1 ISBN: 987-81-923661-0-4 A. R. S. Jayanth and S. Soundiraraj (2012) DEVELOPING GROUP DISCUSSION SKILLS OF THE ENGINEERING STUDENTS A. R. S. Jayanth PhD Research Scholar Anna University Chennai India Dr. S. Soundiraraj Assistant Professor Anna University Chennai India Abstract Team work and team spirit are the buzz words of any institution in the era of modern technology. Group Discussion (GD) skills are crucial for all candidates especially engineers who have to work as committed members of the team to accomplish the projects assigned to them. This paper presents the findings of the experimental study using some appropriate language activities for developing the speaking skills of the students. Introduction In campus placement, the recruiters give utmost importance to Group Discussion (GD) skills as they are indispensable for team work that has become a major aspect of work culture in reputed companies. Most of the students from engineering institutions possess extensive knowledge in science and technology; nevertheless, they do not seem to be good in GD skills because of lack of exposure to these skills. They can work as responsible team members only if they have excellent communication skills. The present scenario suggests that they need to be trained through language activities that promote their GD skills. The lectures on structure of GD and the rules generally followed in the discussion may give only an outline of the GD. But the activities that involve the students in the process of group discussion alone will help them acquire the GD skills. This paper aims to list some language activities designed by the researchers for the experimental study and discusses the impact of these activities on the GD skills of the students.