ASSIGNMENT

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OUMH2203

ENGLISH FOR WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION

JANUARY 2016 SEMESTER

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Many Malaysians have difficulty communicating in English in the workplace, especially when it comes to
business-related matters.

Do you agree or disagree with the above statement? Does this apply to both oral and written communication?
What are some possible causes of this situation?

TASKS:

1. Give reasons for the stand you take, and substantiate your responses with examples from experiences
in your workplace or at offices that you have visited.
2. Your answers must be written in a report form maximum of 2000-2500 words, excluding title page and
appendices.Where relevant and appropriate, cite references to material that you have read.
Note: In writing your report, try to be as detailed as you can, by giving in-depth descriptions of the problems
and recommendations.

LECTURER'S NAME:

NO. TELEPHONE:

NO. MATRICULATION:

NO. IDENTIFICATION CARD :

NO. TELEPHONE:

E-MAIL:

LEARNING CENTER:

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 1.0 CONTENTS

1.0 CONTENTS....................................................................................................................2

2.0 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT..............................................................................................2

3.0 ASSIGNMENT...............................................................................................................3

4.0 INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................4

5.0 CAUSES OF WEAKNESSES IN ENGLISH COMMUNICATION.............................5

6.0 FORMS OF WEAKNESS IN ENGLISH COMMUNICATION AMONG STUDENTS

IN UNIVERSITYOF AMANAH RAKYAT KOTA KINABALU, SABAH...........................8

7.0 SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT....................................................................10

8.0 SUMMARY..................................................................................................................11

9.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY.........................................................................................................12

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2.0 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

To begin my acknowledgement, I wish to express my appreciation to God for the

grace and mercy; I can complete the taskOUMH2203 English For Workplace
Communication for semester January 2016 as required in the instruction of the
courseOUMH2203 English For Workplace Communication for semester January 2016.

Secondly, in talking about the task in the course of OUMH2203 English For
Workplace Communication for semester January 2016 I noticed that this assignment is
highlighting the issue of communication weaknesses in English. Communication that

Communications that will be discussed include verbal and written form of

communication. Hence this task also requires students to submit examples of communication
weaknesses in English. In my view, this assignment has given me a lot of benefits to improve
essay writing in English.

In the meantime, I would like to take this opportunity to extend my sincerest gratitude
to the lecturers for the course OUMH2203 English For Workplace Communication for
semester January 2016 who has shared a lot of knowledge and has provided input knowledge
of the contents of this course. Indeed, the sharing of knowledge and experience is very useful
for me to convey and share with students and teachers at the school.

I would also like to thank my classmates who had been spending the time and sharing
their opinion in order to prepare and select the appropriate input to fit in coursework
OUMH2203 English For Workplace Communication for semester January 2016.

Finally, I hope that this task gets good marks from the panel of examiners and
constructive comments to improve the content of the assignment in the next semester.

Thank you.

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3.0 ASSIGNMENT

Many Malaysians have difficulty communicating in English in the workplace, especially

when it comes to business-related matters.

Do you agree or disagree with the above statement? Does this apply to both oral and written
communication? What are some possible causes of this situation?

REPORT ONTHE WEAKNESSES IN ENGLISH COMMUNICATION AMONG

STUDENTS OF FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND PSYCHOLOGY

UNIVERSITY OF AMANAH RAKYAT KOTA KINABALU SABAH

Disediakan Untuk :

Prof Dr. Joseph Chin

Dekan Fakulti Pendidikan dan Psikologi

Universiti Amanah Rakyat

Kota Kinabalu Sabah

Disediakan Oleh :

Dr. Lee Kean Wah

Ketua Jabatan Bahasa Inggeris

Fakulti Pendidikan dan Psikologi

Universiti Amanah Rakyat

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 Kota Kinabalu Sabah

4.0 INTRODUCTION

This research report is titled Report on The Weaknesses in English Communication

among Students of Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Amanah Rakyat Kota
Kinabalu Sabah.This study was carried out for 2 weeks and only for the students of the
Faculty of Education and Psychology. This study takes the Faculty of Education and
Psychology, to evaluate the ability of English communication among students who will be
entering the workforce later. Based on tests and interviews conducted, I make the justification
that there are significant weaknesses in English communication among students in this
faculty. English communication weaknesses can be seen from the perspective of written
communication. This is based on exam writing skills that have been implemented and found a
significant disadvantage in terms of grammar and spelling used. In addition, based on
interviews with some teachers found that all students recognize the weakness of
communication in English. Therefore, the following description will address the root cause of
the weakness of English communication, forms of communication weaknesses in English, as
well as recommendations to address the problems of communication in English among
students in the Faculty of Education and Psychology University of Amanah Rakyat, Kota
Kinabalu, Sabah. Based on the findings found weaknesses in English communication among
students is very worrying and feared to be confronted to communicate well when attending an
interview or directed to communicate in English when dealing with a particular party.
Accordingly, I justify that scenario weaknesses in English communication within the
organization, whether public or private organization does exist and requires continuous
efforts to assist the target groups in order to deal with their problems not faced problems with
their daily tasks.

