An Exploration of the Factors Responsible For English Language Oral Fluency Problems Faced By the Undergraduate Level Students in District Kohat

Abstract

The present study was conducted on the English language oral fluency problems faced by students at the university level. The main purpose was to look into factors responsible for oral fluency problems faced by the BS English students at FATA University and Kohat University of Science Technology (KUST) Kohat. Data were taken from the undergraduate students of BS English through a questionnaire. The questionnaire was divided into two sections, i.e. section A and section “B” which contain 32 items, of which 30 were closed-ended, and only 2 items were open-ended. The study yielded important results such as poor target language grammar, lack of opportunities to speak English in the classroom, lack of speaking practice, L1 interference, and fear of making mistakes are the prominent factors which contribute to the poor oral fluency of graduate students of English departments in both universities. Furthermore,  the study also provided possible solutions for the problems in oral fluency, i.e. improvement in grammar, increase in vocabulary knowledge, more confidence, improvement in pronunciation, the guidance of well-trained teachers, use of audio-visual aids, more opportunities to speak inside the classroom, frequent use of oral activities, employment of communicative approaches, extensive reading, prioritizing oral fluency over oral accuracy, and less fear of making mistakes bring about an improvement in the oral fluency of BS English students. Participants in the study also opined that course/s on oral fluency in BS English Curriculum in both universities need to be included.