AN INVESTIGATION OF THE ROLE OF SELF-ESTEEM IN ENHANCING THE ORAL PERFORMANCE OF EFL LEARNERS

Abstract

The English Language has become fundamental over time with the increase of interest to dominate it orally; it is considered to be the first language in all fields internationally. This study seeks primarily to highlight the importance of self-esteem in the process of foreign language learning and, accordingly, to raise the students’ as well as the teachers’ awareness of the value and the role of this psychological factor on the students’ academic achievement in general and their oral proficiency in particular. The work also attempts to examine the teacher’s role in improving the learners’ speaking skill. To attain these objectives, we hypothesize that EFL teachers as well as students at the department of Letters and Foreign languages, Mila university Center show a positive attitude toward the effective role of self esteem in enhancing the learners’ oral performance. To check the validity of the research hypothesis, two questionnaires were administered to a sample of ten Oral Expression teachers and fifty students enrolled in the third year of English at the department of Letters and Foreign Languages, University Center of Abdelhafid Boussouf, Mila. A Classroom observation was also used as a research tool to reifnorce the findings of the questionnaires. The results of the questionnaires indicate that both teachers and students are aware of the importance of self-esteem as an effective factor in developing the students’ oral performance. These results offer some insightful suggestions and recommendations for the role of self esteem in enhancing the students’ speaking skill.