OUMH2203

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__________________________________________________________________
OUMH2203
ENGLISH FOR WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION
JANUARY 2016 SEMESTER
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NAMA : MOHD ZAHIRUDDIN BIN AZMAN
NO. MATRIKULASI : 750909016913001
NO. KAD PENGENALAN : 750909016913
NO. TELEFON : 017 522 2973
E-MEL : zahirmuc@yahoo.com
NAMA PENSYARAH : YASHWANORA BINTI YAHAYA
PUSAT PEMBELAJARAN : PERAK LEARNING CENTRE

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CONTENTS
1.0 Introduction 3
2.0 English language in a Malaysian workplace 3
3.0 English as Business Communication 4
4.0 The Importance of Needs Analysis 5
5.0 The workplace Communication Needs of Business 7
6.0 Conclusion 9
7.0 References 9

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1.0 Introduction
Communication is a key to success. Most of the successful figures in the world are
the heroes in communicating of their respective fields. But, why it is said that many
Malaysians have difficulty in communicating in English especially in business-related
matters whereas there are many successful entrepreneurs in Malaysia? It is true or it is just a
saying without fact. Let’s figure it out.
In 2006, the government of Malaysia revealed that 45,000 college graduates were
unemployed, and this was mainly caused by a poor command of the English language
(Phang, 2006). In addition, the Malaysian Employers Federation [MEF] (2004) stated that
engineering and science graduates were the most sought after graduates due to the
proliferation of these industries both in Malaysia and globally. However, many employers
were hesitant to hire these graduates due to their poor proficiency in the language, although
they were highly qualified academically.
The aim of producing world class graduates to meet and exceed the demands of the
ever changing and competitive world of business and the realization of the status of English
as an International language and its importance as a communication tool brought about our
effort to investigate ways to help and develop communication skills among Malaysians
students. Thus, the need to understand the communication requirements in multinational
companies is indeed essential to ensure that graduates would be able to communicate orally
and in written thus would enhance their capabilities in business industry.
Thus, this report is prepared to identify the oral communication skills needed by the
Malaysian’s businessman and the communicative events where English would be required
by the industry. This investigation has contributed to both syllabus design and module
development which could mould and cater for the needs of engineering students as future
global businessmen, and hence, ensure their language development and enhance their
competitive advantage in the job market.
2.0 English language in a Malaysian workplace
Malaysia is a kaleidoscopic society which is comprised of a multitude of ethnic
groups, regions, languages, religions, customs and cultures. Each ethnic group has its own
language; however, Bahasa Malaysia or the Malay language is the official language of the
country, while English is the second language. Yet, how important is the English language in

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a Malaysian workplace? Karim (1987) states that: Malay faces stiff competition in English
language. While the policy is to use the national language in all official instances, in many
important domains of language. However, English is still the preferred language. (as cited
in Mohd Jan, 2003)
A few studies have investigated the languages used and patterns of interactions in the
government and private sectors in Malaysia. Ting (2002) examined the support staff’s need
to use English in a principally Malay organisation, and how they dealt with the English
language demands of the workplace. The results showed that the support staff faced
difficulties when communicating in English with the public because the nature of their work
did not require them to use English either in reading or writing. As a result, Ting (2002)
highlighted the necessity to emphasize of teaching English as oral communication skills in
schools for students who wish to join the workforce as support staff, so that they have
adequate knowledge for basic communication in the language.
3.0 English as Business Communication
As Malay is the official language of the country, all official functions and written
communication of the government offices are carried out in Malay. However, since most
Malaysians are either bilingual or multilingual, conversations between them are often
characterised by code-switching. Kaur and Singh (1994), in their study on turn-taking,
observed that there was a tendency for Malaysians to code-switch when speaking to a person
from a different ethnic group (as cited in Mohd Jan, 2003).
On the use of language in the government sector, Mohd Jan (2003) investigated
several extracts of formal talk exchange where instances of code-switching between Malay
and the English language occur between working adults in one of the government offices.
The analyses of talk included examining the existence of linguistic power-wielding among
male and female participants, and how they manipulated issues during interactions by using
code-switching to negotiate personal rights and obligations and to take control of situations.
Another study that demonstrated the use of English and its patterns of interactions in
the work place was conducted by Briguglio (2003). The researcher examined the use of
English as a global language in two multinational companies in Kuala Lumpur and Hong
Kong. In the preliminary findings, it was found that in the case of Seacargo International in
Kuala Lumpur, both spoken and written English were seen as important, especially for

