Incorporating employability skills in the EOP course

Employers, universities and professional bodies agree that Malaysia needs to develop professionals who are highly skilled and ready to face the challenges of increased competition. More than ever we need professionals who are responsive to economic, social, cultural, technical and environmental chan...

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Main Authors: Yusof Khan , Zarinah Jan, Othman , Khairiah, Adam, Zalika
Format: Conference or Workshop Item
Language:English
English
Published: 2010
Subjects:
Online Access:http://irep.iium.edu.my/5774/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/5774/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/5774/2/LSP_UTM2010.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/5774/6/Incorporating-khairiah.pdf
id iium-5774
recordtype eprints
spelling iium-57742012-01-18T02:54:49Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/5774/ Incorporating employability skills in the EOP course Yusof Khan , Zarinah Jan Othman , Khairiah Adam, Zalika PE English Employers, universities and professional bodies agree that Malaysia needs to develop professionals who are highly skilled and ready to face the challenges of increased competition. More than ever we need professionals who are responsive to economic, social, cultural, technical and environmental change and can work flexibly and intelligently across business contexts. The Malaysian industry requires new graduates who understand the part they play in building their organisations, and have the practical skills to work effectively in their roles. In line with this, a survey conducted by the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM, 2007) among its members revealed that the top five difficulties in recruiting fresh graduates were; (1) lack of industrial training, (2) communication problems/weak command of English, (3) weak problem solving skills, (4) job hopping and (5) lack of self confidence. This paper investigates to see if the field trip activity, which is one of the components in the English for Specific Purpose (EOP) syllabus for Economics, Engineering and ICT final year students, can help graduates meet the requirements of the incumbent employment market. The main objective of this study is to show that it is imperative for all higher learning institutions to prepare students with strong communicative, interpersonal and problem solving skills before they go into the workplace. The methodology used in this study consists of pre and post survey questionnaires to investigate students’ preparation emotionally and physically before the field trip and their experience after the field trip. Findings from the research do not only indicate that students were more prepared and confident to face people in the workplace, but also made them realize the importance of mastering the English language to secure a place for themselves in employment. Keywords: FMM``s report, English for Specific Purposes (EOP), Employment Market 2010 Conference or Workshop Item NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/5774/2/LSP_UTM2010.pdf application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/5774/6/Incorporating-khairiah.pdf Yusof Khan , Zarinah Jan and Othman , Khairiah and Adam, Zalika (2010) Incorporating employability skills in the EOP course. In: 7th International Language for Specific Purposes Seminar, 4-5 May 2010, Best Western Premier, Seri Pacific Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. (Unpublished) http://seminar.spaceutm.edu.my/lsp2010/index.html
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Local University
institution International Islamic University Malaysia
building IIUM Repository
collection Online Access
language English
English
topic PE English
spellingShingle PE English
Yusof Khan , Zarinah Jan
Othman , Khairiah
Adam, Zalika
Incorporating employability skills in the EOP course
description Employers, universities and professional bodies agree that Malaysia needs to develop professionals who are highly skilled and ready to face the challenges of increased competition. More than ever we need professionals who are responsive to economic, social, cultural, technical and environmental change and can work flexibly and intelligently across business contexts. The Malaysian industry requires new graduates who understand the part they play in building their organisations, and have the practical skills to work effectively in their roles. In line with this, a survey conducted by the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM, 2007) among its members revealed that the top five difficulties in recruiting fresh graduates were; (1) lack of industrial training, (2) communication problems/weak command of English, (3) weak problem solving skills, (4) job hopping and (5) lack of self confidence. This paper investigates to see if the field trip activity, which is one of the components in the English for Specific Purpose (EOP) syllabus for Economics, Engineering and ICT final year students, can help graduates meet the requirements of the incumbent employment market. The main objective of this study is to show that it is imperative for all higher learning institutions to prepare students with strong communicative, interpersonal and problem solving skills before they go into the workplace. The methodology used in this study consists of pre and post survey questionnaires to investigate students’ preparation emotionally and physically before the field trip and their experience after the field trip. Findings from the research do not only indicate that students were more prepared and confident to face people in the workplace, but also made them realize the importance of mastering the English language to secure a place for themselves in employment. Keywords: FMM``s report, English for Specific Purposes (EOP), Employment Market
format Conference or Workshop Item
author Yusof Khan , Zarinah Jan
Othman , Khairiah
Adam, Zalika
author_facet Yusof Khan , Zarinah Jan
Othman , Khairiah
Adam, Zalika
author_sort Yusof Khan , Zarinah Jan
title Incorporating employability skills in the EOP course
title_short Incorporating employability skills in the EOP course
title_full Incorporating employability skills in the EOP course
title_fullStr Incorporating employability skills in the EOP course
title_full_unstemmed Incorporating employability skills in the EOP course
title_sort incorporating employability skills in the eop course
publishDate 2010
url http://irep.iium.edu.my/5774/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/5774/
http://irep.iium.edu.my/5774/2/LSP_UTM2010.pdf
http://irep.iium.edu.my/5774/6/Incorporating-khairiah.pdf
first_indexed 2023-09-18T20:14:33Z
last_indexed 2023-09-18T20:14:33Z
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