Methods, techniques, and strategies to motivate students of English as a foreign language to improve the speaking skill

Abstract

Speaking is one of the most important skills a student should practice when learning a foreign language. However, many students are afraid of speaking because they do not want to make mistakes. A lack of motivation is a problem that affects students who are disengaged from learning. When motivation is missing in the learning process, serious consequences can occur. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to determine methods, techniques, and strategies to motivate students of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) to improve the speaking skill. This study is a review article, where bibliographic, analytical, and synthetic methods were employed. Articles were selected from different sources such as Google scholar, Redalyc, Scielo, Eric, and other databases. Among the main results, different methods, techniques, and strategies were found to motivate students to improve the speaking skill and subskills, which can be applied by English teacher, according to their students’ level of education, age and needs. It is concluded that motivation is sometimes overlooked by some EFL teachers and authorities. Nevertheless, teachers have the responsibility to use different strategies and techniques to motivate and engage students.