Abstract:
Speaking English was a challenge to the most Ethiopian students. This study is planned to
investigate students' major problems in learning speaking skills. All students who were attending
second year English language department in academic year 0/2005 and all instructors ofJimma
Teachers' College were taken as the subjects of the study. The required datafor the study were
collected through interview and questionnaire to collect the information from the subjects.
Moreover, Classroom observation was employed as a supplementary instrument. The results of
the interview were used to crosscheck the responses of the students for the questionnaires while
the result of the observation were used to confirm the practice of learning and teaching speaking
skills in actual classroom. The collected data organized and presented by tables and paragraphs
to yield the result. The obtained data showed that students had problems in learning speaking
skills. Therefore, the study showed how to set up speaking activities which could make students
to participate and to interact with one another. It gave realistic solutions to overcome students'
major problems in learning speaking skills. It indicated how students can manage their problems
by applying communication strategies and using elements of speaking which are embedded in
speaking skill. Finally, the overall results of the all instruments were triangulated to give
conclusions and recommendations.
