Teachers´ strategies to encourage students to speak in the classroom

Resumen

The main objective of this study was to identify the strategies used by teachers to develop speaking skills in their students and to distinguish the positive and negative effects of these strategies in promoting language production in the classroom. This study based its research on a mixed approach. This study was carried out with a group of 10 English teachers from 7 private institutions and 3 public institutions in the city of Portoviejo, 3 of them were teachers at a 7th grade level, 4 of them were teachers at a primary level (8th -10th), and the last 3 teach classes at a high school level (1st-3rd). 177 students were also asked to answer a survey to find out their point of view on the strategies that are being used to encourage them to speak in class. Lastly, an observation checklist was used to contrast or confirm the information first collected from teachers and students. It is concluded that most teachers use the repetition of words and phrases, followed by some type of game or exercise to motivate students to speak in English. Motivation, in this way, occupied an essential space in this study. However, it was found that the main reasons why students do not speak the language fluently in the classroom are associated with personal factors. The teacher promotes various strategies, but must design those that favor the safety of their students.