Oral Proficiency of Gujarati Medium Students at Undergraduate Level in English Medium

ORAL PROFICIENCY OF GUJARATI MEDIUM STUDENTS AT UNDERGRADUATE LEVEL IN ENGLISH MEDIUM

ABSTRACT
Oral proficiency in English language plays a vital role in effective communicative behaviour. Oral proficiency in English facilitates speaker to express the thoughts very clearly. With globalization, the world has become very closer and therefore the demand of people, having the proficiency in English has increased at global level. Business English world also requires proficient people in English.
The present study is an attempt to analyze the oral fluency factor of students who are shifting from Gujarati (vernacular) medium to English Medium at undergraduate level. The purpose of this study is to check the oral proficiency of students according to ACTFL guidelines and IELTS standards. Oral proficiency in English matters a lot to undergraduate level student as they are on the verge of getting higher step either in education or in career.
Speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing the information. A speaker’s speech habits have an impact on the success of any exchange of ideas. The more proficient speaker gets the more advantageous side in communication. Proficient speaker manages certain speech elements very successfully. These speech elements are turn-taking, rephrasing, feedback and redirecting. Keeping these elements in the mind, the present study comprises speaking tasks like interactive (phase 1 in interview), intensive (phase 2 in interview) and transactional (phase 3 in interview).
The Usefulness of this study, it is believed, extends to teachers at undergraduate level who would like to make corrective measures in the speaking skill of students who are shifted from Gujarati (vernacular) medium.

INTRODUCTION
Language is primarily speech, knowing a language is often defined as the ability to understand and speak the language. Development of the aural-oral skills has a crucial role in second language

References: American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education. (2009). Standards for educational and psychological testing. Washington, DC: Author. Applegate, R Bachman, L. F., & Palmer, A. S. (2006). Language testing in practice. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. Bailey, K.M., & Savage, L Bailey, M. K.. (2002) Issues in teaching speaking skills to adult ESOL learners, Cambridge University Press. Brown, D Brown, H.D. (2003). Teaching by principles: an interactive approach to language pedagogy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall Regents. Burnkart, G Burns, A. & Joyce, H. (2007). Focus on speaking. Sydney: National Center for English Language Teaching and Research. Cane, G Carter, R. & McCarthy, M. (2001). Grammar and spoken language. Applied Linguistics, 16 (2), 141-158. Celce-Murcia, M., Dörnyei, z Cohen, A. (2010). Developing the ability to perform speech acts. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 18 (2), 253-267. Dornyei, Z Graves, K. (2008) ‗The language curriculum: A social contextual perspective.‘ Language Teaching 41(2), 147-181. Grognet Gumperz, J. (1999) ‗Sociocultural knowledge in conversational inference‘. In Jaworski, A. and Coupland, N. (eds.) The Discourse Reader. Oxon: Routledge. Hayriye, K, Hinkel, E. (Ed.). 2005. Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Holt, D Hybel, R. L. Wr. (2001). Communicating effectively, (New York: Mc Graw–Hill Higher Education).