It is a well known fact that the division into arts or science takes place early in a British secondary school career, and that despite educational reports recommending a change any intermingling of disciplines often faces the barrier of faculty divisions in the orthodox British university. The student of science or technology in a British university will seldom continue any formal education in language ; unlike his American counterpart he will receive no 'freshman English' programme, and it is tacitly assumed that the prestigious standards of the British secondary school make such American oddities as 'Communication Skills' rather quaint evidence of inferior standards. Despite valiant efforts by our newer universities the short and specialized degree courses in British universities continue to be judged by specialist subject-centred criteria, and it is assumed that any aptitudes or abilities which may be desirable but lie outside the strictly defined academic limits of a subject will have been remembered from past schooling and nurtured informally, or acquired by 'contagion' with students following other disciplines. The quality of graduates from America's Massachusetts Institute of Technology may be admired and it will be noted that the students there seem to work hard, since a quarter of their undergraduate time is spent on rigorously examined courses in the humanities and social sciences; but comparison with our own university courses in science and technology will seldom be allowed, since we are supposed to be able to rely on our unique sixth form organisation, and our remarkable ability to cram into three years what other nations take four or five over. Even the convincing evidence produced by the Dainton and Swam Reports1 that as a commercial and industrial nation we have far less need of specialists than of generalists has produced little action except some murmuring of agreement on the general thesis, provided some other university takes the action. Subjects exercise a mesmeric influence lulled by the comfortable creed of the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, although even the British Association is now asking whether science should be neutral2.There is certainly no lack of awareness on the part of scientists and technologists of the value, for instance, of language skills for a career in industry; ironically, scientists are often more aware of the problems of effective spoken and written communication than English specialists who may be inclined to be more concerned with specialist periods and obscure texts. Narrowness and subject-blinkers are not confined to our faculties of science and engineering. This is no place to re-open the arid two cultures debate, which is surely wrung completely dry by now; but those of us who are concerned with the teaching

The inclusion of communication skills in courses for the training of technical teachers. The problem of assessment and the limitations of traditional methods based on the essay. Consideration of the use of objective tests, and the introduction of a course journal as a feature in a British course for the training of technical teachers. The advantages of the course journal and its value as a communication exercise in training technical teachers, thereby encouraging constructive attitudes to communication at all levels in industry.

The schism between theory and practice is reflected in English studies. British technological universities have attempted to meet the needs of industry in technical fields. Economic and academic pressures often make this difficult. A degree in modern English studies is planned which attempts to combine traditional academic values and functional needs. A new approach to rhetoric combining linguistic and critical disciplines with practical skills in communication can combine liberal and vocational needs. The course content of the degree and the teaching approach is related to the ethos of a technological university.

Colleges of advanced technology in Great Britain became technological universities following the recommendation of the Robbins Report of the Committee on Higher Education in 1963. This paper discusses developments in communication studies in the context of general education for students entering commerce and industry. Central to the discussion is a description of the integration of courses in spoken and written communication at the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology. Specialists in technical communication in industry were consulted with the result that an existing degree course was adapted to meet the industrial challenge.

No abstract