EVALUATING EMPLOYERS’ DEMANDS FOR UNIVERSITY GRADUATES’ LEGAL ENGLISH PROFICIENCY IN EMPLOYABILITY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22190/JTESAP2202185HAbstract
Assessing university graduates’ legal English proficiency in workability is a vital activity in legal English language teaching to meet the job requirements. This quantitative empirical study investigated 35 participants from standing legal organs operating in Vietnam, using a researcher-made questionnaire to evaluate employers’ requirements for school leavers, major in legal English for workability. There were seven dimensions relating to employers’ requirements, namely the evaluation of legal English language skills, the prevalence of legal English language skills applied, the effective level of English language skills at workplace, the proficiency of legal English language requirement, legal English proficiency meeting employees’ requirement for positions, methods of organizations evaluating the English language skills of applicants, and organization’s schemes for applicants with good English proficiency. The results reveal that the employers have high opinions on using legal English at workplace, mainly reading and speaking skills. The findings indicate that employers implement a rigorous process when recruiting new graduates with legal English proficiency and formal tertiary qualifications. In addition, employers carry out a prioritized policy for employees who demonstrate their good English proficiency during their working practices. The findings would benefit employers recruiting right employees, university stakeholders adjusting their training policies, and students preparing well before graduation to satisfy employers’ expectations and the society’s demand accordingly.References
Brewer, L. (2013). Enhancing youth employability: What? Why? and How? Guide to core work skills. International Labour Office, Skills and Employability Department. https://www.ilo.org/skills/areas/skills-for-youth-employment/WCMS_213452/lang--en/index.htm
Brikena, X., & Gezim, X. (2011). The English language skills in ESP for law course. Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos, 17, 431-448. https://ojsspdc.ulpgc.es/ojs/index.php/LFE/article/view/124/113
Cambridge English & QS (2016). English at Work: global analysis of language skills in the workplace. http://englishatwork.cambridgeenglish.org/#page_q_skills
Cheang, M. & Yamashita, G. L. (2020). Employers’ Expectations of University Graduates as They Transition into the Workplace. European Journal of Social Science Education and Research, 7(3), 27-36. https://journals.euser.org/files/articles/ejser_v7_i3_20/Cheang.pdf
Clement, A., & Murugavel, T. (2018). English for the Workplace: The Importance of English Language Skills for Effective Performance. The English Classroom, 20(1), 41-50. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5396d94ee4b014e50cddb50f/t/5c7e49b5a4222fbd9465a658/1551780281770/Abstract+-+The+English+classroom+vol+20+no.+1+june+2018+%281%29.pdf
Dilini, L. R., & Sreemali, M. H. (2020). A Needs Analysis on the language skills required by the industry from vocational graduates. Sri Lanka Journal of Social Sciences, 43(2), 85-98. https://dx.doi.org/10.4038/sljss.v43i2.7932
Dornyei, Z., & Taguchi, T. (2010). Questionnaires in Second Language Research: Construction, Administration and Processing (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.
Ezihaslinda, N., Noor, R. M. R., Wan, J. F., & Noor, A. Z. A. (2011). The need for competent work ready English language learners. Social and Behavioral Sciences, 29, 1490-1499. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.11.389
Fallatah, R. H. M., & Syed, J. (2018) A Critical Review of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. In R. H. M. Fallatah, & J. Syed (Eds.), Employee Motivation in Saudi Arabia (1st ed., pp. 19 -59). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67741-5_2
Hani, S. M. Y., Rudzi, M., Nur, S. M. S., Siti, R. O. A., & Khalid, A. M. (2017). Employers Perspectives on Graduates Employability Skills: Soft Skills. Journal of Basic and Applied Scientific Research, 7(6), 16 - 19. https://www.textroad.com/pdf/JBASR/J.%20Basic.%20Appl.%20Sci.%20Res.,%207(6)16-19,%202017.pdf
Humburg, M., & Velden, R. V. D. (2013). What is expected of higher education graduates in the 21st century? Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics. GSBE Research Memoranda No. 044. https://doi.org/10.26481/umagsb.2013044
Humburg, M., Velden, R. V. D., & Verhagen, A. (2013). The employability of Higher Education Graduates: The Employers’ Perspectives. European Union. https://op.europa.eu/s/sI8N
