STUDENTS' PERCEPTION OF TEACHERS' MOTIVATIONAL TECHNIQUES IN TEACHING SPEAKING SKILLS IN TWO SELECTED PREPARATORY SCHOOLS IN NORTH SHOA (GRADE 11 IN FOCUS)

Abstract

The purpose of this study was investigating motivational techniques employed by teachers in promoting students' speaking practice in teaching speaking. The investigation was based on the students' perception of motivational techniques teachers use in teaching speaking skill. From the total of 424 students, the study was conducted on a sample of 100(49 male and 51 female) systematically selected grade eleven students of Mo/ale and Wegere preparatory school in North Shewa. To collect the required data, students' questionnaires and interview were employed The responses were analyzed through descriptive (qualitative and quantitative) analysis using frequency/ percentage. The findings indicated that majority (91 %) of the students were interested to express the result of their pair/group discussion. Similarly, about half (52%) of the students perceived that their teachers often avoid face threatening acts towards them. They also believed that motivation for speaking could be achieved by teachers who are perceived by them. On the contrary, teachers never gave emphasis on comparing/ contrasting students' group competition. Besides, teachers didn't play; their effective roles to generate students' self-confidence. As a result, students couldn't speak in front of their classmates or with people around them. Moreover, unable to encourage students to improve their speaking practice outside the classroom and develop and apply self-motivating strategies were other drawbacks of teachers . • With regarding to teachers' support of additional speaking activities, majority of the students believed that they were neither supplemented nor interested with speaking activities teachers deliver in the speaking classroom. The consequences of insufficient motivational techniques teachers used resulted in the weak practice of students in speaking skill. Therefore, the researcher recommends that great effort should be made in supporting students' reaction to speaking activities they use and make connection with topics students enjoy speaking based on their preferences. Besides, conducting research helps to enrich pedagogical support of teachers. As a result, the current motivational techniques could be employed