Developing Secondary School Students' Foreign Language Speaking Skills in the Netherlands: A Design Research Study

Abstract

<p>The aim of this design research project was to investigate possible ways of developing foreign language (i.e. English) speaking skills of secondary school students who do not readily speak English in class. It was felt that an intervention was required to raise student-speaking skills in preparation for their oral exam. Empirical data were collected and a literature review was conducted in order to have a deeper understanding of the problem. The data collection methods of the study were questionnaires, interviews, lessons observations as well as a course book analysis. The data collected indicated that speaking production can be affected by a number of criteria such as anxiety, confidence, lack of vocabulary and/or practice. The data collection and the literature review informed the designed product (i.e. series of six lessons focusing on developing students' speaking skills). The product was trialled during May 2020 and both teachers and students were asked for their assessment of the product. The evaluation data were collected through interviews and questionnaires. The evaluation of the product showed that both teachers and students received the product positively and it was found to have had positive effect in changing students’ perception of their speaking ability. The results of this study encourage teachers to deviate from textbooks that do not extensively focus on oral production and come up with alternative products to increase student-speaking time in foreign language education.<br /></p>