English for Engineering Students: A study of the teachinglearning system in the Indian context

Abstract

Proficiency in English is very important for students of Engineering and other professional courses because it is the medium of instruction in higher academics besides being the lingua Franca of all global transactions. It is a welcome development that people in the field of technical and professional education have now recognized the emerging scenario and are supporting the view that English is the dominant language of science and technology and an indispensable part in an engineer’s professional training. However through a study of secondary data and published literature on the subject of English language proficiency of engineering students in the Indian context and first hand observation by the authors themselves it is observed that inspite of intervention programs, an overwhelming number of our graduating engineers lack appropriate proficiency in English, which frustrates their attempt to acquire the required communication skills in order to be employable. This paper therefore explores the significant factors and their impact on the communicative proficiency of engineering students in India.