How do students learn the four English language learning skills in the academic and social settings?

The need to be proficient and productive in academic and social interaction is an important issue to produce a proficient English language graduates in the Malaysian setting. This paper describes the processes involved in learning the four language skills and their effects on general academic skills. This qualitative study is an attempt to gather and investigate in depth information on Malaysian university students‟ use of the English language in their daily interactions. Essentially, it is a qualitative phenomenological study that utilizes the interview as a tool to gather information from undergraduates of a Malaysian public university based in the Klang Valley. A total of nine (9) final year undergraduate students in art and science-based programmes from a public university were interviewed. Analysis done led to five main themes that represented the pattern of their English language usage. The themes found were indicative that the uses of English language in interactions were (1) limited to needs and situation, (2) based on location and purpose, (3) affected by low self efficacy and language skills (4) strong affective barriers and (5) unsupportive social environment. It could be said that the findings can act as an eye opener for definitive actions to be taken to improve EL interaction amongst Malaysian undergraduates towards the fulfilment of the Malaysia Education Blueprint (MEB-HE) 2015-2025 (Higher Education) aspirations