KEY PROBLEMS AND FACTORS AFFECTING THE IMPROVEMENT OF STUDENTS' SPEECH COMPETENCE IN MOTHER TONGUE LESSONS BASED ON THE 4C MODEL

The article examines the principal problems and influencing factors in improving students' speech competence in mother tongue lessons through the 4C model: critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration. The study is designed as an integrative literature review and pedagogical synthesis of fifteen international sources on twenty-first-century skills, oracy, dialogic teaching, cooperative learning, multilingual education, and the assessment of spoken language. The analysis shows that the effectiveness of a 4C-based approach is constrained when classroom interaction remains teacher-centred, assessment rewards reproduction rather than meaningful speech, speaking opportunities are distributed unequally, and teachers lack practical instruments for formative assessment. The article proposes a classroom model in which problem-based questioning, exploratory talk, creative oral production, peer interaction, and transparent speaking criteria are combined within mother tongue instruction. The findings suggest that speech competence should be treated not only as linguistic correctness but as the integrated ability to formulate, justify, adapt, and co-construct meaning in real communicative situations. Practical recommendations are offered for lesson design, assessment, teacher development, and the use of digital tools.