English Language Studies in Engineering Colleges
Of late, language laboratories have been made mandatory in most engineering colleges in the country that aims at overcoming the hurdle of communication skills among engineering students. Read on to know more.
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Introduction
In the 1990s, when Information Technology forayed into India, it was solely responsible for transforming the entire face of employment in India. These days, most engineers are found to be employed in the IT sector. However, a few years down the line it was found that in spite of achieving good grades and having sound knowledge in technical fields, becoming successful in the professional world was becoming increasingly difficult for Indian engineers. Gradually, it went on to become a matter of serious concern and it was found that the sheer deficiency communication skills made was making things difficult for engineers and posing as a hurdle to end up with their dream jobs.
Indian Engineers Lack Proper Communication Skills
In a survey conducted by an employ ability measurement company, it was found that more than half of the total engineers’ population in India, were unable to understand the meaning of simple English words like “emaciated” and “absurd”; while some were unable to follow a proper English. Nearly 40% of the engineering students were unable to strike up a proper conversation in English.
Such results definitely came as a shock and thus it was decided that English should be taught to engineering students. The growing apprehension about lack of English communications, led to the compulsory language communications courses for engineering students. Engineering colleges in Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata made language learning compulsory for engineering students.
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mumbai was one of the pioneers in this field followed by Bengal Engineering and Science University, Howrah (West Bengal). Gradually, other colleges across the country also followed suit.
Engineering Colleges in Bangalore – Language Study Program
Let’s focus on one such college from Bangalore.
Bangalore opened its doors to western education only during the second half of the nineteenth century. The Bangalore University was opened in 1886. Gradually, as the importance of education was realized, it led to establishment of educational institutes across the city out of which many were dedicated exclusively to the study of engineering. With the passage of time, many engineering colleges in Bangalore came up and slowly the Garden City of India, went on to accommodate the highest number of engineering colleges in the country, some of them being the best in India.
It goes without saying that the Bangalore’s engineering colleges have been striving their best to bridge this gap. Therefore, with the passage of time, top engineering colleges in Bangalore ended up not only introducing courses in language and communication.
The Visversvaraya Technological University (VTU) one of the leading engineering colleges in Bangalore was one of the first engineering colleges in Bangalore to introduce language courses. VTU tied up with a Hyderabad-based firm named Globerana with the aim of imparting English Language training to all future engineers. The curriculum followed by the institute comprise reading comprehension, vocabulary tests, writing skills, lesson plans and checking speaking skills of students.
On the other hand, Raghu Engineering College was the second in line to introduce a proper English Language Laboratory. The laboratory is known for its state-of-the-art infrastructure. It is equipped with some of the best amenities that help in honing English language skills. They are thoroughly trained in the basics of language learning—such as reading, writing, listening and speaking.
Gradually, over time the course module at language laboratories began to expand. Lessons in Communicative English and Business Communications began to be introduced. Online activities were also being included. The online activities comprised reading comprehension, Regular interactive classes began to be conducted followed by multiple language workshops.
Currently, language laboratories at engineering colleges have become enormous phenomenon that is fast becoming popular across all engineering colleges in the country.
