Improving adult EFL learners' speaking skills through strategies-based instruction

The distinction between foreign and second language has been the center of attention in English Language Teaching field, which is explained with the quantity of exposed target language input in everyday life of language learners. A Foreign Language does not have immediate communicative functions in the society where it is learned. University prep-class students in Turkey do not possess the opportunity to practice the linguistic rules of English they learn in classroom environment, thus they can be named as Foreign Language Learners. Following the critical period, acquiring other languages aside from the mother tongue with complete success by the medium of unconscious process is improbable. The major concern of this study, improving speaking skill, is influenced by lots of factors such as motivation level, methods and materials used in the classroom, level of proficiency, and atmosphere of the setting where the learners are taught, the amount of chances for practicing the target language. The strategies applied specifically for improving speaking skill occupies a crucial place in this study.Adult learners who are aware of the supportive effect of well-chosen strategies to overcome the difficulties they come across with in due course of speaking English feel more secure and relaxed when the time for expressing thoughts, emotions, needs through verbal communication comes. The aim of this study is to improve the speaking skills of Adult EFL Learners through heightening their awareness of strategy usage.This study was conducted on 72 university prep-class students whose age rank differs between 18-21 years. Two groups, experimental and control groups were examined in this study. The experimental group students were exposed to strategy training relevant to speaking skill for four months, the duration of this particular study, while the control group did not receive any treatment. Five different instruments were utilized to collect the data: speaking strategies questionnaire, speaking test, semi-structured interview, researcher?s diary, and minute papers gathered from the experimental group participants in the last five minutes of each lesson following the strategy training and including their thoughts, feelings about the strategies being taught. Pre- and post-speaking strategies questionnaires and pre-post-speaking tests were analyzed by independent sample t-test and paired sample t-test. Findings obtained from the qualitative and quantitative data showed that the speaking skills of the experimental group and their awareness on the positive impact of strategy usage on the improvement of speaking skill raised.Keywords: Language learning Strategies (LLSs), Speaking strategies, Strategies-based Instruction, awareness-raising