Abstract:
This article is about the perceived importance of communication skills courses among Tanzanian
university students. A total of 134 undergraduate students, randomly selected from two Tanzanian
universities, were involved in this study. The study adopted a case study design in order to have an
in-depth understanding of the phenomenon under investigation. The data were collected through
interview schedules and they were analysed using thematic content analysis in which they were
coded and classified according to themes generated from the responses. The findings revealed that
communication skills courses were perceived by the majority of the respondents as important
courses for the acquisition of communication skills needed in academic settings. It is recommended
that universities should strive to improve the delivery of the courses by ensuring that both human
and material resources are adequately available for the purpose of enabling students to benefit more
from the courses
