GO THE EXTRA MILE AND FOCUS ON COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE AND CONFIDENCE FOR COMPETITIVE EDGE, SAYS STUDY COMMITTEE (SC)

17 February 2022 - The Centre for Modern Languages (CML) finally had a meeting with its Study Committee (SC) that had been scheduled in December 2021 along with the Industry Advisory Panel (IAP) meeting but had to be postponed due to imminent flood. This time round, the meeting was conducted virtually via Microsoft Teams.

The Study Committee (SC) panel, comprised Dato’ Zaliza Zulkifli (Pekan District Officer), Prof. Dr. Siti Hamin Stapa (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Shahrina Mohd Nordin (Universiti Teknologi Petronas), Mr. Mohd. Radi Abdullah (Examedia Solutions Sdn. Bhd.), Mr. Mohd. Jeffery Abdul Manaf (M2 Infineon Technologies Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.) and Tn. Hj. Che Shamsol Ibrahim (Pusat Kutipan Zakat Pahang). The esteemed panel of the SC had been appointed to review the current curriculum of CML postgraduate programmes, including taught Master’s programme, Master of Science in Technology Integrated Language Studies (MScTILS) and all the courses offered by CML whether they meet the current needs of the industry and job market in line with Industrial Revolution 4.0. The feedback received would be crucial in improving the current course syllabus as well as Teaching and Learning practices to increase the UMP graduate marketability and competitiveness.

From UMP, apart from the CML Dean, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nik Aloesnita Nik Alwi, this meeting was also attended by the Director of Pusat Inovasi & Daya Saing Akademik (PIDA) - Prof. Ts. Dr. Kamal Yusoh, the Deputy Dean of Academic - Dr. Fatimah Ali, the Deputy Dean of Research and Postgraduate Studies - Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hafizoah Kassim, the Head of Technical & Services - Dr. Azwin Arif Abdul Rahim, Head of Programme, Division of English Language - Dr. Ruhil Amal Azmuddin, Head of Programme, Division of Foreign Language - Dr. Wan Jumani Fauzi, and the meeting secretariat.

During the discussion, Mr. Jeffery (M2 Infineon Technologies Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.) highlighted that the focus of courses offered should not merely concentrate on technical aspects, but emphasis should be given to communication “especially when graduates apply for positions in multinational companies, it becomes a roadblock for engineers when they are missing communication skill”. He observed a vast difference between local and overseas graduates, in which the latter are perceived to be more confident when communicating. Dato’ Zaliza (Pekan District Officer) added that graduates should have a combination of language proficiency and confidence. Confidence is key to having executive presence. Mr. Radi of Examedia Solutions extended by stating that graduates lacked technical communication skills and were unable to put themselves in clients’ shoes as many were unable to understand and relate to different audience e.g., by not explaining jargons. Similarly, Tn. Hj. Che Samsol (Pusat Kutipan Zakat Pahang) pointed out that even in fields like Islamic Studies and Islamic Finance, English is required because all terms are in English.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Shahrina (Universiti Teknologi Petronas) spoke about the importance of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and the importance of specific contextualised learning such as case studies and introducing crisis communication and negotiation skills to push students forward. CML should also relate lessons to problem-based learning as well as introduce Safety Communication. Furthermore, CML should take advantage of Global classrooms and utilise them more aggressively, so that students are able to learn more about diversity and intercultural communication.

On foreign languages, CML should focus on offering languages that graduates would be interested in learning such as Korean or Turkish and offer proficiency level of at least Level 4. Think of multinational companies our graduates could work at. This ties in which what IAP panel, Mr. Mohd Hazaruddin, said earlier, about having more than 2 levels of a foreign language. Prof. Dr. Siti Hamim also added that CML could collaborate with foreign universities, as what UKM did.

Basically, all SC panellists took turns to reinforce each other’s recommendations that graduates should be work-ready, or else they will lose out and they all agree that branding and reputation of the graduates are important for them to be perceived positively. As such, Dato’ Zaliza concluded that a sense of responsibility should be taught to students so that when they graduated, they would give back to society.

Prof. Dr. Siti Hamim aptly tied the discussion on the quality of undergraduate by saying now is the time for action, come up with measures, and do whatever it takes to build confidence and proficiency. Branding is key!

In relation to postgraduate programmes, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Shahrina put forth the question how CML would like to be known, what would its niche area be to be relevant and should therefore touch base on the interdisciplinary nature of research by getting supervisors from other universities, as well as field supervisors from the industry to relate to real-world workplace and context.

Clearly, the discussion was fruitful and there was plenty of food for thought to usher in new semester and how we can put these suggestions to work, if not immediately, gradually, and if not all, some.

Prepared by: Dr. Wan Jumani Fauzi and Dr. Ruhil Amal Azmuddin