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surveyors, to perform their work effectively. Although face to face communication was
regarded as highly important, high priority was given to written communication, particularly
in the context of an investigation.
4.0 The Importance of Needs Analysis
The impetus to ensure that our business study students are equipped with the
necessary communication skills to face their challenging professional environment is
consistent with the seventh element, of a set of required elements, outlined by the
Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) (Engineering Accreditation
Commission, 2007). The university has adopted ABET’s set of requirements in designing its
curriculum. Felder and Brent (2003) state that in order to comply with ABET requirements
the formulation of “program educational objectives and a set of program outcomes which
include knowledge, skills and attitudes that will address the educational objectives” is
essential. It is in this context that the soliciting of necessary information from industry is
deemed significant in designing the curriculum and courses and in preparing our students for
the workplace (Barchilon, 1993). Therefore, a needs analysis to investigate what is required
for students is essential. There are a number of studies of language needs analysis, as well as
communication patterns analysis, in the workplace. In a study of various communication
purposes in different types of Brazilian business organizations,
Barbara, Antonieta, Celani, Collins, and Scott (1996) found that apart from
Portuguese, a great majority of the organizations used English for internal and external
communications. They also reported that large organizations and industries involved in the
study put great emphasis on English and utilized it in a wide range of document-types such
as proposals, prospectuses, reports and projects. Chew’s (2005) study of new graduate
employees in four banks in Hong Kong, on the other hand, revealed a clear divide between
spoken and written discourses, in which Cantonese is used in spoken communication, whilst
English is preferred for the latter.
Another study conducted in Hong Kong workplaces was by Li and Mead (2000).
They investigated the communication needs of the personnel of textile and clothing
merchandisers who communicated in international business settings. The in-depth study
identified and revealed how communication demands were different from those provided in
traditional English courses.

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Besides input from workplaces, it is worthwhile for English for Specific Purposes (ESP)
practitioners to collaborate with subject matter experts from specific faculties such as
business or engineering lecturers to better comprehend the complexity and range of the
communication tasks expected from students, as highlighted by Jackson (2005). She
emphasized the need for a comprehensive needs analysis and collaboration with content
specialists in order to avoid or minimise the mismatch between the requirements of faculties
and the ESP courses offered.
In the Malaysian ESP context, a few studies have been conducted to analyse the
language needs of students by going to workplace environments. Ibrahim (1993) focused her
study on a Japanese multinational manufacturing company, Goh and Chan (1993) obtained
data from the commercial sector whilst Leong (2001) looked at small and medium size
business industries. While Goh and Chan administered questionnaires to university
undergraduates (potential employees) and companies (potential employers), Ibrahim and
Leong on the other hand, employed an ethnographic approach which provided researchers
with access to the targeted community so that they could gather insider information (Leong,
2001) and collect “firsthand data that are uncontaminated” (Ibrahim, 1993). Goh and Chan
reported that based on the responses from the companies, English was important for both
recruitment and promotion, with speaking and writing as the first and second most important
language skills to possess respectively.
Meanwhile, in his study, Ibrahim found that “real” world communication is
determined by purpose and dependent on time constraints. He also discovered brainstorming
sessions and meetings were most prevalent in the Japanese organization. Thus, he proposed
the implementation of a project-oriented, task-based syllabus which provides opportunities
for students to practice actual communication and to inculcate team work.
In small and medium industries, Leong found out that the success of sales executives
depends on their ability to display a variety of communication skills in any communicative
event in the sales process.
All the data collected from industry, either via questionnaire or the ethnographic
approach, have given us valuable insights into the actual target community. This firsthand
information can be the basis for setting up ESP programs, pedagogical changes or
developing a new syllabus, materials or tasks (Leong, 2001).

