Abstract:
This research undertakes to investigate the reasons behind
students' lack of interaction in large university classes and
consider the impact of the seating, inhibitions, teaching
materials and the teacher training on students' ability to interact
orally in these classes.
Teachers' awareness of the impact of CLT on enhancing the
speaking skill, as well as the extent to which the English
language syllabus cater for the speaking skill are also
investigated. The main objective is to see the impact of the
following
domains
of
teachers,
students,
methodology,
classroom and the syllabus on promoting the speaking skill at
the tertiary level.
The sample of the study consists of the second year students
(above one hundred) studying English in Omdurman Islamic
University and thirty English language teachers in seven
Sudanese universities. Two instruments were used for data
collection: teachers' questionnaire and classroom observation.
The data was computed and analyzed with the Statistical
Packages for Social Sciences.
The study showed that:
1- Large
university classrooms are not conducive to teaching
English communicatively.
2- Teachers'
classrooms.
knowledge of CLT is not reflected in large EFL
3- The
present English language syllabus at the tertiary level
does not give speaking enough space.
4- Teachers
often use the mother tongue for classroom
management.
5- Most
time is often taken up with teacher talk.
6- Participation
is often dominated by a minority of talkative
participants.
The study recommends that teachers should reduce students'
inhibitions through using group work and respecting their
contributions and that teachers' knowledge of CLT should be
reflected in their actual teaching practice. The number of
students in a classroom should not exceed (40) , and the seats
and desks should not be fixed to the floor, so that successful
learning and effective teaching can occur. The study also
recommends that communicative courses should be part of the
syllabus.
