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Abstract
The present study investigated the impact of English language on career opportunities of employees of Jazz Digital House Multan Pakistan, working in various domains. A quantitative approach was applied to obtain the employees' perceptions as an individual’s perspective. Data were collected through a four-point Likert scale questionnaire from 111 Jazz employees. A survey form was circulated through Google form, and the respondents’ responses were collected online. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the respondents’ responses. The results revealed that the English language skills of hiring candidates make an impact on the interviewers’ committee, mandatory for finding a suitable candidate for the employer. The results also showed that English language skills increase the chances of one’s career success, break the barriers for job seekers to find good jobs, and have a very significant impact on career-boosting opportunities in the private sector. Inferential statistics results showed that there is no significant variance at gender level in scores on English language impact on career opportunities. It is recommended that there must be training sessions for the new employees to enhance their English language skills like these (skills) play a significant role to the working environment.
Key Words:
Career Opportunities, Language Skills, Working Environment, Jazz Digital House
Introduction
English communication skills play a fundamental role in workplace situations. It is significant in the management sector, especially as stated in different job advertisements. English is often a key factor in employment perspective with greater remunerations and in organizations aiming at higher output. Employees would never achieve success without good English communication skills. It is also part of job promotion criteria in different organizations where most conversations have been made in written form with colleagues, the management or even with customers, in case of customer service jobs.
There are 350-400 million native speakers of English around the world. The English language is the supreme frequently verbal language in the world. It is in the list of full controlling languages of the world, which has an impact on every field. It is a greater role in the world that is unavoidable for people to ignore. Hollywood is the heart of international amusement, so English becomes the chief language for making movies. English is also easy to speak and write as its vocabulary is simple to grasp. In the English language, we can say the same thing in many ways, so there is flexibility in the English language also. English is enormously significant as a global language and shows a vivacious part even in states where the United Kingdom has traditionally consumed little influence. English is also the language of freelancers as the conversation with clients on international forms is also done in English.
Devi (2016) is of the view that the impact of the English language is acknowledged in obtaining jobs around the globe. Dustmann and Fabbr (2003) showed that strong communication skills in the workplace are essential for a competitive job market. Under this, the English language as communication skills plays an essential role in jobs, increasingly under globalization.
English and Urdu languages have official languages status in Pakistan; widely used in executive, military, and in legislative spheres. It is the language of business contracts, signs of shops, and many street signs. Pakistan laws are also written in English. In Pakistan, most of the verbal communications are in Urdu, and written communication is in English. English is also a language of press and media, and most of the famous international newspapers are also published in English. English is also considered a symbol of high society in Pakistan. The English language significance for graduates, particularly searching and grasping the job, does not need exaggeration. The English language is almost part of every job screening test in Pakistan. It is the medium of communication for almost all organizations to official and organizational communication. In Pakistan, graduates are essential to have comprehension English language skills to write for a job or to publish their reports, etc. Urdu or other regional languages are used only for verbal communication. English language Competency is the most basic pre-requisites for a job offer by any multinational company. Graduates have to pass Basic English written screening tests for the jobs, and sometimes after passing the written/screening tests, English language proficiency is also evaluated during interviews according to the nature of work of a particular post.
According to Devi (2016), graduates face difficulties in finding a suitable job in the market as they lack in comprehension language skills. Existing research showed the significance of English language skills at the workplace and individual career mobility. Still, there was no academic research to see the sights of the importance of English language skills regarding employment in the Pakistani context where more than half of the population has below the age of 29, and however, there are amazingly high unemployment rates among young people educated above the matriculation level. Therefore, this study is needed time to reveal the effect of language skills on Pakistan's career opportunities, where English is employed as an official language along with Urdu.
Current study results can help us to know the worth of English language skills for successful career mobility and can be great exposure to unemployed persons to know the worth of English language proficiency for finding jobs. It can be how much English language proficiency is necessary for getting jobs, and it can also be effective for employed persons also at the workplace for career development. Null hypothesis was also developed that there is no significant difference between males and females in scores on the impact of the English language on career opportunities concerning gender.
Literature Review
This section will discuss the previous research about the English language's impacts on career opportunities from existing literature.
Lauring and Selmer (2011) argued that language is a major source of conversation for exchanging information, and multicultural companies are also supposed to have the ability to improve efficiency with potential knowledge. Feely and Harzing (2003) found that a common business language's key purpose is to pass information effectively inside the organization for formal reporting, cross-national interaction, and information systems. The researcher has worked in Jazz for different positions for five years, and he closely observed and experienced that English communication skills are important for employees within the organization or with customers for better results. The researcher also revealed that there were more than 900 employees and managerial staff at the call center office where the importance of English language skills couldn't be denied, especially in the Investigation and Resolution Unit (IRU) department where employees had interacted with the customer directly through online chat for their queries. Communications between team members and with team leaders were also in English on a daily basis. Sometimes call center representatives were supposed to receive a call on Jazz 111 helpline from such customers who started talking in English, so they had to respond to them in English for better customer service.
