Scientific methodological basis of teaching primary school pupils language by developing speaking activities

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to develop speaking activities for primary school students and to get teachers’ opinions on the scientific methodological foundations of language teaching. The participant group of the research consists of 55 primary schoolteachers who are teaching in various primary schools in the city of Almaty, Kazakhstan, in the 2021–2022 academic year. The research was designed according to the phenomenological method, one of the qualitative research methods. Research data were collected with a semi-structured interview form developed by the researchers. As a result of the research, the majority of primary schoolteachers who participated in the research stated that the language skills and speaking skills of the students were partially sufficient. The majority of teachers categorised the methods they applied for the effectiveness of the language education they gave to the students as using different methods, techniques and materials, if there were a problem, giving the students keywords before the speaking activity, enabling the students to develop ideas and asking the students to tell the parts that were interesting to them after the listening activity. The suggestions of the primary schoolteachers participating in the research on establishing the scientific methodological foundations of language teaching by developing speaking activities were mostly categorised as gaining critical speaking skills, providing speaking skills with games, providing speaking skills with different methods and techniques and creating practices that eliminate speaking anxiety in students.

Keywords: Language skills, speaking skills, primary school students, teachers’ opinions;