1. Introduction:
Language is a means of thinking and transferring culture from one generation to another as well as from one nation to another. It is also a means of communication among people. Hence, many countries emphasize teaching languages other than the native language to its citizens.
Over the last three decades, English has become the most important foreign language in the world. At present, English is the language for international communication; science; commerce; advertising; diplomacy and transmitting advanced technology. It has also become a "lingua franca" among speakers of languages that are not mutually intelligible (Willis, 1996; Coury & Carlos, 2001). Furthermore, in the age of “globalism" we live nowadays, the interdependence of nations and countries creates a need for a global language and no language qualifies for this better than English (Abousenna, 1994).
The status of English on the international level is a major factor that contributes to the increase in the importance of English in Egypt. As a matter of fact, English has become an important asset for anyone seeking employment in business, industry or technology in Egypt. Accordingly, the main aim of teaching English in our secondary schools is to enable students to communicate in English so that they become able to enroll in the labor market and to cope with the challenges of higher education as well. Thus, eventually the need for equipping Egyptian EFL secondary stage students with effective speaking skills, as the most important means of communication, has arisen and more focus is given to spoken English at the secondary stage (Directives for General Secondary School, 2005-2006).
Speaking seems to be the most important skill of all the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) because people who know a language are usually referred to as speakers of that language (Ur,1996). Language is a single phenomeneon consists of both receptive and productive modes. Listening and Reading are called receptive skills. The reader or listener receives information but doesn't produce it. Skills are commonly used interactively and in combination than in isolation (Abd. Hack, 1998 ; Abdel. Hack, 2002 & Scrivener, 2005). It is the means through which learners can communicate with others to achieve certain goals or to express their opinions, intentions, hopes and viewpoints. Moreover, in almost any setting, speaking is the most frequently used language skill. As Rivers (1981) argues, speaking is used twice as much as reading and writing in our communication.
Speaking has usually been compared to writing, both being considered "productive skills", as opposed to the "receptive skills" of reading and listening. Speaking also is closely related to listening as two interrelated ways of accomplishing communication. Every speaker is simultaneously a listener and every listener is at least potentially a speaker (Oprandy, 1994& EL Menoufy, 1997).
Speaking as one of the basic language skills requires communicative competence including pronunciation (intonation, stress, and pitch), grammar, vocabulary, fluency, accuracy, and comprehension skill which are needed to build a good communication (Jones, 1989). These elements are needed to measure the capability of the students in speaking using appropriate technique. Brown (1994) states that speaking is a skill in producing oral language which occurs when two or more people interact with each other aiming at maintaining social relationship between them. Moreover, as Widowson (1994) has assured us, speaking is the active production skill and use of oral production.
Florez (1999) and Lackman (2011) highlight the following skills underlying speaking:
Pronouncing the distinctive sounds of a language clearly enough so that people can distinguish them. This includes making tonal distinctions.
Using grammar structures accurately;
Assessing characteristics of the target audience, including shared knowledge, status and power relations, or differences in perspectives;
Selecting vocabulary that is understandable and appropriate for the audience, the topic being discussed, and the setting in which the speech act occurs;
Applying strategies to enhance comprehensibility, such as emphasizing key words, rephrasing, or checking for listener's comprehension;
• Paying attention to the success of the interaction and adjusting components of speech such as vocabulary, rate of speech, and complexity of grammar structures to maximize listener's comprehension and involvement.
In learning speaking skills, in the researcher`s point of view, learners not only should know how to produce specific points of language such as grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary but they also should understand when, why, and in what ways to produce language. Consequently, learners often evaluate their success in language learning as well as the effe