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FACULTY OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY TEKNOLOGI MARA
SHAH ALAM
EDU 702 – RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
RESEARCH PROPOSAL
A Study on the communication skills among IKM Jasin
students in ESL classroom.
Prepared for:
Dr Johan Eddy Luaran
Prepared by:
AIMEE BT YUSOFF HILMY
STUDENT ID: 2013725413
M. Ed TESL (PART TIME)
MARA COHORT 2
Date of Submission:
JUNE 10TH
, 2014

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Table of Content
CHAPTER 1..........................................................................................................................................4
INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................4
1.1 Background ...........................................................................................................................4
1.2 Problem statement:..............................................................................................................5
1.3 Research Questions: ...........................................................................................................6
1.4 Research Objectives:...........................................................................................................6
1.5 Significance of the study: ....................................................................................................6
1.6 Limitations of the study:.......................................................................................................7
1.7 Operational definition:..........................................................................................................7
CHAPTER 2..................................................................................................................................8
Literature Review: ........................................................................................................................8
2.1 The importance of communication ..............................................................................10
CHAPTER 3................................................................................................................................13
Research Methodology: ............................................................................................................13
3.0 Introduction......................................................................................................................13
3.1 Research design.............................................................................................................13
3.2 Population and Sample .................................................................................................14
3.3 Instrumentation...............................................................................................................14
3.4 Data Collection ...............................................................................................................15
3.5 Data Analysis ..................................................................................................................15

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A study on communication skills among IKM Jasin
students in ESL classroom

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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
In today‟s modern age, the need for an employment is crucial. In order for a
person to be able to get the wanted job, it is essential for the person to be
good in communication skills and therefore, the person will need to have a
certificate from his own field. Thus, one of the objectives of Institut Kemahiran
MARA (IKM) as one of the higher educational institutions in MARA
organisation is to prepare the students‟ with good and adequate
communication skills as well as employment world.
To support the above statement, (Tan H.M, 1999:p.1) has also agreed that
there are more and more chances for engineers and technical professionals
to convey technical information in English for various purposes. Therefore,
besides learning general English as an international language, students of
colleges and technical institutes need to be equipped with adequate writing
ability so that they can communicate technical information clearly on at least a
basic level. A good English writing proficiency can be a contributing factor to
their professional recognition and career prospect. However, in IKM, the aims
of the English course is not very much on the writing ability, but the purpose
and goals are the same whereby the institute will create employment
opportunities for the learners.
Institut Kemahiran MARA, Jasin specifically is a Higher Technical Institute,
which consists of three different departments. The three departments are
Electric department, Mechanical department and automotive department.
Therefore, in order to assist and lead the learners with the outcomes, each
department plays a vital role of catering the learners‟ needs and achieving the
objectives. Thus, the requirements to enrol in IKM are minimal.

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Hence, majority of the students have been perceived as low achievers. , and
are regarded as at-risk students, as they encompass these characteristics;
poor reading skills, English language learners, bored with school (Jones,2006
in Gavigan and Kurtts,2010).
1.2 Problem statement:
English teachers in IKM Jasin are having difficulties on how to get the
students engaged in the English lesson. It is believed that no matter how hard
teachers try, the students in IKM Jasin will have the difficulty to engage in the
ESL classroom. Therefore, it is essential for the researcher to identify the
skills that are needed in the students, hence, suitable for the difference needs
of the students.
In order for learners to enrol in IKM, the weightage of the entry requirement
are focusing only on the technical subjects. Therefore, in the case of the
learners in IKM Jasin, their intention of enrolling in the institute is to master
the hands on technical skills only. The learners are not aware of the courses
they need to attend in order to complete the programme, which are the
general studies courses. In the general studies courses includes English,
Mathematics, Islamic Studies, Entrepreneurship and Malaysian Studies. Thus,
they are not mentally prepared for courses related to theory.
Thus, the drives for the students to participate in the communication
classroom are very limited. They do not have the motivation drives to engage
in the ESL classroom.

