Abstract:

Teaching speaking has become a challenging task, especially when learners are from rural areas since they have some problems such as the lack of vocabulary and fluency, and mispronunciation. Thus, one of the factors can be that learners are exposed to use their mother tongue to translate phrases or sentences into the target language. So, the researchers consider that the application of the direct method might help students to improve speaking skill because it focuses on the development of communicative abilities as fluency and pronunciation. It contributes to developing vocabulary by using pictures, charts and realia, which provide them meaning without translating to the native language. Therefore, the present qualitative research was aimed to determine the effectiveness of applying the direct method in enhancing speaking skills in EFL teens at Poaló-García Moreno rural school. This action research was carried out in the term October 2019- February 2020. This process involved 30 teenagers. Teachers’ observation was employed as a data collection method; a teacher diary was used to observe learners’ speaking performance focusing on three elements: vocabulary, pronunciation, and fluency. The study was developed in three phases: the diagnosis phase, the implementation phase, and the evaluation phase. The results showed that the use of the method is effective to develop students’ speaking ability in learners from rural areas because they have improved notably vocabulary, pronunciation and fluency, main factors to produce language. They use adequate vocabulary according to the basic topics they learned. They pronounce the words correctly and their fluency improves. So, the Direct Method allowed teens to comprehend the meaning of words and be able to produce short oral activities. Consequently, it is recommended that teachers can apply this method for giving learners the opportunity to get the target language and enhance their speaking skill by focusing on developing vocabulary and pronunciation.

Keywords:

Direct Method, Vocabulary, Pronunciation, Fluency, English, Speaking skill