Speaker
Description
With the hope of equipping English language students for their entry into the future career paths, this research investigates the core and interpersonal skills that students and employers consider vital to graduate employability. As such, it seeks to identify any perceptual mismatches of skills between stakeholders and uncover any potential gaps between what employers expect from English graduates and what they actually perceive from student performance. To provide robust and context-relevant insights, this paper invites the participation of 100 English majors across universities and 13 employers from sectoral institutions. For rich data collection, it utilizes the interwoven power of questionnaires to gain an overview of students’ employability, followed by interviews working on the nuances. Findings from the research denote that the contemporary labor market is looking for well-rounded human resources with a high acquisition of both core skills and interpersonal skills. Emerging insights also uncover an overall alignment between what employers seek and what they perceive in students, with few improvements suggested for better interpersonal skills. To this end, the paper delves into the underlying dynamics of students’ proficiency and sheds some light on the anticipated market trends. Suggesting that employability is intricate, the paper calls for collective actions from graduating students, university administrators, and prospective employers to bring about transformative outcomes.
Biography
Ngoc Ha Bao Trinh is graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in English from Tra Vinh University in 2025, with a strong academic focus on global awareness and sociocultural literature. With a deep interest in language learning and a lifelong dedication to sustainable development, Ngoc aspires to take on an educational role upon graduation and continue her research on cultivating sociocultural and moral values through literature, with the goal of nurturing future generations who will act with open-mindedness and responsibility.
Tuyet-Nhung Thi Nguyen has been a member at the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Tra Vinh University since 2009. She earned a BA in English Education in 2008 and MA degree in TESOL in 2015. Her scholarly contributions include multiple peer-reviewed journal publications, edited volumes, and presentations at international conferences. Presently, Ms. Nhung is pursuing a doctoral degree in English language teaching methodologies at Trà Vinh University.
