ENGLISH ABILITIES AND KNOWLEDGE OF ADULT LEANERS: A CASE STUDY OF STUDENT AT THE SCHOOL OF DISTANCE EDUCATION, UNIVERSITI SAINS MALAYSIA

Shahrier Pawanchik, Faiz Hilmi, Meor Azli, Issham Ismail
2013 unpublished
The decline in English language proficiency among students entering public universities is still debatable. English may be taught from standard one through form five and form six or matriculation level but the students' proficiency is still very low. Looking at in microcosm, the majority of Malaysian students leave the school system with a poor grasp of English despite having been exposed to the language for eleven or more years. Although both the 'intrinsic and extrinsic motivations' have been
more » ... given, these motivations have been unsuccessful in reaching the greater majority. Employers especially from the private sector have voiced their concern on the low proficiency of these graduates. And the repercussion is employers will look elsewhere for skilled workers instead of employing public institutions' graduates. Taking the cue from here, this research paper will focus on the abilities and knowledge of adult learners who are doing distance education programmes with the Universiti Sains Malaysia. These students are working either in the public or private sector. Findings of this research will provide information for curriculum developers at public institutions of higher learning to tailor their English courses towards meeting the students' needs.
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