Abstract:

Malaysian teachers are trained at various public institution under supervision of the Ministry of Education. Each higher institution has its own curriculum and approaches in preparing future educators based on their philosophy and expertise. An analysis of courses offered and training syllabus would reveal that future teachers are not being exposed to proper communication skill which is an integral part of teaching profession. Most institution course focuses mainly on content materials, teaching philosophy and pedagogical knowledge and practice. Constructivist proponents contended that effective teaching and learning depends mainly on successful communication between the teacher and the learner. It is during that interaction teachers facilitate students learning by providing proper guidance or specifically known as scaffolding. Teachers also need to interact with their peers, administrators, parents and society. This paper will discuss research findings based on communication skills among trainee teachers enrolled in Malaysian public universities. It is hope that such findings and discussion would help to transform trainee teacher programs in the country

Keywords:

Communication skills, trainee teachers.