Students’ Perceptions of Problems in Speaking Skills Across Public Schools in Afghanistan

In today’s ever-changing world, the English language has been placed as one of the important language medium of instruction in education. The Ministry of Education of Afghanistan has emphasized the importance of learning the English language and highlighted the dire need for it during school years. The purpose of this study is to investigate the perceptions of both teachers and students regarding the factors affecting secondary school students in three central schools in Mihtarlam. A qualitative exploratory design approach was utilized in this study and the data was collected through interviews from 22 participants. The interview data was analyzed thematically through manual analysis, particularly segments; codes and themes were discovered based on the research objectives of this study. The findings revealed that most of the school students’ speaking problems are lack of vocabulary, grammar, time management, the environment, large classes, and the use of L1 in the classroom.