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OUMH 2203
ENGLISH FOR WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION
SEMESTER JANUARI 2016
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NO. MATRIKULASI : 790201086728001

NO. KAD PENGNEALAN : 790201-08-6728

NO. TELEFON : 016-2036512

E-MEL : nathansaroja@ymail.com

NAMA TUTOR : FAIZAH ELIZA ABDUL TALIB

PUSAT PEMBELAJARAN : PUSAT PEMBELAJARAN BANGI

 INTRODUCTION
Proficiency in English oral and written communication skills is an advantage to employees in their
workplaces. It is a benefit for an employee in any industry who possessing proficient knowledge in English
communication skills, either for performing and accomplishing daily tasks or for career advancement. The
purpose of this survey is to conceptualize and highlight the communicative events whereby it is crucial for
employees to have a set of proper English communication skills, both in oral and written in order to perform
well in their workplaces.

The emergence of English as the international language for global business interactions has had
effects in many workplaces entities across Asia (Bolton, 2008; Curtis, 2012). In these workplaces, English
language has not only become a language used for communicating with global business partners (Riemer,
2002) but also has significantly been used in daily operations among employees (Warschauer, 2000). In an
organization, nevertheless, if IT, engineering, Finance or Human Resource department, English oral, and
written communication skills have become an essential in employees’ daily workplace communication.
Employees are required to use English language executing and completing their daily task. This is known as
‘communicative events’ (Kassim & Ali, 2010; Moslehifar, & Ibrahim, 2012) whereby the expectation of a
certain level of English communication proficiency is a need to be demonstrated by the staff for workplace
communication efficiency. The needs to display these language skills are important to the success of the
accomplishing a given task in the department in the workplace in their daily routines.

It is important for a country like Malaysia which aspires to attain the status of a developed nation by
2020, to have people who are able to communicate effectively in order to compete on the global platform
(Gill, 2002). Thus, there is very little doubt that English plays a central role in achieving this status. The
English language is a key in communication between people especially businesses in Malaysia. Since
English is the second language in Malaysia, after Bahasa Malaysia, the awareness in producing initiates with
the ability in communicate effectively in a different range of social and professional context has been highly
concentrated. Currently in Malaysia, communication skills play the vital role in workplace
situations, as the importance of communication skills is substantial in all departments in a management.
Without proper knowledge in English oral and written communication skills in an organization, an employer
would never attain success.

In this paper, the term forms of oral and written communication refer to communicative events
engaged in by various departments in a workplace at Malaysia and the importance of both communication
skills, as well Malaysians’ difficulties in these communication channels. Various researches were done in
order to determine in which communication channel Malaysian employees have the most difficulties with
and the cause of this issue face by Malaysia employees.
Importance of English Language in Malaysia

Malaysia is a kaleidoscopic society which is consists of a many ethnic groups, regions, languages,
religions, customs and cultures. Each ethnic group has its own mother tongue, however, Malay language
(known as Bahasa Malaysia) is the official language of the country, while English is the second language.
Yet, the importance of English language in a Malaysian workplace is vital. In the year 2006, the government
of Malaysia stated that over 45,000 graduates from various field of study were unemployed, and this was
predominantly due to lack command of the English language (Phang, 2006). Many employers are hesitant to
hire these graduates due to their poor ability in the English language, although they were highly qualified
academically. Thus, The English language plays a vital role in a Malaysia workplace for an individual to be
qualified for a job or to sustain the position offered to them.

Oral Communication in the Workplace

Innovative communication technologies have been developed tremendously throughout these years,
and due to this scenario, team-based management was expanded and an increasingly diverse workforce has
employers to seek for multiple-skilled employees who need to deal with words, figures, and data. Due to the
profound changes in the workplace, employers are expecting employees to have effective oral
communication skills. According to Maes, J., Weldy, T. & Icenogle,1997, the term skills of oral
communication refers to the entire knowledge and ability of an individual which enables them to perform
effectively and efficiently in a task, and that includes conversational and listening skills, giving feedback,
meeting skills, presentation skills, customer services skills, conflict resolution skills, negotiation skills,
training skills, interviewing skills, and promoting one’s own strengths and abilities.

Written Communication in the Workplace

Besides oral communication, written communication is an excellent way of conveying the

information across the organizational level. Besides, written communication is a better way in instructing
employees on certain tasks and projects which have to be done by them. Written communication in English
is important in an organization because one should prepare official letters, communicate with someone
related to the business via email, presentation slide preparation, in-house newsletter or magazines, and
others such as notices, circulars, memos, and rosters.
Causes of Difficulties in Communicating in English

Cultural backgrounds have a played a major role in influence over employees’ communication skills
in a workplace. Most employees have a strong understanding of their organization’s mission and vision as
well their task to be accomplished, but due to the difference in their cultural background, they are unable to
communicate freely with other colleagues in the workplace. As an example from an organization, it was
shown that employees are able to communicate well with their colleagues, who are with the same socio-
cultural background, especially co-workers from their own. They might feel that having similar cultural
background and dialect enrich understanding and promote easier knowledge sharing within the organization.
Moreover, the cultural background also has an influence on an employee’s communication skills in terms of
clarity of pronunciation and accent. By using different, unfamiliar accents or mispronunciation of words is a
major difficulty in relating their ideas and sharing knowledge among their multicultural co-workers at the
workplace. For an instance, during a presentation among department staff, one faced low confidence in
explaining the presentation due to difficulty in pronouncing a word in English language or by using a
different accent in giving the speech among other colleagues.

