This paper aims to establish factors that affect language learners’ English communication skills. The focus was on Grade 4 learners in a primary school in the Eastern Cape Province. The researchers had observed that more importance was given to reading and writing skills of English, overlooking the importance of Communication Skills (CSs). Furthermore, the researchers had observed that most learners were always shy and not participating in class in fear of being ridiculed by other learners. The study adopted a qualitative case study design. Convenient and purposive sampling techniques were used to identify the school and the eight participants, respectively. Interviews and observations were used to collect data for the study. The study findings revealed that learners’ CSs were very weak but had shown a marked improvement after they were given opportunities to practice languages, being offered a productive learning environment and using various teaching strategies. The paper concludes that learners encounter barriers in learning CSs but have the potential to improve if teachers could vary teaching strategies. It is recommended that teachers should encourage and motivate learners to take part in communication as a means of minimising conversational fears and hesitations; mitigating learner fear, shyness, and a general reluctance to communication.

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