UNIVERSITI KUALA LUMPUR

MALAYSIA FRANCE INSTITUTE

WEB20302
PROFESSIONAL ENGLISH 2

INSERT DEPT/SECTION NAME

STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE COMMUNICATION NEEDS AT

WORKPLACE

By

1. NAME STUDENT ID PROGRAM

2. NAME STUDENT ID PROGRAM
3. NAME STUDENT ID PROGRAM

DATE OF SUBMISSION:

SUPERVISED BY:
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In the name of Allah SWT, the Most Gracious and the Most Merciful.

This research project would not have been possible without the support of many people. I wish to
express highest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr.Richard Henderson who was abundantly helpful
and offered invaluable assistance, support and guidance.

I would like to thank my family members especially my spouse, my children, my parents, my

siblings and my parents in laws for the endless support and motivation in driving me through the
completion of this project paper.

My project paper would not have been a success without the support from my office superiors
and colleagues. I also would like to thank my close friends and my course mates at UniKL MFI
who may have directly or indirectly contributed to my project paper.

May Allah S.W.T. bless you.

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 ABSTRACT

This study investigates the English Oral communication skills required by the welding
students. Engineering students require a range of English communication skills in order
to perform efficiently at their workplace. Most studies emphasizes on importance of
good English oral communication skill in industries. Therefore, this study aimed to
investigate the communicative tasks and events that require English oral
communication skills in welding industry. Survey questionnaires were collected from 83
Fabrication and Joining students who possess working experience in the welding
industry. The findings identified the specific oral communication skills required by
welding students at the workplace. The pedagogical implication of the study specified
that workplace scenarios should be incorporated into curriculum design and
instructional delivery of English courses in order to aid engineering students to perform
well academically and professionally.

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Contents

Description page number

Acknowledgments i

Abstract ii

Contents iii

List of Tables and Figures iv

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 2

3. Methodology 4

4. Findings and Discussion 4

5. Conclusions 8

6. Recommendations 9

7. Reference list / Bibliography 10

8. Appendix 1 11

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List of Tables

Description page number

1. Demographic profile 4

9. Important English Language Skills in the Workplace 5

10. Importance of English communication skills for employment 6

11. Frequency of English oral communication skills required in the workplace 7

List of Figures

1. Title for your first figure

12. Title for your second figure

13. Title for your third figure

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background Information

Globalization and internationalization have contributed to the

wide spread use of English in the workplace. The English
language has not only become a language used for
communicating with global business partners (Riemer, 2018)
but also significant to be used in daily operations among
employees (Warschauer, 2017). Similarly, in the engineering
context, English oral communication skills have become a daily
necessity for an engineer (Riemer, 2017). In order to face new
challenges, new opportunities, and on-going varied
circumstances, new engineers have to continually adapt and
upgrade necessarily skills required by the industry (Azami et al.,
2016).
Inadequate and ineffective communication skills may hinder
graduates from being employed and it would also hamper
engineers’ opportunities for career progression. Therefore, this
research aims to investigate needs of English Language
Communication skills at Workplace.

1.2 Purpose

The objectives of this study is/are:

1. To determine students’ perceptions on language use in the
professional workplace
2. To identify English oral communication skills required in the
workplace

1.3 Scope

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 A sample of 20 respondents were randomly selected for
the survey. The selection was made based on the different age
and working experience.
2.1 Literature Review

2.1 English language in Malaysia workplace

English is becoming the lingua franca of the modern world at

a fast rate and its global dominance encourages many speakers of
other languages to gain at least a working use of the language in
many fields (Wilson, 2015). Studies of the English language needs
in the workplace conducted in Malaysia suggest that graduate
workers require English language skills in order to communicate
effectively in the workplace as the main language for
communication among them is English (Omar, Basri & Isa, 2017).
As a result, Malaysian workers are required to possess effective
English language skills in order to fit the organizational demands of
companies as well as to complete various tasks in their workplaces.

2.2 English Language Needs for Engineers

English is widely used for communication in workplace and

the term ‘language needs’ is used by researchers to describe
studies which investigate in detail the nature of language needed by
certain employees in workplaces (Kaewpet, 2018; Kassim and Ali,
2015, Sarudin (2017). English language needs for engineers can be
studied and analyzed from engineers’ involvement in
communicative events in engineering workplaces (Kawpet, 2018;
Kassim and Ali, 2015; Moslehifar and Ibrahim, 2016). Language
and workplace communication researchers began to analyze
communicative events which refer to situation or tasks where
engineers need to use English language in order to execute their
workplace responsibilities.

