Abstract:
This research studies the different difficulties that learners face in class that do not allow them to increase the English proficiency level, the strategies which can be applied to improve those difficulties and the importance of the implementation of communication activities as a pedagogical tool in class. Thus the purpose of this research were: to improve the speaking skills in students of eighth basic grade using the communicative approach and to study if the students really can learn the English language using communicative activities. The sample group consisted of 38 students of eighth basic grade at Escuela de Educación Básica “Jose Pedro Varela”. In this research was implemented the qualitative method in which were applied the following instruments: interviews, focus group and observation; in order to obtain relevant information which contributed to solve the difficulties in the speaking skills students had. The implementation of the proposal implied the application of
10 interactive communication activities which were taking from the English book provided by the Ministery of Education, the activities were based on the units students had already learned in class so it helps to work, focus on the previous knowledge student acquire joining the new ones. Moreover, before starting with the interactive communication activities was necessary took a post-test (qualitative and quantitative) which aid to measure the level of speaking in them, then at the end of the proposal in the same way a pre-test (qualitative and quantitative) was taking in order to analyze the percentage of improvement (36%) they reached with the implementation of the proposal. The research finding was that students get a significant improvement in their speaking skills. Therefore, professors, English teachers and teachers in general ought to implement these strategies in class because of the good results, these teaching strategies can cause in the teaching learning process.