The Effects of the EFL Learners L1 Schemata on their Speaking Ability: the Case of 2 Year Licence Students at Ghardaia University

Abstract

The present study investigates the Effects of the EFL learners L1 schemata on their speaking ability. Schemata, as a concept of the language structures that are stored in the non-native speaker’s mind, play an influential role in deciding his/her way of observing, perceiving, and interpreting information., represented in his/her EFL utterances. So, this research raises the problem of the way the EFL learners’ L1 schemata affect their speaking ability. It aims at suggesting methods and strategies for reducing the effects of L1 schemata on the learners’ speaking ability. The study follows the descriptive type of research via describing sessions of oral expression with 2 year licence students at the University of Ghardaia. It is based on the quantitative approach through administering a questionnaire to 100 students of the same level. The results indicate that the EFL students’ L1 schemata influences their process of speaking so that teachers have to develop various methods of teaching oral expression to enhance their learners’ speaking competence.