Factors that influence high school students' English oral communication skills in Ecuadorian face-to-face learning environments

Abstract

Abstract: The present study aims to determine the linguistic and emotional factors that influence English oral communication skills in face-to-face lessons in a public high school in Ecuador. This research was developed through the use of mixed approach to collect all the data. Forty students and two EFL teachers of a public high school in the city of Catamayo participated in this research. Instruments such as questionnaires and interviews were administered to students and teachers with the purpose to find out their perceptions about the factors that influence students oral communication skills. Furthermore, checklists were used to observe the lessons. Main findings revealed that emotional factors such as students willingness to speak and getting embarrassed by their peers mostly influence students English oral communication skills. In the same way, the linguistic factors that mostly affects learners is their propensity of thinking first in Spanish when they have to speak in English in the face-to-face learning environment.