Abstract
Government officials in Myanmar are the official gatekeepers in the country. This study was carried out to examine the communication needs of government officials so as to address this gap. A quantitative methodology was adopted to gauge the language skills needed at the workplace. 99 government officials from the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic participated in this study. The results signaled that the government officials had a high level of needs in learning English language with the mean value of 4.41 (SD= .535). The result also indicated a dire need of mastery in the English language (M= 4.48, SD= .522). The higher ranked government officials shared that they needed English language skills to communicate effectively with the mean value of 4.37, (SD= .679) while the lower ranked officials (M= 4.33, SD= .655) to enable government officials to understand and communicate with foreign investors. In conclusion, the results anchored that English language is essential for government officials to execute their duties and responsibilities regardless of their ranks. Recommendations for ESP course-design are further discussed.
Highlights
Myanmar is in the process of transformation
English proficiency is a vital factor for their career development as well as government work, which contributes to national development (Chao, 2018)
The section will look at the level of English language needs of the government officials in Myanmar after the data gathered from the questionnaire were analysed
Summary
Myanmar is in the process of transformation. It has opened up to international diplomatic relationships economically and politically, and is inviting international investments. Myanmar government officials are relating and communicating with visitors from international government agencies, companies and investors every day (Cho Mar, 2020). This is a major issue in Myanmar as many Myanmar government officials are not well versed in terms of English communicative skills (Takashi, 2014). Good mastery in English language leads to personal career development for the officials (MOE, 2013, UNICEF Myanmar, 2013). It is crucial that government officials realise that proficiency in the English language is important for their career development and in executing their responsibilities effectively. English proficiency is a vital factor for their career development as well as government work, which contributes to national development (Chao, 2018)
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