A study of the effectiveness of task based approach for developing the aural and oral skills in English in the first year degree Commerce students

Abstract

Communication is one of the basic needs of every being; the language of newlinecommunication however may be different. The sharing of thoughts, feelings and experiences newlineis done in the acclimatized language. The basic objective remains the same though the newlinelanguage may vary. Liberalization and globalization have raised its altar in adopting the newlineEnglish language for social and interpersonal relations. English has adapted itself to become newlinethe language of the internet. The need for acquiring high levels of proficiency in the four newlinebasic skills of language namely, listening, speaking, reading and writing has thus been felt newlineacross societies. The same need also arises for effective interaction in academic and career newlinecontext. In other words, the need for what is termed as communicative competence is being newlinefelt across different vocations. Thus, it reinforces the need to develop the ability to newlinecommunicate through English accurately and appropriately. English as a language should be newlinetaught in classrooms to ensure the acquisition of high levels of proficiency. This is more newlineconcerned with the students at the tertiary level of education (at the UG level). English newlinehaving become the language of the global village has also attained the status of language for newlineintra and international communication. Students at the tertiary level, therefore, are expected newlineto have the ability to listen, comprehend, respond and express using appropriate forms, newlinestructure and vocabulary in English. In this background, there was an apprehension in the newlinemind of the researcher about the level of proficiency among the entrants at the first-year newlinedegree level. This was with reference to aural- oral skills (listening and speaking) in English. newlineThe questions further drove the researcher to probe into the existing proficiency levels of newlinestudents at the entry level of the UG course and suggest suitable measures to improve their newlineability in aural- oral skills in the event of not having desirable levels of proficiency.