This article provides an account of a study which set out to explore methodological issues associated with the development of oral skills on a Bar Vocational Course at the University of the West of England, Bristol, UK. The study involved overseas law students who were exposed to traditional teaching approaches involving teacher-led drills and exercises and to a task-based approach which placed an emphasis on message conveyance and learner-owned language. The study indicates that in the short term overseas students may benefit most from approaches--essentially teacher-led--that clearly connect with previous learning and teaching experiences, but that a task-based approach may be capable of providing learners with greater long-term benefits in terms of language skills. (Contains 7 notes.)