Facing up to the Challenges in Teaching and Learning English in Polytechnics

Abstract

The competency of English among future graduates has consistently been discussed and has become a national concern. The impact of not having competency in English contributes to the hindrance of communication. Thus, English language becomes a major factor graduates are not able to secure suitable employment or to perform at work. The Technical and Vocational Education Training providers such as polytechnics share the same concern as the other institutions. English courses are taught as compulsory course for all students and students are given opportunities to practise the language through co-curricular activities. Communicative English is offered in three semesters, to support the core subjects and complement the technical subjects. In leading towards development and preparing graduates to meet the needs of the future, it is pertinent to ensure that the outcome of English courses in polytechnics is to produce graduates with adequate language competency and ready for work. This chapter reveals the challenges faced by English and content lecturers based on teaching English in polytechnics, teaching the discipline content in English and the collaboration between both subject lecturers. Qualitative data is gathered based on interviews with the lecturers to discover the perception of lecturers from language and content disciplines. The challenges in teaching and learning English are analysed and recommendations for improvement are beneficial to be used as interventions to improve the teaching and learning of English in polytechnics.