International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Translation (IJLLT)

ISSN: 2617-0299
www.ijllt.org

Students’ Perceptions of Basic Communication Skills Training at a Selected State

University in Zimbabwe
Mhindu Admire1* & Chindedza Winnet2
12
Great Zimbabwe University, Department of Curriculum Studies, Masvingo, Zimbabwe
Corresponding Author: Mhindu Admire, E-mail: [email protected]

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Received: April 22, 2019 The study was a qualitative case study which sought to establish the perceptions
Accepted: May 14, 2019 of students in the Faculty of Agribusiness and Commerce on Basic
Published: May 30, 2019 Communication Skills training at Victoria State University. Twenty-seven
Volume: 1 students from the faculty of Agribusiness and Commerce were purposively
Issue: 1 sampled to participate in the study. Observation and focus group discussions
KEYWORDS were the major data gathering tools. A thematic analysis of the data was done.
The major findings showed that a majority of the students perceived the module
Perception; Communicative as indispensable in their learning as it enhanced their listening, speaking,
competence; English as a reading and writing skills. Participants mentioned that their academic writing,
Second Language (ESL); reading, research and listening skills had greatly improved due to the
Communication skills; communication skills training they had undergone. However, there were a few
Training students who felt that the module was a waste of their time as it focussed on
aspects of communication that they had already covered at ‘O’ and ‘A’ Level.
The major recommendation from this study was that the university extends the
Basic Communication Skills Module to other level 1:1 students in other faculties
to facilitate their day to day communication in an educational environment.

1. INTRODUCTION important as it actually determines the employability

Communication is part of human existence. Taylor of an individual in the job market. Taylor (2005:4)
(2005) defines communication as the ability to give highlights the need for practice in the critical
and receive or exchange information, opinions or language skills when he notes that, “The more we
ideas through writing, speech or visual means. This write and the more we speak, the more we improve
means that communication can only be said to have our communication skills.” Hence, universities and
taken place if there has been a meaningful exchange colleges offering various programmes have embraced
of information between the sender and the receiver. the teaching of Communication Skills to facilitate the
Dalcol, Garanhani, Fonseca and Carvalho (2018) improvement of communication skills in their
note that, communication is recursive since it students.
involves exchange and reciprocity. Scholars such as
Scot and Newman, (2013) and Taylor, (2005) have 2. LITERATURE REVIEW
noted that good communication is actually a skill, Communication skills training has been part of
implying that it should be learnt. Scot and Newman different curricula in universities. For example,
(2013) observe that in a 2010 study, communication Wright et al (2006) note that medical students
was ranked at the top of a list of skills that employers undergo communication skills training and in recent
sought in job candidates. This underscores the need years, many medical schools have supported the
for universities and colleges to offer communication increased emphasis on communication skills as an
skills training to students for them to fit easily in the important part of medical education. In the same
job market. vein, Ihmeideh , Al-Omari and Al-Dababneh (2010)
point out that for teachers to succeed in their
An individual with good communication skills in a profession, excellent communication skills are
particular language can speak, read and write well in indispensable. The main reason for the growing
that language. Scot and Newman (2013) observe that, support for communication skills training is on the
competence in writing and speaking will help one to utility of good communication skills when doctors
get hired, perform well and earn promotions. This are communicating with their patients or when
means that, communication skills training is teachers are communicating with pupils and the
general public.

