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TASK-BASED ORAL COMMUNICATION TEACHING

Dr. Deepa S

Assistant Professor

Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode

IIM Kozhikode Campus P.O., Kozhikode – 673570, Kerala

India

deepa@iimk.ac.in

deepas2805@yahoo.in

+91-0495-2809443

Dr. Deepa S is an Assistant Professor in the area of Humanities & Liberal Arts in Management at IIM Kozhikode. Along with contributing in grooming the communication skills of upcoming managers, Dr. Deepa has also successfully developed some highly effective courses in her area for students pursuing their career in management. She has presented and published her research in national and international conferences and journals and has three published books to her credit. Her current areas of interest are: Managerial Communication, Written Communication Skills, Online Communication, Employment-related Communication, and Soft Skills for Managers. She conducts training programs in these areas.

Abstract

Oral communication fulfills a number of general and discipline-specific academic functions. It is vital to learn to speak, since it provides students a set of skills they can use all through their lives. Speaking is the mode of communication used very often to express opinions, make arguments, offer explanations, transmit information, and make impressions upon others. Students need to speak well in their personal lives, future workplaces, social interactions, and political endeavors. They will have to attend meetings, make presentations, participate in discussions and arguments, and work with groups. If necessary instruction and opportunities to practice speaking are available, students place themselves to achieve a wide range of goals and be useful members of their communities. 

This paper describes the applications of the task-based approach to teach oral communication skills in an academic setting. A course “Oral Communication Skills” was taught to the post- graduate students studying Management in a private business school to make them proficient in oral skills. The present study tries to explore the possibility and feasibility of task-based approach to apply for the teaching of oral communication. 

Key words: Oral Communication, Task-based approach, conversation.

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