English Conversation Problems Encountered By Sudanese Secondary School Students: A Case Study Of Merowe Locality, Sudan

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the problems of conversation encountered by third class, secondary school students, mainly it seeks to find out some problems of pronunciations', speaking and grammar among the students. The research also attempts to elicit and assess the major cause of learners, conversational problems, with a view to propose some solutions. The research samples consist of (120) students from third level, secondary school students for the school year (2012-2014) including the pilot study sample which was (30) students. This is in addition to (60) teachers of English from Merowe Locality.

      The methods followed are the descriptive analytical method. Two instruments were used to collect data. An achievement test of three conversations and teachers questionnaire consists of (34) questions distributed among (60) teachers of English. The data has been statistically analyzed by using SPSS 24. It was concluded that there were some conversation problems among the students, which can be attributed to the following reasons:1. Students have no desire to engage in more conversation or dialogue. 2. Teachers rarely listen to their students while engaging in certain conversations, 3. The Spine Program does not address all student needs and provides for short periods of conversation and teachers are rarely supportive of shy students. Based on the findings, to overcome students’ conversation problem, the current study recommends that teachers should encourage and urge students to practice their conversation  on a regular basis and teachers should adopt effective strategies to enhance students’ conversational skills. Moreover, it also suggests that that the Ministry of Education should initiate professional training programs for English language teachers to boost up their teaching experiences, notably in the field of teaching English speaking skills.