Teresa Wai See Ong
Nanyang Technological University

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University Students’ Communication and Employability Skills: Mismatch Perspectives of Students, Lecturers, and Employers in Sarawak, Malaysia Teresa Wai See Ong; Su-Hie Ting; Humaira Raslie; Ernisa Marzuki; Kee-Man Chuah; Collin Jerome
NOTION: Journal of Linguistics, Literature, and Culture Vol. 4 No. 2 (2022): NOTION: Journal of Linguistics, Literature, and Culture
Publisher : Universitas Ahmad Dahlan

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.12928/notion.v4i2.6003

Abstract

In Malaysia, graduate unemployability is a problem that is often highlighted. Studies have shown that graduates lack soft skills, such as problem solving, English language proficiency, and communication skills, which contribute to the issue of unemployability. However, these studies have not investigated employability skills from all three perspectives of students, lecturers, and employers to understand whether students are developing the necessary skills to be more employable, and whether lecturers are getting it right when preparing their students for the job market. Therefore, this study fills in the gap by comparing university students’ communication and employability skills from the perspectives of students, lecturers, and employers. The study aimed to determine students’ ratings of communicative ability and employability skills, and how these ratings match those of the lecturers and employers, and to compare the ranking of the importance of these skills by lecturers and employers. The questionnaire data were collected from 123 students, 26 lectures, and 26 employers in Sarawak, Malaysia. The findings showed that the students rated themselves more highly on reading and writing, and employability skills than on listening and speaking skills. The lecturers and employers ranked employability skills as more important than communication skills. They were consistent in the ranking of interpersonal skills and presentation skills as the top communication skills. The top employability skills were time management skills, leadership qualities, managing personnel, managing resources, teamwork spirit, planning, organising, controlling and evaluation skills, and problem-solving aptitude. However, lecturers prioritised teamwork spirit while employers prioritised problem-solving aptitude. However, none of the reading and writing skills were among the top 10 skills expected of graduates entering the workplace. In concluding the study, the overall findings indicated that the students and lecturers overrated the students’ readiness for the workplace.
Children deciding the family language in Chinese families in multiethnic Malaysia Teresa Wai See Ong; Su-Hie Ting
NOTION: Journal of Linguistics, Literature, and Culture Vol. 5 No. 1 (2023): NOTION: Journal of Linguistics, Literature, and Culture
Publisher : Universitas Ahmad Dahlan

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.12928/notion.v5i1.6833

Abstract

Chinese parents fail to maintain use of their heritage languages for family communication because their children seem to wield their own power in deciding the home language. Little is known about how micro-language decisions at family level are influenced by macro-societal language use patterns and sociopolitical contexts. This study examined the influence of children’s family language policy on use of heritage languages by Chinese families in multiethnic Malaysia. Data on the language practices, language ideologies, and management strategies of two families were obtained using semi-structured interviews with the mother/father. The findings show that heritage languages prevailed when the children were young. The switch to dominant languages, particularly Mandarin and English, was triggered by the medium of instruction in school. Interestingly, it was the younger children in the family who actively exerted their agency to influence their family language practice in favour of the dominant languages as the means of family communication. The findings indicated that exposure to the heritage language through the media, having grandparents as carers, and parents’ frequent assertions on the value of the heritage language are not sustainable for heritage language maintenance.