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چکیده
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: An Investigation into Iranian EFL Freshmen’s and Seniors’ Speaking Skill Problems from their own and English Instructors’ Perspectives Abstract: The present study aimed at investigating Iranian EFL freshmen’s and seniors’ speaking skill problems from their own and English instructors’ perspectives. Moreover, this study sought to investigate whether there were statistically significant differences between Iranian EFL freshmen’s and seniors’ points of view on their own speaking skill problems. In addition, the existence of a probable significant difference among Iranian EFL freshmen’s, seniors’ and instructors’ perspectives of speaking skill problems were investigated. To this end, 238 EFL students (i.e. 138 freshmen and 100 seniors) and 30 English instructors from Zanjan University, Bu-Ali Sina University, Shahid Chamran University, and Khoramabad University took part in the study. The subjects were selected based on cluster random sampling. Students’ and instructors’ age ranged from 19 to 30 and from 26 to 55, respectively. EFL freshmen, seniors and instructors filled out speaking skill problems questionnaire all of whose statements were negatively oriented on a Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), which was based on a speaking skill problems questionnaire developed by Irismet (2006). Using Chronbach’s Alpha and factor analyses the questionnaires was found to enjoy acceptable reliability and validity rates. To maximize the validity of the data, the data collection procedure was triangulated. That is, 30 EFL students (i.e. 15 freshmen and 15 seniors) and 10 English instructors participating in the study were randomly selected and interviewed based on a semi-structured interview. The results of interviews matched what the subjects reported in the questionnaire to a great extent. The results of descriptive statistics of the questionnaire indicated that Iranian EFL freshmen and seniors shared many of speaking skill problems. They beli
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