JOHOR BARU: The reality of the workforce today is that employers are looking for qualified workers who are not just skilful in their field, but also competent in English.
Grand BlueWave Hotel general manager, Long Cheow Siong, told 95 participants in a workshop for Form Six students, that prospective employers valued candidates who possessed soft skills.
The half-day workshop was co-organised by the Johor English Language Teaching Association (Jelta) and Johor Education Department, with support from the hotel.
Jelta president Vincent D’Silva conducted the workshop using the New Straits Times as the key learning tool for participants.
According to Long, English is the major language of communication in the private sector. He said the language was a tool used in cross-border business dealings and networking with international counterparts.
“There is a certain benchmark set for companies (intending to) penetrate the market. English plays a pivotal role in distinguishing companies that have the edge over their competitors,” said Long in a special talk he gave to the Form Six students.
He told them that it was essential to master English not only for the sake of passing examinations, but also to ensure they could secure jobs in the future.
“Many of those I had interviewed in the past possessed qualifications for jobs in accountancy, hospitality and tourism fields, but some of them lacked proficiency in English. I could see this when they were expressing their thoughts orally.”
Assistant district education officer for English (secondary) Al Mujani Abdul Rahman said an initiative to increase English proficiency among school students in the state had been carried out in the past two years under the Education Ministry’s “Highly Immersive Programme (HIP)”, which focused on the usage of English language in school activities.
“Ten schools were made to observe the HIP initiative since the programme’s beginning in Johor two years ago.
“This year, the number increased to 60 schools statewide. By next year, there will be a total of 150 primary and secondary schools in the state adopting HIP.”
Al Mujani said based on his observations of students in the district, the majority of them were able to write and express their thoughts and opinions in English on paper, but had difficulties conversing fluently in the language.
“They either did not have the confidence to speak, or did not understand the words they were trying to say, which became a limitation for some of them.”
Al Mujani welcomed the advocacy of English proficiency as recently said by Permaisuri Johor Raja Zarith Sofiah Sultan Idris Shah, who is the Royal Patron of the Malaysian English Language Teaching Associaton.
D’Silva, an English lecturer who has been conducting similar workshops for the past 19 years, said students would find the NST to be the best tool in helping them to enhance their command of English.
He said the newspaper was a flexible teaching tool that could be used in all curricular areas, in all aspects of the different syllabuses in schools.
“It is for every level and age, encompassing everyone regardless of their level of competency. What is important is the reader must fully understand what they are reading and make full use of the news content in the paper to improve their command of English.”