Language barrier also plays a role not only due to different socio-cultural in Malaysia but also to
expatriates from foreign countries. As we aware, Malaysia has a huge number of multinational corporation
runs in the country, and those multinational corporations hire expatriates from all around the world for
various positions at different departments. Due to this issue, local employees facing difficulties in
communicating with them as this creates language barriers. Even though The English language is being used
in an organization, expatriates’ accent in pronouncing a word is different than local Malaysian’s
pronunciation caused difficulties in understanding the sentence. Thus, it is challenging to convey a message
or to explain a task to employees of their work to be accomplished. For instance, Tesco Stores (M) Sdn Bhd
is a multinational company based in Malaysia, who hires local Malaysians and expatriates from India,
France, German and many others. Malaysia faces difficulties in communicating with those expatriates with
the local English dialect and expatriates unable to deliver their instructions on a particular task due to their
different accent. This difficulty caused both employees in the organization not to have a clear understanding
of the task and ended up with confusion.

Another difficulties faced by Malaysian employees in a workplace is in using proper grammar and
selecting the right words informal communications such as in writing formal documents or during
presentations. The precise usage of grammar when communicating is vital in business dealings to maintain
the delivery quality of a business. It is also important during an interview session, as their proper grammar
usage and fluent English would play a major role in getting their job for them. Similarly for staffs that are
new to the corporate world as they just might graduate from an institution as without proper training
provided to them, they faced difficulties in communicating in English in both written and oral as they are
unable to use correct grammar, especially during presentation or to share ideas with top management in an
organization. As an example from my workplace, employees face difficulties in selecting the right words
when communicating. Most of the staff in the organization agreed to the notion. This shows that lack of
vocabulary and knowledge of grammar is a challenge for the employees. Being able to select the right terms
or words in English to convey their ideas to their colleagues or their superiors become progressively difficult
as it requires variable degrees of formality, mainly in written communication which affects word choice. It
was indicated that their inability to select suitable vocabulary links in with their overall inability to deliver
their ideas in an understandable manner. Employees are also struggling with the sentence structures and
grammatical terms in English when delivering their ideas, thus, it contributes to their communication
apprehension.

Employees are not only required being proficient in The English language, but they also have to be
confident in utilizing their skill in communicating in English in the workplace with their colleagues and
management regarding any business related matters. People who have a high level of communication
apprehension are those who are with low confident and self- esteem in communicating with others in The
English language. They felt nervousness and unable to communicate with others effectively. It is believed
by an individual in a workplace have feared to come from a personal trait. Besides that, most staff facing
difficulties in communicating to their higher level management. For instance, at my workplace, due to staffs’
low self-confident, the usually do not share their ideas or take part in any discussions especially involves
their senior management. Because of this scenario, they face challenges in upgrading themselves in an
organization and also jeopardize their assessment for career advancement.

Conclusion

From this assignment, it was highlighted that an organization has given an opportunity for staff to
share their ideas to achieve company’s goals. However, it is also identified that language barriers, especially
in grammar and pronunciation accent, and the influence of their own cultural background makes their
communication among colleagues whom from different background and culture is challenging.
Relationship with their fellow staff is also a barrier as many feel apprehensive when communicating to
someone above their position in an organization. Furthermore, employees hesitant in using in using proper
words and unsure of the right level of formality when communicating, which at the end leads to
misunderstanding.

Malaysian does have difficulties in communicating in English at the workplace, especially when it
comes to work-related matter. English communication skill is an essential factor of a productive
organization and business, allowing employees to work together professionally and cohesively. In the
context of the workplace, having good communication skills is a way to success for an organization to
attain its vision and mission.

D. Blair, and S. Jeanson, (1995) believe that a high expertise in English language, especially in oral
communication would be useful to solve problems from the different aspect in a workplace, especially
related to work related matters. Both oral and written communication skill is essential for employees to
upgrade themselves in their personality and their ranking of position in the organization. Besides, it is a vital
competitive advantage by having a proficient skill in The English language in the globalization period.

Recommendations
Good communication is very important because it can provide more engaged employees, higher
workplace morale, and greater efficiency and productivity. We must take initiative to improve our
communication skills. The best way to improve our communication skills are reading, writing, speaking
and listening. Read lot of articles and magazines to get more ideas. Be an active listener. Becoming an
active listener means we make a conscious effort to truly hear what the other person is saying—in their
words as well as their body language. The best communicators are also the best listeners. Communicate
with our office mate in English and stay positive. Practicing with a trusted friend or co-worker can help
as well, as can taking a course on business communication or public speaking.

Practice is undeniably the best way to learn and improve. Speaking, on the other hand, is a much
more spontaneous process and nothing prepares you for it better than actually doing it. So, find people
that we can practise with – either on Skype, or on language exchange sites with the help of some native
teachers. That it will be a great experience.

We can also join in an oral and written communication course at any local college. These courses
generally are inexpensive, and they often are held in the evenings and on weekends to make it easier for
working people to attend. These training courses teach practical techniques to enable the person to
assemble thoughts and communicate effectively, whether in a meeting, conference or at our desk.
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