Summarize the article shown below discussing the aspects of communication skills that university students have to be equipped with before they graduate from university. Based on your summarized article identify the skill(s) you are lacking as a student and how best you can learn them. 

 References should come from the article only.

 

1. Introduction

The university's role in producing graduates in various fields to fulfill the market needs does not only focus on academic achievement, but also on generic skills or "soft skills" required for them to compete in the global market. Furthermore, employers now place great importance on generic skills and personality in choosing their future employees. Therefore, local universities now explicitly state generic skills as a requirement in the program outcome since 2008, consistent with "performance based curriculum" which started the same year. Communication skills are components of generic skills that have been identified as a focus at the universities (Kementerian Pengajian Tinggi Malaysia, 2006). Although generic skills encompass several elements, this study would focussed on communication skills. Communication skills are important especially during the process of seeking job. The new graduate would be tested on their communication during their job interviews. Therefore,

universities and faculties have to ensure that students are equipped with the ability to communicate clearly and effectively. This article will discuss the aspects of communication skills that university students have to be equipped with before they graduate.

2. Literature Review

Generally, communication can be defined as a process of exchanging information, from the person giving the information through verbal and non-verbal methods, to the person receiving the information. The most common method of communication is verbal, using a specific language where it is a two-way process, with feedback on the message received. Communication also involves the exchange of ideas, opinions and information with a specific objective. Apart from oral communication, information can also be exchanged using symbols or signage. Communication has also been defined as sharing and giving meaning occurring at the same time through symbolic interactions (Seiler & Beall, 2005). Communication has been said to start when a message or information is transferred from the sender (the speaker, writer) to the receiver (listener, reader) through an instrument or channel, and followed by the receiver giving feedback (coding and interpreting the information; Sulaiman Masri, 1997). Based on these definitions, elements of communication include the person giving the information, the information and feedback by the receiver, and the repetition of these processes creates knowledge development. Previous research on communication skills among university students have been reported by Ihmeideh, Ahmad and Dababneh (2010) and Cleland, Foster and Moffat (2005). They found that a positive communication environment provides opportunities to students to learn how to communicate, and thus, have better communication skills. Therefore, university students need to be given opportunities to communicate in order to be better prepared for the job market after their studies. Communication is more effective if the receiver (of the information) can understand and practice the skills. Further, communication will be more meaningful if the physical, spiritual and

social factors are taken into account during the communication process. As a university student who is getting ready to start on their chosen career, he or she should take the opportunity in any activities that developed communication skills in a wider and accomplish the aspect so that communication skills can be fully developed. Students need to put in effort to develop their communication skills to be able to succeed in their chosen profession (Ihmeideh, et al. 2010). There are many types of communication skills, but generally it involves oral and written skills. Mohd Helmi (2005) proposes that there are essentially three types of communication, which are interpersonal communication, management communication (communication in a group), and public communication (speech making). The process of communication generally involves four elements, which are the speaker, the receiver, communication channel and feedback. A few researchers have defined communication as verbal communication, written communication, non-verbal communication, listening and giving feedback (Nur'ashiqin Najmuddin, 2010).

At the same time, Rodiah Idris (2010) proposes that communication as a non-verbal skill, giving feedback, presenting ideas verbally and in written form, doing presentations and negotiating to achieve a goal and getting support/agreement. In our globalized world, university students need to master communication skills in different cultural contexts (Penbek, Yurdakul, & Cerit, 2009). Harlak et al. (2008) proposes that university students be exposed to activities that can develop their communication skills starting from their first year at university. Hence, universities must provide many more activities to develop the students' communication skills in order to meet the challenges of the globalized world. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the level of communication skills (oral, written and social skills) among local university students.

3. Methodology

The questionnaire was developed based on the available literature on communication skills and discussions among researchers in the team. The constructs of communication skills (oral skills, written skills and social skills) in this paper was determined based on the definitions of communication discussed earlier. Every construct was measured based on a few sub-construct that was intern measured by a number of items. Participants responded a five-point likert scale: strongly disagree, disagree, slightly disagree, agree and strongly agree. The completed questionnaire was then sent to three experts in the field of communication for validation. The validated questionnaire was then pilot tested among  students which not in the final year, and the Alpha Cronbach of each construct and its corresponding sub-construct, is shown in Table 1.

 

Zanaton Haji Iksan et al. / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 59 (2012) 71 - 76 Table 1. The Alpha Cronbach for each construct Construct Sub-Construct Number of Alpha items Verbal -presenting ideas verbally 3 0.87 Communication -understands what was heard 4 0.82 Skills (V) -giving feedback -presentation Written -presenting ideas in written +54 4 0.87 0.89 0.91 Communication form Skills (W) -giving feedback in written 5 0.85 form Social -negotiating to get agreement 4 0.88 Communication -Communicating to people from 4 0.90 Skills (S) different cultures -Communicating in different 4 0.81 languages -Communicating humbly 6 0.90 43 Total