EVALUATING THE NEED OF DESIGNING CULTURALLY APPROPRIATE MATERIALS FOR DEVELOPING ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILL AT UNDERGRADUATE LEVEL

Abstract

This research is aimed to evaluate the need of designing culturally appropriate materials for developing English speaking skill at undergraduate level. The study is a qualitative in its approach and takes insight from thematic analysis by using non probability sampling of 15 students and 5 teachers from public universities in southern Punjab, Pakistan. The participants are interviewed by semi structured technique and an assessment of the speaking materials utilized in undergraduate-level courses based on teaching materials and teacher-made tasks and lesson plans. The investigations of interviews and document examination reveal four main themes regarding the necessity of culturally appropriate teaching materials for English speaking development at the undergraduate student level. They are cultural relevance and inclusion, cognitive and linguistic scaffolding, language skill development, and confidence building and student engagement. Finally results from undergraduate students and instructors along with material evaluations show that culturally disconnected speaking tasks create major impediments to student participation and acquisition of oral proficiency and communicative ability.