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2.3 English Oral Communication for Engineers at Workplace

The importance of English oral communication in the

engineering workplace have been proven through an extensive
amount of literature and previous studies (Hart-Rawung & Lynne,
2017; Kaewpet, 2018, Lehtonen & Karjalainen, 2018;Myles, 2019;
Smythe & Nikolai, 2015; Kakepoto et al. 2016). Most studies
emphasizes on English oral communication skill than written
communication in industries. According to Kassim and Ali (2015),
Malaysian employers expect employees to possess and
demonstrate their English oral skill as early as at the recruitment
interview stage. In the Malaysian workplace context, Bhattacharyya,
Nordin and Salleh (2019), discovered that English oral
communication is important in meetings, in team events and in non-
technical discussions.

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 3.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This study was carried out at Universiti Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

France Institute (UniKL MFI) which is located in Bandar Baru Bangi,
Selangor for 2 months. 20 respondents from various social background
were selected randomly. The researcher distributed 1 set of questionnaire
which consists of 3 sections with total of 10 questions.

4.0 DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

This chapter presents the findings of this study based on the objectives
identified earlier in the report. Data collected from the questionnaire were
collected and analyzed. The findings of the study are presented in the forms
of tables and figures for easy reference and significant results are further
discussed and analyzed in detail in this chapter.

4.1 Demographic Profile of the Respondents

A total of 20 valid questionnaires were obtained, indicating an acceptable

response rate. The distribution of the respondents over the different types of age
and working experience is presented in Table 1.
Table 1: Amount of questionnaires distributed according to age and working
experience
Age (A) 18-20 20-22 23-25 More than Total
25 WE:
Working experience (WE) 100%

3 - 6 months 2 5 2 0 45%
6 month – 1 year 0 4 3 0 35%
1 – 3 years 0 2 0 0 10%

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3 – 5 years 0 0 2 0 10%
More than 5 years 0 0 0 0 0
Total A: 100% 10% 55% 35% 0

4.1.1 Age
About 55% of the respondents were 20-22 years old. 35% is 23-25 years
old and another 10% of the respondents were 18-20 years old.
4.1.2 Duration of Working Experience

Table 1 also indicates that 45% of the respondents had 3-6 months
duration of working experience. Another 35% had 6 months to 1 year of
working experience. On the other hand, only 20% of the respondents had
more than 1 year of working experience. Most of the respondents gained
the working experience during their industrial training upon completion of
Diploma program.

4.2 Students’ Perceptions on Language Use in the Professional

Workplace

4.2.1 Important English Language Skills in the Workplace

Table 2: Students’ Opinion on Important English Language Skills in the Workplace

The above table represents students’ opinion about the importance of the English
language skills in the workplace. Of the four language skills, the percentage
which is 60% shows that speaking skills were perceived to be the most important.
This is followed by reading skills with 22%, listening skills that is 11% and writing
skills which is 7%. According to Tilli and Trevelyan (2018), engineers spend most
of their time communicating with people in the workplace. Thus, it increases the
demand for effective oral communication skills among engineering graduates in
order to perform workplace tasks successfully and productively.

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 4.2.2 Importance of English communication skills for employment
Table 3: students’ opinion on Importance of English communication skills for
employment

Table 3 illustrates the importance of engineering employees’ English

communication skills based on three aspects: recruitment, promotion and daily
tasks. The respondents claimed that English is considered more important for
recruitment and promotion compared to daily tasks. Based on the results, 33.7%
of the respondents identified that English communication skills are extremely
important for promotion followed by recruitment, 20.5% and daily task, 18.1%.
Nevertheless, some respondents which are 8.4% claimed that English
communication skills are not important for daily tasks. The data coherent with
Kassim and Ali (2015) explanation that employers in the engineering industry
perceived engineers’ communication skills as so important that potential
employees are measured based on their oral communication skills even during
recruitment.

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 4.3 English Oral Communication Skills Required in the Workplace

4.3.1 Students’ view on English oral communication skills

required in the workplace

Table 4: Frequency of English oral communication skills required in

the workplace

Through the findings obtained as tabulated in Table 4, it can be seen that all
tasks listed require the use of English oral communication skills. In contrast,
certain tasks do not require frequent use of the skills. The results also reveals
that the respondents generally did not use English oral communication skills for
informal communicative tasks or situations. The tasks in which some of the
respondents claimed that they never use English oral communication skills
include discussing work-related matters informally (12%), teleconferencing (6%),
negotiating with team members (6%), resolving conflict (5%), working in team
(3.6%), conversing informally and socially and building relationships (2%
respectively), networking: developing contacts for advice and information,
communicating via telephone and present new ideas (1% respectively). All the
tasks excluding conversing informally and socially have been perceived by the
respondents as the tasks that require them to always use oral English
communication skills in which giving oral presentations shows the highest
percentage (28%) followed by negotiating with clients/customers (21%),

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instructing, explaining and demonstrating (20%), present new ideas (16%) and
discussing work-related matters formally (13.2%).

