Many Malaysian have difficulty communicating in English in the workplace, especially when it

comes to business-related matters.

1/ Do you agree or disagree with the above statement?
2/ Does this applies to both oral and written communication?
1/ Do you agree or disagree with the above statement?
I agree with the statement saying that Malaysians are facing problems communicating in
English in their workplace. The higher someone holds a position in a company, the importance of
communicating in English becomes more demanding. Sometimesability to speak this language
can be one of the criteria for someone to get promotion in his workplace. Being able to
communicate or being proficient in English is the opposite of having difficulty in that
language.In Malaysian workplacewhen proficiency in English is concern means someone has
high levels of knowledge, ability to communicate, think, and also learn in that language.
A simple pass in English is not enough. Job promotions, civil service jobs, university
entrance, and scholarships require mandatory and higher competency level in English. Salaries
too can differ depending on how proficient a person is in English.
Although English is the fourth widely spoken language in the world behind Mandarin but
as a second language, the importance of English especially in Malaysian workplace is quite
important.
2/ Does this applies to both oral and written communication?
The difficulty to communicate in English in the workplace I presume happens both in
speaking and writing. I have always heard people saying that they can write in English but did
poor when speaking. I think they just undervalue their verbal proficiency whileexaggerate their
writing proficiency in English.
People first learn a language when they speak. It comes naturally. It happens when they
are exposed to the language for a sometime. Where else when people learn to write they need to
have knowledge of spelling and grammar. Speaking can be done informally and sentences that
we use are simpler compared to writing. If message is unclear the one who send the message can

quickly respond.On the other hand for written communication, the writer receives no has to
Writers, on the other hand, work in solitary, receives no fast feedback and must have knowledge
of their readers to elaborate about a given subject.
In a study by Kassim and Ali (2010), the significant role of oral communication skills in
multinational companies was reported by between 71 to 80 percent of the respondents. They
ranked the usage of oral communication skills in multinational companies as follows; telephone
conversation, informal work related discussions, meetings, giving oral presentations, explaining
and demonstrating to subordinates and other colleagues. Higher Institutions in Malaysia are
seeking to generate creative managers in different fields to meet the needs of thriving resources
in various situations. In fact, at present, one of the key objectives in Malaysian higher institutions
is to generate large number of graduates with high ability to communicate effectively at the
workplace. To achieve this goal, higher institutions are attempting to design language programs
with a focus on communicative skills.
In a research among engineering students shows more than half of the them reported that
they had difficulties in writing. The most problematic writing sub-skill was writing
grammatically correct sentences (71%), followed by choosing suitable words (66%), as well as
developing and organizing their writing (56.5%). The writing sub-skill with the least problem as
reported by the students was linking sentences in a paragraph (46.8%), followed by spelling
correctly (47.7%), and combining paragraphs in an essay (47.7%).
Malaysians in general have a basic knowledge of English language but communicating
confidently is still a problem. In Malaysian company, employers are not very happy by
"generation Y" who are job seekers but generally have a poor command of the English language.
Adding to this, they are also incapable to handle stress, and not patient enough to climb the
position in their workplace.
In a survey done by Malaysian Employers Federation secretary DatukShamsudinBardan
said that its members found that 60% of the job seekers has low English proficiency as the main
problem with young recruits. While a similar survey found that manyworkersin the companies
said that poor command of the English language was their main problem in their workplace.
They could not even hold a conversation in English.

When the job applicants could not speak English and when among them were to get the
job the situation is critical. If this happens in the hotel industry a special English-language course
has to be the solution for their new employee.
In a survey done among Malaysians in their workplace revels how their writing is also
weakening. In presentation of the message they use uppercase letters not according to the correct
system. The messages were printed entirely in uppercase letters. It is not easy to read and the
workers seems were not alert of their incorrect use.
In paragraphing too, the workers sometimes have short paragraphs of just one or two
lines where else in the following paragraph the text have more than 30 lines. In many business
texts they should follow recommended paragraph length to make a good presentation.
Another mistake made by Malaysian workers is the Headings and Paragraph Numbering
of their message. Again evidences show that their messages were hard to read and would result
in difficulty in understanding them. The most noticeable error made by them is grammar. They
seems to mixed-up or did not have a good grasp of the main parts of grammar speech such as
noun, adjective, verb tenses and word order for posing questions. Here are some examples;
Noun/adjective confusion: MALAYSIA GOODS should read MALAYSIAN GOODS.
Verb tense: HAVE TOOK should read HAVE TAKEN
Word order for questions: WHAT WE MUST DO? should read WHAT MUST WE DO?
The Tone of a text can determined whether customers of a company are willing to
continuetheir relationship with that company. The use of suitable tone was an essential issue as it
helps an effective relationship between the company and their customer. The usage of auxiliaries
including must, just or could has an impact without the workers being aware of it.
The use of sentence linkers or connectives made paragraphs well organized and easy to
understand when read. The use of but, also and besides, was not use effectively by the Malaysian
in their workplace which could lead to misunderstanding and shows of careless attitude by the
reader.

3/ What are some possible causes of this situation?

