Paper Title
Understanding the Hindrances of ESL Students� Speaking Skill Development: Implications For ESL Oral Development Activities in Teacher Training Program of SuanSunandhaRajabhat University, Bangkok

Abstract
The training of Thai English teachers to acquire a high level of English language competence has become a paramount agenda of every teacher training institutes. For Thai English language teachers to spearhead the teaching of English to Thai students, they have to demonstrate a good oral command of the language. This research aimed to identify the hindrances of ESL students' speaking skill development during their Bachelor of English Language Education Program at SuanSundandhaRajabaht University, Bangkok. The objectives of the study were 1) to get the views of the students on why their English speaking ability is low; 2) to get the views of the educators on why the English language speaking ability of the students is low. The study made use of semi-structured interview to gain a better understanding of the difficulties ESL students encountered in their oral English development during their Bachelor of English Language Education Program. The population of the study consists of 40 3rd year English major students and 2 English language lecturers of the Bachelor of English Language Education Program at SuanSundandhaRajabhat University, Bangkok. Data obtained from the interviews of both the students and the lecturers show that several vital challenges for lecturers and students exist such as lack of sufficient opportunity or no opportunities to speak English in and outside the school, lack of adequate focus on oral language development activities, lack of enough native English language teachers, and too much focus on grammar and correctness. The results of the study lead the researcher to propose an urgent need for a drastic inclusion of more speaking activities for the students and incorporate a suitably concentrated English language oral development to the current curriculum. Index Terms- EFL Classroom, ESL Students, L2, Speaking Skill Development