FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND LANGUAGES

OUMH2203

ENGLISH FOR WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION

JANUARY 2016 SEMESTER

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Semester : JANUARY 2016

INTRODUCTION

I strongly agreed that many Malaysians have difficulty communicating in English in the
workplace, especially when it comes to business-related matters. Malaysians that you will
encounter will mainly come from three major ethnic backgrounds; Malay, Chinese and Indian.
Malaysians, irrespective of their ethnicity, normally like talking about family. It is quite
normal for someone to ask how many children you have and where is your spouse currently at
or whether she is working. They will also be interested to know where you worked before and
what type of work you have done and accomplished. Malaysians normally take deep pride in
their country and will be deeply offended if they think foreigners look down on Malaysia as a
backward, third world country. They will be extremely pleased if a foreigner has a certain
amount of knowledge of the country and appreciates the local food, culture and music.
Malaysians, in general, have a good sense of humour and enjoy a good joke. The emergence
of innovative communication technologies, expanded team-based management and an
increasingly diverse workforce has caused business and industry employers to seek for
multiple-skilled knowledge workers who need to deal with words, figures and data. Due to the
profound changes in the workplace, employers are increasingly expecting workers to have
effective oral communication skills. In this paper, the term forms of oral communication
refers to communicative events engaged in by IT graduates in the workplace, such as
telephone conversations, meetings, formal discussions, presentations, social interactions and
interviews. The term skills of oral communication refers to the entire knowledge and ability
that enables one to do something well and includes the following skills: listening skills,
conversational skills, giving feedback, meeting skills, presentation skills, handling customer
complaints, conflict resolution skills, negotiation skills, taking customers orders, training
skills, interviewing skills, persuading skills and promoting ones own strengths and abilities
(Maes et.al., 1997).
REASONS

You will find that people will be different based on their ethnicity and gender when speaking
to someone. When first meeting a Malay female, do not extend your hand for a handshake
unless she does so first. A Chinese or Indian female normally will extend her hand for a
handshake. As will Malay, Chinese and Indian males. Malaysians will generally stand closer
than the normal Canadian distance when speaking to someone. They tend to touch more than
Canadians especially when they get comfortable with the person they are talking to. It is
really harmless and is just a sign of friendliness. It is quite common to see men slapping each
other on the back or draping their arms on somebodys shoulder. It is not related to sexual
their preferences.

Malaysians normally will maintain eye contact but this is not as important to them as
Canadians think it is. Females would probably not maintain eye contact as long as a male due
to their shy nature. Malaysians can be quite animated when they are talking and there will be
a lot of gesturing with their hands. They can be quite expressive and it will show on their
faces. The tone of voice could get louder if they get excited with the topic of conversation.
People are not usually direct and care should be taken when inquiring on certain matters. But
since many have encountered foreigners before they are quite accustomed to a Westerners
directness. However, do not expect them to be direct. Malaysians are very indirect and
sometimes it is extremely difficult to comprehend what they mean. If you asked a question do
expect an indirect and complicated response. You might need somebodys assistance in
translating what is really meant. Malaysians who have been abroad, especially the ones
educated in Western culture, are direct and they could be used as an intermediary to translate
if the responses arent clear.

During a conversation, you should respect the appropriate distance between yourself and the
person to whom you are speaking. There should be a marked distance of about two feet
between you. Nevertheless, you may sometimes see two Malaysians expressing affection by
holding hands. In general, people of the opposite sex do not show public displays of affection
or even discuss personal issues. Making eye contact with people of the opposite sex may be
frowned upon since, as previously mentioned, Malaysians are very reserved. In general, it is
important for Malaysians to try to project an image of the "ideal self" (a term used in
psychology). In psychology, the ideal self is when someone chooses to aspire to a certain
model of behaviour; in this case a model respected by the Malaysian population. Malaysians
speak to parents, teachers, or foreigners in a low tone of voice to show their respect. They are
courteous and discreet. Frankness is not a typical Malaysian characteristic.

