Teaching technical communication and English language to potential engineers

Graduates' communication skills and English language proficiency have long been a concern of employers in Hong Kong. In order to equip engineering students with the expected English language and communication skills in the workplace, institutions should develop specific programmes to meet their needs. This paper attempts to demonstrate how the Professional and Technical Communication courses at two universities in Hong Kong help their engineering students develop their language and technical communication skills. A comparison and appraisal of the pedagogy will be presented, illustrated with empirical data and examples of classroom practice. It is hoped that this paper will stimulate insights from technical communication professionals, which can help us design quality English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses for nurturing engineering talents.