Interrogating the contemporary english language needsfor the ICT industry in the namibian context

Abstract

New digital technology advances throughout the globe are principally responsible for the impetus behind themodern information and communications technology (ICT) industry’s requirement for English language skills. Thereis a steady increase in highly computerized new machinery, each with more complex, difficult-to-understandinstruction manuals that demand a correspondingly high degree of linguistic proficiency. Thus, students studyingcomputer science need access to subject-specific English for both immediate usage and long-term careerdevelopment. Due to these constant changes and rapid advancements in the technology sector, it was essential toconduct research on the current needs of the ICT industry. It is essential for graduates and professionals in the ICTindustry to be able to communicate fluently with teams working in the same field but located in different parts ofthe world. This can be in the form of written manuals or conversation. The purpose of this study was to interrogatethe contemporary English language demands for the ICT industry and the necessary proficiency required ofundergraduate ICT majors. The theoretical underpinning of this research was the Material Design Model proposedby Hutchinson and Waters (1). A mixed-methods research approach was used. The total number of participantsthat took part were 170 (N= 170), thus that is what the sample size was based on. Using convenience sampling,a sample size of 118 was drawn. The results indicated that ICT students often lacked skills in essay writing. Thestudents’ lack of technical language skills seriously weakens the strength of their scientific argument. Studentsare recommended to attend subject-specific language courses in order to prepare for their present academicand future professional language demands. The study indicated that the existing curriculum for computer sciencestudents does not adequately prepare them for the kinds of work that would be available to them in the ICT sector.The study recommends utilizing education support professionals (ESP) professionals to teach English in Science,Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses, with a focus on using examples from specializedjournals, magazines, and blog channels. The study concludes by suggesting that instructors of computer sciencelanguage be incentivized to increase their usage of specialized scholarly terminology in their classrooms.