UNIVERSIDAD DE PANAMA

VERAGUAS BRANCH

MASTER IN LINGUISTIC

LEVEL OF COMPETENCY AND DOMAIN IN ORAL

SKILLS AND CONVERSATION CONTENT OF
SOPHOMORE STUDENTS AT CRUC
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
 Context

ENGLISH IS NOT JUST A LANGUAGE ANYMORE. IT'S A LIFELINE FOR PROFESSIONAL

PROGRESS (CRYSTAL, 2003)
CONVERSATIONAL SKILLS ENABLE LEARNERS TO ENGAGE IN MEANINGFUL DIALOGUES,
THEREBY FACILITATING LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND PROMOTING REAL-WORLD
COMMUNICATION (LARSEN-FREEMAN, 2000).
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION SKILLS, ESPECIALLY CONVERSATIONAL PROFICIENCY, ARE
FOUNDATIONAL FOR LANGUAGE FLUENCY (NUNAN, 2003; UR, 2009).
BROWN (2007), IN HIS BOOK "PRINCIPLES OF LANGUAGE LEARNING AND TEACHING,"
POSITS THAT DEVELOPING ORAL SKILLS AND PROFICIENCY IS A MULTI-DIMENSIONAL
PROCESS THAT INVOLVES NOT ONLY LINGUISTIC COMPETENCE BUT ALSO
SOCIOCULTURAL COMPETENCE, HIGHLIGHTING THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN LANGUAGE AND
CULTURE.
 ISSUE

How proficient are the students at CRUC in terms of their ability to engage
in communication and contribute meaningfully to conversations?
 GAP

Existing studies often focus on broader ESL

proficiency, often omitting in-depth
assessments of conversation and oral
skills,
 SIGNIFICANCE
Exploration of individual competency and domain-level skills in
oral communication and content comprehension.

AIM
Levels of proficiency in conversational skills among sophomore students at
CRUC
 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
To calculate the overall proficiency level sophomore students at CRUC
have in oral skills.

To Identify and analyze the components of oral communication

proficiency among sophomore students at CRUC. This includes listening
comprehension, pronunciation, fluency, and cultural knowledge.

To evaluate the competency of sophomore students at CRUC to engage in conversations

on diverse topics and encompass impromptu interactions, transactional and
performance skills, and an overall evaluation of their conversational proficiency.
 CHAPTER II
Methodology Framework
DESIGN
POPULATION
PROCEDURE
INSTRUMENT