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5.0 CAUSES OF WEAKNESSES IN ENGLISH COMMUNICATION

1. Comments and negative perceptions of students about the importance of English

communication.

Based on interviews with three final year students, they explained that English is not
important in their daily life at the university. This is because most of them are more
comfortable using Bahasa Malaysia as the language of communication with lecturers and
fellow students. In addition, they also explained that the use of English is only used when
taking courses in English and its use is also limited in a few hours on the timetable of lectures
each. Aspects of the use of English in the completion of course work assignments each
semester, the students claimed that most of them admit to using journals, articles and
reference books locally using Bahasa Malaysia as compared to the use of reference materials
in English while providing course work assignments. If there is a suitable material, reference
books English is a last resort.

In addition, the students also claimed that English is difficult to master because it requires
a long period of time to be studied and controlled either from the aspect of oral
communication and communication in writing. They also argue that the use of English is
limited to students who take the course as students of English who will be an English teacher
when they have graduated from university concerned.

1. Educational Background Factor

Based on the interviews with the students, it is also found the educational background
factor causing them weak in English communication. This is because most of them just need
to get at least Band 1 in the Malaysian University English Test (MUET) to be eligible to
graduate from university. This showed that emphasis on mastering English is not prevail
among students in university and finally they faced with failure during interviews and when
dealing in the workplace that require them to communicate in English.

Additionally, the students interviewed also claimed that when they enrolled in primary and
secondary education, communication skills are less emphasized in public examinations such
as the Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR), Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR) or at the
Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM ). No oral test or oral communication in English in all three

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examinations and three examination taken only emphasize on the assessment in writing. In
the meantime, they also explained that although the results of their marks or grades in any
exams low or just get a passing grade only, they can continue their studies at the next level.
This causes most of the students do not emphasize on achieving good grades or marks in any
public examination because there is no direct emphasis on the importance of English.

Meanwhile, in order to qualify them to enter the university, especially in units other
than English unit, the students claimed that they only have to achieve at least a C6 in the
SPM and deserve to go to university. This also contributed to the weakness of English
communication among students who will enter the job market in the future.

1. The Family Background Factor

Based on the interviews, the students also recognize the family factor also contributed
to the weakness of communication in English among students at the university. This is
because in daily communication, the students mostly use native languages, especially Malay
as the language of daily communication and speech. The use of English is less stressed and
limited to teaching and learning activities in schools only.

Moreover, most of the students' parents also have an educational background which
also does not emphasize communication in English. Hence it is not surprising that
weaknesses in communication among university students also stems from the attitude of the
parents who are less stressed to communicate in English at home. The findings of the
interview also found the attitude of siblings who are less stressed in communication English
at home also causes students to feel clumsy and awkward to communicate in English at
home, with friends or at school. Besides, the students also claimed that reading English is
barely at home and confined to textbooks and books of English which obtained from the
school. Thereby, the effort to enrich and strengthen the teaching of English at home is very
minimal and not empowered among parents and siblings at home.

2. Environmental Factor

Based on the interviews also found that environmental factors such as interaction with
peers in school or in the neighborhood also contributed to the weakness of communication in
English among students at the university. The students claimed that some friends will laugh

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at them if they communicate in English, especially when there are errors of pronunciation and
word usage. This led to the motivation and enthusiasm to practice their English
communication becomes weak and compromised. Furthermore, in daily activities with
friends either at sports, sightseeing and visiting each other they are more comfortable using
Bahasa Melayu as the language of communication among them.

Similarly, environment in the neighborhood of the students also contributed to the

weakness of the English language. In carrying out activities such as weddings, feasts, gotong-
royong, celebrations and so on, the language of communication is Bahasa Melayu. In fact,
some groups of society, particularly parents will consider individuals who speak English as
forgetting the origins of the people and the place of origin of each. Such notions and
perceptions lead students prefer to bury effort to communicate in English with the
surrounding communities for fear of making others feel awkward, uncomfortable and cause a
negative perception among the public.

