ABSTRACT

As English has international prominence, every student is interested to

speak in English. But,it is not an easy task to the non-native speakers of the
language. It is always a challenging taskto make the rural students to speak
the language keeping aside all their fears. Unlike the other3 language skills,
speaking plays a significant role as it involves communicating orally. It is
the main problem to the non-native speakers of the language. Because,
students from the ruralbackground are very poor in communication when
compared to a town or city cultured learner.Hence, I took up this Exploratory
Action Research to change my classroom scenario. As a partof research, I
introduced them such activities which engaged them effectively and
meaningfully.
I introduced them many activities/tasks like pronunciation of words,
describing themselves, describing their villages, their school, their most
liked festivals, conversations, interviews, speeches, Story Telling etc. I got
an amazing response from some of my students. During the research period,
I faced many challenges in teaching the diversified group of students. But,
thisresearch lent me a chance to identify and analyze the problem area keenly
and introducing themvarious strategies to improve their speaking skill.
I’m a teacher of English rendering services in Telangana state Model school.
Though it is an English medium school, the students lag behind in speaking
the language. Lack of practice andexposure to the language, they are unable
to communicate in English. When I ask a question in English, they respond
in their mother tongue (Telugu). when I asked them the reason, the students
said some reasons such as, fear of language, lack of vocabulary, timidness,
confidence, fear of making errors etc., for their inability to speak the
language.
Due to the outbroke of covid-19, the schools were closed till August 30th
2021. On September1st, the schools are reopened. Teachers were Shocked
and surprised to see the changes in the behaviors of the students. They
became just passive listeners, not showing any interest in any kind of books,
material etc. At the initial stage no one came forward to participate in any
activity. After giving proper guidance and motivation, only girls came
forward to participate to improve their speaking skill. Gradually, all the
students participated in all the activities. Thiswas the major challenge.
Most of the parents of students are illiterates and they completely depend
on agriculture. They work in their own farms and go to other farms as
agricultural labor. Cultivation is the main occupation of the students’
parents. Therefore, one can not expect a supportive and co- operative
environment at home. The parents don’t even attend the parent teacher
meeting when we call them to know their sons/daughters progress. I don’t
like this irresponsible nature of the parents. Students will be very serious at
their studies when teacher and parents focus on them. It’s not only the
responsibility of teacher but parents’ also. This is also one of the major
drawbacks of the poor language skills among the students.