Being able to communicate effectively is a much sought after skill by employers in today’s globalised workudcontexts. This article examines the types of oral communication difficulties faced by Diploma level ESLudlearners. This study also analysed the types of communication strategies used by the students to cope withudspeaking and listening problems during English oral communication activities. With these research objectives, audquestionnaire known as the Oral Communication Strategies Inventory (OCSI) was distributed to 100 Diplomaudof Hotel Management students at the UiTM branch campus in Penang. Following that, 16 students from theudtotal population were interviewed and they also took part in a journal writing activity to explain the difficultiesudthey encounter when engaging in English conversation with others. The results revealed that difficultiesudoccurred due to learners’ lack of English language knowledge. It was also found that learners are keen to getudinvolved in English oral communication activities and most of them negotiate meaning with the interlocutors toudunderstand the intended messages. The implications of this study suggest that teachers should be more creativeudin constructing interactive learning experiences for their students and teach coping strategies as part ofudstudents’ repertories of oral communication skills.
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