Shields and Price (2002) found that success and occupational advantages are relatively dependent on fluency in the English language. Muukari (2008) and Borenius (2009) revealed that language comprehension skills could offer work opportunities outside the employee’s common scope of responsibilities, influencing the individual’s perception of their career success and providing further possibilities of promotion recognition. According to Giri (2014), people who know English are more showing, more informative, and thus more confident in their lives than those who are not. Clement and Murugavel (2015) showed that applicants are supposed to voice their suggestions in English without any fear and ambiguity.
Schellekens (2001) noted that shortcomings in English comprehension skills become problematic for applicants around the world. According to the researcher's professional experience, the English language portion is used as a necessary part of job screening tests or even in interviews also for specific cases as English is used as an official language in our country. Research revealed that he enjoyed his language skills on many occasions, and he shared his best interview experience, which was held on September 22, 2018, and it was probably right after the next day of Ashura. The interview was for a clerical job in Federal Government Educational Institutions (FGEI) Cantts and Garrisons Schools Rawalpindi. He further revealed that on the day of the interview, there were seven candidates who called for an interview against one post. The researcher had randomly prepared well for the English portion due to several written job tests in various departments. He exposed that first of all, a member from the interview panel came and said: “suppose you are working as a clerk in FGEI schools for a long time, so by assuming this statement you have to write a letter in English to your headmaster for your job promotion in the allocated time of ten minutes”. Researcher topped in job written/screening test. Therefore, he has to appear prior to all candidates and has no idea about the interview's question, and there were three members in the panel, and after the introduction, they started to test his English language skills through sentence structure, and they put numerous questions about sentence rules and translation from Urdu to English. It was easy for the researcher due to his command on sentences. The researcher also revealed that he is the only; one who acknowledged for an appointment letter just because of proficiency in the English language. It was one of his best interview experiences due to his proficiency in English language skills.
Maclean (2006) argued that the impact of language in administrations has frequently remained ignored and understood as a just technical or functioning matter. A reasonable occupation marketplace needs worthy language skills in the workplace, so English as language skills play a fundamental impact in the workplace thus, English is frequently a basic feature in employment prospects with greater compensations and in organizations aiming at higher output. Ylinen (2010) found that approved language strategy for a corporation is an irregular prospect in Finnish international companies. However, workers who are working in multi-lingual companies are using their language skills for the betterment of the company by using their own skills. Researcher have also seven-year professional experience in government and private sector and he found many employees facing difficulties in business communication skills like drafting, emailing, and responding to emails, while lodging complaints, etc. This research can be effective for fresh graduates and also for already working employees in various organizations.
Methodology
This study was aimed to examine the impact of English language skills on career opportunities in the private sector of Pakistan as an individual’s perspective. Quantitative research approach was applied to obtain responses of the respondents as it is more objective, scientific, and focused. It is also easier to conduct surveys than series of interviews. The questionnaire was divided into three parts. The first part comprises the most of the items (21) to examine the impact of English language skills. The second part of the questionnaire comprises two items whether English language skills becomes the reason for obtaining/firing from a job. The third part of the questionnaire comprises three items regarding rank your language skills. In Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to obtain respondents’ responses.
Null hypothesis was also developed that there is no significant difference among males and females in scores on the impact of English language on career opportunities in the private sector of Pakistan. The population of the study comprised of 2300 Jazz employees. The data was collected through a convenience sampling technique due to COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, a sample size of the population was 111 Jazz employees, consisting of both male and female employees. The survey forms were circulated through Google form, and the participants’ responses were collected online on point Likert scale questionnaire. A pilot study was also conducted on 15 employees of Telenor Company to check the reliability of the questionnaire through Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) which is .910.
Table 1. Showed the Gender Wise Frequency of Respondents of the Study
| Gender width="179">Frequency width="179">Percentage | > Male width="179">61 width="179">55% | > Female width="179">50 width="179">45% | > Total width="179">111 width="179">100% |
Table 2. Showed the respondents perceptions about the impact of English language skills on career opportunities.
