Views of Instructors Towards Students Learning English Public Speaking at a Malaysian University

Abstract

Public speaking was one of the most feared situations faced by many people, including
 public speaking in the English language. Speaking English in front of the public was
 really a daunting task for many people, including students of universities. This study
 addressed issues related to English public speaking at the university from the views of
 instructors who taught the English public speaking course. Some topics discussed were
 the common weaknesses of university students in delivering English public speaking,
 the causes of the weaknesses and some recommendations for students to improve
 their English public speaking. This was a qualitative research design where eleven
 instructors teaching English public speaking were interviewed and the gathered data
 were analyzed using thematic analysis and presented using Atlas. ti version 7. One of
 the theories employed in the study was the Uncertainty Reduction Theory that made
 their anxiety level increase. The study revealed that some common weaknesses of
 students were lack of confidence, limited vocabulary and grammar. Some contributing
 causes of the weaknesses were lack of reading, lack of ideas, and lack of self-esteem.
 Some recommendations were then forwarded to solve the problems such as giving
 the motivation to the students to speak, read and think in the English language and
 make a lot of practices.