Challenges of Developing Communicative Competence among Iraqi EFL Undergraduate Student

Abstract

Research in the field of English language as a foreign language (EFL) has been consistently highlighting the need for communicative competence skills among students. Accompanied by the validated positive impact of technologies on students’ skills’, this study aims to explore the strategies used by EFL students in enhancing their communicative competence using digital platforms and identify the factors of developing communicative competence using digital platforms (linguistic factors, environmental factors, psychological factors, and university-related factors). The mixed-method research design was utilized to obtain data from Iraqis undergraduate EFL students. The study was conducted in the Iraqi university in Baghdad Iraq. EFL undergraduate students from the English department from the second-year grade constituted the population of the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 EFL students to explore students’ usage of digital platforms to enhance communicative competence. Convenient sampling technique was used to select the students. The data of the interviews were analysed thematically using QSR NVivo software. Also, survey questionnaire was demonstrated to the sample of the study to identify the challenges of developing. 150 EFL students participated in the study sampled using proportional sampling method. SPSS software was also used to analyse the data. The findings showed that students used digital platforms to develop grammar accuracy, pronunciation, vocabulary, cohesion and coherence, punctuation, and spelling. On the other hand, the challenging factors identified are grouped in four categories which are linguistic factors, environmental factors, psychological factors, and university-related factors. The findings of the study offer new insight for future directions research and recommendation to the university management as these findings could be the cornerstones of the planning for successful implementation of digital platforms in teaching and learning English in general and communicative competence in specific.