Acquiring Communicative Skills

Students nowadays can learn how to communicate with others in school. They can do so through talking to friends, getting involved in co-curricular activities and taking part in debates.

There is one subject that enables students to acquire communicative skills to the fullest. It is MUET which stands for Malaysian University English Test.

I enjoy teaching this subject because the teacher is the facilitator and the students do all the talking to express themselves as one of the test items. You get to listen to creative thoughts presented by good students. At times, heated arguments liven up the dull classroom situation.

In the Speaking test, each candidate is given 2 minutes to prepare his points to speak with regarding his opinion on a certain issue presented to him. After that he will talk for two minutes. Meanwhile the other three candidates will take note of what has been said in order to agree or disgree with the idea or suggestion put forward by one of the speakers later in the second part of the test.

In this second session, candidates are given 2 minutes to prepare points to decide on one of the courses of action to take. Within ten minutes, the group members will discuss and argue before coming to a conclusion. This is very interesting as each candidate tries to convince the others to accept his point. It is a lively discussion provided all the members are articulate in the language.

I will listen and offer suggestions to make the next session run better and smoother. The students themselves like the discussion. For one thing, they have a chance to express themselves, for another they learn to interact with others. Their oral English will definitely improve.

Personally, I feel that being able to speak English well is an advantage in any situation.

Happy learning English for global understanding.