The second theme in the literature explores ways to strengthen education in English communication for graduate engineering students who speak ESL/EFL. The next several subsections explore specific issues in this area, including methods for improving general English skills and methods for improving research writing skills. Methods for Improving General English Skills: Walker [26] illustrated engineering students’ high demand for individualized assistance by examining the success of the writing center at the University of South Carolina’s College of Engineering and Technology, where individualized instruction in writing and speaking was provided. Byun, et al. [27] argue that students who struggle in EMI classes because of their insufficient English communication skills are often forced to seek paid assistance, such as proofreading services for their course papers from private academies outside school and, thus, a school with EMI initiatives must consider such needs of students’ and make the necessary investment to provide individual assistance. Furthermore, in science and engineering schools, where students tend to be more receptive to technology, it may be effective to utilize e-learning in English communication training. ·
Advice Writing Task 2 Road to IELTS Clarity and BC
In electronic learning or e-learning, anyone with access to a computer and the internet can be provided with English communication training. E-communication, including email, electronic discussion forums, videoconferencing, and electronic chatting, can be done synchronously or asynchronously, and the common feature of these e-communication methods is interaction, which is an important element of language learning [28]. Methods for Improving Research Writing Skills: According to Levis and Levis [29], graduate English writing courses should develop students’ writing proficiency from three perspectives: knowledge of the writing formats used in research articles, the ability to use grammar and vocabulary correctly, and written discourse skills for professional writing, such as achieving coherence and paraphrasing. Tutoring can also be an effective tool to help students improve their writing skills. The instructor does not revise the student’s work himself or herself but points to the problem so that the student can become aware of the problem and correct it [30]. Lax [31] argues that collaboration between major-area faculty and English instructor is beneficial for writing instruction. Academic advisors can be an active part of a graduate writing course in various capacities. For review assignments of journal articles, they may pick articles for their students and help them to decide on the type of paper for their course paper, whether it is a journal article conference paper or thesis proposal. They may attend their students’ oral presentations on their course papers and provide feedback. Regarding the types of faculty collaboration or authentic integration, Reave [32] discusses five methods: partnership, team teaching, communication modules, expert feedback, and communication across the curriculum. She argues that a genuine partnership is established when faculty from different disciplines are involved in all aspects of a course, such as course design, delivery, and evaluation. Team teaching is done when a team of English faculty works with engineering faculty and assistants. Reave introduces a design course offered at the University of Calgary in Canada, where both engineering and English faculty members act as coaches for the students on their design projects. Communication modules, worth one credit in most cases, are added to major courses. For expert feedback, English faculty offers feedback and possibly gives grades after reading students’ reports for a major course. Communication across the curriculum means that instruction on English communication is given in a series of courses that the student takes or throughout the student’s coursework.