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Wright et al (2006) observe that medical students messages and to negotiate meanings interpersonally
held both negative and positive attitudes towards within specific contexts.”
communication skills training courses. However,
they note that, Communicative competence comprises four major
aspects. The first one is linguistic competence.
…a medical student who has Brown (1987) notes that, linguistic competence
internalised positive values (which is also called grammatical competence),
associated with communication entails the knowledge of language rules and other
skills training would likely forms of knowledge that enables a person to be
behave in ways that are functional and interactive in communication. It also
consistent with those values, encompasses the knowledge of lexical items,
such as listening to patients semantics, rules of word formation (morphology),
more, explaining treatments in rules of constructing sentences (syntax) and the
ways that the patient will sound system of a language (phonology). Therefore,
understand… (2006:2) at the end of the communication skills training
This suggests that those undergoing the course, students should be able to correctly apply the
communication skills training course should have English Language rules in their conversation or in
positive attitudes towards it for them to meaningfully writing. In the case of students in the Faculty of
benefit from the training. The benefits include Agribusiness and Commerce at Victoria State
improved listening skills and ability to express University, they are expected to have developed
oneself in a way their interlocutors would understand. linguistic competence at the end of their
This shows the importance of having positive communication skills training course. This skill is
attitudes towards communication skills training. necessary for meaningful communication to take
place in their different fields of study.
Those with negative attitudes towards
communication skills training are likely not to fully Another aspect of Communicative Competence is
benefit from the training. Wright et al (2006) report discourse competence. Brown (1987) opines that
that medical students who had negative attitudes in discourse competence is a complement of
communication skills training felt that the courses grammatical competence. It encompasses the ability
took a soft social science approach and that the to connect words in sentences and create meaning out
content of the courses was just common sense of utterances. Its main focus is on inter-sentential
knowledge. This implies that some medical students relationships. This is an important skill that needs to
felt that undergoing a communication skills training be nurtured in students if they are to meaningfully
course is actually a waste of time since they were express themselves in spoken and written discourse
subjected to material that was simple and common in their fields of study. There is also sociolinguistic
sense. But the question is: Does communication skills competence which entails the knowledge of the
training mean subjecting students to common sense importance of acceptable and non-acceptable
material which is not even necessary? To answer this language in a particular social setting. Equally
question, it requires a critical look into what important is strategic competence (Brown, 1987),
communication skills aims at achieving and this is which enables the speakers to employ techniques that
discussed in the subsequent discussion. will help them to keep their conversation going
without their listeners noticing that they had run out
3. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK of words. Celce-Murcia, Dernyei and Thurrell (1995)
Good communication skills mean one’s ability to give a total of five competences that make up
listen, speak, read and write in a particular language. Communicative Competence, where actional
In basic communication skills training at university competence is added to the list of four that have been
level in Zimbabwe, students are taught the four basic discussed earlier in this discussion. The different
language skills i.e. listening, speaking, reading and components of the Basic Communication Skills
writing in the English Language. This is so because module aim at making students acquire these
the English Language is the official language of competences, to ensure that they achieve better marks
business communication in Zimbabwe. The ultimate in academic writing and improve their
aim of the communication skills course is to develop communicative abilities in their day to day
in students what Hymes (1972) has termed communication transactions. The question is: Do the
Communicative Competence. Brown (1987:199) students perceive the module as envisaged in its
states that having communicative competence means objectives?
possessing an ability to “…convey and interpret

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Students’ perceptions of Basic Communication Skills training at a selected state university in Zimbabwe

