Perspectives on Oral Communication Skills for Engineers in Engineering Profession of Pakistan

Kakepoto, Inayatullah; Omar, Noor Abidah Mohd; Boon, Yusuf; Iqbal, Shamaila

doi:10.7575/ijalel.v.1n.5p.176

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Similarly, Kassim and Ali [20] identified both productive skills as having the highest mean scores (at 4.2875) compared to both listening and reading skills. Furthermore, Kakepoto, Omar, Boon, and Igbal [21] reported that oral communication skills play a vital role for engineers, especially in a workplace that involves multiple stakeholders because it assists them to perform workplace jobs effectively and efficiently according to employer satisfaction. Also, Ramlan & Ngah [5] added that an engineer is often required to communicate not only with other engineers but also with co-workers from different departments as well as with upper-level management which do not have the same background.…”

Section: English Language Problems For Engineering Students In Indonesiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the English Language Skills Needed at Engineering Companies

Aswirawan¹,

Lawi²

2022

International Journal of Education, Science, Technology, and En

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This paper reports the results of an English language needs analysis carried out at different multinational engineering companies in Batam, Indonesia. Through the implementation of needs analysis questionnaire to 50 engineers from various engineering companies, the perceived importance and frequency of linguistic needs of learners in terms of skills and sub-skills are specified. The results show that most engineers perceived reading as the most important skill, followed by listening, writing, and speaking; whereas, in terms of frequency, reading has also been perceived as the most frequent skill, followed by listening, writing and speaking. Emphasis should be put on receptive skills (a total mean score of 16.048) rather than productive skills (a total mean score of 15.423). However, findings also depict those engineers considered some of the oral communicative event(s) such as reporting work to superiors to be very frequent at work. The implications of the findings indicate that materials design and development should consider the incorporation of workplace scenarios as the basis for activities.

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Section: English Language Problems For Engineering Students In Indonesiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the English Language Skills Needed at Engineering Companies

Aswirawan¹,

Lawi²

2022

International Journal of Education, Science, Technology, and En

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“…Furthermore, English is necessary to maintain international dialogues between countries, and to help countries keep up with changing standards of knowledge, technology and business. Communication in English plays an important role in digital work and industrialization (Kakepoto et al, 2012). Prichard and Nasr (2004) argued that English is the language of science and, therefore, indispensable in modern sciences.…”

Section: Emi-related Research To Datementioning

confidence: 99%

Emi for Engineering-Technology Students in Vietnam: Challenges and Suggestions

Dong

Le²,

Tuyết³

2022

JFS

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The paper aims to shed light on EMI challenges from the perspective of engineering-technology students at various universities in Vietnam where EMI is in current and popular usage. A total of 307 questionnaires were delivered and returned, among which 288 were qualified, and 27 respondents were selected for in-depth interviews. Data from the questionnaires and interviews were analyzed along with information gathered from respondents’ journals. The findings indicate that Vietnamese engineering-technology students encountered different EMI-related challenges, typically subject matter content and vocabulary. They suggest several solutions, such as teachers using both Vietnamese and English rather than solely English in EMI classes. It is hoped that learners' perceptions of the difficulties they encountered and their proposed solutions to cope with such difficulties will help relevant stakeholders to make appropriate adjustments to the teaching methods and content accordingly, which is the key message that this study yields.

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“…At the managerial level then it became clear how critical English language use is for the success of companies. As for individuals, poor or limited English ability will affect not only their job productivity, salary and promotion, but also develop their poor image at the workplace, as has been reported in Kakepoto et al (2012).…”

Section: Communication Issues Losing Face and Low Solidarity Relationshipsmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…The importance of oral communication skills has been identified in numerous research studies (Ab.Rahim, 2008;Adzmi, Bidin, & Ibrahim, 2009;Al-Tamimi & Shuib, 2010;Bhattacharyya, 2014;Chia-Jung, 1991;Chia, Johnson, Chia, & Olive, 1999;Kaewpet, 2009a;Kakepoto, Omar, Boon, & Iqbal, 2012;Mohamed et al, 2014;Moslehifar & Ibrahim, 2012;Radzuan & Kaur, 2011;Stapa, Murad, & Ahmad, 2014;Talif & Noor, 2009;Zaid & Kamarudin, 2011). If engineers work in a situation where English is a medium of communication, they are expected to use English both formally and informally.…”

