Table of Contents

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF TABLES xi

LIST OF FIGURES xiii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xv

CHAPTER ONE: BACKGROUND 1
1.0 Introduction 1
1.1 Statement of the problem 2
1.2 The motivation for the study and the research gap 3
1.3 Research questions and objectives of the study 4
  1.3.1 Objectives of the study 5
1.4 Rationale statement/significance of the study 5
1.5 Thesis outline 6

CHAPTER TWO: THE LITERATURE REVIEW 7
2.0 Introduction 7
2.1 Conceptualisation of key concepts 7
  2.1.1 Communicative competence 7
  2.1.2 English as a second language 8
2.2 Theoretical framework 8
  2.2.1 Socio-cultural theory of second language learning and acquisition 9
  2.2.2 Zone of proximal development 9
  2.2.3 Mediation and scaffolding 12
2.3 The Importance of English language as
a medium of communication 15
2.4 Language learning and ESL development 17
2.5 Communicative competence and performance skills 21
  2.5.1 Communicative activities 28
  2.5.2 Communicative language teaching 30                 
2.6 Multiliteracies and modality 51
2.7 Communicative in-competencies 52
   2.7.1 Communicative competence-related challenges
encountered by students. 54
2.8 Summary 59

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 61
3.0 Introduction 61
3.1 Research paradigms 61
  3.1.1 The interpretivist/constructivist paradigm 63
  3.1.2 Inductive and deductive reasoning in research 67
3.2 Methodology 69
  3.2.1 Qualitative research 70
  3.2.2 The research design 72
3.3 Research Methods 83
  3.3.1 Observations 84
  3.3.2 Face-to-face interviews (n=11) 89
  3.3.3 Focus group discussions (n=100) 91
3.4 Ensuring rigour 92
3.5 Trustworthiness 92
3.6 Credibility 92
3.7 Authenticity 93
3.8 Triangulation 93
  3.8.1 Member checking 94
  3.8.2 Audit trail 94
3.9 Transferability 94
3.10 Dependability 95
3.11 Reflexivity 95
3.12 Scope of the study/study locale 96
3.13 Target population 96
3.14 Sample and Sampling procedure 96
  3.14.1 Data saturation 97
3.15 Ethical considerations 99
  3.15.1 Autonomy 100
  3.15.2 Beneficence 100
  3.15.3 Non-maleficence 101
  3.15.4 Justice 101
  3.15.5 Researcher’s positionality 101
3.16 Data management and analysis 102
  3.16.1 Thematic analysis 106
  3.16.2 Familiarisation with ones’ data 108
  3.16.3 Generation of primary codes 108
  3.16.4 Searching for themes 112
  3.16.5 Review of the themes 114
  3.16.6 Definitions and naming of themes 114
  3.16.7 Producing the final report 115
3.17 Challenges encountered during data collection 115
3.18 Summary 116

CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS 117
4.0 Introduction 117
4.1 Challenges that English as second language
undergraduate students encounter in the development of communicative competence skills 117
  4.1.1 Findings from students’ interviews (n=100) 117
  4.1.2 Lack of exposure 118
  4.1.3 Language anxiety 120
  4.1.4 Lack of motivation 123
  4.1.5 Deficiency in grammar 125
4.2 Lecturers’ interview (n=11) 127
  4.2.1 Findings from lecturers on challenges that students encounter in their development of communicative competence skills 127
4.3 Communicative competence-related strategies that ESL lecturers employ in their classroom 132
  4.3.1 Findings from lecturers’ interviews (11). 132
4.4 Communicative competence-related strategies that undergraduate students use in learning ESL. 140
  4.4.1 Findings from students’ interviews (n=100) 140
4.5 Findings from classroom observations (n=18) 143
  4.5.1 Traditional methodologies 144
  4.5.2 Mixture of communicative approaches 169
4.6 Summary 191

CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS 193
5.0 Introduction 193
5.1 Challenges that English as second language
undergraduate students encounter in the development of communicative competence skills 193
  5.1.1 Lack of exposure 193
  5.1.2 Language anxiety 196
  5.1.3 Lack of motivation 199
  5.1.4 Deficiency in grammar 201
5.2 Communicative competence-related strategies
employed by ESL lecturers in their classroom 205
  5.2.1 Translanguaging 205
5.3 Communicative and interactive approaches 207
5.4 Traditional approaches 210
5.5 Communicative competence-related strategies that undergraduate students use in learning ESL 211
  5.5.1 Reading and writing extensively 211
  5.5.2 Communicating in the target language 215
  5.5.3 Seeking help from their lecturers 216
5.6 Discussions from classroom observations 217
  5.6.1 Traditional methodologies 217
5.7 Mixture of communicative approaches 223
  5.7.1 Role plays and classroom discussions 223
  5.7.2 Oral presentations 225
5.8 Summary 227

CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 229
6.0 Introduction 229
6.1 Conclusions 229
  6.1.1 Conclusions from the main findings on the challenges that English as a second language students encounter in the development of their communicative competence skills 230
  6.1.2 Conclusions from the main findings on the communicative competence-related strategies that undergraduate students use in learning ESL 231
  6.1.3 Conclusions from the main findings on the
communicative competence-related strategies
employed by ESL lecturers in their classrooms 231
6.2 Recommendations 232
6.3 Contributions of the study 234
6.4 Limitations of the study 234
6.5 Suggestions for further research 235
6.6 Summary 236

BIBLIOGRAPHY 237

APPENDICES 271