Examining linguistic proficiency in the multilingual glocal workplace: a Malaysian case study

Abstract

The study was conceived from the concern that the twenty-first-century workplace in Malaysia lacks locally sited and empirically based research that provide evidence for a grounded view of language proficiency and use beyond the dominant idealized notion of Standard English language models for education policy. A qualitative case study of a Malaysian airline company was conducted to provide an analytic description of the features of linguistic proficiency and their use in the multilingual glocal workplace. Using emails, interviews and field observations, the findings point to a pluralistic view of linguistic proficiency that embraces functional business English, Malaysian English, English as a lingua franca and the use of other language codes. While the English language is shown to be dominant in the workplace, the data demonstrate the importance of a pluralistic view of linguistic proficiency in diverse glocal contexts. The study also provides insights into how language pedagogy in higher education can support diversity in the workplace.

Kajian ini bertitik tolak daripada kekurangan kajian empirikal tempatan yang berfokus kepada tempat kerja dalam abad ke-21 di Malaysia yang memberi sokongan berasaskan bukti kepada usulan yang mendorong pendapat terhadap kecekapan linguistik untuk menjauhi ideologi dominan yang mementingkan Bahasa Inggeris Standard. Oleh sedemikian, sebuah kajian kes kualitatif yang bertempat di sebuah syarikat penerbangan di Malaysia telah dijalankan untuk memberi keterangan analitikal terhadap penguasaan bahasa yang diperlukan di tempat kerja. Sumber data kajian ini merangkumi e-mel, temu bual dan pemerhatian lapangan. Hasil kajian yang berpandukan persepsi majmuk terhadap kecekapan linguistik merangkumi sumber kepelbagaian bahasa dari segi Bahasa Inggeris Tempat Kerja fungsional, Bahasa Inggeris Malaysia, Bahasa Inggeris sebagai bahasa perantaraan, penggunaan kod-kod bahasa lain, dan juga menekankan bahawa repertoar linguistik sebegini merupakan sumber penting dalam konteks glokal pelbagai bahasa. Kajian ini diharapkan dapat memberikan pengertian terhadap bagaimana pendidikan bahasa di institusi pengajian tinggi dapat menyediakan pendidikan bahasa yang dapat menyokong kepelbagaian di tempat kerja.

Keywords:

• workplace
• linguistic proficiency
• language use
• Malaysian English
• ELF
• multilingualism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Sze Seau Lee is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Language Studies and Linguistics at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Her research focuses on enhancing learning through research-informed pedagogy in order to make English language learning more relevant and engaging to students. She is currently teaching in a private college in Malaysia in the areas of English for academic purposes and English for specific purposes.

Yew Lie Koo has recently retired as professor of culture, language and literacy in multilngual contexts in the School of Language Studies and Linguistics at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. She has published widely on topics in applied linguistics, cultural politics and knowledge production, language and literacy education in multilingual/cultural contexts and on the internationalization of higher education.