Sociocultural Factors Involved in the Oral Competency of the ESL Students at Graduate Level

Abstract

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The current research is aimed to highlight the obstructing sociocultural factors that influence the undergraduate students’ English language communication skills in Pakistan. Undergraduates’ English language communication skills are strongly affected by various sociocultural factors such as the environment, cultural variation, societal rank, and self-identity. In particular, the current research emphasizes the interconnectedness of language and culture and their influence on the English language communication skills of the undergraduate students. The investigation was carried out in the public institutions of Bahawalpur, Pakistan. It was based on simple random and cluster random sampling. Forty highly proficient ESL / EFL instructors and 498 ESL students contributed to the current investigation. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were followed throughout the research. Data analysis revealed that among all the contributing factors, the environment was the most prominent factor, which affected the learner’s oral competency. The overall conclusion is that sociocultural issues affect the learners’ communication skills in Pakistan where English is most often the third language. The study also recommends that instructors should recognize the source(s) of language anxiety to facilitate the learners and to make the language acquisition process more successful.