Authentic Materials In Enhancing Libyan EFL Students Speaking Skills

Abstract

In the world of globalisation advancement, the role of the English language is greatly accentuated in the Libyan

education system. The capability to speak English is a prevailing tool in getting all offered fields a success. Despite the formal learning of English over years at school, Libyan EFL learners are still unable to achieve a desirable competency level of speaking proficiency. The current situation of the Libyan ESL school learners imposed a great obstacle which affects them tremendously by being incompetent in communicating English. Very limited research has been done to address the speaking problems among in Libyan context. Ideally, the usage of authentic materials should help learners to speak. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the students’ perspectives of the effect of authentic technology-based learning materials. The researcher interviewed 10 Libyan undergraduate students. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and the protocol was piloted and validated by experts. The data was transcribed and analysed using NVivo QSR, data was presented in form of theme and sub-themes. The findings revealed that authentic technology-based materials positively affect students learning as it increases speaking fluency, enhance speaking accuracy, develop speaking pronunciation, increase vocabulary competence, build rapport and confidence, eases anxiety and apprehension. The study recommends the integration of all types of authentic technology-based materials in developing students’ speaking. Future studies might focus on implementing authentic technology-based materials. The study contributes to the limited literature of utilising authentic materials in English learning in Libya.