When blinkers come off: Undergraduate students’ performance at simulated job interviews

• Published in: International journal of the sociology of language 2017-03, Vol.2017 (244), p.39-64
• Main Authors: Tan, Rachel Siew Kuang, Taib, Fauziah, Lin, Teoh Mei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Business communication; College students; Colleges & universities; communicative competence; Competence; Core competencies; Discourse analysis; Employment interviews; English language; First jobs; Interviews; Language policy; Language proficiency; Malaysian English; Mass media; Occupations; Public policy; Sociolinguistics; spoken data; Undergraduate students; Work environment; Work skills; Workforce; Workplaces
• ISSN: 0165-2516; 1613-3668
• DOI: 10.1515/ijsl-2016-0056

The interest in examining the use of English among Malaysian undergraduates arose as a result of much media talk about the poor language skills that these students display upon gaining their first jobs in the work place. This study analyses simulated job interview sessions at a public university involving a group of final year students and a human resource manager. The audio recordings of the interviews were transcribed and analysed to determine the language and strategies used by participants while responding to interview questions. Micro analysis of the interview discourse, and matching it against the macro perspective of the nation’s vision to produce competent users of English for the workforce, revealed that a huge gap exists between the two “worlds”. On the one hand, the university gets students who lack language competency while, on the other, government policy is to have these students trained and ready to communicate effectively at the workplace within a period of three to four years. This is indeed a high call. The data analysed provides a glimpse into the students’ deficiencies. The article proposes that there are more issues that need to be tackled regarding the matter at hand.