Poor English a major handicap

The problem seems to be more acute among fresh graduates. Their level of proficiency does not command the confidence of employers to hire them.- Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan

PRIZE mistaken for “price” in corporate texts. Technicians struggling to explain to their superiors about factory operations.

These are just a few real-life examples depicting the poor standard of English among Malaysians at work today. And as they show, this weakness inflicts all sectors.

Many found The Star’s recent report on young doctors using broken English during their consultations with patients painful. What more the news of some 1,000 medical graduates who were forced to abandon their dream of becoming doctors due to their poor command of English.

But as some key stakeholders are highlighting, “rojak English” has been the lingua franca of many sectors and industries in the country for years.

The Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF), for one, has frequently pointed out that the declining standard of English is not isolated to any one sector but prevalent across industries.

And, as MEF executive director Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan (pic)laments, it is becoming increasingly difficult to hire fresh graduates who can communicate effectively in English.

“The problem seems to be getting worse and is more acute among fresh graduates. Their level of proficiency does not command the confidence of employers to hire them,” he says, adding that most of them are aged between 20 and 28.

Shamsuddin believes the main problem is that such Generation Y graduates are very technology-savvy and are constantly on their gadgets to message one another using short forms, acronyms and slang words.

“Using such tech language so frequently only adds to the problem,” he says.

Although some graduates may argue that they have other skills to offer to counter their poor English, Shamsuddin points out that being fluent in the language is still an essential skill to have and a strength that employers look out for in employees.

“In some cases, employers make do and hire the candidate with the best command in English and train them. But in situations where we simply cannot get a suitable local candidate, companies have no choice but to consider getting foreign talent – a move that does not augur well for the country,” he says.

According to Shamsuddin, there are currently about 200,000 unemployed graduates in the country and one of the main reasons why they are out of work is due to their lack of English proficiency.

“We need an immediate action plan to help these graduates become more marketable,” he says, stressing that these youths should also take the initiative to brush up on their language.

One good news is Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s announcement that a special task force has been set up to ensure that future graduates from local universities possess a good command of the English language.

Applauding this, Shamsuddin says the existing low level of proficiency among our graduates is “something that shouldn’t have happened,” especially in the critical sectors like medicine.

Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) secretary-general N. Gopal Kishnam concurs, stressing that it is hampering Malaysia’s economic development.

“The situation seems to be getting worse these days. In the 1980s, most school leavers could speak decent English,” he says.

Gopal Kishnam points out that many in the service industry speak in broken English even though they have to deal with foreigners regularly.

Malaysian Medical Association past president Datuk Dr N.K.S Tharmaseelan urges for the standard of English among doctors to be improved.

“The English proficiency among newly graduating doctors is atrocious indeed. Many cannot string a sentence properly,” he said.

Dr Tharmaseelan, who is also Asia Metropolitan University president and CEO, adds:“We can advance nationally but we need to be good in the English language to be global players.”

Related story:

Highly qualified but lacking in the language department