PERCEPTIONS OF FINAL-YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS AT A PUBLIC UNIVERSITY CONCERNING THEIR JOB READINESS IN RELATION TO 21ST CENTURY SKILLS
Main Article Content
Abstract
Among 21st century skills, critical thinking (CT), creativity or creative thinking (CR), collaboration or teamwork (CL), communication (CM), and information and communication technology (ICT) competence (collectively referred to as 4Cs-ICT) are considered essential for job readiness, particularly for English majors preparing to work in multicultural and technology-driven environments. This study investigates the perceptions of final-year English majors at Hanoi University of Industry (HaUI) regarding the importance of 4Cs-ICT, their self-assessment of proficiency in these skills, and their recommendations for improvement. Employing a mixed-methods design, the data were collected from 47 questionnaire responses and 11 semi-structured interviews. The findings showed that students highly valued 4Cs-ICT, especially CT and CL, but remained less confident in their own proficiency, particularly in CT and CR. Both subjective and objective factors were identified as barriers to skill development. The students suggested integrating 4Cs-ICT more systematically into the curriculum, expanding extracurricular and project-based activities, and fostering a more open, technology-enhanced learning environment. These results highlight an urgent need to strengthen 21st century skills among English majors to enhance their job readiness in an increasingly competitive and globalized labor market.
Keywords
job readiness, 21st century skills, 4Cs-ICT
Article Details
References
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Nguyen, T. K. (2019). Một số vấn đề cơ bản về kỹ năng làm việc HT [Some basic issues of collaborative working skills]. Tạp chí Khoa học Giáo dục Việt Nam [Vietnam Journal of Educational Sciences], 13, 34–38. http://vjes.vnies.edu.vn/sites/default/files/bai_so_7_-_so_13_thang_1.2019.pdf
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Sim, R. C., Su, K. C., & Hyong, K. Y. (2021). QRCV approach to enhancing critical thinking skills in ESP learning. VNU Journal of Foreign Studies, 37(4), 167–181. https://vjol.info.vn/index.php/NCNN/article/view/65716/55398
Suarta, I. M., Suwintana, I. K., Sudhana, I. G. P. F. P., & Hariyanti, N. K. D. (2017, September). Employability skills required by the 21st-century workplace: A literature review of labor market demand. In International Conference on Technology and Vocational Teachers (ICTVT 2017) (pp. 337–342). Atlantis Press. https://doi.org/10.2991/ictvt-17.2017.58
Tran, T. T. (2015). Is graduate employability the whole-of-higher-education-issue? Journal of Education and Work, 28(3), 207–227. https://doi.org/10.1080/13639080.2014.900167
Tran, T. M. (2023). Integrating 21st Century Skills into Translation Classroom from Students' Perspective. International Journal of TESOL & Education, 3(1), 64–78. https://doi.org/10.54855/ijte.23315
Usman, O., & Suherman, C. (2020). The influence of experience industrial work practices, work motivation, and career guidelines, on student work readiness. Demographic Research, 49, 1–33.
Van Laar, E., Van Deursen, A. J., Van Dijk, J. A., & De Haan, J. (2017). The relation between 21st-century skills and digital skills: A systematic literature review. Computers in human behavior, 72, 577–588. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.03.010
World Economic Forum. (2016). The future of jobs 2016. https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-future-of-jobs
World Economic Forum. (2020). The future of jobs report 2020. https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-future-of-jobs-report-2020
Anderson, R. E. (2008). Implications of the information and knowledge society for education. In J. Voogt & G. Knezek (Eds.), International handbook of information technology in primary and secondary education (pp. 5–22). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-73315-9
Bernardini, S., & Petrović, M. M. (2021). Toward a new profile for twenty-first century language specialists: Industry, institutional and academic insights (UPSKILLS Intellectual Output 1.2). University of Bologna. https://cris.unibo.it/retrieve/e1dcb339-6d39-7715-e053-1705fe0a6cc9/UPSKILLS%20IO1%20Task%202%20-%20Literature%20review.pdf
Bui, L. T. (2012). Nâng cao sức cạnh tranh cho sinh viên Việt Nam trên thị trường lao động trong nước và quốc tế. [Enhancing the competitiveness of Vietnamese students in the domestic and international labor markets]. Tạp chí Phát triển & Hội nhập [Journal of Development and Integration], 6(16), 55–60. http://vci.vnu.edu.vn/upload/15022/pdf/57637c537f8b9a9df28b4584.pdf
Bridgstock, R., Goldsmith, B., Rodgers, J., & Hearn, G. (2016). Creative graduate pathways within and beyond the creative industries. Routledge.
Caballero, C. L., Walker, A., & Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, M. (2011). The Work Readiness Scale (WRS): Developing a measure to assess work readiness in college graduates. Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability, 2(2), 41–54. https://doi.org/10.21153/jtlge2011vol2no1art552
Dillman, D. A., Smyth, J. D., & Christian, L. M. (2014). Internet, phone, mail, and mixed mode surveys: The tailored design method (4th ed.). John Wiley & Sons Inc. https://content.e-bookshelf.de/media/reading/L-2753682-49f7ffb446.pdf
Dannels, D. P. (2001). Time to speak up: A theoretical framework of situated pedagogy and communication education. Communication Education, 50(1), 56–72. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634520109379240
Doe, R. (2015). Work readiness among graduate students (Doctoral dissertation). LSU Scholarly Repository. https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/1008
Facione, P. A., Sánchez, C. A., Facione, N. C., & Giancarlo, C. A. F. (1995). The disposition toward critical thinking. The Journal of General Education, 44(1), 1–25. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27797240
Gafour, O. W. A., & Gafour, W. A. S. (2020). Creative thinking skills – A review article. ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349003763_Creative_Thinking_skills_-A_Review_article#fullTextFileContent
Gagalang, J. L. (2020). Employers’ perspectives on English-major graduates’ attributes, skills, and personal qualities. PalArch’s Journal of Archaeology of Egypt / Egyptology, 17(2), 460–472.