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1.3 Research Questions:
1. What is the level of communication skills among IKM Jasin students in ESL
classroom?
2. What are the factors that affect the communication skills among IKM Jasin
students in ESL classroom?
3. How does an IKM Jasin student improve their communication skills in ESL
classroom?
1.4 Research Objectives:
1. To determine the level of communication skills among IKM students.
2. To identify the factors that affects the communication skills among IKM
students.
3. To measure students improvement in terms of communication skills.
1.5 Significance of the study:
The significance of this research proposal is to illuminate the English teachers
of IKM Jasin about the levels of communication skills and factors that affect
their communication skills. It is hope that with the result of the findings, the
teachers would be able to identify the learners‟ problems in terms of their
communication skills.

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1.6 Limitations of the study:
1. The study focuses only on the ESL classroom in IKM Jasin.
2. The study focal point is to only determine the levels of communication
skills and factors affecting the students‟ communication skills.
3. The study will only have 10 participants involved. The selection was made
randomly without knowing the learners‟ background.
1.7 Operational definition:
The definitions used in this study are as follows:
Communication skills are skills needed within an individual in order to be able
to transmit and transfer information to another party. Hence, to be able to do it
successfully without any confusion, it is essential for the individual to do it
using the suitable body language as well. This is noted by (Communication
Skills, 2014) Communication is simply the act of transferring information from
one place to another, whether this be vocally (using voice), written (using
printed or digital media such as books, magazines, websites or emails),
visually (using logos, maps, charts or graphs) or non-verbally (using body
language, gestures and the tone and pitch of voice).

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CHAPTER 2
Literature Review:
One of the aspects that are essential in learning any language or dealing with
any issue is communication skills. In order to obtain the language learnt in
classroom, students need to have at least the basic knowledge of
communication skills. According to (Rymniak, 2011) language skills are
needed in a situation where they need to interact with other people. It is also
noted that speaking or communicating has always been a significant part of a
language teaching. Students that are learning language need to learn the
appropriate ways to communicate that can be accepted culturally in the
community generally and in the classroom specifically.
According to (Abbate-Maghsoudi, 2008) in the adult ESL classroom, the
content must be potraying and presented real-life situations outside of the
classroom. For example, in IKM Jasin, English teachers teach final semester
students to prepare for job interview, hence, we incorporate all the language
focus and do‟s and don‟t‟s of a job interview. Therefore, students will be able
to apply what they have learnt in the classroom and use it when they enters
the real employment world. We find that this kind of exercises are very useful
to the students, because they will have an overview of what they will dealing
with when they enter their job field.
In communication skills, there are characteristics that are included, which are
listening comprehension, speaking, reading and writing. In order to obtain the
highest stage of adequate English language, one should be attentive towards
all the characteristics. In the characteristic of speaking, it includes grammar,
vocabulary, pronunciation and fluency. Students need to comprehend the rule
of basic sentence patterns. As for the vocabulary, students need to have sets
of vocabulary that is sufficient for social conversation to be able to use it in
classroom. Besides that, students pronunciation should also be
understandable even though they have their own accent. And also they

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should be fluent with the language; then only the student will be able to have
an effective communication skills.
On the other hand, one of the method that could relate with effective
communication skills is Communicative Language Teaching (CLT). There are
six principles in CLT that can be intrepreted as effective communication skills.
There are as noted by (Rymniak, 2011) :
1. The goal of language learning is “communicative competence”
2. Learners learn a language by using it to communicate real
messages.
3. Authentic and meaningful communication should be the goal of
classroom activities.
4. Fluency and accuracy are both important dimensions of
communication.
5. Communication involves the integration of different language skills.
6. Learning is a gradual process that involves trial and error.
For the first principles, educators generally and language educators
specifically; will have the mind set of teaching language with the hope of being
able to produce students with communicative competence. In IKM Jasin,
English teachers have the same goal as well. However, the limitation that the
teachers are dealing with doesn‟t allow the goal to be achieve. This is
because IKM Jasin students‟ are perceived as low achievers. Therefore as
their English teachers, still having the same goal but with a slightly different
meaning of communicative competence, based on their educational
background. In order not to victimize the students because of their lack of
education, it is essential to assess them accrodingly.

