Speaker
Description
Recently, a whole lot of university alumni have complained that what they have previously learned at university (both ESP and EGP courses) is not relevant to their needs at work and is not aligned with current trends. The proposed preliminary study (expected to be done within two months) aims to investigate to what extent they have applied their English skills they have learned at university to their workplace as well as the challenges they have encountered due to the discrepancies between what they have learned at university and specific professional requirements. A qualitative research design will be utilized: one-on-one interviews will be conducted with 10 voluntary graduates working in different industries. The study expects to find out (1) the gaps between the current English language programs at the tertiary level and what is actually needed in the workplace, (2) the challenges and problems in relation to ESP and EGP they have encountered at work and (3) their expectations for adjustments in the English language curriculums so as to address the issue just mentioned. The insights gained from this pilot study might serve as a foundation for a larger-scale study on the real-world relevancy of university English language instruction in diverse professional working environments.
Keywords: English for Specific Purposes (ESP), University English Skills, Workplace Language Skills, Post-graduation Language Application, Language Skills Gap in Employment
