Speaking and Writing Proficiency of International Graduate Students in Elective, Mentoring Environments

Technical communication skills are critical for non‐native speakers who must study and interact in English‐only professional settings. Often, formal instruction to pass admission thresholds and other minimum requirements are not sufficient to attain proficiency. This paper describes elective, long‐t...

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Published inJournal of engineering education (Washington, D.C.) Vol. 92; no. 2; pp. 147 - 154
Main Authors Watkins, Steve, Green, Randy
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.04.2003
Subjects
English for Special Purposes
Graduate Students
Language Acquisition
Language Proficiency
Language Skills
Reading Comprehension
Student Interests
Undergraduate Students
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Summary:Technical communication skills are critical for non‐native speakers who must study and interact in English‐only professional settings. Often, formal instruction to pass admission thresholds and other minimum requirements are not sufficient to attain proficiency. This paper describes elective, long‐term programs that provide systematic opportunities for both speaking and writing development. These programs are tailored to international students through the key features of individualized activities, applied task‐oriented practice, and social interaction. The elective programs attract and retain participants with interest and need for high‐level language proficiency. Program evaluations show that participating graduate students give primary credit for their growing fluency to individualized practice and to sustained interaction with native speakers.
Bibliography:ark:/67375/WNG-08J6SFVX-V
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ArticleID:JEE753
Randy Green is a Writing Mentor and the Writing Consultant for English‐as‐a‐Second‐Language Students at the Center for Writing Technologies at the University of Missouri‐Rolla. He received a B.S. in Sociology and has worked extensively with young people from a variety of cultures. In addition to hosting international exchange students at the high school level, he served as community coordinator for a student exchange program, host family for international college students, and mentor for a number of students. Commercial experience in the financial and technology industries include sales, sales management, and sales training. He has been a member of Toastmasters International since 1997.
Steve E. Watkins is an Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Missouri‐Rolla. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. He is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and a member of the ASEE. He was selected as a finalist in the 1993 Outstanding Young Electrical Engineer Award Program of the Eta Kappa Nu Association and recipient of the 1999 Outstanding Educator Award from Region 5 IEEE. He has been Faculty Advisor of the UMR Toastmasters Club since 1991. His research interests include optical sensing and education.
ISSN:1069-4730
2168-9830
DOI:10.1002/j.2168-9830.2003.tb00753.x