TEACHING SPEAKING SKILLS IN EFL IN LOWER ELEMENTARY GRADES IN STATE SCHOOLS IN SERBIA

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to look into the opportunities learners may have in lower elementary grades (namely 3rd a nd 4 th grade) in state schools in Serbia for building and developing the speaking skills in English, the quantity and quality of exposure to English in class as well as into the results of methods which teachers use in the classroom when teaching the speaking skills. The paper further looks into the fluency, vocabulary and the range of constructions which learners use, and investigates whether the teaching methods comply with the needs of the modern global society, including the extent to which learners are instructed so that they may become competent speakers of English as a foreign language. At the same time, methods of instruction are examined in order to see if they match the level of cognitive development of young learners. The methods of data collection are both quantitative and qualitative. They include questionnaires, class observations, semistructured interviews and focus group interviews. The methods of data analysis include multiple regression (quantitative) and narrative (qualitative) analysis. The results show that little systematic attention has been given to developing the speaking skills in 3rd a nd 4 th grades of elementary schools. A limited exposure and use of the methods which do not focus on the systematic development of the speaking skills as well as a low demand for productive communication imposed on learners, jointly contribute to an underdeveloped level of the speaking skills. In the long run, such practices are inevitably futile: adult speakers of English as a foreign language may be cognizant of the English language system and at the same time exhibit low conversational capabilities.