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Improving Speaking Skills Through the Use of Self-assessment in A2 Level Students

Abstract:

In these modern days, English is considered one of the most important languages around the world that allows people to communicate even if it is not their mother tongue. Indeed, in our education system, English is a mandatory subject; that means the necessity of improve students´ knowledge on the four basic skills, especially the speaking skill. According to Brown and Yuke (1983, as cited by Bahadorfar & Omidvar, 2014), “speaking is the skill that students will be judged upon most in real-life situations” (p.9). As they mentioned before, when students develop their speaking skills, they can communicate in real contexts. Nowadays, technological tools facilitate teachers´ and students´ life. Regarding Ecuadorian education, in the last years, tech tools have already been implemented during clases to call students´ attention and encourage students to practice what they learn. In fact, it can be used as a way to improve different skills in a second language. This research project is focused on speaking skills through the use of self-assessment in order to assist students in gaining confidence and reflecting on their progress by using WhatsApp voice messages. After analyzing some communicative problems that students have, the goal of this study was to apply the self-assessment technique to help learners with speaking practices and improve their communicative competencies. Sometimes, it is hard to persuade learners to practice speaking skills because of the lack of opportunities that we have in our country. It creates some students´pronunciation and fluency problems at the moment of using the language. Consequently, students experience difficulties when they have to make a short conversation, and finally, they feel frustrated