>
Workplace English: Needs and Actions
English Enrichment Programs for Corporate/Industry personnel
“Give us this day our daily bread" is probably the most perfectly constructed and useful sentence ever set down in the English language.”
English communication skills have become a must at workplace in India. Ask any average professional working with any sector of the economy, they will for sure comply with this fact. The demand for personnel with good English skills [speaking-listening-reading-writing] is evidently seen in IT industry.
Emerging to this challenge and requirement for personnel with strong English skills, instituions and firms have launched special English language programs. They primarily aim at equiping students with the right technical and English skills set, and thereby assuring their work with technology firms and in adequately meeting the language needs of the workplace.
An issue of concern is that, the course content or curriculum that goes into preparing the students for workplace English is diverse, and many a time mis-oriented, with the end-result being not serving the purpose for what it was meant.
A major blunder often committed is the setting of all personnel on equal footing, without least concern for assessment of their general and technical background, work expectations, work groups and work culture. Even the corporate/companies that started in-house English training courses for their personnel are not free of this mistake.
What training institutions also fail to understand is the need to work backwards, by focusing on the actual workplace language experiences and usage of personnel, and thereby structure a need-based and need-catering workplace English curriculum.
SANJAY NANNAPARAJU
English Enrichment Programs for Corporate/Industry Personnel
[Ramesh Institute of Spoken English, Hyderabad.INDIA]
