked inside the classroom, presenting a clear predominance of group working when practicing EFL oral communicative competence.