According to the Malaysian Examinations Council that runs the Malaysian University English Test (MUET), only about 48 percent of candidates were able to achieve Band Three or higher in the latest MUET.
The results, which were released late last week, showed that out of a total of 84,149 candidates, only 37 students were placed in Band Six (the highest). A further 1,424 achieved Band Five and 9,702 were in Band Four. There were 29,059 in Band Three, 32,656 in Band Two and 11,271 in Band One.
It seems that the Malaysian Examinations Council are all for encouraging students entering public universities to sit for the MUET which tests the candidate’s English language listening, speaking, reading and writing skills.
However it is illogical that public university admissions in Malaysia consider MUET results only as optional and do not give much consideration, if at all, to the results achieved by the students.
As it stands right now, MUET’s usefulness must be highly debatable if its only objective is to let candidates know how they stand in their English proficiency.
The MUET results place candidates according to six levels of English language competency:
Band 6 – Very good command of the language. Highly expressive, fluent, accurate and appropriate language: hardly any inaccuracies. Very good understanding of language and contexts. Functions extremely well in the language.
Band 5 – Good command of the language. Expressive, fluent, accurate and appropriate language but with minor inaccuracies. Good understanding of language and contexts. Functions well in the language.
Band 4 – Competent command of the language. Satisfactory expressive and fluent,appropriate language but with occasional inaccuracies. Satisfactory understanding of language and contexts. Functions satisfactorily in the language.
Band 3 – Modest command of the language. Modestly expressive and fluent,appropriate language but with noticeable inaccuracies. Modest understanding of language and contexts. Able to function modestly in the language.
Band 2 – Limited command of the language. Lacks expressiveness, fluency and appropriacy: inaccurate use of the language resulting in breakdown in communication. Limited understanding of language and contexts. Limited ability to function in the language.
Band 1 – Extremely limited or poor command of the language. Unable to use language to express ideas: inaccurate use of the language resulting in frequent breakdowns in communication. Little or poor understanding of language and contexts. Hardly able to function in the language.