English Proficiency And Computer Literacy Of Malaysian Polytechnic Civil Engineering Students
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Date
2007-05
Authors
Md Yasin, Ahmad Yasruddin
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the English proficiency and computer literacy of Malaysian polytechnic civil engineering students. A questionnaire, modeled after the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) approach was developed and administered to 480 civil engineering students from six polytechnics. These students had completed a mandatory one-semester industrial training programme with various organizations. This post industrial training survey, through the use of a self-report questionnaire called the Malaysian Polytechnic Employability Skills Questionnaire (MPESQ) provided an important opportunity to capture crucial data from students such as their acquired (actual) and required skills in both the English language and computer-related subjects.
Findings of this study showed no significant difference in students’ frequency of application of both English and computer skills between public and private organizations. However, significant differences were found between certificate and diploma-level students with regards to their English and computer abilities. There were also significant differences between the students’ acquired and required English proficiency, and acquired and required computer literacy. Analyses of skill deficiencies for both employability skills revealed wide learning gaps between the acquired and required skill attributes.
Analysis of the survey data had also identified a list of important skill attributes in the workplace, and the four most highly valued English skill attributes were all related to specific job-related tasks: comprehending technical documents and work schedule, explaining technical terms, and writing test reports. For computer application skill attributes, Computer Aided Design and Drafting (CADD) skills for engineering drawing was considered more important than word processing skills. The results of this study implied the need for curriculum changes (such as content and mode of delivery) so that polytechnic graduates could meet the workplace expectations.
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Keywords
English proficiency and computer literacy of , Malaysian polytechnic civil engineering students