| S. No width="216">Statements width="48">Strongly disagree width="43">disagree width="46">Agree width="46">Strongly agree width="46">Mean width="46">Std. Deviation | > 1 width="216">English language skills are mandatory for finding a suitable Job in the market. width="48">4% width="43">6% width="46">50% width="46">40% width="46">3.26 width="46">.735 | > 2 width="216">English language skills break the barriers for job seekers to find jobs. width="48">2% width="43">12% width="46">63% width="46">23% width="46">3.08 width="46">.649 | > 3 width="216">English language skills help to make an individual’s merit at the time of job written/screening tests. width="48">1% width="43">6% width="46">70% width="46">23% width="46">3.14 width="46">.553 | > 4 width="216">Proficiency in the English language makes an impact at the time of job written tests. width="48">0% width="43">7% width="46">59% width="46">34% width="46">3.27 width="46">.587 | > 5 width="216">English language skills make an impact on the interviewers’ committee. width="48">0% width="43">5% width="46">53% width="46">42% width="46">3.38 width="46">.573 | > 6 width="216">English proficiency makes you top in the list among other candidates. width="48">1% width="43">21% width="46">51% width="46">27% width="46">3.05 width="46">.718 | > 7 width="216">Interviewers can shortlist candidates based on English communication skills. width="48">3% width="43">26% width="46">58% width="46">13% width="46">2.82 width="46">.690 | > 8 width="216">Command on English language skills is necessary to understand the job-related advertisements. width="48">2% width="43">13% width="46">65% width="46">20% width="46">3.03 width="46">.639 | > 9 width="216">We need expertise in the English language because International companies are adopting English as their official language. width="48">3% width="43">5% width="46">51% width="46">41% width="46">3.31 width="46">.698 | > 10 width="216">Most of the candidates switch English to Urdu while answering the interview panel questions. width="48">1% width="43">12% width="46">69% width="46">18% width="46">3.05 width="46">.578 | > 11 width="216">Employers would be happy to interview and recruit candidates who have better English language skills compared to others. width="48">1% width="43">8% width="46">74% width="46">17% width="46">3.07 width="46">.534 | > 12 width="216">Employees having a lack of English communication skills face difficulties while performing their departmental activities width="48">2% width="43">15% width="46">60% width="46">23% width="46">3.05 width="46">.679 | > 13 width="216">Bringing improvement in English language skills become the reason for career growth. width="48">2% width="43">12% width="46">66% width="46">20% width="46">3.05 width="46">.630 | > 14 width="216">English language skills increase your chances of career success. width="48">0% width="43">10% width="46">62% width="46">28% width="46">3.18 width="46">.591 | > 15 width="216">Strong command in the English language becomes the reason to get high incentives. width="48">1% width="43">34% width="46">45% width="46">20% width="46">2.84 width="46">.745 | > 16 width="216">A fluent English speaker advances his career easily in the management hierarchy. width="48">3% width="43">12% width="46">68% width="46">17% width="46">2.98 width="46">.660 | > 17 width="216">Proficiency in English language skills makes you prominent among other employees. width="48">1% width="43">12% width="46">64% width="46">23% width="46">3.08 width="46">.620 | > 18 width="216">A fluent English speaker easily leads to subordinates. width="48">3% width="43">20% width="46">55% width="46">22% width="46">2.95 width="46">.749 | > 19 width="216">English language skills are commonly used in the workplace. width="48">4% width="43">23% width="46">60% width="46">13% width="46">2.82 width="46">.690 | > 20 width="216">English language skills make you satisfied in the workplace. width="48">1% width="43">19% width="46">64% width="46">16% width="46">2.95 width="46">.624 | > 21 width="216">Competency in the English language inspires you to work with passion. width="48">3% width="43">22% width="46">61% width="46">14% width="46">2.86 width="46">.672 |
| Gender width="43">N width="59">Mean width="59">SD width="55">df width="61">t width="112">Sig. (2-tailed) width="96">Effect size | > Male width="43">61 width="59">3.0390 width="59">.37731 width="55" rowspan="2">109 width="61" rowspan="2">-.557 width="112" rowspan="2">.579 width="96" rowspan="2">-.0409680 | > Female width="43">50 width="59">3.0800 width="59">.39566 |
| >S. No width="238">>Statements width="54">Never width="54">Rarely width="60">Sometimes width="54">Often width="47">Always | > 1 width="238">To what extent English language skills become the reason for obtaining a job. width="54">1% width="54">4% width="60">20% width="54">51% width="47">24% | > 2 width="238">To what extent poor English language skills become the reason for firing from a job. width="54">9% width="54">31% width="60">40% width="54">12% width="47">8% |
| S. No width="312">Statements/Conditions width="54">Speaking width="42">Listening width="42">Writing width="42">Reading | > 1 width="312">Language skills ranking at the time of job interview width="54">83% width="42">55% width="42">12% width="42">6% | > 2 width="312">Language skills ranking during job duties width="54">85% width="42">61% width="42">52% width="42">40% | > 3 width="312">Language skills ranking during job written tests width="54">5% width="42">9% width="42">45% width="42">73% |