e-ISSN 2231-8542
ISSN 1511-3701
Clarvie M. Charles Spawa and Fauziah Hassan
Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science, Volume 21, Issue 2, June 2013
Keywords: ESL, oral communication skills, mismatch between beliefs and practice
Published on:
"What happened to the 11 years of learning English? A distinction in SPM but cannot speak in English?" Poor communication proficiency among Malaysian learners has become a national problem. Speaking proficiency in ESL is important if Malaysia wants to produce a generation of global communicators, which is in line with the country's mission to become a fully developed nation. However, we often hear of grievances that many Malaysian graduates are not employed due to their poor communication skills in English. This study seeks to investigate challenges faced by ESL teachers in developing students' speaking skills. The study involved 47 ESL teachers and 100 students who represented different regions in Malaysia. The respondents were chosen using purposive sampling. Meanwhile, semi-structured interviews were used to collect the data, which were then analyzed using content analysis. The results suggest that both teachers and students perceive speaking as an important language skill. However, teachers face numerous challenges in translating this belief into practice. This has led to a mismatch between what teachers and students perceive they need and the actual practice in the classroom.
ISSN 1511-3701
e-ISSN 2231-8542