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As for the third principle; authentic and meaningful communication should be
the goal of classroom activities. IKM Jasin teachers will always set authentic
and meaningful communication as the goal of ESL classroom activities. This
is to attract students‟ attention in engaging in the activities especially in task
that requires communicating. Next is the sixth principle; where it is said that
learning is a gradual learning process which include trial and error is what
everyone does that goes the same to educators as well. It is because each
students will have different needs individually. Hence, teachers will need to
trial and error in order to grasp the students‟ attention.
2.1 The importance of communication
According to (Fandrych, 2009) communication is also crucial in globalisation
in which seen as an economic resource. It is said that if everyone cannot
communicate effectively, the transmittion of the ideas or knowledge will not
reach the other side of the street. Thus, in this case, the students will not be
able to obtain the knowledge and the objective will not be able to achieve.
Hence, the institution will collapsed. Apart from that, it is also said that one
who cannot deliver communication well, will be left behind, on the other hand,
one who are able communicate sufficiently and effectively will be able to
mould ideas and judgment, will be able to be a part of the global development.
Other than that, communication skills is important in ESL classroom because
it can improve the students‟ education performances as noted by (Members
of Griffith Graduate Project, 2004). It is understood that by having the good
communication skills, it will enables the students to improve their performance
in terms of their learning. Besides that, students will also have the opportunity
to expand their profession options. This is because when the students are
able to communicate well, there are options for them to choose from
especially in private sector that requires communicating in English well.

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Nonetheless, it can also reinforce their professional capability. The students
will able to practise their communication skills before entering the employment
world. Hence, it can also improve their personal value, in which they will be
able to increase their motivation drives and self confidence. There are also
teaching tips on how to develop the students‟ oral communication skills for
example, tutorial group, seminar presentation, poster presentation, the viva,
conference presentation and meeting scenarios (Project, 2004). However in
IKM Jasin, there are only some of the tips that can be implemented in the
class. They are tutorial group, poster presentation and meeting scenarios. For
our first semester students, they will be taught on language focus of meeting
scenarios. Therefore, they need to speak about the scenarios given to them
using their own words, hence, has develop their communication skills.
Apart from that, in semester two, the students will have to present on a
machine which is similar with poster presentation. They have to understand
the usage of the machine then only they will be able to present on the
machine. Therefore, not only it will increase their communication skills but
teacher can also identify their understanding on the topic. As for the tutorial
group, it will be implemented to classess that have poor grades and are very
weak in their English language.
Other than that, it is also essential to fully utilise the communication that‟s
happening in the classroom so that not only the students will able to practice
the language but also increase their confidence. As said by (Dale Walker &
Mark, 2009) communication will enable the students the chances of learning
more about themselves, their surroundings and other people. It can also helps
the students to develop into improved communicators.
Besides that, it is also important to know the right way to communicate to
prevent other from misunderstand or confuse, especially for ESL people or
students. The reason being is, according to (Sawin, 2000) clear and
understandable communication can make life easier. The author even
included example of a true story that could relate to the consequences of
miscommunication. He have a friend for Japan named Yukiko, always

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wondered why Australians are happy when talking about mothers dying,
because australians always smile when they say „mothers die‟ when actually
they are saying about „Mother‟s Day‟. Thus, it is essential to have a clear
pronunciation and understand the culture as well.
It is also essential to bear in mind that body language or nonverbal
communication is also part of the communication skills and it is important to
understand and potray the right body language or people would misinterpret
the language especially in ESL classroom. Example of non verbal clues would
be body language, facial expressions, and any other expressions without
communicating verbally. In response to (Rymniak, 2011) in the table below
are some common non-verbal gestures and their meanings.
Body language Meaning
Tilting your head to one side Curiosity or sympathy
Looking down at the floor Shyness, Evasiveness
Crossed arms Defensiveness, disagreement
Fidgeting Nervousness
Rolling eyes Disrespect
Therefore, it is fundamental to understand the right body language in
order not to make people confuse or misunderstanding towards the
information that would be convey. Hence, communication skills is crucial in
explaining or even transmitting knowledge in order to be a good speaker in
which he will be able to integrate this lineup of skills and knowledge to
succeed in life.

