Vol. 18, No. 1 THE ENGLISH CLASSROOM (Bi-annual Journal) June 2016 RIESI ISSN 2250-2831 A.R.S. JAYANTH EXPLOITING GROUP WORK ACTIVITIES TO DEVELOP SPEAKING SKILLS OF THE ESL LEARNERS Authors: Mr. A. R. S. Jayanth, Ph. D Research Scholar, Department of English, College of Engineering Guindy Campus, Anna University, Chennai India 600025 E-mail: sjay.r35@gmail.com Mobile: +91 9940 69 27 56 ABSTRACT The present experimental study was conducted to develop speaking of the ESL learners using group work activities. About 25 students from an engineering institute were selected for the study. After administering a pre-test, the students were divided into small groups and they were given intensive coaching by exposing them to actively participate in the group work activities. A post-test was conducted at the end of the training sessions and the gains made by students were computed and tested for significance. The results show a significant improvement which indicated that the students were highly benefited by the training sessions. The findings demonstrated that group work helps in reducing the anxiety of the learners. Appropriate group work activities could provide the learners with a learner-friendly ambience for practicing speaking which can boost their self-confidence. Key words: Speaking skills, group work activities, anxiety, learner-friendly ambience, ESL Learners Dr. S. Soundiraraj, Associate Professor, Department of English, College of Engineering Guindy Campus, Anna University, Chennai India 600025 E-mail: soundirarajs@gmail.com