Abstract:

This paper investigated the strategies undertaken by the maritime students in Malaysia in improving their spoken English. English is the second most important language in Malaysia after the national language which is the Malay language. The significance of English is apparent in today’s education and employment. Most job opportunities nowadays put emphasis on the candidates’ written and spoken English proficiency. The lack of decent ability to speaking in English amongst graduates is a common phenomenon in the Malaysian linguistic landscape. Although English is an acceptably important medium of communication in higher learning institutions and at the workplace, the level of proficiency in spoken English amongst the graduates in Malaysia is still low. Realising the urgency of the matter in addressing both academic and professional needs, Malaysian speakers revert to a number of strategies in their desire to use English in oral interactions. The data for this study were collected via a survey questionnaire which consisted of eighteen items on 8-point response scale. The survey was distributed to one hundred maritime students in a private university north of Malaysia. The findings revealed that the respondents did have some forms of strategies to increase their proficiency in the spoken English.

Keywords:

Spoken English, maritime students, academics and professional needs, strategies, proficiency.