Abstract
This study aims to examine (a) the needs and usage of English language by Industrial Trainees at their workplace, (b) the challenges they faced, and (c) the relevance of Diploma in English courses in a public university in Malaysia to their language and communication needs at the workplace. The sample consists of 55 final year Diploma in English students who had just completed their three months of industrial training at various organisations. The data was collected by means of a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The findings of the study indicated that English was widely used in the organisations and all the four language skills were required in conducting various tasks at the workplace. However, most of the trainees experienced difficulty in making online ticketing and online hotel reservations, holding briefings, attending to clients’ concerns and complaints, negotiating with clients to make a deal, making oral presentations, contacting with other firms, preparing the filing system, preparing flyers/brochures/posters/advertisements and preparing accounts. It is thus suggested that the essential courses especially concerning public speaking and interpersonal communication skills to be taught before the students underwent their internship. The findings of the study have some pedagogical implications. Higher education institutions that offer similar courses can make use of these findings in revising the program in line with current demands of education and the workforce. Besides, the lecturers can also rethink the way how specific courses should be taught to meet the students’ needs and allow them to explore meaningful learning through experiential learning.
Highlights
In the last two decades, graduate employability has become one of the central issues in media and academic debates
This section reports results obtained from the questionnaire and semi-structured interviews, including (a) English language needs and usage at the workplace, (b) challenges faced by the industrial trainees in terms of the four skills, (c) relevance of Diploma in English courses, and (d) suggestions how Diploma in English courses could be improved in order to be more effective and relevant to the workplace language and communication
The present study examined (a) the needs and usage of English language by Industrial Trainees at their workplace, (b) the challenges they faced, and (c) the relevance of Diploma in English courses at a public university to their language and communication needs at the workplace
Summary
In the last two decades, graduate employability has become one of the central issues in media and academic debates. Despite possessing excellent results, the future graduates are still unable to communicate effectively because they lack confidence and have a poor command of the English language (Devira, 2017; Ramakrishnan & Yasin, 2012; Ting et al, 2017). With the advent of Information Technology and the continuing globalisation of markets, the graduates need to be equipped with the knowledge of English language and communication needs of their future working environment. The courses offered at the higher education institutions should be relevant to the graduates in assisting them with the transition of the academic setting to the workplace environment. Universities should produce quality graduates to gain employers’ trust as well as to match the balance between real demand and supply
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
