Investigating Instructors’ Techniques to Develop EFL University Students Conversational Competence

Authors

  • Hussien A. Ahmed Department of English Language, University of Nawroz, Duhok, Kurdistan Region – Iraq
  • Husamuddin S. Mohammed Salih Department of English Language, University of Nawroz, Duhok, Kurdistan Region – Iraq

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25007/ajnu.v7n4a303

Keywords:

Instructors, EFL, Conversation

Abstract

The ever-growing need for good communication skills in English has created a huge demand for English teaching around the world. Millions of people today want to improve their command of English. And opportunities to learn English are provided in many different ways such as formal instruction, travelling, studying abroad, as well as through the media and the Internet. Such a worldwide demand for English has created an enormous demand for quality language teaching and language teaching materials and resources so as to meet learners’ demanding goals. Learners want to be able to master English to a high level of accuracy and fluency through the acquisition of good English language skills since fluency in English is a prerequisite for success and advancement in many fields of employment in today’s world. The present research attends to the techniques utilized by English as a foreign language (EFL) university instructors to develop their students’ speaking skills. It hypothesizes that EFL university instructors use a variety of techniques to bring about such an objective. To bring about the aims of the research and validate the posed hypothesis, a 30-item questionnaire has been designed and distributed among all the instructors of conversation at the Depts. of English and Translation / University of Mosul during the second term of the academic year 2103-2014. The analysis of the data collected via the sample’s responses to the questionnaire indicates that EFL instructors used indeed a variety of instructional techniques to develop their students’ speaking skills. Hence the posed hypothesis has been accepted and duly a set of concluding remarks and recommendations have been put forward.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

1. Biber, D. et al. (1999). Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Essex. Pearson Education Ltd.
2. Chang, A. (1975). “Semi-free conversation : A beachhead leading to liberated spontaneous conversation”. Journal of the Association of Teachers of Japanese, Vol.10, nos. 2/3, 119-132.
3. Cook, G. (1989). Discourse. Oxford : Oxford University Press.
4. Cullen, R., & Kuo, I. (2007). “Spoken grammar and ELT course materials : A missing link?” TESOL Quarterly, Vol.41, No.2, 361-386.
5. Donaldson, R. M. (2011). Teaching Foreign Language Conversation : A Conversation Norm Approach (Unpublished M. A. Thesis, The Faculty of California State University, Chico).
6. Dörnyei, Z., & Thurrell, S. (1994). “Teaching conversational skills intensively : Course content and rationale”. ELT Journal, Vol.4, no.1, 40-49.
7. Eslami-Rasekh, Z. (2005). “An international journal for teachers of English to speakers of other languages”. ELT Journal, 59, 199-208.
8. Gumperz, J. (1999) “Sociocultural Knowledge in Conversational Inference” in Jaworski, A. and Coupland, N. (eds.) The Discourse Reader. Oxon : Routledge.
9. Harper, J., & Lively, M. (1986). “Techniques and materials for conversation in the foreign language classroom”. Retrieved from ERIC Database.
10. Hughes, R. (2002). Teaching and researching speaking. London : Longman.
11. Jakobovits, L. and Gordon, B. (1980). “Language teaching vs. the teaching of talk”. International Journal of Psycholinguistics, Vol.6, no.4, 5-22.
12. Kroeker, R. H. (2009). The Reality of English Conversation Classes : A Study in a South Korean University.(Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Birmingham)
13. McCarthy, M. and Carter, R. (1995). Spoken grammar : What is it and how can we teach it. ELT Journal, Vol.49, No.3, 207-218.
14. Nolasco, R. and Arthur, L. (1987). Conversation. Oxford : Oxford University Press..
15. Nunan, D, (1999). Second Language Teaching and Learning. Boston : Heinle and Heinle Publishers.
16. Richard, J. C. (2006). “Developing Classroom Speaking Activities : From Theories to Practice”. Journal Watch. Vol.28, No.2.
17. Richards, J. (1980). ‘Conversation.’ TESOL Quarterly Vol.14, no.4, 413-432.
18. Richards, J. C. (2008). Communicative Language Teaching Today. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.
19. Rühlemann, C. (2008). “A register approach to teaching conversation : Farewell to standard English?” Applied Linguistics, Vol. 29, No.4, 672-693.
20. Thornbury, S. (2005). How to Teach Speaking. Essex : Pearson Longman
21. Thornbury, S. and Slade, D. (2006). Conversation : From Description to Pedagogy. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.
22. Xiaohong, D. (1994). “Developing Oral Communicative Competence among English Majors at the Intermediate Level”. English Teaching Forum, Vol.3, No.4.
23. Zhang, Z.(2008.) “Discourse Analysis and Cultivation of Conversational Competence in English Class”, in International Education Studies, Vol.8, No. 3, 60-75.

Published

2019-02-15

How to Cite

Ahmed, H. A., & Mohammed Salih, H. S. (2019). Investigating Instructors’ Techniques to Develop EFL University Students Conversational Competence. Academic Journal of Nawroz University, 7(4), 261–271. https://doi.org/10.25007/ajnu.v7n4a303

Issue

Section

Articles