Narrative Synthesis of FYP Report Evaluations: Bridging Technical Competence and Academic Communication in Malaysian TVET

Final Year Projects (FYPs) are critical indicators of undergraduate readiness for professional practice, requiring students to demonstrate both technical competence and academic communication. In the Malaysian TVET context, however, graduates often exhibit strong technical performance alongside persistent weaknesses in written and spoken English. This study synthesizes evaluations of 22 undergraduate FYP reports from engineering and applied science programmes at Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) to examine the balance between technical execution and CEFR-aligned academic communication. Findings show solid technical achievement (mean score: 15.28/20, ~76%) but recurring deficiencies in academic writing, critical analysis, and linguistic accuracy at the CEFR B2 level. The study argues for cross-curricular integration of language within technical assessment and discusses implications for supervision practices, rubric design, graduate employability, and institutional policy, with reference to the Cross-Curricular Instructional Model of English Writing and Speaking (C-IMEWS).