LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 13:3 March 2013
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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M. S. Thirumalai
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Major Linguistic Barriers of Oral Communication in English as Perceived by the Tertiary level ESL Students

Md. Arif Khan Pathan, M.A. in ELT

Abstract

Effective oral communication skills help students to improve their own academic performance, increase their employment options, enhance their subsequent professional competence, and improve their own personal effectiveness. Unfortunately, while communicating orally in English, the learners usually encounter varied linguistic problems that evidently hamper their communication. The goal of the present study is to find out the major linguistic barriers of oral communication in English faced by the ESL students at the tertiary level. It also tends to find out some effective and necessary solutions of the problems, so that, both the teachers and the students can be benefited in their objectives. The data for the present study were obtained through some audio texts and oral presentations. The findings of the study show that unfamiliarity with the sound system of English, inadequate range of vocabulary, inability to form certain grammatical constructions like WH-questions, passive sentences, reported speeches, etc, and failure to use different word classes according to the demand of the sentence are the main barriers of oral communication. The study also recommends that the items which pose serious problems in oral communication should be given more emphasis and sufficient treatment in the syllabus and also should be taught in such a way these are used in real life situations.

Keywords: linguistic barriers, oral communication, ESL students.

Introduction

Oral communication means spoken communication, so it would include not only face-to-face communication but also communication through any mechanical or electrical device like telephone. Listening to someone speak on film could also be considered oral communication, but it is less personal since the person is not speaking directly to the listener. Oral communication is, however, very important right from the beginning of life; the mother must speak to her baby in order for the baby to develop normally, especially in language. When one speaks with another person, much of the content of the communication is in the sound of the voice, conveying whether the intention is to joke or be serious, to be kind or cruel. These shades of intention may be missing from or ambiguous in an email or text message. Emoticons are hardly sufficient to impart the subtleties of feeling. When a lover whispers to his beloved, a mother coos to her infant, two friends giggle together, a teacher praises a student, an operator gives first-aid instructions over the phone, a criminal threatens a victim, or a spiritual teacher transmits a secret instruction--all these are interactions that have a unique effect because of the use of oral communication. Effective oral communication skills help students to improve their own academic performance, increase their employment options, enhance their subsequent professional competence, and improve their own personal effectiveness.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Md. Arif Khan Pathan
Lecturer in English
Department of Languages
Bangladesh Agricultural University
Mymensingh
Bangladesh
arifkhan590@gmail.com
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