“I doesn’t know English”: beliefs and practices in the teaching of speaking in ESL classroom

“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

ESL Teacher and Student Beliefs and Practices in the Teaching of Oral Communication Skills

Poor oral communication proficiency among Malaysian learners has become a national problem. Oral communication skills 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 of Malaysian graduates are not employed due to their poor communication skills in English. This study seeks to compare between the beliefs and practices in the teaching of ESL speaking skill. The study involved ESL teachers and from different regions in Malaysia. The respondents were chosen using purposive sampling. The major statistical procedures used in the quantitative study were descriptive statistics and paired samples t-tests. Semi structured interviews were analyzed for themes and categories. The results suggest that both teachers believe oral communication skills in English is important in students’ language learning. However, teachers faced numerous challenges in translating this belief into practice. This has led to a discrepancy between in teachers’ beliefs and practice in developing students’ oral communication skills