Importance Of Accuracy In Oral Communication

1. INTRODUCTION
Graduates’ employability has been a real concern among both academicians and employers in Malaysia. Frequently, graduates have been told that they need to be proficient or competent in workplace communication if they want to gain employment and to progress successfully with organizations 1 2, 4, 6, 8, 15, 16. In response to this demand, the government, tertiary educational institutions and organizations have taken special measures to improve tertiary learners/graduates’ communication skills10,11. Nonetheless, there are still claims of a mismatch between language educational objectives and employer expectations. These claims have led to the opinion that reducing such disparity is crucial 9, 12, 13.
In Malaysia, English is

46.9 percent strongly agreed and 40.8 percent agreed which made up the total of 87.7 percent. This indicates that upon employment, graduates or employees are expected to be accurate when speaking English. Employees are also expected to respond accurately in English. 59.2 percent strongly agreed and 33.7 percent agreed which means that a total percentage of 92.9 percent expected graduates to be competent communicators. Moreover, in the context of participating in discussions and meetings, 81.6 percent of the total respondents was in agreement that graduates need to be able to communicate in perfect English. Finally, the graduates are expected to conduct oral presentations in perfect English where its importance is shown when 41.8 percent strongly agreed and 44.9 percent agreed which made up 86.7 percent of the total percentage. All in all, the majority of the respondents expected their potential employees to be competent or would be able to use accurate English when they speak in workplace

Besides, they also disclosed that to write letters in grammatically correct English is a vital skill expected for communication in workplace. A total percentage of 93.9 percent was made up from 35.7 percent who strongly agreed and 58.2 percent who agreed on this point. It can be deduced that employees are expected to be able to produce grammatically correct English documents so that the information is accurately documented. Not only that, a remarkable agreement among the industry representatives with a total percentage of 94.9 percent was shown for employees’ ability to write informative documents in grammatically correct English. The highest percentage for the importance of accuracy in writing can be clearly seen in the ability to write persuasive documents in grammatically correct English where 95.9 percent of the respondents agreed. It can be concluded