The science of conversation: training in dialogue for NNS in engineering

A survey of 1000 undergraduate engineering students clearly revealed students' desire for two types of training in oral communication: training in presentation skills and in the skills of professional conversation. This article briefly describes the survey's design and results, and identifies the lack of conversational training for nonnative English speakers (NNS) as a previously unnoticed weakness in our curriculum. It traces curricular development in conversational training initiated in response to survey results, describes specific challenges to NNS posed by dialogue, and suggests exercises that can help NNS engineering students to improve their fluency and confidence in English conversation.