Students in the Faculty of Agribusiness and context where their counterparts in other faculties are
Commerce at Victoria State University do several exempted from doing the module.
introductory modules in their first semester, Basic The current study was a case study. Trochim et al
Communication Skills being one of them. However, (2016) define a case study as an intensive study of a
students in other faculties in the university are made specific individual or specific context. Because it is
to do the Business Communication module only, anchored in actual life conditions, it results in a rich
while those in the faculty of Agri-business and and holistic account of a phenomenon (Merriam,
Commerce are made to register for both the Basic 2009). Victoria State University is the context within
Communication Skills and Business Communication which the study was conducted.
modules. This can make those undergoing basic
communication skills training have varied 6..1 Population and sample
perceptions on its importance given that other The targeted population for this study was all level
students in the other faculties at the university are not 1:1 students in the Faculty of Agribusiness and
doing it, hence, the need to carry out a study to Commerce at Victoria State University. Purposive
establish their perceptions of the module. sampling technique was used to select the twenty-
4. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM seven students in the faculty of Agribusiness and
During the first semester of their degree programmes, Commerce. Of the twenty-seven, 15 were female and
students in the Faculty of Agri-business and 12 were male. Their age range was nineteen to
Commerce at Victoria State University do several twenty-two years. McBurney and White (2010)
introductory modules among which is Basic observe that a purposive sample is chosen for some
Communication Skills is one of them. Apparently, characteristics it possesses. This sampling technique
level one Engineering students are exempted from has the advantage that the researchers choose a
doing the module, maybe with the assumption that sample that has their desired characteristics
they already possess the basic communication skills. (Maxwell, 2013). Thus, the twenty-seven students
This can cause those undergoing basic were chosen on the basis that they were the ones who
communication skills training to have varied did the Basic Communication Skills module yet the
perceptions on its importance given that other rest of the level 1:1 in other faculties were exempted
students in the other faculties at the university are not from doing the module. Despite the fact that they
doing it. Thus, it is necessary to carry out a study to may not be representative and their statements may
establish their perceptions. not be generalisable, this is not the major concern in
such sampling, but to acquire in-depth information
5. RESEARCH QUESTIONS from those who are in a position to give it (Cohen,
The research aimed at answering the following Manion and Morrison, 2007).
questions: 6.2 Data collection procedures
1. How do level one students in the Faculty of
Agri-business and Commerce perceive the Data were collected from the twenty-seven
Basic Communication Skills module? participants through observation and focus group
2. Why do they perceive the module the way discussions to allow the researchers to gather as
they do? much qualitative data as possible to establish the
participants’ perceptions of the Basic Communication
6. METHODLOGOY Skills module. The focus group discussions
The study adopted a qualitative approach which, presented a more normal communication
according to Trochim, Donnelly and Arora (2016), is environment as compared to a one on one interview
a huge and multifaceted methodological area that is because participants are “influenced and get
concerned with analysing the way people construe influenced by others” (Kruger and Casey, 2009:7),
their experiences and the world in which they live. just like what happens in real life situations. The
Qualitative research is a broad approach which twenty-seven participants were divided into five
studies social phenomena and its diverse types are groups; where three groups had five participants each
interpretive, naturalistic, ethnographic and largely and two had six participants. This implies that, a total
critical (Marshall and Rossman, 2006). Its main focus of five focus group discussions were conducted. The
is two-fold: to develop comprehensive descriptions of researchers, as the moderators, facilitated group
a phenomenon and to reach an understanding of discussions, at the same time encouraging all the
issues (Trochim et al, 2016). Thus, the aim of this group members to interact (Silverman, 2013) so that
study was to dig deeper into the students’ perceptions the issue at hand could be fully explored. The time
of the Basic Communication Skills module so as to taken in conducting the focus group discussions
gain an understanding of their experiences in a
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 IJLLT 1(1):66-73

ranged from a minimum of thirty-five minutes to one now pay attention to only those messages that are
hour fifteen minutes. The researchers used a video important to me without having to succumb to any
recorder to record proceedings at each of the focus distractions.” The participants generally indicated
group discussions and the data were transcribed and that without having undergone the Basic
later coded into themes for further analysis. Communication Skills Course they would not know
that they needed to develop their listening skills for
A total of six lesson observations were conducted by them to be able to get the most out of lectures and
the researchers to establish how seriously the students avoid unnecessary conflicts with lecturers and
took the Basic Communication Skills module; colleagues. Student 2 in focus group discussion one
specific focus being on their punctuality for lectures, said, “I am now a better listener because the module
participation and preparedness for individual and has helped me on how I can be an effective listener. I
group presentations. An observation checklist was can now focus on what is being said without allowing
used to record what the researchers observed. The physical and mental barriers to distract my attention
data gave useful insights on the way these students during lectures.” In focus group discussion four
perceived the module. (FGD 4), participants indicated that good listening
7. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION skills enabled them to comprehend messages sent
The data from both the focus group discussions and during lectures and in their day to day conversations
observations were qualitatively analysed through with colleagues and this means that they will be
categorising them into themes. better people in the communities that they will live in
after graduation. The following are excerpts from the
From the findings, it emerged that out of the 27 focus group discussion: Student 1, “I have become a
participants, 25 perceived the module as an important better listener and as a result cases of
one, just like the rest of the modules they do in their misunderstandings with my colleagues and lecturers
respective programmes. In fact, some of them felt are now very minimal. I used to quarrel a lot with my
that it was actually more important than the rest of siblings before I came to university. I now realise that
the modules as the skills they learnt in the module it was my problem and not theirs because I was a
helped them improve their performance in the rest of very bad listener.” Student 3: “My understanding of
the modules. From the observations and focus group concepts presented during lectures has greatly
discussions conducted by the researchers, the twenty- improved.” In focus group discussion five, one
five participants concurred that they had realised participant (Student 6) stated that he had been
benefits that they never imagined by undergoing the transformed by the Basic Communication Skills
basic communication skills course. Their overall module. He said, “I feel that those not doing the
perception of the module was a result of the benefits module are missing out a lot as they may never be
they had realised and these would be discussed in the able to develop good listening skills that are requisite
subsequent discussion. in the life of a university student.” These results show
that the participants perceived the module as a very
Enhancement of listening skills important one as it had changed the way they used to
listen before coming to university. They were now
It emerged from the focus group discussions that better listeners and could easily comprehend spoken
students in the Faculty of Agribusiness and words during lectures and general conversations
Commerce appreciate undergoing the Basic because of the critical knowledge that they had
Communication Skills Course. They indicated that gained from the Basic Communication Skills module.
they had developed various skills that have impacted In other words, they would not be better listeners if
positively on their studies. One of the key aspects of they had not been trained to be such. This is in
communication that the students acknowledged was contrast to the view by some participants in Wright et
that they had become better listeners which made al’s (2006) study that the content of the courses in
them grasp more from lectures. In focus group communication skills training was just common
discussion three, one participant said, “It has taught sense knowledge. The current study revealed that
me as a student to know the difference between participants viewed the module as critical in
listening and hearing,” (Student 1). She further developing their listening skills which are
explained that she could now engage her mind to indispensable in effective interpersonal
analyse the sounds she hears for her to get the full communication.
meaning embedded in them. Another participant
(Student 4) said that he could now avoid those The researchers also observed that, after the lectures
barriers to effective listening such as stress, physical on how the students could improve their listening
noise and prejudice among others. He said, “I am skills, there were fewer instances where students
now able to be selective to what I listen to and I can would ask the lecturer to repeat what she would have