Ilhaamie, A. G. A., & Rosmawarni, C. H. (2020). Employers' expectation and preference of graduates in Malaysia. Journal of Human Capital Development, 13(2), 37-60. https://journal.utem.edu.my/index.php/jhcd/article/view/6163/4090
König, L. S. & Maškarin, R. H. (2019). Is there a mismatch between employers’ and university teachers’ perceptions on graduate employability in Croatia?. Management, 24 (1), 87-102. https://doi.org/10.30924/mjcmi.24.1.6
Lisá, E., Hennelová, K., & Newman, D. (2019). Comparison between employers' and students' expectations in respect of employability skills of university graduates. International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning, 20(1), 71-82. https://www.ijwil.org/files/IJWIL_20_1_71_82.pdf
Lowden, K., Hall, S., Elliot, D., & Lewin, J. (2011). Employers’ perceptions of the employability skills of new graduates. Edge Foundation. https://www.educationandemployers.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/employability_skills_as_pdf_-_final_online_version.pdf
Mahbub, S., Tina, O., Christopher, T., & Gerry, R. (2016). Graduate Employability: Views of Recent Science Graduates and Employers. International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education, 24(3), 31 - 48. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/229407566.pdf
Meredith, M. (2013). English in the Workplace. In B. Paltridge & S. Starfield (Eds.), The Handbook of English for Specific Purposes (1st ed., pp. 175-192). John Wiley & Sons, Inc. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118339855.ch9
Muravev, Y. (2020). Teaching legal English translation by the case method in Russian-English language pair. Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews, 8(4), 961-971. https://doi.org/10.18510/hssr.2020.8493
Northcott, J. (2013). Legal English. In B. Paltridge, & S. Starfield (Eds.), The Handbook of English for specific purposes (pp. 213-226). Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118339855.ch11
Oliver, D. (2011). University Student Employment and Expectations of the Graduate Labour Market. Journal of Industrial Relations, 53(1), 123-131. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022185610390301
Paltridge, B., & Starfield, S. (2013). The handbook of English for specific purposes. Malden, Mass: John Wiley & Sons Inc. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118339855
Poedjiastutie, D., & Oliver, R. (2017). English learning needs of ESP learners: Exploring stakeholders’ perceptions at an Indonesian university. TEFLIN Journal, 28(1), 1-21. http://dx.doi.org/10.15639/teflinjournal.v28i1/1-21
Ranasuriya, D. L., & Herath, S. M. (2020). A Needs Analysis on the language skills required by the industry from vocational graduates. Sri Lanka Journal of Social Sciences, 43(2), 85-98. DOI: http://doi.org/10.4038/sljss.v43i2.7932
Rumalessin, U. A. T., & Farah, R. R. (2021). Investigating English needs of law department students in English for specific purposes. Journal of English Educators Society, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.21070/jees.v6i1.1085
Schwab, K. (2016). The Fourth Industrial Revolution. Geneva: World Economic Forum.
Sloka, B., Kantāne, I., Buligina, I., Tora, G., Dzelme, J., Buševica, R., Buligina, A., & Tora, P. (2015). Employers’ Needs and Expectations for Qualified Employees (Case Study on the Opinions in One of the Regions in Latvia). Economics and Business, 27(1), 69-75. https://doi.org/10.1515/eb-2015-0011
Strindlund, L., Abrandt-Dahlgren, M., & Ståhl, C. (2019) Employers’ views on disability, employability, and labor market inclusion: a phenomenographic study. Disability and Rehabilitation, 41(24), 2910-2917. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2018.1481150
Su-Hie, T., Ernisa, M., Kee-Man, C., Jecky, M., & Collin, J. (2017). Employers views on the importance of English proficiency and communication skill for employability in Malaysia. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 7(2), 315-327. https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v7i2.8132
Tevdovska, E. S. (2017). Enhancing employability skills in ESP (English for specific purposes) context - A study conducted at South East European University. Journal of Teaching English for Specific and Academic Purposes, 5(2), 275-284. https://doi.org/10.22190/JTESAP1702275S
Tran, T. T. (2016). Enhancing graduate employability and the need for university-enterprise collaboration. Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability, 7 (1), 58-71. https://doi.org/10.21153/jtlge2016vol7no1art598
Velden, R. Verhagen, A., & Humburg, M. (2015). The employability of higher education graduates. The employers’ perspective. European Union. https://doi.org/10.2766/54258


