Exploring the relationship between English speaking skills and the learning environment

The objective of this empirical study is to conduct a survey among linguistics students and teachers teaching English to non-linguistics students in order to identify possible obstacles to the speaking practice development. The purpose of the study is identification the factors forming obstacles to the speaking practice development from teachers and students’ point of view and correlate them with each other in order to improve the teaching speaking skills. A total of 680 students and 125 teachers participated in the survey. This study is based on a survey of respondents and analysis of its results. Teachers identified the following challenges: class heterogeneity; low motivation; the lack of awareness of the importance of speaking for learning English; and the lack of conditions encouraging the speaking practice. The survey of linguistics students identified the following challenges: the lack of spontaneous speaking, сommunication with native speakers, non-applicability of speech skills in real life, the overall climate in the classroom. The research results can be practically used for improving the educational environment for acquiring spoken language skills and as a basis for other studies in the field of learning environment and English proficiency.   Keywords: communication skills, English, language learning, speaking practice, spoken English.