13
Students’ perceptions of Basic Communication Skills training at a selected state university in Zimbabwe

said. It was also noted that students were able to university students. The module had equipped them
correctly answer questions that the lecturer would with reading skills which they could employ in
have asked and this was seen as sign that they were different situations in their academic life. For these
paying attention when the lecture was being reasons, the participants showed much appreciation
delivered. Thus, it is meaningful to conclude that, the for the Basic Communication Skills Module.
students had benefitted from communication skills
training, hence their perception of the module as an Development of research skills
important cog in university education. The participants also acknowledged that they had
Knowledge of reading strategies become better researchers through the knowledge
they gained form the Basic Communication Skills
In addition to the development of their listening skills module. For example, student 6 in the fifth Focus
as discussed above, participants stated that they had Group Discussion (FGD 5) said, “The module has
become better readers through the knowledge that greatly helped me on how to research and come up
they had gained from the Basic Communication with solid and well researched assignments, hence
Skills module. As a direct result of the Basic improving my overall course marks.” Student 4 in the
Communication Skills module, the participants said third focus group discussion said, “I now know how
that they were now armed with the knowledge on the to do my research through the internet. I now know
different reading strategies that they should employ how to search for information and effectively use it in
in different circumstances. Student 3 in focus group my assignment.” Another participant (Student 1,
discussion 4 said, “I now appreciate the Basic FGD 4) said, “Through the training I got from the
Communication Skills module. The knowledge of module I am now able to make good use of book
different reading strategies helps me to know when a blurbs, indices and contents pages to search for
certain type of reading should be employed in order relevant information from texts as I research for the
to suit the occasion.” Student 4 in the third focus assignments that I am given in the different modules
group discussion went on to state some of the reading in my specific area of specialisation.” Several
strategies he had learnt in the Basic Communication benefits of communication skills training have been
Skills module and when these can be employed. He highlighted from the above excerpts, among them
said, being that the module has helped students to become
better researchers from both print and electronic
“When reading for media. As a result, they indicated that their
assignments I would engage performance in assignments has significantly
in intensive and extensive improved. The fact that they highlighted these
reading for me to get benefits is an indication of their appreciation of the
meaningful points for the module. This confirms Taylor’s (2005) view that the
assignments. When looking more they practice, the better people they become in
for specific information from communication.
a text, I would not waste time
reading the whole text, word Enhancement of academic writing skills
for word, but I would employ
the scanning reading In addition to the above, participants highlighted that
strategy.” they really appreciated doing the Basic
Communication Skills module because it had helped
Student 2 in the first focus group them to be good academic essay writers. One
discussion said, participant (Student 3 in the second focus group
discussion) said, “Communication Skills is an
The module has exposed us to important course because it equips me with
different reading types for knowledge on how to write good assignments.”
different situations such as Student 5 (Focus group discussion 5) stated that,
reading for assignments, for “The training I got in basic communication skills
examination and to spot helped me to write meaningful assignments that score
specific information. very high marks. Through communication skills
What these responses imply is that, through basic training, I have been equipped with the knowledge of
communication skills training, the participants had things to avoid in academic writing such as use of
been developed into better readers and that is why informal language, contraction of words and use of
they perceived the module as an important one as it shorthand among others.” Student 2 (FGD 1) said, “I
comes along with several benefits to them as feel that the skills learnt in the Basic Communication