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Although the number of ESP studies conducted in Malaysia is small, and the focus is
on different disciplines and professions, these studies have helped us to realize the need to
conduct constant and up-dated survey analyses to help prepare our students for the ever-
changing world of professionals.
5.0 The workplace Communication Needs of Business
In today’s most competitive world, businessmen are not only required to effectively
convey technical information, but they also need to have acceptable social and
communication skills in order to excel in the workplace. Unfortunately, there is significant
evidence that shows an inadequacy among graduates to meet these requirements. This was
reported by the Society for Manufacturing Engineers which found that, among the top
“competency gaps” in engineering education, the “lack of communication skills” was one of
the most prominent (Sageev & Romanowski, 2001). This scenario has resulted in a
collaboration between engineering education, the industry and communication educators.
Over the past decade, communication educators have been invited to impart their knowledge
of, and assistance in, integrating speaking and writing in education (Darling & Dannels,
2003). They also reported the results of practicing businessmen descriptions of the
importance of oral communication and formal presentations in their daily work. However,
more time was spent on interpersonal and small group experiences. The practicing
businessmen also considered communication skills such as translation, clarity, negotiation
and listening as vital.
Business communication is the sending and receiving of verbal and non verbal
messages within the organizational context (Roebuck, 2001; Ober, 2001; Murphy,
Hildebrandt, & Thomas, 1997). Hanna and Wilson (1998) expanded on this definition,
indicating business communication is a process of generating, transmitting, receiving, and
interpreting messages in interpersonal, group, public, and mass communication contexts
through written and verbal formats. Hynes (2005) stated effective business communication is
the key to planning, leading, organizing, and controlling the resources of the organizations to
achieve objectives, and may be formal or informal in nature. Argenti (2007) discussed
business communication functional aspects and found that over half of the heads of
corporate communication departments oversee business communications functions that
include media relations, online communications, marketing, special events, product/brand
communications, crisis management, employee/internal communications, community

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relations, and product/brand advertising. The expanse and importance of business
communication underscores the need for business education and business to collaborate in
preparing business majors for the workplace.
English is widely used for communication in business sectors 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, 2009; Kassim & Ali, 2010).
English language needs for engineers can be studied and analyses from engineers’
involvement in communicative events in engineering workplaces (Kawpet, 2009;
Bhattacharyya, Nordin & Salleh, 2009; Kassim & Ali, 2010; Moslehifar & Ibrahim, 2012).
Language and workplace communication researchers began to analyze communicative
events where engineers need to use English language in order to execute their workplace
responsibilities. For instance, Kassim and Ali (2010) distributed questionnaires to engineers
working in 10 Malaysian multinational companies to investigate the types of communicative
events where engineers need to have sound English oral communication skills. Events such
as teleconferencing, formal discussion of work related matters, giving oral presentations,
networking, instructing, explaining and demonstrating were rated with highest frequency
mean. They speculated that in most of these communicative events, the engineers will need
to “sell ideas and to convince another person of their own ideas” (p. 177).
Like Kassim and Ali (2010), Kaewpet (2009) in an attempt to link classroom
syllabus to English language needs in target situations in Thailand’s context, studied the
communicative events as stated in the course description of ‘Technical English 1’ subject
and questioned whether such communicative events listed in the course description
‘continued to be significant in the current situations of engineering workplace
communication (p. 267). Based on an extensive review of literature on engineering reading
articles which were published in international journals such as English for Specific Purposes,
IEEE transactions on professional communication and research reports in Thailand, Kaewpet
drew 33 communicative events in which engineers (civil engineers) and engineering students
might be involved in. Table 1 shows a summary of communicative events where engineers
need to use English language in engineering workplaces as reported by researchers in
Thailand (Kaewpet, 2009), Malaysia (Kassim & Ali, 2010) and Taiwan (Spence & Liu,
2013).

