Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the perspectives of Malaysian employers and students on the need for English language proficiency and skills for employment.Design/methodology/approach: Interviews were conducted with employers from various organisations. Additionally, questionnaires were disseminated to undergraduates at four public universities in Malaysia. These were done to ascertain the perspectives of different stakeholders on the importance of English in securing employment, the effect of a marked regional accent or dialect on employability and industry’s expectations and requirements for new employees.Findings: Employers and students agree that English plays a major role in employability. Whilst there was general agreement by both parties that good grammar and a wide range of vocabulary are important, the findings indicated several mismatches in terms of students’ perceptions and employers’ expectations. Among them is the use of the colloquial form of English at the workplace which was not favoured by employers. Employers also generally felt that knowledge of different types of writing styles could be learnt on-the-job. Furthermore, employers pointed out other essential skills for employability: the ability to communicate in other languages, confidence and a good attitude.Practical implications: Cognisant of the fact that English is essential in improving employability, initiatives to improve the level of English among Malaysian students must continue to be put in place. University students should be made aware of the different language skills sought by employers early in their university education. The mismatches between the perceptions of university students and the expectations of employers should be considered when planning English language courses and degree programmes. More structured feedback from industry on both would help to better prepare students for the world of work and to ease the transition from campus to career.Social implications: In relation to graduate employability, these English-language elite groups would have an advantage in securing employment especially in multinational companies, and this will, in a long run, create a larger gap between students from the international and public schools.Originality/value: With the standpoint of two important parties, employers and students, a more comprehensive idea of the effect of English language on employability has been obtained.

This study explores the linguistic landscape of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Using photographs as a source of data, the study collects samples from both government and private signage from five selected neighbourhoods of the city. In addition to photographs, interviews with business owners have been conducted and used for triangulation purposes. The data suggest that multidimensionality marks the linguistic landscape of the city. The multidimensionality is embedded in the complex sociopolitical, economic and ethnolinguistic facets and trends the linguistic landscape demonstrates. The sociopolitical dimension signifies the officially laid-down monolingual Malay-oriented policies, which accentuate compulsory use of the national language Malay. Non-compliance to the official version of policy results in strict punitive actions. The economic dimension manifests in the prominent use of English for its advertising and symbolic potential. Similarly, the ethnolinguistic dimension denotes vitality and identity expressed by the Chinese and Indian communities in specific localities. The study argues that although the official policy is formulated and implemented with the intent of unifying a multiethnic population, discursive defiance to this policy at the bottom levels can be triggered by many reasons including pragmatism, religion or identity, and such defiance clearly transpires in the linguistic and semiotic representation of the signboards.