Identifying difficulties in teaching foreign language speaking in the online environment

Abstract

The digital transformation of education has been causing dramatic changes in the organization and curriculum of the educational process. The problem of mastering foreign language speaking skills by university students in distance learning format has been attracting growing attention in academic circles worldwide. In addition to the technical difficulties faced by the stakeholders of the online learning process, there has been an increasing focus on other related factors, including psychological barriers and emerging interaction patterns in both student-student communication and teacher-student communication. In this paper, the authors will identify the difficulties faced by the students who learn speaking skills online. A survey was conducted among students of technical specialties of the NUST MISIS University. The survey involved 16 students who were studying English online. The conducted experiment revealed several types of psychological difficulties that arise while learning to speak online. The results of the study will help improve the quality of academic programs in terms of identifying the existing gaps in designing and managing speaking classes online.