Using Oral Communication Strategies to Enhance Students English Writing Skills of Grade VII Students: Experimenting ESL Strategies

Abstract

To acquire effective writing skills has been a major concern in the countries where English is taught as foreign or second language. Memorization is one of the major techniques, the students use in Pakistan, to fulfill their written assignment tasks without understanding the content and context of their writing. The limitations of educational systems and untrained teachers of ESL in Pakistan do not assist the students to try the creative writing at elementary level. Considering the dilemma, this study has aimed at experimenting the impact of oral communication skills to enhance students’ writing skills. Effective oral communication skills have proved handful in enhancing students’ integral language skills and have contributed in developing their creative and critical thinking. This research was conducted in a private grammar school in Karachi, Pakistan. Two groups of 30 students each of grade VII participated in this experiment. The data was collected using independent sample t-test applying pre and post tests. After conducting pre-test, one group (controlled) was taught using traditional method of teaching whereas the other group (treatment) was experimented applying oral communication methods.  The results showed that there was a significant positive difference in the treatment group towards creative writing skills as compare to the controlled group. Although, this study was performed using a very little sample size, the results were encouraging to further experiment this technique to enhance students creative writing skills. The study recommends persuading English teachers at elementary level in Pakistan to apply this technique to improve students’ ability in creative writing.