Firstly, the main problem lies in the social group. Malaysians communicate with one
another in the language which they are well verse and most comfortable with. The language
Malaysians choose to use to communicate is their mother tongue: Chinese, Malay, or Tamil.
According to a survey in 2001, only 2% of Malaysians (less than 400,000 people) have English
as their first language
Malaysians are proud of their mother tongue because it is a part of their culture.
Malaysians in general use English in business or politics as it is a foreign language and that
people who speak English frequently are the elite groups. In other words, Malaysians learn their
mother tongue because it is part of their culture and English as a foreign language to be used
only in official or formal occasions.
Secondly, another significant problem or reason why English proficiency is low in
Malaysia is the lack of practice among Malaysians. The mastery of English requires frequent and
continued practice. It is not enough only to learn English during English period at school.
Malaysianmust apply a language in their everyday lives by practicing the language. In is done
via speaking and writing of the language outside school as well. This is what is not happening in
this country especially among school leavers, university graduate and job seekers.
Malaysian has to start thinking about the broad meaning of education. Educationdoes not
only start and ends at schools. We must exploit the parents factor which has a large impact on
childreneducation success. Parents must be aware of what is being taught at school and how their
child is performing in school. Through that way the parents can do any necessary treatmentor
encourage learning strengths in their child.
Studies have shown that an important factor in the success of a childs learning isin how
well the parents monitor their childs learning. The parents involvement of their childs learning
progress is very important. In this case, Malaysian parents are busy working and haveneglected
their childrens education. Many valuable hours which can be filled with the parents monitoring
their children English language development is not being exploited.

Next, not many parents take serious measures to make their children able to practice
English. As they do not speak English at home, their children were left without the problem
being solved. The children should be enrolled in English classes or in social activities where
English is widely spoken among the students. There is no initiative from parents to send their
children in social activities where English is spoken casually among its members or participants.
Put the children in an environment where English is spoken intensively. When the children enjoy
what they are doing gradually their mastery of language could be instilled without they knowing
it.
Then, another problem is that Malaysianis embarrassed to speak in English, especially
when they are not sure on their grammar and pronunciation and afraid they might say the wrong
thing. They would feel embarrass to speak the language for fear of being evaluated by their
teachers or by their peers. Nevertheless, this is the way to become a successful proficiency
English speaker. There is no secret technique to climb the ladder of mastering English but it takes
hard work and practice and hard work.
I have heard of stories where a fresh graduate entering the university and he was not used
to speaking in English. Yet, six months later that determined-graduate was conversing in fluent
English. It is said that some students underestimate their ability in English. It sometimes takes
some forcetowards them to speak and finally they will speak in English. It might not be perfect
English, but it is a good improvement. Besides, with more practice their English would surely
improve.
However, in another story a student tried to speak to her other friends in English. But she
was treated as an outsider because her friends felt it uncomfortable to speak in English among
friends outside their formal class. Unfortunately, this is the social element on why English
proficiency is declining in Malaysia. Many Malaysians see English like a foreign language, not
part of their culture. It is being spoken in official or international activities, and a language used
only by elite minorities.
Finally, Malaysianis not fully aware of the importance of English in their careers. They
understand the importance of English, but they fail to appreciate its importance of English
mastery in their career. They believe that English proficiency can be achieved later and not an

immediate thing. They can catch up when they need it later in their career. Neverthelessto master
the English language takes years to achieve. Through experience, this process takes hard work
and lots of practice. Their comfort zone isharming their own future careers.
As the conclusion, if the situation of low levels in English proficiency continues means
Malaysians are missing out on current and important issues. Malaysians will have to wait until
the information gets translated from English into our language. Much time and energy is wasted
through this process.
Malaysia's Prime Minister has allocated funds for a Dual Language Programme in the
2016 budget. It is aexperimental project giving 300 primary schools the choice to teach subjects
such as Science and Mathematics in English.The Malaysian government realizes English
proficiency as important to communicate with its neighbours. This is even more importance as
the ten member states of ASEAN plan for economic integration through the ASEAN Community.
As Prime Minister NajibRazak said,
"Today we want individuals who have high self-confidence, who can communicate,
especially in English. Like it or not, English is a prerequisite in this world. So we cannot be
emotional anymore, we cannot feel that we don't need to learn English.
Proficiency in English language is about practising. The education must create more
opportunities for students to practice this language. Malaysia's Education Ministry is taking
efforts to train teachers and increase students' exposure to the English language.It is important
that the educational level of the countrys workforce especially in terms of mastering the English
language increase to maintain Malaysias competitiveness. Some Malaysian graduates agreed
that their English would not have improved without their parents' support and after-school
practice.
"A lot of training actually, watching movies, speaking into the mirror by yourself, it's an
initiative for yourself, said MohIzzatMohdAnuar, a trainee engineer.

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APPENDIX

Tan, E.K., & Miller, J. (2008). Writing in English in Malaysian High Schools: The Discourse
of Examinations, England: Routledge.

H. Kassim, and F. Ali, "English communicative events and skills needed at the workplace:
Feedback from the industry," English for Specific Purposes, 29, pp. 168182, 2010.

M. A. Moslehifar, and N. A. Ibrahim, "English Language Oral Communication Needs at the

Workplace: Feedback from Human Resource Development (HRD) Trainees," Procedia - Social
and Behavioral Sciences, 66, pp. 529 536, 2012.