The Asian Journal of English Language & Pedagogy ISSN 2289-8689 / e-2289-8697 Vol 3, (2015) 161-180 161 Developing the Speaking Skill among ESL Elementary Learners * Tunku Mohani Tunku Mohtar Charanjit Kaur a/p Swaran Singh Faculty of Languages and Communication Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Malaysia Nadiah Yan Abdullah Mazyani Mat Centre for Languages and General Studies Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Malaysia Abstract: The issue regarding the command of English among Malaysian students has been raised and discussed very frequently. One of the language skills they are obviously weak at is the speaking skill. They may have passed the English Language paper in the fnal examination. However, many are not successful at interviews which are conducted in English. Several reasons are attributed to this problem. One of the reasons is the weak foundation laid at the elementary level. This paper presents a case study on the teaching and learning of English at the elementary level. It focuses on developing the speaking skill at the initial stage among Primary One pupils. Although the focus is on the speaking skill, the other language skills are not ignored. In fact, they are integrated to reinforce the speaking skill. Various theories are provided to support and justify the undertaking. These theories aid in the understanding of acquisition of the speaking skill among young learners of English. This paper examines a number of factors that enable the pupils to acquire the language within the classroom context. The objectives of the paper are: to fnd out the teacher’s pedagogical practices that encourage pupils to speak in English; to fnd out the views Note: * This article is based on a paper presented at the International Seminar on Language Teaching (ISELT) 2015 organized by Pusat CITRA Universiti, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.