THE EFFECT OF DEBATES ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE SPEAKING COMPETENCE OF NINTH-GRADE LEARNERS FROM TEACHERS' PERSPECTIVES IN THE NORTHERN GOVERNORATES

Abstract

The English language is considered one of the most important languages in the world, as it ranks first among the languages of the entire world. With the development of science and work, it has become an urgent need for the individual to possess, in addition to the individual's possession of speaking skills, which is an important factor in learning and practicing the language. the researcher set out to study the impact of debates on the speaking proficiency of ninth-grade students from the perspective of teachers in the northern governorates. Here lies the role of debates as an interactive teaching strategy that contributes to developing linguistic fluency and language skills, building confidence and enhancing critical thinking among students. The study relied on the descriptive analytical approach. Data were collected using the questionnaire as a quantitative tool, and the researcher relied on the interview tool as a qualitative tool. It was distributed to a sample of English language teachers who teach the ninth grade in four governorates in Palestine (Nablus, Jenin, Qabatiya, and Jericho). The sample consisted of 147 male and female English teachers, and three teachers who were interviewed. The quantitative data was analyzed using the SPSS v28 program to extract mean and standard deviations, where is the qualitative data was analyzed using the thematic analysis method. The results of the study in both instruments showed that teachers' attitudes towards using debate to develop students' speaking proficiency were weak. This decrease is due to several factors, including the density of the curriculum and lack of time, the large number of students in the classes, the lack of training of teachers to use this type of strategy, the students' weak level of speaking, and the shyness to participate and present their ideas to their colleagues. In light of these results, the researcher recommended the necessity of integrating debate into classroom classes, and providing training programs for teachers to qualify them to use debates because of their positive impact on developing speaking competence.