Section: Oral Communication Skills In Englishmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The participants knew what it was appropriate to say and write, something typical of 'workplace discourse' (Kassim & Ali, 2010;Koester, 2010). In this case, it became apparent how the participants could bring financial benefits for the companies if they possessed good English communication skills (Kakepoto et al, 2012).…”

Section: Communication Issues Losing Face and Low Solidarity Relationshipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Needs analysis of English for mechanical engineers in the Vietnamese context

Le¹

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<p>This study examines the English language needs of mechanical engineers in Vietnam. A high demand for proficiency in English is increasing in ASEAN countries, including Vietnam. Vietnam in general and the important field of mechanical engineering, in particular, attracts many foreign investors and multinational organisations and this creates plurilingual and pluricultural workplaces where English is used as a lingua franca. Drawing on sociolinguistic theory, this pragmatic mixed method needs analysis study examines the English language communication needs of Vietnamese mechanical engineers at four workplaces in Vietnam. It investigates the kinds of real-world English skills required by Vietnamese mechanical engineers to function effectively in the workplace, the social factors that affect the use of English and the effects of breakdowns or other issues in communication in English. It draws on needs analysis models which have evolved from English for Specific Purposes, including those devised by Munby (1978) and more recently by The Common European Framework (CEF) Professional Profiles to establish key communicative events. To answer the study’s pragmatic questions about language use for practical purposes in the lingua franca, plurilingual and pluricultural workplace it also borrows from the theoretically eclectic model of the Wellington Workplace Project, a model grounded in the first language context (L1), and other more sociological studies of the relationship of language and power in international workplaces. The study employed questionnaire, semi-structured interview and observation for data collection. Questionnaires were completed by 22 managers of mechanical engineers and 71 professional mechanical engineers. Based on the initial questionnaire analysis, 12 participants from the two groups took part in the follow-up semi-structured interviews. Observations in four worksites provided rich data about the real-world use of English. The findings indicated a high frequency of English language use and the range of real-world English required by Vietnamese mechanical engineers for a range of communicative events including ordering spare parts, interpreting technical drawing and bidding for contracts. Mechanical engineers needed plurilingual and pluricultural competence to negotiate a range of accent, intonation and idiom in the lingua franca and plurilingual context. Minimal use of functional occupational language was sometimes sufficient for communication for the purpose of ‘getting things done’, but not always. Communication issues had financial consequences for the company, sometimes disastrous ones. Looking at the findings through the lens of arising communication issues helped to reveal some of the underlying power relationships in the workplace and some negative impacts on workplace solidarity. These findings demonstrate the urgency of the need for increased English language skills for mechanical engineers in Vietnam and for the wider economy of Vietnam. English was found to function as a source of ‘expert power’ and in a wider implication this revealed a hidden or ‘shadow’ power structure within the workplace affected by English language proficiency. People were empowered when they possessed a good level of English, which could help them save not only their own face but also the face of the company. More positively adaptive communicative strategies helped both mechanical engineers and their managers avoid communication issues. Adapting language for the purpose of ‘getting things done’ in turn interacted with low and high solidarity relationships. There was arguably an acceptance of a level of rudeness or abruptness in these workplace contexts. A high tolerance for the need to negotiate meaning in what could be described as not only a lingua franca but also a ‘poor English’ workplace context was sometimes observed. This tolerance sometimes but not always extended to the mobility of plurilingual repertoires such as code-switching, and some code-switching into Vietnamese was also observed on the part of long-term foreign managers. Humour also emerged as a dimension of high solidarity longer-term workplace relationships between Vietnamese mechanical engineers and foreign managers, even when all parties had limited English. The study argues that understanding why mechanical engineers needed specific types of English and the effect of the social dimensions of this language could help lessen issues in communication. The consequences of miscommunication should be addressed in the English-language training process. Students should be strategically prepared to meet the the high communication demands of the lingua franca and plurilingual workplace which requires both English for technical communication and English for social communication.</p>

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Perspectives on Oral Communication Skills for Engineers in Engineering Profession of Pakistan

Abstract: This paper is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Cited by 8 publications

References 10 publications

Exploring the English Language Skills Needed at Engineering Companies

Exploring the English Language Skills Needed at Engineering Companies

Emi for Engineering-Technology Students in Vietnam: Challenges and Suggestions

Needs analysis of English for mechanical engineers in the Vietnamese context

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