People prefer doing business with people whom they know personally. It is in the Malaysians
nature to be friends with someone before doing business. They feel comfortable and trust the
other party better if they know each other personally. In order to establish this kind of
relationship both parties could go enjoy a good meal together for instance. The way to a
Malaysians heart is probably through his stomach as most appreciate good food! Another
good way is probably to enjoy a sport together like playing golf or a game of tennis or squash.
It is very important to establish personal relations with a colleague or client prior to doing
business. These relations will help you become accepted in your professional environment. A
certain degree of trust is required to establish personal relations. In order to do this, you
simply need to respect the person for who he/she is. Do not treat the individual as an
instrument to get what you want, but as a person who is giving you invaluable assistance.

With the constitution of 1957, English was retained as a coofficial language in addition to
Malay, but the pronounced intention was to develop Malay into a national language and to
remove this special status of English after a ten-year transition period. The official status of
English ceased in peninsular Malaysia in 1967, in Sabah in 1973, and in Sarawak in 1985.
Formally, the National Language Act of 1976disestablished English as the joint official
language, giving sole status to Malay. The policy of replacing English by Bahasa Malaysia
was also an element in the power struggle between the Malays and the successful and
increasingly influential Chinese and South Asians. Depriving English of its formerly
privileged status was a logical and in a sense an unavoidable step on the side of the
government, as Gill points outotherwise, no room would have been left for the full
development of Bahasa Malaysia. In practice the most important step in the implementation
of the new policy was the Ministry of Educations decision to turn all English-medium
schools into Malay-medium, beginning in 1969, a process which was completed, reaching
university entrance level, by 1983. Today, it is widely accepted that Bahasa Malaysia has
securely established its position as a truly national language.
Former Prime Minister Dr. Mahathirs policy of Vision 2020, the goal of turning Malaysia
into a fully developed country by that year which implied emphasis on globalisation and
technological advancement requires full fluency in English on the side of Malaysian engineers
and business people, amongst others. Consequently, the Education Act of 1996 approved of
the reintroduction of English as a medium of instruction in technical subjects. On the other
hand, the Malay Intellectual Congress, resisted the early proposals in 1993 to reintroduce
English as a medium of instruction in the sciences, arguing that it would weaken the further
development of the Malay language. Hence, it was only in 2003 that the new English-medium
policy for teaching Mathematics and the Sciences was put into effect. In sum, Malaysias
recent language policy has been marked by nonlinear developments and opposing tensions
and tendencies, and it is too early to predict its long-term effects.

Malaysian English has an identity of its own and the many deviations in these lexical aspects
make it a distinct variety of English. According to Wong, nonnative speaker of English
should never be made to feel ashamed of their own variety of the language, no matter how
deviant it may be from native speaker English.

Currently in Malaysia, English is used for some tertiary education, and quite widely as the
language of business, where many firms are still dominated by Chinese or Indian personnel.
Nair-Venugopal, Gill, and Morais examined workplaces in Malaysia and showed that English
is frequently used, often with code switching into Malay and variation between standard and
more localized forms according to situation and conversational partners. In 2002 the
government, eager to benefit from globalization, signalled a swing back to English-medium
primary and secondary education, at least for science and mathematics.

Recently, Malaysia came out tops for English proficiency among Asian countries where
English is not the mother tongue. The Education First English Proficiency Index (EF EPI) is
an international education company that specialises in language training, educational travel,
academic degrees, and cultural exchange. In the EF EPI 2011 report released on March 30,
Malaysia overtook Hong Kong (at second place), South Korea (third place), and Japan (fourth
place). Malaysia is the only Asian country rated as high proficiency for the English
proficiency level in the report. All the countries were rated at five different levelsvery high
proficiency, high proficiency, moderate proficiency, low proficiency, and very low
proficiency.

