Foreign Studies

The research related to improving oral communication skills through instruction and trarining is more
limited than the Descriptive research on skills development. Alien & Brown, 2011 reviewed seventeen,
studies of unstructured, moderately structured and highly structured programs for improving
communication skills. For example, one study assessed th'e effectiveness of a program which included
public speaking and dramatic skills for kindergarten and first grade children found that the experimental
group out performed the control group in all areas except extemporaneous speaking, which was hot
covered heavily in the instruction. In general. Brown found that instruction of a variety of types did
make a difference. Students tended to learn specific skills which were the focus of instruction. They had
sojne trouble transferring skills to other situations but did show continued development of
communication skills. It should be noted that many studies Brown reviewed w«re conducted in
laboratory settings and dealt with very sperific communication tasks.

Alien and Brown, (2011) Developing Communication Competence in Children. National Textbook.
In the study conducted by Shehata (2010) in order to understand learners’ oral communication skills
in constructing a store of vocabulary and structures. These vocabulary and structures are needed to be
developed in order to grasp meanings of English contexts. Furthermore, regarding the nature of
understanding oral communication skills can identified in attracting learners’ attention and paving their
potentialities for new vocabulary and expressions. So, then, they register these vocabulary and
expressions in their own note books. Additionally, utilizing what they have learnt in new contexts and
stating linguistic alternatives for different situations.

Shehata, (2010) Teaching languages between theory and practice.

At the secondary education level, oral communication reemerges as the focus of formal instruction,
including, areas such as public speaking, debate and drama. These subjects are usually a part of the
elective curriculum and usually only a small minority of students are exposed to these courses. Only
rarely are more informal, and functional oral communication skills taught. Furthermore, because the
basic course is reasonably described as a "skills course", In the study conducted by Duran & Zakahi
(2010) its primary objective must center on student skills development. To develop oral communication
skills, students need to communicate orally at every opportunity. Because basic course instructors have
limited class time to spend on theory and performance, and both are essential, alternative approaches
to designing the basic course are needed.

Duran & Zakahi, (2010) Communication performance and communication satisfaction: What do we
teach our students? Communication Education, 36, 13-22.

The Radford University Oral Communication Program has shown that students benefit from oral
communication activities. Cronin and Glen (2011) elicited student opinion on the effectiveness of oral
communication activities incorporated into their classes. The data revealed that "students feel that the
active learning required by oral communication activities is preferable to the more passive learning in
lecture oriented courses". In fact, students feel that oral communication activities place greater
emphasis on sharing their ideas". Further, 73% of the students involved "indicated that the course was
better due to the inclusion of oral communication activities". Similarly, faculty expressed positive
reactions to oral communication activities. Specifically, "faculty feel that oral communication activities in
their classes are a fundamental mode of learning because they promote cognitive structuring and higher
levels of conceptualization for students".

Cronin & Glenn, (2011) Oral communication across the curriculum in higher education: The state of the
art. Communication Education, 40, 356-367.

Cronin (2011) observe that "carefully designed assignments and activities provide students with multiple
opportunities to improve speaking and listening skills in a variety of content areas". Because the
ultimate objective of the public speaking course is to train students to prepare and present speeches
effectively, activities must clarify individual concepts and demonstrate how they are integrated during
the speech-making process. Clarifying individual concepts prepares students to deliver their speeches
and provides an excellent opportunity to illustrate how each public speaking concept applies to their
personal, professional, and academic lives. Thus, they discover the relevance of course concepts in a
variety of contexts.

Cronin, (2011) Interactive video instruction for teaching organizational techniques in public speaking.
Basic Communication Course Annual, 6, 19-35.

From the study by Ford & Wolvin (2012) even though public speaking theory presents a rationale for
the mechanics of effectively communicating with an audience, few students see the connection
between learning public speaking skills and applying them beyond the classroom. It seems more
practical for basic public speaking course instructors to emphasize the need for effective oral
communication skills training in general. Thus, to emphasize the importance of the course, public
speaking can be presented as one type of oral communication that employs the basic oral
communication concepts inherent in all communication situations.

Ford & Wolvin, (2012) The differential impact of a basic communication course on perceived
communication competencies in class, work, and social contexts. Communication Education, 42, 215-
223.