What Hinders English Speaking in Thai EFL Learners? Investigating Factors That Affect the Development of Their English Speaking Skills

Speaking skills help students to articulate and express their knowledge, feelings, thoughts, and ideas. In many situations, language proficiency is socially judged through productive skills, especially speaking. This paper examines the factors that hinder English speaking competencies of students at Nakhon si Thammarat Rajabhat University (NSTRU) Thailand. A convenience sample of thirty participants consisted of eighteen students from a Demonstration School and twelve from a Business English program in the same university. Data were collected through a questionnaire and participant observation. The results indicate that educational stakeholders, including administrators, curriculum designers, policymakers, teachers, and parents, should raise their awareness of these obstacles, help the students to overcome these factors in English language learning, and seek countermeasures to develop students' speaking skills.