3. The Basis of Teaching and Learning English in University

The students interviewed claimed that the use of English in teaching and learning at
the university is not comprehensive. For example, in a lecture session, many lecturers
confound the use of English with Bahasa Malaysia. Similarly, in the course work assignments
there is also flexibility to choose to answer questions coursework in English or Bahasa
Malaysia. In answering questions in tests and examinations at the university level there is
also no emphasis on the use of English and most students at the university concerned prefer
to use Bahasa Malaysia when answering the tests and semester examinations. Based on a
weak basis in order to improve the English communication skills of students in this university
causing the students do not emphasize the importance of using English in their daily learning
activities.

Implications for the causes mentioned above also took a major problem among
university graduates to compete in the job market and while dealing in the workplace.. This
scenario also contributed to the issue of unemployment among graduates because many of the
graduates are less fluent and able to achieve the desired level during the test interview
process mainly involves organizations and businesses.

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6.0 FORMS OF WEAKNESS IN ENGLISH COMMUNICATION AMONG
STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITYOF AMANAH RAKYAT KOTA KINABALU, SABAH

This study involved 20 final year students of Education and Psychology Faculty from
University of Amanah Rakyat Kota Kinabalu. Nineteen (19) of them were from the Science
Social Unit while another twenty (20) were from the Historical and Geographical Unit. They
were Bumiputeras, the native people of Malaysia and were aged between twenty to twenty-
five years. They were from different racial groups with the majority of them being Malays,
and the rest were from the indigenous races from Sabah and Sarawak.All of them were able
to communicate in Bahasa Malaysia, the national language of Malaysia, and English even
though they were from very diverse backgrounds and spoke varied mother tongues.

All these subjects have spent more than a decade studying the language in schools.
English was taught using the implicit way as the emphasis was on functional and
conversational English. While in the university, the subjects had to spend their first three
semesters – equivalent to one and a half years – studying proficiency-level English and
English for Academic Purposes (EAP). The subjects in this study were taking a six-hour
weekly EAP course taught by the 2 researchers when the data were collected. This course
equipped them with the necessary writing skills for completing their reports and papers. Data
for this study were collected using a written essay test. The data were analysed to decide the
types and frequency of verb form errors the subjects made in their writing. The subjects were
given reading materials on a specific topic which was discursive in nature, and then they were
asked to produce a 350word essay on the topic in one and a half hours, during the test. Their
essays were collected and then the verb-form errors were identified and categorized following
Dulay et. al.’s (1982) classification under:

(a) omission;

(b) addition;

(c) misformation; and

(d) ordering.

Errors of omission are made when necessary elements are omitted. These happen
mainly in tense markers or number markers such as the omission of the grammatical
morphemes, for example, the omissions of the -ed marker in the simple past tense verbs, such

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as, “Yesterday, the motorcycleknock(-) the man down” and the -s marker in the verbs after
the third person singular nouns or pronouns, for example, “He think(-)”. Very often, the
subjects may omit the “be” verb in a sentence for example, “Most of us (-) very weak.” The
-ing form may be omitted from a gerund, for example, “Cook is my hobby.”

Errors of addition are made when unnecessary elements are present with the use of
redundant markers, such as, putting the -s marker on verbs after the plural pronouns/nouns in
the simple present tense, for example, “We likes…” and “Teachers wants…”. Double
marking refers to the marking of two items for the same feature such as in tense. The
examples are “she doesn’t respects,” or “The pupils didn’t plagiarized.” The past tense -ed
marker may be redundantly added in cases where it is incorrect to do so, for example, “He
‘’cutted’’ the fruits last night.” Students may redundantly add -s , -ed or -ing after a modal
verb which should be followed by the base verb, for example, “It will affects”, “Students will
learned” and “Some of them will using...” The ‘be” verb may be redundantly placed before
the main verbs, for example, “They are prefer copying” and “This is happens”. An infinitive
is required after the word “to” but students may put a redundant, -s, -ed or -ing after it, for
example, “We have to passes…” “It is important to submitted...” and “The students like to
doing …”

Errors of misformation occur when the wrong forms of the verbs are chosen in place
of the right ones. These commonly occur in cases of subject-verb agreement (SVA) when the
wrong verb-forms are selected, for example,” Girl are…”. “The causes is…” and “College
have…”. The past tense form of the verbs may be wrongly used to express present states or
condition, for example, “Nowadays we knew…”. Alternatively, the present tense forms may
be used to refer to past actions such as, “The pupils always copied…”. The past participle
form of the verb seems difficult for the subjects and they make errors such as, “The students
have wrote…”. Sometimes, the subjects may use the wrong form of the word, for example,
the use of the nouns instead of the correct verbs, for example, “The students plagiarism”.

