Polytechnic english language lecturers research competencies and interests

Abstract

Malaysian polytechnics are being geared towards rapid transformation to develop a marketable workforce to meet the demand of a developed nation by 2020. In line with the polytechnic transformational plan, three polytechnics were upgraded to the status of premier polytechnics (university level) and several degree programmes are being offered. The transformational plan presents a great challenge to its academic staffas they are expected to enhance their quality of teaching and participate in other scholarly activities such as research and publication. These expectations can only be fulfilled if the lecturers research competencies are at a stage that would enable them to produce research outputs. Thus, this study aims to identify the level of research competencies of English language lecturers in these premier polytechnics and explore their research interests in areas that are generally, covered at international conferences and publications via questionnaire. The results of the study indicate that overall, the lecturers are at the practitioner level of research competency and show a strong interest in almost all the research topics covered in Malaysian international conferences on English language teaching and learning. Hence, these findings will provide a guide to the institutions in order to build appropriate support system to support English language lecturers research efforts.