Methodological strategies for improving English speaking skill in seventh grade students at Public Institute Guillermo Cano Balladares

Speaking is an essential ability in human being communication and through this it can be expressed feelings, thoughts and needs and also the interaction with other people. This skill plays an important role in the process of English language acquisition. Speaking is an important skill of the English learning process as a second language, and its management allows transmitting and receiving messages in a clear and accurate way and also having a good command of the language. English has been taught in a traditional way for many years; that is through repetition and memorization of drills ignoring the importance that students develop the ability to express the language in whatever context or situation. Therefore, this skill can be developed through the application of the appropriate methodological strategies to achieve a better speaking level in the students. Speaking English in a fluently way opens a lot of opportunities in a world that is in constant development and challenging that encourages to grow personally and professionally in a society where the experiences, knowledge, capacities and changing availability are the factors that make you capable to face whatever challenge during lifetime. The main objective of this research is the application of methodological strategies to improve the speaking skill of the English language with seventh grade students at Public Institute Guillermo Cano Balladares in order to create a suitable environment, where students interact in a fluently way through oral activities. The reason why this research topic was chosen is the different problems faced by teachers and students in the classroom regarding to the student’s performance in the learning process of the English speaking skill such as: lack of motivation and vocabulary, inhibition, overcrowded classrooms and use of mother tongue. This research was conducted during the first semester of the 2014 school year. First, a diagnosis of the difficulties that the students face in English speaking skill was made; later a study for the selection of the most suitable strategies to apply in the second semester 2014 was carried out. Finally, an assessment for each strategy implemented was applied at the end of the class’ session. The results obtained in this research are considered satisfactory, according to surveys and interviews applied at students. The facilitation techniques used achieved the desired results and the recommendations are expected to serve as a reference for English teachers at high school to improve the learning of English speaking skill