Impact of Colloquial Discourse on Students’ English Speaking Skills

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of colloquial discourse on students’ speaking skill in
English at the tertiary level in Bangladesh. The study was mixed in nature that means both
qualitative and quantitative data was collected from sixty university level students from
Bangladesh. Seven teachers from public university were considered as sample for the study.
The role of the university is to create its product suitable for the international job market
where the quality language skill (international language) for the international community
is undoubtedly the most important requirement. In the universities, the students get enough
free time to spend with their friends in informal discussion where they have the opportunity
to make their conversation in English. Semi-structured interview questionnaire and FGD
questionnaire were used to collect information about the nature and role of the colloquial
discourse on students’ speaking skill development from the students’ and from the teachers.
Data was analyzed thematically using MS excel and MS word software. Narrative
description and statistical presentation of data were followed. This small scale study
explores some positive results of colloquial discourse on students’ speaking skill
development and puts forward some suggestions to regularize this practice as a good habit
among all the students.