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 IJLLT 1(1):66-73

Skills module are so important that every student at counterparts should be made to do it for them to also
the university should undergo this training.” The enjoy the benefits of the module. These findings
responses above indicate the benefits that the therefore, show that the participants valued the Basic
participants got from communication skills training. Communication Skills module as they had benefitted
They had improved on the way they presented a lot from it as evidenced by their responses above.
arguments in academic writing and as a result they
now scored high marks in their assignments. The Oral presentation skills enhanced
responses also point to the fact that there should be The participants also showed that they valued basic
no exemptions in as far as basic communication skills communication skills training because they had
training for level one semester one students is greatly improved on their oral presentation skills.
concerned. Therefore, the participants perceive basic Student 1 (FGD 3) said, “I used to be shy but
communication skills training as an important cog in communication skills training has bolstered my
university education as it helps them improve their confidence. I now know how to make my oral
academic writing skills, which ultimately makes them presentations effective. Now I can present in front of
score higher marks in assignments and examinations. my colleagues without any fear.” Participants also
Participants also raised the point that they had learnt indicated that they were now aware of the advantages
how to present convincing arguments because they and disadvantages of oral communication. Student 5
had been taught the major components of an (FGD 1) had this to say,
academic paragraph, that is , topic sentence, I have been equipped with the
developers and concluding sentence. This knowledge, advantages and disadvantages
from the participants’ point of view, enabled them to of oral communication. The
be good academic writers. In FGD 5, Student 3 made advantages include the
the following remarks, “I feel we are better writers following: oral communication
than those who do not do the Basic Communication allows instant feedback, there
Skills module.” According to this participant, this can be negotiation of meaning
was because it was only in that module where the between the speaker and
characteristics of a good academic essay were taught his/her audience and that the
and it would be difficult for those that did not do the speaker can use non-verbal
module to come up with essays with such communication signals to
characteristics as they lacked the knowledge on how enhance the quality of his/her
to go about it. These views are an indication that by oral presentation. This means
and large, students in the faculty of Agri-business and that I will be able to
Commerce appreciate the Basic Communication meaningfully use oral
Skills module as they have enjoyed the benefits communication in relevant
discussed above. situations.
In one of the focus group discussions (FGD 3), Another participant, (student 4 in FGD 4) said, “I
Student 4 stated that, “Issues of referencing that we now know that non-verbal communication has
have learnt in Communication Skills helps us to several functions. It can be used to compliment the
avoid plagiarism.” This means that the Basic verbal message, to reinforce verbal messages and to
Communication Skills module had developed the contradict them. This knowledge has helped me to
students into real scholars who knew the importance meaningfully make sense to non-verbal cues that are
of acknowledging the works of other academics. used by individuals during oral communication.”
Student 3 in FGD 4 said, “I am now a totally Non-verbal communication is part of oral
different person as the Basic Communication Skills communication and the response above indicates that
module has facilitated my transition from high school communication skills training had enabled Student 4
to university. I now read what scholars say about a in FGD 4 to observe non-verbal cues when somebody
specific subject and acknowledge them both in-text is making an oral presentation and that facilitated his
and on the terminal reference page.” From these decoding of oral messages. This, therefore, means
findings, it can be noted that the participants that these students had no regrets in doing the module
acknowledged the benefits of undergoing basic despite the fact that other students in the Engineering
communication skills training despite the fact that Faculty were not doing it.
their level one counterparts in the Faculty of
Engineering were not doing it. In fact, most of the To assess how seriously the students took the
participants (as noted in some of their responses module, the researchers also made observations on
discussed earlier) felt that their Engineering their punctuality for the Basic Communication Skills