Errors of ordering are made when the correct elements are wrongly sequenced, for
example, in the use of phrasal verbs such as, “I pick up him,” instead of “I pick him up.”
Moreover, the subjects are often confused when theyuse reported or indirect speech as
they tend to follow the same word order as used in direct speech or question form when they
are reporting, for example, “They asked me where was the man.” The subjects sometimes use
the wrong word order for questions such as, “Why most students do plagiarise?’ “Why some

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of the lecturers didn’t take any actions?” For this study, the researchers identified the errors
under the four categories of omission, addition, misformation and ordering.

7.0 SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT

a. Organize special module courses of English in teaching and learning

The course will be held using a special module that will be established by the Department of
English, Faculty of Education and Psychology. This course is mandatory for all students and
will be included in the calendar of courses Faculty of Education and Psychology operations.
This course is a prerequisite for entry into the next semester in which the participant is
required to achieve the level of the minimum qualifications required. If a participant fails to
reach that level, then they have to repeat the same course for another session.

b. Improvement courses for English communication skills

To improve English communication skills among the students a special course is proposed to
be implemented in the near future. This course will emphasize the aspects of effective
communication in English as 'organizing speech', 'body gestures, vocal variety,' 'knowing the
audience' and others. This course will run for 50 hours, 4 hours a week. For this course, the
Faculty of Education and Psychology suggests that it is open to all students at the university.

c. Recruitment of academic staff who have a good command of English

To ensure that the issue of English language proficiency among academic staff can be
reduced, it is recommended that a candidate who has a good command of English are selected
to serve in this university. These efforts actually been carried out by the Department of the
Registrar in cooperation with the Department of English, Faculty of Education and
Psychology through screening interviews in English.

d. Promote the use of Self-Access Language Lab (SALL), Centre for Languages and
Human Development 'among the citizens of University of Amanah Rakyat.

Aside from the above efforts, academic staff and community of University of Amanah
Rakyat in general should be encouraged to use all that will be operational in the first
semester, 2008/2009 session. SALL existence can help improve English proficiency among
university.

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e. IELTS exam preparation classes

Class for IELTS exam which is now handled by the Registrar's Office should continue
to be more active. IELTS exam grade consolidation module needs to be strengthened and
updated. The teaching of English from the English Department of quality and experience and
have been identified to handle this class. The techniques of answering questions IELTS exam
should be emphasized. This is because, in the IELTS exam, knowledge of answering
techniques will contribute to better results.

8.0 SUMMARY

According to the description given above it is clear to the public that the weakness of
English communication among public and private organizations workers in the country is still
going from past to present. This is because the university as a centre of academic excellence
and potential workforce for the needs of organizations in the country is still mired in
problems strengthen English communication skills among students. Thereby, through
interviews and research findings in the form of writing that has been implemented can
provide guidance and guidelines to other organizations to improve the quality of English
communication skills among workers.

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9.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY

1) Ab. Rahim Selamat (2000). Kemahiran Dalam Sekolah Bestari. Johor Bharu: Badan
Cemerlang Sdn.Bhd.

2) Abdullah Hassan dan Ainon Mohd. (1997). Komunikasi Untuk Pemimpin. Rawang: Nohaz
Cetak Sdn.Bhd.

3) Abdullah Hassan dan Ainon Mohd. (1999). Komunikasi Untuk Guru. Kuala Lumpur:
Utusan Publication and Distributor Sdn.Bhd.

4) Abdullah Hassan dan Ainon Mohd. (2000). “Kemahiran Interpersonal Untuk Guru.”
Selangor: PTS Publication and Distributor Sdn.Bhd.

5) Abdullah Hassan dan Ainon Mohd. (2000). Teori Dan Teknik Ucapan Berpengaruh. Kuala
Lumpur: PTS Publication and Distributors Sdn. Bhd.

6) Abdullah Hassan dan Ainon Mohd. (2002). Komunikasi Di Tempat Kerja. Kuala Lumpur:
Sanon Printing Corporation Sdn. Bhd.

7) Abdullah Majid (1995). Bahasa Inggeris Dalam Arus Pembangunan Negara. Satu Tinjauan
Umum. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka..

8) Adam, E. (1975). In service Educatin and Teachers Centres. New York: Pergamon Press.

9) Ahmad Kamil Mohamed (1995). Keunggulan Berkomunikasi. Kuala Lumpur: DTP

Enterprise Sdn. Bhd.

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