Teaching Speaking Skills in an English Language Teaching Department

The present study evaluates the Oral Communication Skills II course (ELTE 108) offered in the undergraduate program of the Department of English Language Teaching (ELT) at Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) in terms of teaching speaking skills. In this evaluation study, a mixed method approach was used; both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods were used. The participants of the study were twenty – six undergraduate students who were enrolled in ELTE 108 course and the two instructors who were teaching the course. The data were collected through a student questionnaire, teacher interviews and classroom observations. The results of the study show that the Oral Communication Skills II course is effective in improving the students’ speaking skills as perceived by the students and their instructors. In other words, the students and instructors have positive attitudes towards the course, but at the same time they suggest some changes to make the course more effective. More specifically, the results of the study revealed that the course has some strengths and weaknesses as perceived by the instructors and the students. From the students’ perspective, the results show that the main strength of the course is that it has helped them to learn how to give presentations, impromptu speeches and engage in a discussion, while one of the main weak points is that visual aids were not used sufficiently in the class. In relation to the teachers’ perspective, they stated that the strong points of the course are that it provided the students with the theoretical knowledge of delivering presentations, impromptu speeches and also it helped the students to develop inter-cultural and inter-personal skills. One of the major findings of this study is that listening activities were very limited. The findings of this study may provide feedback to the instructors as regards the effectiveness of the course so that they can make the necessary improvements.