BARRIERS TO ENGLISH SPEAKING PROFICIENCY AMONG UNDERGRADUATE NURSING STUDENTS IN KARACHI: A QUALITATIVE STUDY

The importance of developing good English-speaking skills for safe practice cannot be overstated among nursing undergraduate students in clinical setting. There are some challenges experienced by nursing students when trying to develop these skills. Therefore, it becomes vital to enhance these students’ speaking proficiency in English language. This study aims to explore nursing students’ perception of the challenges faced in developing English speaking proficiency. This study employs a qualitative phenomenological design to explore the barriers to English speaking proficiency among undergraduate nursing students. A purposive sampling method was used to select the participant until data saturation is achieved. The research instrument is used a semi structured interview where open ended questions are constructed to align with the themes of Bandura’s Self Efficacy theory such as performance experiences, vicarious experiences, social persuasion, imagination and physiological factors. Audio recorder is used to record all interviews followed by transcription of the interviews. The analysis of data is done by using thematic analysis approach where initial coding, theme development and interpretation are based on Bandura’s Self efficacy Theory. Ethical consideration was made to ensure that informed consent is obtained from all selected participants, confidentiality and anonymity were maintained at all levels of research. The finding of this study highlighted the main barriers to English speaking proficiency among undergraduate student is the confidence level, having few words available, fear of making a mistake and feeling anxious when communicating in a clinical setting. Participants used strategies like simplifying words, role models or mentors and peer-assisted practice to cope with these barriers and acknowledged that proficiency in English will be crucial to their career advancement. The findings of this study underscore the importance of providing support, guidance and preparing students emotionally for their challenges as they face the barrier to speaking English. Identifying specific types of interventions to enhance communication abilities among nursing students has been established through this research. However, future studies will be needed to identify what long-term interventions can improve language proficiency and quality of patient care.