English has become a very important language used globally in developing countries, especially here in Mexico; therefore, it is no surprise that many people feel the need or desire to learn it. It is well known that speaking, in particular, is the main goal of most language learners. For this reason, this qualitative research aimed at discovering the factors that may have an impact on advanced EFL students’ speaking ability at a Mexican public university. To this end, data was gathered from semi-structured interviews that were applied to five participants. After analysing the data, the results revealed that most of the students feel motivated to speak English for many reasons. Some students expect to get a scholarship abroad and others just hope to communicate with foreigners, travel, discover new cultures or obtain better opportunities work-wise. Nevertheless, most students still feel uncomfortable with the English speaking level they have achieved. In some cases, their oral performance is impeded by specific factors. Therefore, the findings seem to indicate that some curriculum changes should be made in order to improve the development of the speaking skill among EFL students.