Guest, G., Bunce, A., & Johnson, L. (2006). How many interviews are enough? An experiment with data saturation and variability. Field Methods, 18(1), 59–82. https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X05279903
Harvey, L. (2001). Defining and measuring employability. Quality in Higher Education, 7(2), 97–109. https://doi.org/10.1080/13538320120059990
Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, F. P. (2014). Joining together: Group theory and group skills (11th ed.). Pearson. https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9781292035833_A24580164/preview-9781292035833_A24580164.pdf
Joynes, C., Rossignoli, S., & Fenyiwa Amonoo-Kuofi, E. (2019). 21st century skills: Evidence of issues in definition, demand and delivery for development contexts (K4D Helpdesk Report). Institute of Development Studies. https://www.ids.ac.uk/publications/21st-century-skills-evidence-of-issues-in-definition-demand-and-delivery-for-development-contexts/
Le, Q. H., Lam, H. P., Doan, L. H. A., & Vo, T. T. A. (2022). English-majored students' most common career options and the levels of readiness for the careers. European Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, 6(4), 29–45. https://oapub.org/edu/index.php/ejfl/article/view/4527/7162
Lucas, S. E. (2009). The art of public speaking (10th ed.). McGraw-Hill.
Martin, A. (2008). Digital literacy and the "digital society". In C. Lankshear & M. Knobel (Eds.), Digital literacies: Concepts, policies and practices (pp. 151–176). Peter Lang. https://pages.ucsd.edu/~bgoldfarb/comt109w10/reading/Lankshear-Knobel_et_al-DigitalLiteracies.pdf
Maryuningsih, Y., Hidayat, T., Riandi, R., & Rustaman, N. (2020). Developing performance assessment instruments to measure 4C skills in online discussion activities of science learning. Scientiae Educatia: Jurnal Pendidikan Sains, 9(1), 109–120. https://doi.org/10.24235/sc.educatia.v9i1.7500
Nguyen, M. T., & Doan, T. N. (2021). Impact of Industrial Revolution 4.0 on the Labor Market in Vietnam. Research in World Economy, 12(1), 94–05. https://doi.org/10.5430/rwe.v12n1p94
Nguyen, T. K. (2019). Một số vấn đề cơ bản về kỹ năng làm việc HT [Some basic issues of collaborative working skills]. Tạp chí Khoa học Giáo dục Việt Nam [Vietnam Journal of Educational Sciences], 13, 34–38. http://vjes.vnies.edu.vn/sites/default/files/bai_so_7_-_so_13_thang_1.2019.pdf
Phan, T. T. V., Nguyen, D. T. L., & Nguyen, D. K. (2022). Twenty-first century essential employability skills for English as a foreign language undergraduates in a context of the Mekong Delta. European Journal of Educational Research, 11(2), 1089–1102. https://doi.org/10.12973/eu-jer.11.2.1089
Picatoste, J., Pérez-Ortiz, L., Ruesga-Benito, S. M., & Novo-Corti, I. (2017): Smart cities for wellbeing: Youth employment and their skills on computers. Journal of Science and Technology Policy Management, 9(2), 227–241. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSTPM-04-2017-0014
Potgieter, I. L., Coetzee, M., & Ferreira, N. (2023). University students’ digital world of work readiness in relation to their employability competency. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education, 27, 1–25. https://journal.aldinhe.ac.uk/index.php/jldhe/article/view/922/732
Rana, G., Dubey, D., & Sharma, R. (2024). Effect of teamwork on employee performance. Migration Letters, 21(S3), 1763–1767. https://migrationletters.com/index.php/ml/article/view/9566
Sim, R. C., Su, K. C., & Hyong, K. Y. (2021). QRCV approach to enhancing critical thinking skills in ESP learning. VNU Journal of Foreign Studies, 37(4), 167–181. https://vjol.info.vn/index.php/NCNN/article/view/65716/55398
Suarta, I. M., Suwintana, I. K., Sudhana, I. G. P. F. P., & Hariyanti, N. K. D. (2017, September). Employability skills required by the 21st-century workplace: A literature review of labor market demand. In International Conference on Technology and Vocational Teachers (ICTVT 2017) (pp. 337–342). Atlantis Press. https://doi.org/10.2991/ictvt-17.2017.58
Tran, T. T. (2015). Is graduate employability the whole-of-higher-education-issue? Journal of Education and Work, 28(3), 207–227. https://doi.org/10.1080/13639080.2014.900167
Tran, T. M. (2023). Integrating 21st Century Skills into Translation Classroom from Students' Perspective. International Journal of TESOL & Education, 3(1), 64–78. https://doi.org/10.54855/ijte.23315
Usman, O., & Suherman, C. (2020). The influence of experience industrial work practices, work motivation, and career guidelines, on student work readiness. Demographic Research, 49, 1–33.
Van Laar, E., Van Deursen, A. J., Van Dijk, J. A., & De Haan, J. (2017). The relation between 21st-century skills and digital skills: A systematic literature review. Computers in human behavior, 72, 577–588. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2017.03.010
World Economic Forum. (2016). The future of jobs 2016. https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-future-of-jobs
World Economic Forum. (2020). The future of jobs report 2020. https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-future-of-jobs-report-2020