How Debates Improve Communication Skills in Business: EFL Students’ Perspectives

There is a growing need for English language students to practice the essential skills of communication inside and outside the EFL classroom, precisely business students who are demanded to master communication skills by the end of their university study years. There is a gap in recent research on the topic of the cognitive and affective communication benefits of debates in business EFL classes which this paper is trying to fill. For the purpose of examining business EFL students’ perspectives on the effectiveness of using debates in developing their communication skills, a survey instrument was designed to collect data. The survey was sent by email. 40 students filled in the survey and participation was voluntary. The survey was conducted within Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) context. The results showed promising advantages of this pedagogical tool and gave insight into the underlying communicative potential that can go unnoticed in the day-to-day teaching and learning routine, such as critical thinking skills, negotiation and creativity.