Challenges Faced by Pre-university Students in STREAM Based Themes for MUET Speaking

STREAM stands for Science, Technology, Religiosity, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics, a multidisciplinary framework that mirrors real-world applications. Incorporating STREAM based themes into Paper 2 (Speaking) of the Malaysian University English Test (MUET) helps align English language education with national educational goals. This integration encourages critical thinking and equips students to engage with issues relevant to real-world demands. However, many pre-university students encounter significant challenges in discussing such themes, primarily due to
limited content knowledge, insufficient vocabulary, low confidence and under developed speaking skills. As such, the purpose of this research is to uncover the obstacles encountered by these pre-university students in Speaking for Part 1 and Group Discussion in Part 2 for STREAM based themes. A mix-method study was carried out to collect data from 60 Semester 2, 2024 cohort pre-university respondents utilising a 30-item 5-point Likert scale questionnaire. Data were triangulated through interviews with six selected respondents. Document analysis was also performed on the pre-university students' Score Sheet for MUET Speaking, Semester 2 2024 School Trial Examination. The quantitative data was analysed in percentile and the qualitative data was analysed using thematic coding and descriptive analysis. This study revealed that the primary obstacles experienced by pre-university students in speaking and discussing STREAM-based themes for MUET were mainly related to Mathematics (37%) and Engineering (28%). A moderate number of respondents (15%) reported difficulties in addressing topics related to Religiosity, while Artistry posed challenges for 12% of the participants. Only a small proportion of the respondents indicated facing obstacles in expressing ideas on Science (6%) and Technology (2%). The findings of this study have significant implications for policymakers, school teachers, school counsellors, syllabus designers and book publishers in determining appropriate approaches to incorporate STREAM elements into the MUET syllabus, thereby aligning English language education with the demands of the future workforce.