Malaysia is also ranked ninth place globally among 44 countries listed with a 55.54 score
(high proficiency level). Education First, a global education centre, conducted online English
tests on 2.3 million working adults globally from year 2007 to 2009. English proficiency was
tested in four categories: grammar, vocabulary, reading, and listening. The EF EPI measures
the average English proficiency of an entire country and compares English skill levels
between countries. It was the first index of its kind to give countries a standardised measure of
English competency in adults. Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr. Wee Ka Siong was
happy with the results but said there was still room for improvement. He also pointed out that
Although we topped other Asian countries, we are still in the ninth place globally. I believe
with the ministry increasing the period for English language in schools, it will help out
students to improve their command of English.

Asked whether the ranking will bring back the teaching of Mathematics and Science in
English (PPSMI), he said the ministry would look into the possibility. MCA president, Datuk
Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek had said that PPSMI should be allowed to continue especially in
selected urban schools where adequate qualified teachers were available. He added that
teaching both subjects in English was crucial if the country wishes to move towards a
developed nation status. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, said that the government
would study the possibility of using two mediums of instructions in the teaching of Science
and Mathematics in schools. Last July, the cabinet decided the medium of instruction for
Mathematics and Science would revert to Bahasa Malaysia in national schools and mother-
tongue languages in national-type schools from 2012 onwards.

About 300 Fulbright scholars from the United States will be in Malaysia from next year to
help improve English proficiency among school children in urban and rural areas, including
Sabah and Sarawak. The Fulbright programme is the flagship international educational
exchange programme sponsored by the US government. It is designed to increase mutual
understanding between the people of the US and those from other countries.

Education Minister said the education initiative, under the Fulbright English Teaching
Assistance programme for fun learning, had been agreed upon by the Federal Government
and the United States. Through this programme, it is hoped that the level of proficiency in the
language among our students could be brought to new heights. The Terengganu state
government had embarked on a similar programme on its own initiative and it had proved
successful. Under the first phase, 50 scholars would start by the year 208. Under the
programme, the American scholars would assist in the teaching of the language on a volunteer
basis. They will go to the ground (schools), but they will not teach the English subject as there
are already teachers to do this. Instead, they will teach English-related fun programmes or
activities to encourage students to speak in English during certain school hours which will be
determined later. Therefore, the students timetable will not be affected.
This programme is unlike the master teachers programme between Malaysia and the United
Kingdom where master teachers guide Malaysian teachers who teach English-related subjects.
These master teachers will work closely with the school authorities on how best to improve
the language, like the method of teaching. These master teachers go to a school for a week or
so and assist teachers in areas where improvement needs to be done.

Lately, there have been a lot of issues in the newpapers regarding the English language in
Malaysia. The To Uphold Bahasa Malaysia and to Strengthen the English language
(MBMMBI) policy, to be introduced by the Education Ministry next year, aims to do so in
line with the governments aspirations to make Bahasa Malaysia (BM) both a medium of
unity and solidarity, as well as the main language of communication and science. At the same
time, measures will also be taken to enhance proficiency in English (BI) so as to enable
students to compete and explore new knowledge at national and international levels. The
enculturation and mastery of English from school will also help in efforts to foster national
unity and develop a new economy in a globalised, dynamic, and increasingly challenging
world. It is difficult to deny that both languages have an important role to play in producing
human capital with the knowledge, skills and competency to drive a knowledge-based
economy. These are some of the many steps taken to improve the standard of English in
Malaysia. This clearly shows that the English language is given importance lately.
CONCLUSION

This study makes the claim that effective oral communication skills in English are important
to graduates in any workplace context as these skills can increase the chances of employees
employability and enhance their work performance. The skills gap that exist between the
graduates actual oral communication performance and the employers expectations
necessitates that both universities and industry take steps to improve this imbalance.
Universities can re-structure and realign some of their course content and curriculum to
suitably meet the workplace demands imposed on graduates. Similarly employers can take
heed of their employees lacks (with regard to oral communication ability) and conduct on-site
training to further develop and enhance these communicative skills as they would pave the
way towards adequately preparing the graduates to meet the rapid changes in information and
communication technologies of the world. A strong human resource base would greatly
enhance an organisations ability to compete in the global market and in the k-economy (Kaur
& Thiyagarajah, 2003).