The Use of Educational Research Findings to Develop Engineering Students’ Workplace Communication Skills

Abstract

Abstract-In the 21st century workplace, future engineers are not only required to possess technical knowledge but also relevant soft skills for effective workplace communication purposes. Specifically, the demand of communication skills among engineers has accelerated since the workplace expects professional engineers to be equipped with excellent communication skills for global interaction. The responsibility to develop proficient future engineering workforce are mainly shouldered by the English language lecturers. Thus, it is paramount for English language lecturers to use the most effective teaching and learning approaches to prepare engineering students for future workplace expectations. Educational research in language teaching and learning provides evidence-based pedagogical strategies which English language lecturers' could consult in making pedagogical decisions. This article describes the use of educational research findings to develop engineering students' workplace communication skills based on the model of 'Teaching as Inquiry' developed by the New Zealand Ministry of Education. Index Terms-educational research, Teaching as Inquiry, workplace communication skills. I. INTRODUCTIONThe teaching of English in higher education institutions in Malaysia mostly endeavors to prepare students for workplace communication. However, it is viewed problematic when graduates are not employed due to not having skills to communicate effectively in English. Specifically, the issue of poor communication skills among engineering graduates has been linked to inadequacy of English language courses and poor preparation of engineering graduates for the workplace [1], [2].What is delivered inside world's higher education classrooms leaves an intense impact on not only students' grades but also towards the global economic, social success and international survival [3]. Previous studies have mentioned that the real challenge in producing proficient graduates is unspokenly shouldered by the English language lecturers [2], [4] and recommends that the teaching of English should undergo changes in pedagogy by focusing more on effective communicative strategies [5]. Thus, it is paramount for English language lecturers to use the most effective teaching and learning approaches in higher education institutions to prepare engineering students for the emerging new world reality.Teachers' professional knowledge comes from a variety of sources and the sources used to make instructional decisions Manuscript received April 9, 2017; revised June 19, 2017. The authors are with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia (e-mail: thivviyahs@gmail.com).by teachers are readily available -through colleagues from informal discussions, official curriculum documents, professional magazines/newspapers and professional training programmes [6]- [9]. In addition, most teachers rely their teaching practices based on tradition, opinions of experienced practitioners, ideology, faddism, marketing, politics and personal experience attained through trial and erro...

The Effectiveness of Task-Based Language Teaching in Pronunciation Skills of Elementary Students

“…Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) has been acknowledged as a pragmatic methodology in language instruction and acquisition (Chen, 2013). TBLT emphasizes using tasks as the fundamental component of second language courses (Paula et al, 2021), demonstrating encouraging outcomes in diverse language proficiencies, such as pronunciation (Sanmugam & Shamsudin, 2017).…”