Undergraduate Students’ Communication Problems, their Reasons and Strategies to Improve the Communication

Abstract

This qualitative study aimed to explore the undergraduate students’ communication problems, their reasons and ways to improve the communication. Researchers purposefully selected the twenty undergraduate students’ from the Education department of the one public sector University of Punjab, Pakistan. A semi-structured interview was used to collect data from the participants. All of the interviews were translated into English and verbatim transcribed. The data were analyzed after transcription using thematic analysis. Results showed that the majority of undergraduate students had trouble while communicating owing to their low vocabulary, unwillingness to speak in English, lack of fluency while speaking in English, poor or incomplete sentence structure, lack of proficiency in English language, careless attitude of teachers’, their own discomfort with the English language and their inability to write in formal manner during verbal and written communication. Participants explained the reasons of such problems like uncooperative teacher’s behavior towards students, lack of student participation in class activities, lack of an appropriate classroom environment, insufficient reading habits among students, In addition, they reported that education system and fear to speak in English language are the main causes to make communication difficult. Participants also highlighted the strategies to overcome these communication problems, including students’ should face constructive criticism, appreciation from teachers’, coordination among teachers’ and students’, counseling session, atmosphere of collaboration and participation in co-curricular activities to overcome communication issues. Based on the findings of the study, it is proposed that communication course must be taught to students’, educate them to show positive attitude towards peer criticism and group/pair work. It is also suggested that university teachers’ should encouraged their students’ to bring their own dictionaries to class so that they may use them to check their work for errors.