Proceedings of 29th International Business Research Conference
24 - 25 November 2014, Novotel Hotel Sydney Central, Sydney, Australia, ISBN: 978-1-922069-64-1
Students’ Awareness of Importance of English Language
Fluency With Regard To Future Employment
Kadzrina Abdul Kadir* and Wan Shakizah Wan Mohd Noor**
The English language fluency of students in much research has been in the purview of
English language teachers and rightly so. In recent times, however, when students’
capability of English language fluency have been found wanting, the University as a
whole has been taken to task for the decrease in English language capability. This
situation is also of a concern when the industry is of the view that English language
fluency has an important impact on fresh graduates’ chances on future employment.
Thus, how do other teachers of non-English language could assist in increasing the level
of English language fluency? For most universities, the English courses take place in the
first and second year of courses. However, if by the final year, students still could not
converse capably in English; lecturers in core courses could also assist and help
students, for example, business students. This study looks at the issue of English
language fluency of business major students who are in their final semester from the
perspective of lecturers who teach business courses – Human Resources and Strategic
Management. This study uses the qualitative method through interviews with two focus
groups with nine business major students. This paper aims to investigate the awareness
of business majors on the importance of English language capability with regard to future
employment. In addition, the barriers from the context of the university environment are
also examined. The findings of this paper present the students’ level of awareness and
issues surrounding English language fluency from the perspective of the student in
Malaysia.
JEL Codes: M10
*Dr Kadzrina Abdul Kadir, School of Business Management, College of Business, Universiti Utara Malaysia,
kadzrina@gmail.com
** Dr Wan Shakizah Wan Mohd Noor, School of Business Management, College of Business, Universiti Utara
Malaysia, shakizah@uum.edu.my