Research on Speaking Ability: Strategies, Activities and Material

The guidelines of the Ministry of Education of Córdoba province for the C.B.U. (Ciclo Básico Unificado) in Argentina require teachers of English to encourage in students the development of abilities and strategies which enable them to interact linguistically in basic situations of written and oral communication. In relation to the latter, teachers are expected to equip students with appropriate tools to become communicatively competent speakers. However, a very urgent and serious problem among teachers of English is the fact that, apparently, when students finish the third year of the C.B.U., they are unable to keep a meaningful oral interaction in the foreign language. This situation, which seems to be shared by most teachers of English from Villa María, showed the need to carry out a purely didactically oriented research work, aiming at describing how English is being taught at present, in our twelve secondary schools. That is, it appears to be relevant to find out to what extent ...