More than 1.4 billion people in the world speak the English language. Used to communicate to global audiences, English is currently spoken in more than 75 countries and non-sovereign entities around the world. It’s also one of the most common languages used in the fields of business, science, and technology worldwide. For that reason, research shows that honing one’s skills in English can benefit both native and non-native English speakers alike. However, many engineers tend to focus on honing their technical skills and often spend less time improving their English proficiency in the areas of reading, writing, and speaking. This has led society to routinely joke that an individual “writes like an engineer”– something that isn’t necessarily a compliment!

According to a Penn State University study, which explored why industry professionals often feel that engineering graduates possess weak English and communication skills, the authors concluded that “part of the disparity arises because the communication assignments that engineering students perform in college significantly differ from the writing situations (audiences, purposes, and occasions) that engineering graduates encounter in industry.”

As such, a range of studies confirm that time spent refreshing and strengthening one’s English and communication skills is a great investment that can pay engineers tremendous dividends.

For instance, in a 2024 Pearson survey of 5,000 individuals worldwide for whom English is a second or additional language, four out of five respondents believe that strong English language skills can contribute to as much as an 80% increase in salary. At the same time, roughly half of those surveyed feel that strong English skills will also expand their range of job opportunities, enhance their ability to be promoted to more senior positions in their field, and ‘futureproof’ them against the threat of artificial intelligence (AI) obsoleting their job.

These aren’t just perceptions.

English and Communications Skills Affect On Career Trajectory

According to industry speaker and communications consultant Skip Weisman, engineers without strong communication skills often risk damaging important relationships with colleagues and undermining their own objectives when they speak or write. The Engineering Management Institute agrees, noting that strong English skills can help engineers better communicate with and present concepts to their management as well as create more useful technical documents that share product and project specs or findings. Strong communication skills may also help engineers to lead teams and interact more effectively with other non-technical divisions of their company, such as marketing and sales.

Without proficiency in English skills, an engineer’s career trajectory may be limited. For example, Wisconsin-based Rockwell Automation is among the many high-tech companies which regularly screen candidates for strong proficiency in English reading, writing, and speaking based on the importance of those skills to their employees’ effectiveness and success.

Engineers are inherently creative and analytical problem-solvers. However, their jobs also require teamwork and consensus-building, public speaking and listening skills, and a strong ability to provide clear written and verbal communication of often-complex technical concepts in order to express themselves and bring their ideas to reality. As a result, amid the many important proficiencies that engineers require for career success, a recent analysis by Indeed ranked “effective written and oral communication skills” among the top three most critical.

Build Your Technical English Skills with Training from IEEE

IEEE English for Technical Professionals is designed to address the communication gap and help engineers and technical professionals, both native and non-native English speakers, to improve their language skills in a way that fits the needs and priorities of working adults in technical fields.

Ideal for entry or mid-level technical professionals, engineers, and managers, this 14-lesson program imparts English language standards via practice activities that are essential for an engineer’s daily success. The modules are designed to strengthen reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills with a speech-to-text feature. Whether discussing a project with peers, submitting a technical proposal to a funding source, or justifying technical findings to a supervisor, this course program helps learners build confidence and enhance their effectiveness and productivity on the job.

Connect with an IEEE Content Specialist today to learn more about how to offer this program within your organization.

Interested in the course program for yourself? Visit the IEEE Learning Network (ILN).

Resources

(12 March 2024). English Skills Have Life-Changing Impact. Pearson.

(30 September 2022). 20 Traits or Skills of Successful Engineers. Indeed.

Hill, Peter. (29 January 2019). How Good Writing Skills Can Benefit Your Engineering Career. Engineering Management Institute.

Koelsch, James. (1 December 2011). Is Writing an Essential Skill for Engineers? Automation World.

Brown, Meghan. (10 February 2022). English Is the Language of Tech, and Improving Your Skills is the Best Path to Success. Engineering.com.

Assi, Karolina. (19 April 2022). A Huge and Helpful Guide to 67 English Speaking Countries (and More!). Berlitz.

Donnell, Jeffrey A., Aller, Betsy M., Alley, Michael, and Kedrowicz, April. (2011). Why Industry Says That Engineering Graduates Have Poor Communication Skills: What the Literature Says. Penn State Leonhard Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Education.

Bosavage, Jennifer. (26 July 2019). Why Communications Skills Are Critical To Engineers. IEEE Spectrum.

Sol the Engineer. (21 January 2019). Why (Many) Engineers Suck at Writing and What Can We Do About It . . . The Engineering Mentor.

Fasano, Anthony. (11 June 2015). Communication Skills for Engineers – The Seven Deadly Sins and How to Overcome Them. Engineering.com.

English is the most spoken language in the world, with the number of speakers (native and non-native) totaling more than 1.4 billion in 2022. Over the years, English has become—for all intents and purposes—the language of science. International conferences are held in English, and the world’s top scientific journals are in English. In fact, 95% of all articles published in scientific journals in 2020 were written in English. 

Among many professionals, scientists, technologists, and business experts who belong to various cultural and linguistic backgrounds, English is how they communicate with a global audience. Without fluency in English, engineering students and professionals may find it difficult to understand the concepts being conveyed by international colleagues, struggle to publish as much as they would like, and even lag behind in career advancement.

Build on What You Know

Careful reading and writing are key skills for fields beyond the humanities. Communication skills play a significant role in STEM-based professions. According to John Kanjirakkat, a teacher of humanities in STEM institutions, “One cannot claim a meaningful understanding of a concept if they cannot write about it with clarity.” Every professional should be able to write what makes their work different or unique, especially in academic or trade journals.

Although several free and paid online tools are available, researchers should not rely on them too heavily. Developing your own writing abilities will be better in the long run. “If you are leaning very hard on these tools to choose the right words and the right grammar for you…then your work could be full of errors [of which] you aren’t even aware,” warns Tracy Volz, director of the engineering communications program at Rice University.

When reviewers criticize the writing in a manuscript, it is often because the writing is poorly organized. “That’s a problem that all writers can face whether English is their primary language or not,” according to Anna Clemens, an academic-writing coach based in Prague. Clemens encourages students to “try to articulate the key idea of their paper in a few short, well-worked-out English sentences. They can then reuse and build on that language as they write.” Your best bet, however, Clemens notes, is to find a community to help.

Get Support from the IEEE Community

The IEEE English for Technical Professionals course program is designed to provide speakers with a basic knowledge of English better understand the techniques, and vocabulary essential to the technical and engineering workplace.

The program includes:

• 18 hours of online instruction with lessons set in working engineering contexts
• Modules on reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills
• Short assessments and exercises throughout the program to help improve skills
• Final quiz/test at the end of each level
• Certificates are issued at the end of each lesson, as well as at the end of the full program

The skills and techniques covered in this course program benefits not only current working engineers and technical professionals, but also new graduates entering technical industries, university students studying engineering and other technical concepts, as well as Ph.D. students, research scholars, and individuals who want to improve their technical writing.

Connect with an IEEE Content Specialist today to learn more about how to offer this program within your organization.

Interested in the program for yourself? Visit the IEEE Learning Network.

Resources

Hernández Bonilla, Juan Miguel. (30 Jul 2021). How to end the hegemony of English in scientific research. El País. 

Kanjirakkat, Jobin. (10 August 2022). Why Teach the Humanities in STEM Institutions. LiveWire.

Katsnelson, Alla. (29 August 2022). Poor English skills? New AIs help researchers to write better. Nature. 

Kaufman, Anna. (23 August 2022). What is the most spoken language in the world 2022? Top 10 spoken languages, globally. USA Today.