English proficiency in Malaysia has reached a critical level that it can undermine the

well-being and international prestige of this country in the absence of genuine

efforts to curb its decline. It is impossible, for example, to conduct diplomacy and
commercial relations without a strong command of English. In 2011, more than
forty- thousand Malaysian graduates from public Universities could not get jobs in
the private sector because they were not proficient in English. A large number of
them were Malays from the rural areas. Their employability puts a drag on the
countrys economic growth. The poor, especially those living in rural areas, will
suffer from the lack of proficiency in English. Not only English has become the
worlds lingua franca, it is also the language for science, mathematics, finance,
diplomacy, trade as well as in other fields of humanities and social science. English
proficiency provides access to the international job market, which can help the poor
get a decent, good paying job .Since the Asian financial crisis (1997-1998),
economic growth in Malaysia has not recovered fully. Whether the country can
achieve a more robust economic recovery if the workforce has higher proficiency in
English is debatable. There are, however, empirical studies, which correlate
proficiency in English with higher economic productivity. To move out of the middleincome trap Malaysia needs a work force with innovative skills to take nation to the
next level. Higher proficiency in English could probably increase the much-needed
innovative skills to handle the ever-complex enabling technologies. According to the
Economist Intelligence (2012), 70 per cent of the executives surveyed said to
expand their corporate vision they needed more than fifty per cent of their work
force to be proficient in English. The same study shows a positive relationship
between employability and English proficiency, worldwide. The strong correlation
between gross national income and proficiency in English is now an accepted
dictum. Many maintain that the correlation between English proficiency and gross
national income is a virtuous cycle, each mutually reinforcing each other. One study
shows that proficiency in English can increase job employability and better salaries.
English proficiency among the poor can level the uneven playing fields and close
the income gap between the ethnic groups in this country. It could even unite the
diverse communities, which have been gravely polarized by narrow ethnic interests.
Admittedly, language can be emotive as it is cultural specific. This essay does not
suggest that we do away with vernacular schools and the national language. On the
contrary, the essay calls for the nation to embrace a productive global language

that can complement the national language. The decline of English proficiency in
Peninsular Malaysia is traceable to the Razak Report in 1956, which recommended
Malay as the medium of instruction. Had our political masters adopted the
recommendations in Barnes Report (1951) to use Malay in primary schools and
English for secondary and tertiary education, we could have avoided the current
predicament.The recently proposed changes to the teaching of English in the
National Education Blueprint are too shallow, myopic and cosmetic in nature; no real
structural changes, such as reinstating English schools, for example. Without deep
structural changes to the teaching and application of English, more people will just
lose confidence and trust in our education system. Such cosmetic changes are
insignificant; good only for cheap publicity.In fact, poor command of English has
begun to erode academic excellence in public Universities. Before 1971, when
English was the medium of instruction, our public Universities were highly rated for
their academic scholarship. They were at par with the best in the British
Commonwealth.Today is a different story altogether. Universiti Malaya, the pride of
the nation, managed 156th place in the QS World University ranking for 2013.
Compare this with the National University of Singapore (24), Seoul National
University (35) and Nanyang Technological University (41). Surely, something is
amiss with our education system for the international academic community to rank
our public Universities so lowly.The Government must do more to reverse the
decline in English proficiency, and has to do it with utmost urgency. Do it now in the
national interest.

*************************************************************************************
All these people who lament about the standard of English language among
Malaysians are missing the point.Malaysians are exactly where UMNO wants them
to be ill-equipped to compete with the rest of the world and perpetually
depending on the hand-outs from UMNO. The UMNO government should continue
with this education policy for another 30 years. By then, we will have tens (if not
hundreds) of millions of Malaysians who are ready to be exported to elsewhere in
the world as unskilled or low-skilled labours (you guess what jobs these will entail).
Indonesians, Filipinos, Cambodians, Bangladeshis, etc. will be hiring Malaysians by
the dozens to work for them in harsh working conditions and low wages.

Meanwhile, the UMNO people will continue to send their children for studies
overseas. They will continue to rule Malaysia for time-eternity
*************************************************************************************
I am especially worried that the introduction of PPSMI and other haphazard policies
and conditions regarding English in Malaysia have severed ties between the
masses and the English language. I believe many Malays are upset that they have
to use local banking or retail websites (i.e. meant for local use only) in English. If
this is a way to encourage the use of English, then its a very rude one. English is
envisioned as an international language only meant for use in foreign
correspondence, not a national one between ones own countrymen. Thus it is the
perceived misplacement of the use of English that could be an underlying reason for
that French attitude the resistance against the use of English by locals. And
consequently, low proficiency.