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CHAPTER 3
Research Methodology:
3.0 Introduction
This chapter will review on Research Design, Population and Sample,
Instrumentation, Pilot Study, Data Collection and Data Analysis Plan.
3.1 Research design
The research approach for this study is qualitative approach. In which for the
first research question; is a survey design and uses interview as the
instrument. As according to (Jack R. Fraenkel & Hyun, 2012) interview is one
of the crucial point for the researcher to investigate the accuracy of the
reaction gained through observation. Moreover, this is a survey research
design that focuses on the cross sectional survey because its collect data on
IKM Jasin students level of communication skills, in which it collects data from
a predetermined population. It will be highlighting on the students‟
communication skills in terms of their confidence in communicating in ESL
classroom. As for the second and third research questions, it will be focusing
on the longitudinal survey. The design that will be use in this survey is a panel
study. In a panel study, it will be surveys on same sample of individuals at
different times during the process of collecting data. IKM Jasin students who
are technical based background have been chosen to be the samples for this
study and a set of interview questions and several sets of questionnaires will
be used as the instrument in this research in order to gain all the information
and data needed.

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3.2 Population and Sample
According to (Jack R. Fraenkel & Hyun, 2012) a population is the overall of
the students that will be tested, meanwhile sample is the group on which all
the data will be attain. It is also said that population is usually a group of
persons who acquire certain attributes. Therefore, for this study; IKM Jasin
students whom are located in Malacca are the population. This study used
random sampling in order to choose the respondents. A random sampling is
very much like the representative of the whole population because of the
randomly selected respondents, will enables the researcher to get the
overview of the larger group as noted by (Jack R. Fraenkel & Hyun, 2012). In
a random sampling, there are three ways to obtain the samples which are
simple random sampling, stratified random sampling and cluster random
sampling. In this study, simple random sampling will be used. It is because
every student in IKM Jasin will have an equal chance of being chosen as the
respondent.
3.3 Instrumentation
For this research study, the instrument used is interview and questionnaire.
The items in the questionnaire will be design by the researcher in order to
investigate the levels and factors affecting the communication skills in IKM
Jasin. For the questionnaire, it will have open ended and close ended. The
open ended questions are questions that require the students to give their
own answers. As for the close ended question, are questions that most
probably use Likert Scale in order to give options for the students. The
interview will be conducted twice throughout the research. The first time would
be in the beginning of the semester, while the second one will be in the end of
the semester. The reason for this is to have the most relevant answers in
different period of time but to the same respondents. The questionnaires will
have the same method and the questions will also be the same for both time.

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3.4 Data Collection
According to (Jack R. Fraenkel & Hyun, 2012) there are three general
methods that are available in collecting data. The first method is by collecting
the information themselves. The second method is directly from the
respondent and the last one is from others. In this study, the researcher will
be collecting the information from the sample which are IKM Jasin students by
interviewing the students face-to-face and getting the information straight
away. And it goes the same with the questionnaire as well, in which the
researcher will take about 5 minutes of the students‟ time to answer all the
questionnaire given. The process of the survey will be scrutinize by the
researcher, in order to make sure that all the data collected are does not have
any faulty and are valid and reliable.
3.5 Data Analysis
The data that will be collected are from interview and questionnaire. It will be
done using content analysis which is a technique that the researchers
observe through human behavior in an indirect way and analyze their
communications. The researcher will transcribe the interview questions and
responses for the data analysis. SPSS software will be used for the
questionnaire, the analyzing and interpreting of the data.

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Fandrych, I. (2009). The Importance of English communication skills in multilingual
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