Problems of Teaching and

Learning Spoken English

in Sudan
  INTRODUTION
 Speech is a great blessing. People use a language as a
 medium of communication. English language is one of
 these languages. It is the most widely spoken language
 in the world. A great number of non-English language
 speakers as well as native speakers use English as an
 important medium of international communication
 all over the world.
 English is no longer the language used in English
speaking countries; rather it is internationally
used. No developing country can ignore the role
of spoken English in improving its international
profile and prominence. Sudan is no exception.
Subsequently, the ability to listen critically and
to express oneself clearly and effectively
contributes to a student’s success in school, in
college and later in life. However, teaching
spoken English in Sudan is confronted by a lot of
problems and challenges. This paper discusses
some of these problems and challenges. 
1.Teaching Spoken English in Sudan
A BRIEF BACKGROUND  
In Sudan, the process of learning a foreign
language, especially English, has been a
constant headache to the concerned
governmental bodies, teachers, and parents. In
spite of the great efforts, energy, and money
used in developing the syllabus and training of
teachers, still some learners fail to speak the
language because of different reasons. It is 
2.Teaching Spoken English at Schools

 Most of the teachers said that the text book

used for teaching English at school is not
helpful. It neglected both aspects of the
language skills: speaking and listening. The
methods of teaching were bad.  Most teachers
concentrated mainly on grammar as the main
aspect of learning English and neglected other
classroom activities. In addition to that, the
teachers needed more training and workshops.
3. Teaching Spoken English in Private
Educational Institutions
 Teaching spoken English in some Sudanese private
educational institutions present an idealized image of
how spoken English should be taught. Interesting and
useful materials reflecting western culture are used for
teaching spoken English. These materials are made to
equip the learners with the necessary communicative
skills they need to actively interact with them and cope
with the requirements of their society. In these
courses, students have the opportunity to listen
actively since speaking feeds on listening. They are also
provided with visual teaching aids like pictures, CDs,
data
 sothat they can watch what they listen to. In
these courses, the learners are put into
situations where they find themselves able to
speak. Activities like classroom chat, classroom
discussion, incomplete dialogues, information
gap activity, etc., are used to support the
learners’ listening and speaking skills. However,
despite these good characteristics, teaching
spoken English at private educational
institutions also face some problems.
The major factors
that have negative
impact on learning
spoken English
1/ low income:

 Sudan is one of the countries in which people are

struggling against expensive life and this has its
negative impact on most aspects of life including
education. parents are struggling for their livehood and
as a result of that they don't care about their children's
education. The children themselves need to work to
support their families. And all these factors stand
against students from attending classes which hinder
their proficiency in English in general and in spoken
English in particular. also there is low salary of teaching
staff which affects the educational process.
2/ lack of the target language

 environment: lack of target language environment is

one of the problems facing the learners of English .
There is little apportuinity to learn English through
natural environment since there are few native
speakers.
3/ under qualified teachers:

 high qualified teachers make different

classroom activities in order to help students to
reduce shyness and anxiety and let them have
self confidence toward speaking and
unfortunately under qualified teachers don't
have this ability and that is one of the reasons
why students have problems with speaking
4/ inappropriate teaching materials:

 materials used for teaching and learning

listening and speaking skills at schools consider
as one of basic problems of teaching and
learning spoken English. The text book used in
school are a total failure since they neglect
both listening and speaking.
5/ improper teaching methods:

 teaching spoken English is still based on teaching

grammar, reading comprehension and writing .
Student are taught aural and oral skills for real
use ; rather they are taught it to gain knowledge
about language. This kind of teaching is not
helpful for real communication . In addition to
that some teachers don't give the students
enough time to practice communication.           
Recommendations
1.English Teachers in basic
level school must be
trained and well qualified
so as to be good example to
their pupils.
 2.English Teachers should teach English
through English and avoid using
translation into the mother
tongue.Classroom must be fed with
screens, internet, video players, CD
player and sound system to display videos
in English language suitable for pupils
3 .Teachers should develop their
techniques of teaching to facilitate the
process of learning skills.
 4.More emphasis on psychological needs
of students is needed to help them build
their communication confidence as well
as to reduce their language anxiety and
shyness. Students should be told not to
worry about their mistakes during the
speaking activities. In addition to that
they should be told making mistakes is a
part of learning a language.
 5.Students should be provided with a
good classroom environment such as:
comfortable and flexible seating
arrangement, reasonable number of
students, avoiding mother tongue use and
active vocabulary shenanigans to enable
them practice language easily.
 Studentsneed to develop their self-confidence
during speaking lessons.
•students should consider the value of making
mistakes in learning speaking skills.
•students should have control and authority
over their language knowledge and skills.
•English language teachers should activate the
basic language knowledge and skills.
• English language teachers should employ their
maximum effort to minimize the problems that
affect teaching speaking skills by motivating the
students, giving them opportunities of speaking
skills, providing appropriate speaking materials,
giving additional classes, etc
• Secondary Schools should fulfill sufficient
supplementary speaking materials for better
improvement of students’ speaking skills.
Good luck