Features of discussion skills of high English as a second language performers among pre-university students

Abstract

The declining standard of English language proficiency among students in Malaysia has been alarming as many of them are unable to use the English language effectively when they step into the working world. The main complaint by the employers is their inability to express themselves effectively especially during discussions. Research on oral communication skills of secondary school students is scarce. This study explored and described problems faced by students during discussions, identified the preferred teaching strategies by teachers and students in speaking classes, and examined features of a good discussion. A Sequential Explanatory Mixed Methods Design was conducted in three phases. The first phase involved the collection of quantitative and qualitative data. The respondents were one hundred and forty-six students who were preparing themselves for Malaysian University English Test (MUET) and eighty-eight teachers who were teaching the subjects in the state of Johor. Based on the survey, the findings showed the problems faced by the students included the inability of using the language components, mainly the use of language expressions, and also in initiating and maintaining the discussions. In addition, the students and teachers preferred to have more video and audio samples be used in speaking classes. The qualitative data were obtained from observations of discussions by eight Low Performers. The investigation revealed problems faced by the students which included initiating and maintaining the discussions, and these supported the findings from the quantitative data. In the second phase, a collection of group discussions by twenty-four High Performers were recorded and analysed using Genre and Conversation Analysis approaches to establish features of a good discussion, highlight the turn-taking strategies and identify essential elements of adjacency pairs. Finally, in the final phase and based on the earlier findings, a guide for teaching speaking skills was produced for English language teachers to help them prepare their students with discussion skills.