Challenges in Teaching English at Technical Higher Education: A Literature Review of Malaysian Technical Universities

English proficiency remains a critical challenge across the technical universities in Malaysia, impacting graduate employability. This literature review synthesises ten recent studies, identifies challenges, and highlights gaps in research at Malaysia's technical universities. There are three highlighted themes: (1) high student speaking anxiety paired with low confidence, (2) misalignment between academic curricula and workplace communication demands, and (3) institutional pedagogical constraints. By highlighting current research gaps, this review offers a framework for future studies to better align technical instruction with industry expectations.

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Journal
Development in Language Studies
Published
2026-10-30
Primary Topic
EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Challenges in Teaching English at Technical Higher Education: A Literature Review of Malaysian Technical Universities

Najwa Amanina Bizami, Nurul Atiqah Johar, Nur Farina Azizan
Development in Language Studies
EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning
article

Challenges in Teaching English at Technical Higher Education: A Literature Review of Malaysian Technical Universities

Najwa Amanina Bizami, Nurul Atiqah Johar, Nur Farina Azizan
article en

Abstract

English proficiency remains a critical challenge across the technical universities in Malaysia, impacting graduate employability. This literature review synthesises ten recent studies, identifies challenges, and highlights gaps in research at Malaysia's technical universities. There are three highlighted themes: (1) high student speaking anxiety paired with low confidence, (2) misalignment between academic curricula and workplace communication demands, and (3) institutional pedagogical constraints. By highlighting current research gaps, this review offers a framework for future studies to better align technical instruction with industry expectations.

Development in Language Studies
Universiti Teknologi MARA (MY), Tun Hussein Onn University of Malaysia (MY)
Openalex Percentile: Top 2%
EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning
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