Communication Strategies among University Malaysia Sabah Students

Abstract

University Malaysia Sabah (UMS) student are currently facing a new phase of education where teaching and learning sessions are done through online learning. This situation requires students to use their communication abilities optimally to understand and master the knowledge learned. However, there is a problem that could arise from this situation such as a miscommunication can happen during communicating with one another. This study investigates the type of communication strategies (CS) often used by university students, explore how language proficiency affect the used of communication strategies in oral communication using second language and discover what communication problems university students often face. An online survey was distributed among 30 University Malaysia Sabah (UMS) students and an interview was conducted with six other UMS students which consist of three TESL students and three non-TESL students. The result show that, UMS students used circumlocution, self-correction, f iller/hesitation, approximation/generalization in a very high rate. The students faced problem such as inability to communicate properly when they are emotionally unstable and having the tendency to have different perception with group members. Meanwhile, the language proficiency has a direct affect towards the used of communication strategies in oral communication such as high language proficiency student is less hesitant in their communication. From this result we conclude that communication strategy has direct impact towards student communication and very important for student in order to communicate effectively and help in the learning process. The strategies help them to overcome their communication problem and enhance the clarity and meaning delivery in the communication.