Enhancing the oral communicative competence of engineering students

Abstract

The overall aim of this paper is a survey of the attitudes of engineering students towards oral communication in the English class and what factors may contribute to their activity in doing oral exercises. Oral communication turns out to be an important part of English teaching because it allows for practicing the language and enhancing students’ oral skills. Some of the factors that influence this process are the positive and encouraging atmosphere in the classroom, the meaningful assignments, and the working in small groups, which motivate the learners to be more active in the speaking activi- ties. Most students are convinced that oral communication helps them speak English fluently, which will be useful for their future professional development. Therefore, oral communicative competence should be the central aim of language teaching.