Abstract:
The present study has two major aims. First, it investigates the impact of students' classroom
presentations on their motivation to achieve a fluent speaking performance. Second, it
investigates the effectiveness of an alternative course of oral expression activities that aim at
both increasing students' motivation to attend as well as their chances to participate in the
speaking class, hence enhancing their speaking abilities. In this research, we hypothesize that
oral presentations, and under the current conditions, demotivate students from active
participation in the oral expression sessions. Not only that, but this practice also hinders the
development of their speaking abilities. We also hypothesize that the alternative course of
speaking activities is a better-suited solution to the problem, both to motivate students and
enhance their speaking skill. Indeed, the three different means of research (a questionnaire
for forty national oral expression teachers, and that of 105 second year students of English,
besides their first test) reveal much information about the subject matter and strongly
confirm these hypotheses. The students' questionnaire, on the one hand, shows that this
course actually does what it is designed to achieve. Students' motivation increases remarkably
during the application of the course. The students' second test, on the other hand, confirms
that students' speaking performance develops thanks to the course. On the basis of the
obtained results, the hypotheses we tested came to be confirmed, in that the oral
presentations students perform demotivate them from taking part in the speaking class, also
they do not improve their speaking performance. In contrast, the alternative course
remarkably increases students' motivation and significantly improves their oral skills.
