Mimicry as a Strategy to Improve Speaking Skill in the EFL Classroom

In Ecuador, students often lack motivation to learn English since effective strategies are not used to develop speaking skills while promoting interaction, participation, creativity, fluency, and correct pronunciation of words or sentence development. The general objective of the research is to analyze the effectiveness of mime as a strategy to improve speaking skills in the English as a foreign language classroom. Through mime, students feel comfortable relating vocabulary or phrases with gestures, mimicry, and imitating sounds, which will be easy to remember to perform activities with more self-confidence. Through the analysis of the state of the art and previous studies, the various ways in which mime as a strategy can improve speaking skills and promote a connection between words and body language are explored. The study was conducted with a quantitative methodology. A descriptive and explanatory approach was used. The research sample involved 29 children from the seventh year of Santo Domingo de Guzmán High School. The instruments applied before, during, and after the research revealed that a significant percentage improved their fluency and pronunciation skills while developing creativity, verbal expression, and body language. The rest of the students master this strategy, which suggests that mimicry and pedagogical strategies should be used more frequently to ensure total progress in fluency and pronunciation, contributing considerably to the students' gestures and body expression. In conclusion, this study highlights the importance of expanding vocabulary and meaningful sentence construction through gestures, mimes, and body language to improve fluency and pronunciation by promoting active participation and interaction of all students in English classes.