Chat Hour in Improving Fluency and Confidence among the IPGKBA Teacher Trainees

Abstract

‘Chat Hour’ is an initiative organised by the English Language Department, Institute of Teacher Training, International Languages Campus (IPGKBA) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was conducted online via YouTube by TESL teacher trainees. The main purpose of this programme is to provide TESL students the opportunity to improve their fluency when speaking in public as well as to provide them the opportunity to practice English confidently. This program tried to bring up the aspirations stated in the Ministry of Education (MOE) Malaysia English Language Roadmap (20152025), which presents the importance of higher education institutions to provide an English-rich environment in order for tertiary students to have greater engagement with the language, outside the bounds of the formal settings in the classroom. The findings of this study show that the ‘Chat Hour with IPGKBA’ provided a positive experience, which contributed to improving their fluency and confidence when using the language. This study provides insight into the teacher trainees’ perception towards the ‘Chat Hour’ programme in terms of developing their fluency and confidence.