A Comparative Study of the Buddha Defeats Māra in the Buddha-carita Mahākāvya and the Lalitavistara

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to investigate the problems of English communicative skills encountered by undergraduate Chinese students studying at Guangxi University of Foreign Languages and to develop guidelines for the enhancement of English communicative skills of undergraduate Chinese students at Guangxi University of Foreign Languages. This research was considered a mixed-methods research study conducted at Guangxi University of Foreign Languages. The respondents were divided into two groups: undergraduate Chinese students and teachers at Guangxi University of Foreign Languages in the academic year 2025. Two research instruments were employed: 1) a questionnaire for investigating problems of English communicative skills and 2) focus group discussions for evaluating development guidelines. The data collected were analyzed through statistical and content analysis methods and presented in terms of frequency count, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. The results indicated that: 1) The problems of English communicative skills encountered by undergraduate Chinese students were found at the highest level, including difficulties in oral communication fluency, limited vocabulary for spontaneous conversation, anxiety in communicative situations, and insufficient exposure to authentic communicative contexts. 2) The guidelines for the development of English communicative skills were categorized into comprehensive frameworks addressing learner-centered strategies, instructor-mediated approaches, classroom environment optimization, and authentic material integration to enhance overall communicative competence.