5.0 CONCLUSIONS

The following conclusions can be made based on the findings.

5.1 The findings revealed that speaking was considered to be the

most important English language skills. The data also shown
that English communication skills were perceived as extremely
important for promotion and recruitment however, not really
significant for daily tasks.

5.2 Results of the study indicated that the workplace tasks listed in
the survey questionnaires are acknowledged by the respondents
as the tasks that require the use of English oral communication
skills. However, certain tasks such as informal discussion on
work-related matters, participation in teleconferencing,
negotiating with team members, resolving conflict, working in
team, conversing informally and socially and building
relationships do not require frequent use of the skills.

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6.0 RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the findings and conclusions of the study, the following are
several
recommendations to be considered:

6.1 UniKL MFI should develop English for Specific Purpose (ESP) for
engineering technology students.

6.2 UniKL MFI must collaborate with industries and conduct more
research in gaining data pertaining to specific skills required to be
mastered by graduates.

6.3 UniKL MFI can organize more interactive programs that will provide
opportunity for students to improve their English oral communication
skills.

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 REFERENCES

Azami Zaharima, Ibrahim Ahmad Yuzainee, Md Yusoffb, & Mohd Zaidi Omarc. (2018)
Evaluating the Soft Skills Performed by Applicants of Malaysian Engineer..
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 60 ( 2018 ) 522 – 52. Retrieved from
www.sciencedirect.com

Chang, M. (20015). Why some graduates are more marketable than others [PowerPoint
slides].

JobStreet.com. (2015). Survey on managers on why they did not hire some fresh
graduates. Retrieved from
http://pesona.mmu.edu.my/~ytbau/tes3211/job_survey_2005.pdf

Joesba, M., & Ardeo, G. (2015), Student engineers, ESP courses, and testing with Cloze
Tests. ESP World, 2 (10). Retrieved from http://www.esp-world.info/contents.htm

Kaur, S., & Hua, L. (2016). Analyzing workplace oral communication needs in English
among IT graduates. ESP World, 1 (12). Retrieved from
http://www.espworld.info/Articles_12/Oral%20Communication%20among

Kassim, H. & Ali, F. (2015). English communicative events and skills needed at the
workplace: Feedback from the industry. English for Specific Purposes, 29(3), 168-
182.

Kementerian Pengajian Tinggi (2015). Pelan Tindakan Pengajian Tinggi Negara Fasa 2
(2011-2015).Retrieved from http://www.mohe.gov.my/portal/penerbitan.html

Mohammad Salehi (2017). Investigating the English Language Needs of Engineering

Students. Retrieved from http://www.esp-
world.info/articles_31/needs_analysis_salehi.pdf

Mustafa, R. & Greenam, J. (2015). The role of vocational education in economic

development in Malaysia:educators' and employers' perspectives. Journal of

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 APENDIX 1

SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE

The following questionnaire is designed to obtain information on Students’ Perception regarding

English Language Communication Needs at Workplace. Your answers will be kept confidential.
Thank you for your time in completing the questionnaire.

SECTION A: BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Tick (√) only one box

1) Age

18-20 years 21-23 years 23-25 years More than 25 years

2) Duration of Working experience (refers to previous working experience or industrial

training/practical training)

1-3 months
3-6 months
6 months – 1 year
1 – 3 years
3-5 years
More than 5 years

SECTION B: VIEWS ON LANGUAGE USE IN THE PROFESSIONAL WORKPLACE

1) Which English language skill is considered the most important in your workplace?
Listening Speaking

Reading Writing

2) How important are employees’ oral (speaking) English communication skills for the
following:

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 Extremely Important Moderately Not Completely
important important important not
important
Recruitment
Promotion
Daily tasks at
workplace

SECTION C: ENGLISH ORAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS REQUIRED IN

THE WORKPLACE

1) How frequently is English used for the following tasks

Always Very Sometimes Rarely Never

Often
1)Discussing work-
related matters
informally
2)Discussing work
related matters formally
3)Teleconferencing
4)Conversing
informally and socially
5)Giving oral
presentations
6)Networking :
developing contacts for
advice and information
7)Instructing,
explaining and
demonstrating
8)Communicating via
telephone
9)Present new
ideas/alternative
strategies
10)Building
relationships
11)Resolving conflict
12)Negotiating with
team members
13)Negotiating with
clients /customers
14)Working in team

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B-1-