Contribution of the school in improving oral communication skills of Advanced Level students

Abstract

In this thesis I plan to analyze the contribution of school in improving oral communication skills of the students with the help of critical explanation. The purpose of this study is to unveil the problems pertaining to oral communication. Individual differences in communicating in English are evident in different types of schools. I have personally experienced that the primary purpose of classroom communication has become a pedagogic one. Those who speak well at the pedagogic level find it difficult to produce spontaneous interactive language skills outside the classroom. There is a high degree of communicative value in English as a link language for contact with linguistic minority groups to build up of a national harmony. Jane Ravell (1979) suggests that communication stems from necessity is highly applicable in seeing English as a skill for employment and a vehicle for reaching out to the external world. The present school curriculum has failed to produce individuals with good communicative skills. With 21,984 teachers of English in approximately 9714 schools with regular English classes from grade 3 upwards the average child leaves school without being able to speak in English. Sample population of seventy students and twenty five teachers are taken from nine selected schools in the Moratuwa division. I have used the descriptive method to collect data by giving questionnaires to the students. Unstructured interviews on appointments are used for principals where as the semi structured and structured interviews are used for teachers and students respectively. Data has been collected at the program for the training of teachers of English in the delivery of communicative English skill to students as a participant observer. Observation technique is used to capture the reality of the setting in the system as a non-participant observer. My principal observations on the basis of an analysis of the research findings suggest that if more opportunities are provided to use real language practically students will improve their communication skill. It is recommended to convert the available English activity rooms to language laboratories as an integrative motivation to communicate with a degree of spontaneity.