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gakusei ha nihongo wo hanasimasu.

学がく生せい　は　日に本ほん語ご　を　話はなします。gakusei ha nihongo wo hanasimasu.
The students speak Japanese.
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Questions & Answers about gakusei ha nihongo wo hanasimasu.

What role does は play in 学生は日本語を話します?
は is the topic marker. It tells the listener that 学生 (“student”) is the topic of the sentence. In English you might gloss it as “As for the student, ….” It does not necessarily mark the subject grammatically (that’s が), but it sets the context or contrast for what follows.
Why is を used after 日本語?
を marks the direct object of a verb. Here 日本語 (“Japanese language”) is what the student is speaking, so を indicates that 日本語 is the thing being acted upon by the verb 話します.
The word order seems different from English. How does Japanese word order work here?

Japanese typically follows S-O-V (Subject-Object-Verb) order: • 学生は = Topic (“student”)
• 日本語を = Object (“Japanese language”)
• 話します = Verb (“speaks”)
In English we say “The student speaks Japanese” (S-V-O), but Japanese places the verb at the end.

What form of the verb 話します is this, and why not use 話す?

話します is the polite present affirmative form of the verb 話す (“to speak”).
• 話す = plain/dictionary form
• 話します = polite/formal speech often used in everyday conversation, especially with people you don’t know well or in formal settings.

Can we use が instead of は in this sentence?

Yes, you could say 学生が日本語を話します, but that shifts the nuance:
• 学生は… = “As for the student, he/she speaks Japanese.” (topic emphasis)
• 学生が… = “It’s the student who speaks Japanese.” (subject emphasis or contrast, e.g. not the teacher)

Why is there no particle after 学生 for subject marking?
Because は already marks the topic (often overlapping with the subject). Japanese usually uses only one major particle on a noun phrase. If you marked 学生が you’d be emphasizing “the student” as the identifiable subject, rather than introducing it as the general topic.
Is 日本語 ever pronounced differently here or changed when spoken quickly?
No change: 日本語 is always read as にほんご. The pitch accent may vary by dialect, but the reading stays the same.
If I want to say “I speak Japanese,” how would I change the sentence?

You replace 学生は with 私 (or 私は) and keep everything else the same: • 私は日本語を話します。
This literally means “As for me, I speak Japanese.”