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The findings are unequivocal signals for communication and language educators to
adapt new approaches to teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP). These findings also
corroborate the view proposed by Splitt (1993), that the challenge is to provide better ways
for faculty to work with students and to help them enhance their people-related skills as the
industry needs people who can work with other people, communicate, be inventive, creative,
and have ideas and the courage to see them through. Talking from the same perspective,
Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the previous Prime Minister of Malaysia, also raised
the importance of industry’s involvement in the development of the curriculum.
The curriculum needs to be more relevant to industry because this will help enhance
human-capital development in the country. It is also seek recommendations from the private
sector on what to include in the curriculum, so that it can equip students with the knowledge
and skills that are needed. (Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, The Star, May 21, 2007)
6.0 Conclusion
As per conclusion, I must say that oral and written communication in English are
really important to ensure our businessmen are the fighters who would be able to converse
well and win the game of business. If our businessmen could not converse in English well,
their chances to dash with better opportunities would be seen as out of date and they may fail
in business battle. However, Malay Language should not be portrayed as conventional
language which supposingly able to draw future businessmen in global market too.
Cooperation between responsible parties, namely the engineering employers, the universities
and the technical English language trainers must be established at a more meaningful and
reciprocal level. The existence of such a level of cooperation will establish an effective flow
of the changing nature of industry needs and the review of the existing English language
curriculum. The reciprocal nature of the cooperation can guarantee the needs of the industry
is met and followed by the universities.
7.0 References
Bhattacharyya, E., Nordin, S. & Salleh, R. (2009). Internship students' workplace
communication skills: Workplace practices and university preparation. The International
Journal of Learning, 16(11), 439-452.
Berhanuddin, Mohd. Salleh., Othman, Hussain., Esa, Ahmad., Sulaiman, Abdullah &
Othman, Hasyamudin. (2007). Adopting problem-based learning in the teaching of

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engineering undergraduates: A Malaysian experience. Paper presented at the International
conference on engineering education (ICEE 2007), Coimbra Portugal 3-7 Sept 2007.
Bolton, K. (2008). English in Asia, Asian Englishes, and the issue of proficiency. English
Today, 24, 3-12.
Chang, M. (2004). Why some graduates are more marketable than others [PowerPoint
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Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 33(4), 421-424.
Crosling, G., & Ward, I. (2002). Oral communication: the workplace needs and uses of
business graduate employees. English for Specific Purposes, 21(1), 41-57.
Engineering Accreditation Council Malaysia (2003). Engineering accreditation manual
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Hart-Rawung, P. & Li, L. (2008). Globalisation and business communication: English
communication skills for Thai engineers. World Academy of Science, Engineering and
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JobStreet.com. (2005). Survey on managers on why they did not hire some fresh graduates.
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Kaewpet, C. (2009). Communication needs of Thai civil engineering students. English for
Specific Purposes, 28(4), 266-278.
Kassim, H. & Ali, F. (2010). English communicative events and skills needed at the
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Reinsch, L., & Shelby, N. (1997). What communication abilities do practitioners need?
Evidence from MBA students. Business Communication Quarterly, 60 (4), 7-29.
Roebuck, D. (2001). Improving business communication skills. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice-Hall.
Rowley, D., Lujan, H., & Dolence, M. (1997). Strategic change in colleges and universities:
Planning to survive and prosper. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

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Rushkoff, D. (1999). Coercion: Why we listen to what they say. New York, NY: Riverhead.
Rusk, T. (1993). The Power of Ethical Persuasion. New York, NY: Penguin Books.
Russ, T. (2009). The status of the business communication course at U.S. colleges and
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