Employers want an English-speaking workforce
I REFER to the article “Holistic solution needed for unemployment”, StarBiz, Nov 9 (online at bit.ly/star_jobs).
I am rather surprised the writer does not pay any attention to English, and neither do the four or five new government schemes mentioned in the article that were initiated to help unemployed youth and new graduates secure jobs.
Employers have regularly and constantly cited a lack of communication skills, and more specifically, English language skills, as a reason why they cannot offer employment to many otherwise qualified candidates.
Yet, despite this clear directive from prospective employers, job seekers remain oblivious to the need of improving their spoken and written English. Equally so, the government does not seem to be able to emphasise the importance of English and thus devising a related education programme that will make students want to both learn and love the language.
Individual Malaysians are very much attached to their vernacular language, and so are most people in other countries in the world, even some of the most developed and economically prosperous.
People fear that by sidelining their mother tongue or their national language in favour of English, they will cause the extinction of their first language. But when one surveys the scene carefully, it is really the case that in order to safeguard the national language and the mother tongue, one must learn English. Here’s why:
People with good English secure better jobs and higher salaries. They also have better career prospects. Whether you are in government service or running your own company, English is indispensable. Governments need to forge ties with other governments in order to trade their products successfully, and businesses cannot be profitable just by operating in their country of origin.
If you are going to keep the things that you love in your life, including your language, a higher revenue is needed, and the need for higher revenue necessitates international and global exposure, and that means ... being proficient in standard spoken and written English.
Most vernacular languages are influenced by cultural, traditional and religious factors. English, on the other hand, has today become a language practically unencumbered by culture and religion.
In fact, English is the means by which different cultures and religions have become known to the world. And when a discovery is made by scientists in any part of the world, it is first translated into English.
It would be useful for the government to undertake a survey to assess what would be the economic and social gain for Malaysia if everyone in the workforce were proficient in spoken and written English.
But even without a survey, there are plenty of factors to indicate that the one holistic approach the government should take without delay to the greater benefit of the country is to ensure everyone in the workforce can speak and write standard English.