I know there are many Malaysians who speak English primarily, and Im one of
them. I fear that we are part of the reason of Malaysias English woes. The rest of
the country thinks weve forsaken our supposed mother tongues for the spoils of
English, and with that our Eastern cultural identity. Every time I balik kampung for
CNY I confront criticisms by relatives, even those about my age, because I dont
speak Chinese as well as English. So I know firsthand the angst is real.

Our English problem also happens in many Commonwealth countries (former British
colonies), where today good English remains the preserve of the elite to divide them
from the pidgin-speaking masses (in contrast to those small, rich European
countries where everyones taught the language at an equal level). It could be
linked to how English was introduced to countries. Ive been to some English African
websites and see comments that reflect begrudgence toward English as a colonial
legacy, as if these people speak English because theyre forced to.

The world economic balance is rapidly tipping in favour of Asia, where English
proficiency is low and progress on it is slow. Soon all this English proficiency talk
could be worthless as well all get by well by speaking bad or primary-level English.
Ive read about that non-native speakers communicate more effectively between
non-native speakers when no native speaker is around.
"English is without a doubt the actual universal language" said Carlos Carrion Torres
of Brazil. While English is not an official language in most countries, it is the
language most often taught as a second language. English is most widely used in
communicating around the world. The information that the researchers gathered

about communication and English made them realize that the two terminologies
must be always together. Good communication creates a good ambience and
relationship between everyone in every organization especially if it is inside a
business while English is now required in every company.

Language is now considered a skill, in fact, big companies both in Sri Lanka and
abroad look for. The importance of the English language in the workplace continues
to be a top concern among employers in Sri Lanka, a study reveals.

To every business entity, productivity is of utmost importance. A landslide majority

of 95% of employers believed that better English would improve the productivity of
employees, as opposed to the 5% who don't. It was not surprising then to find that
66% of employers have turned down applicants due to a bad command of English
while a further 26% would do so if necessary.

But how do employers screen through new hires on their command of the English
language? Screening via phone interviews and resume slips come in at 36% and
53% respectively. The most popular method by far however is to screen a new hire's
English through a face-to-face interview (84%).
**************************************************************************
Why learning English is important
Around the world, there is an estimated 1 Billion people learning English. Many
factors point to the reason why learning English has seen exponential growth in
recent years, but it all boils down to the English language being the "global
language" of business, politics, international relations, culture, and entertainment
for so many countries worldwide. And that is just an understatement as in fact,
while English is not an official language in many countries worldwide, it is the
language most often taught as a foreign or second language.
Effective communication in English is one of the most sought after skills in an
employee at all work places. Interpersonal communication at workplaces includes
public and small group communication through which we can communicate our
needs and requirements in different situations.

It does not matter if you are laborer, salesperson, manager or something else. If you
are a sales person, then most probably you will have to speak to customers
efficiently or if you are a manager, you are expected to communicate in English in

the most effective way. Besides speaking English properly among various business
levels in an organization, one also needs self promotion. You can face enough
difficulty in networking if you cannot communicate in English proficiently.

If you communicate well in English, your peers at work will be happy to converse
with you about work related matters and other things. There are around 1 billion
learners of the English language. This figure of people trying to learn English proves
the growing need to comprehend and communicate in English. English has become
the global language for communicating in all streams such as politics, finance,
education, entertainment culture and international relations in almost every country
of the world.

Proficient English speaking skills can give you liberating confidence and the ability
to express yourself in English at work. It gives added benefits and more
opportunities to expand your career prospects. A study indicates a solid growth in
the number of companies throughout the world that require employees with
excellent English speaking skills.

According to the GlobalEnvision, English is widely recognized as the official

language in more than 70 countries and also taught at educational institutes at all
levels. If you know English really well, you can always expect to climb the ladder of
success at your workplace because you have the potential to deal with clients and
communicate effectively with coworkers which ensures smooth tasking.

According to other research, 80% of the Internet web content is published in the
English and within this figure, a major portion of web content is published by
businesses. So it is very important to know English to understand business
information, terminologies and data over the Internet and communicate it further
with your coworkers.

Communication is very necessary to acquire knowledge, circulate information and

persuade people to what you think. It helps in developing goodwill and sustaining
harmonious relationships with others at work. Real communication is when we listen
to what we hear with understanding. It should be the same process with listeners
when you speak in English at your workplace.

Article Contributed by Shivaji Sengupta www.shivajisengupta.com