I DIDN’T GET HIRED BECAUSE..
In a country where culture comes first, we are taught that speaking English is optional, and that our mother tongue takes more priority than other languages. Speaking our mother tongue is important but sometimes we forget to use English and only use it to talk our teachers and don’t use it anymore for the whole day.
That’s why the majority of the individuals that use their mother tongue at home don’t speak English as fluently. But this does not apply to their writing skills. Most of the time their writing skills are better rather than speaking English fluently.
According to a survey form JobStreet in 2016 last year, shows that about 60 percent of fresh grads fail to impress their potential employers by their poor articulation of English during their interview.
“One of the reasons why our youths are timid and introverted in interviews or elsewhere is because they are not exposed socially to communicate in English”, said English Speaking Union of Malaysia chairman Tunku Dara Naquiah Tuanku Ja’afar.
She also says that the lack of proper actuation is due to the school system where the students opinion are not encouraged and could have negative consequence.
“Children are taught not to answer back; these are our Asian values. However, there is the other extreme where children are ‘kurang ajar’ (disrespectful) because parents neglect to teach them manners. There has to be compromise, and we have to be moderate in drawing the line where and when necessary.”
