Oral Communication Difficulties

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background information

Lingua franca is the term used to refer to a language used for communication between groups of people who speak different languages , as defined in the Cambridge Dictionary. The English language is well known as lingua franca in which, it is widely being used as a communication medium between individuals who share neither a common native tongue nor a common culture (Seidlhofer, 2005). According to Firth, it is also considered as lingua franca for the groups of people who assume English as chosen foreign language of communication (Seidlhofer, 2005).

In countries such as Malaysia, English is used as a secondary language as the native and primary language is ‘Bahasa Malaysia’. Even though English

In the same survey conducted, it is noticed that about 58% of the employees encounter problems in speaking fluently, asking for clarifications and supporting the opinions at their workplace (Moslehifar & Ibrahim, 2012) .Not only in oral communications, but some of the employees are also facing difficulties in written communications. These problems seem to be obstacles to the development of the companies as well as the

Both oral and written communication should be emphasized to ease the communication progress. English is now spoken by a quarter of the world’s population,enabling a true single market in knowledge and ideas (British Council, 2013). Thus, Malaysian workforce should train themselves to master the English language to make sure Malaysia is on the right track of the development as other countries. Online and offline communication both play equal roles, especially in business dealings to prevent any misleading pieces of