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Students’ perceptions of Basic Communication Skills training at a selected state university in Zimbabwe

lectures, level of preparedness for group and lecture, the group representative requested for time to
individual tasks as well as levels of participation thank their lecturer for teaching the basic things
during lectures. During the first three weeks of their which mattered in their day to day operations as
semester, the researchers observed that some students university students. She indicated that, the Basic
would come ten to fifteen minutes into the lecture. Communication Skills module was one of the most
However, as time went on, most of them became important modules that the students do in their first
more punctual. Some students had to ‘confess’ to semester of their studies as it prepared them for a
these researchers during the focus group discussions meaningful academic journey. This shows that, the
that, at the beginning they never took the module participants perceived basic communication skills
seriously because they thought it was a repetition of training was indispensable in the life of a university
what they had covered at Advanced Level but they student and this seems to suggest that those who did
now viewed it differently owing to the numerous not undergo the same training were at a loss.
benefits they had realised . However, in FGD 5, two
participants still felt that the module was a repetition 8. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
of the content covered at Advanced Level The research has shown that basic communication
Communication Skills so it was a waste of their skills training plays a critical role in preparing
valuable time. Interestingly, the other participants in students for university life and beyond, and those
the same FGD refuted the idea saying that those who doing it at Victoria State University perceived it as
felt that the module was a waste of time did not such. Through the training they got from the module,
attend all lectures and if they did, they were late on participants had developed in all the facets of
almost all occasions. Student 1 (FGD 5) said, “For communicative competence as propounded by
one to fully enjoy the benefits of the Basic Hymes (1972). Those in the Faculty of Engineering
Communication Skills module, they should be equally need the basic communication skills training
committed and be serious. If one is not serious like to facilitate their academic and professional growth.
some of us here, it will be difficult for them to realise Thus, it can be concluded that, if handled properly,
the benefits that come along with the module.” This the Basic Communication Skills module can offer
seems to suggest that, amongst the participants there meaningful benefits to both the students doing it and
were some who did not value the Basic the lecturers in different subject areas as the students
Communication Skills module and that could be the would write well researched, well punctuated and
reason why they deliberately chose not to attend all coherent assignments. These findings add to existing
lectures or to be late for the lectures. However, those literature from scholars such as …who have
who attended all lectures had come to realise that it emphasised the need to offer communication skills
was a worthwhile endeavour as they had fully training to tertiary education students so that they can
benefitted from undergoing the course. These become better communicators at university and
findings, therefore, show that the basic ultimately, in the world of work. However, the study
communication skills training helps students to was only limited to one state university in Zimbabwe
develop communicative competence in the English and it is our proposal that further research looks at
Language (Hymes, 1972) which is indispensable for more institutions so that the results could be
university students in an ESL setting like Zimbabwe. generalisable.

On the level of preparedness for group and individual Basing on these findings, the researchers recommend
tasks, the researchers observed that twelve out of a that Victoria State University considers offering the
total of thirteen groups had thoroughly prepared for Basic Communication Skills module to all students
their group tasks. They did not make any excuses across its faculties so that they too can achieve
when they were asked to present their specific tasks communicative competence which is useful in their
to the class. It was only one group which kept day to day communications during and after
postponing its presentation dates because they were university. It is also recommended that proper
either not ready or they had ‘forgotten’ the orientation of level one students be done so that they
presentation paper at home. This was a reflection of could perceive all modules in the same light and not
lack of preparedness due to lack of interest in the to view other modules as less important. In addition
module because their colleagues confirmed that they to that, Basic Communication Skills lecturers should
were serious in other modules. Serve for these two, make their lectures interesting and they should use a
the rest of the class presented on their allocated dates variety of methods so that students can fully benefit
and there were meaningful discussions after each from the invaluable contribution that the module
presentation. The researchers also noted that, overall, offers for those undertaking their university studies.
participation was high during lectures. In their last

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