Malaysian Graduates English Adequacy in the Job Sector

Abstract

Historically, the use of the English Language in Malaysia, then Malaya, dates back to the Colonial times. This shows there has been a legacy of English usage in the nation. Recently, in view of globalization and increasing competition among nations in the world, there has been a renewed emphasis on the importance of English. This study hopes to provide some feedback from four industries in Kemaman about the adequacy of our new graduates. This study focused on two GLCs and two private sector companies in Kemaman, Terengganu. However, the findings can be applicable to companies throughout the country, be they GLC’s, government or private sector. Although only 115 respondents from the supervisory level upwards have been selected as the sample, these 115 respondents can be representative of the work sector not only in Kemaman, Terengganu but in the entire nation. Based on the findings, the speaking, writing, social skills and overall English proficiency of new graduates were found to be not adequate. Future researchers should focus on the need for a new syllabus design which gives scope for the development of soft skills such as interpersonal skills, speaking skills and socializing skills

Urban English Learners’ Perceptions Towards the Influence of Second Language Identity on Employment Opportunities in Malaysia

“…The most cited explanation was "most employers hire fluent English speakers", "English proficiency is important to impress employers" and "ideal job requires English language skills". This has been cited by studies on English language and employment in Malaysia in the past two decades, such as, Ball and Chik (2001), Sarudin et al (2008), Lim (2010), Sekharan Nair et al (2012), Roshid andChowdhury's (2013), andSelvaratnam (2019). All these studies agreed that English language proficiency was crucial for employment in Malaysia and now with this study's participants nodding in unison as well.…”

“…On English language and employment opportunities in Malaysia, Sekharan Nair et al (2012) investigated the possibility of lack of English proficiency contributing to poor market value among new graduates in Malaysia as well as to identify the aspects of the language proficiency skills that was most favored by the Malaysian work sector. The results surmised that the lack of English proficiency might lead to occupational segregation and affected employment prospects in Malaysia.…”

“…The rejection of learning the English language due to identity issues could in turn jeopardise an individual's job opportunities, especially as English language is considered to be important among employers (e.g., Ting et al, 2017;Zainuddin et al, 2019). According to Sekharan Nair et al (2012), the lack of English proficiency may lead to occupational segregation and affect employment prospects in Malaysia. If this persists, there will be limitations to urban English learners' employment opportunities as there will be a lack of awareness of one's second language identity as well as the influence it may have on employment prospects.…”

ESL Learners’ Challenges in Speaking English in Malaysian Classroom

“…It is fairly obvious that ESL students have little opportunity to use English outside the classroom, especially in the non-English language. According to Krishnan et al (2012), curriculum designers and policymakers should take a look at the current curriculum, which focuses on workbook drilling to learn grammatical precision. Students are being deprived of this form of learning when it comes to real-world communication.…”

English Language Speaking Anxiety, Self-Confidence and Perceived Ability among Science and Technology Undergraduate Students: A Rasch Analysis

“…Overall, extensive research has shown that undergraduate students have low proficiency (i.e. not up to the desired levels) in the English language (Ismail, 2011;Musa et al, 2012;Nair et al, 2012, Rusli et al, 2018. The language competence of Malaysian undergraduates is still a long way from satisfactory level though they have learned English for 11 to 13 years in schools (David et al, 2015).…”