Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>The omnipresence of English in engineering is now taken for granted, extending to become the lingua franca across the globe and in space. Engineering activity is inherently creative, which is why engineers are attracted to the profession, many thinking they can pursue practical projects and make things work. Few realize they will have to perform communication tasks that are linguistically complex and demanding. Many assume they will not need to concern themselves with English when they start work and, in fact, choose engineering to avoid having to. However, they are often involved in complicated projects as part of a team, expected to communicate with colleagues in clear spoken and written English. Engineering organizations rely on particular documents, or texts, to earn income, and engineers are generally required to produce them. Specifications and requirements, engineering proposals, executive summaries, and reports of various types are key documents that prove problematic across the engineering sector. Technical description can be complicated because different engineering contexts require documents, sometimes very large, comprising different genres and text types, and expressed in appropriate writing styles. The language skills of engineers, particularly of native speakers of English, have been found wanting, however. Part of the problem is the inherent complexity of concepts in engineering and the need to convey objectivity in language expression. On the other hand, there could be a need to speak or write persuasively without being obvious about it. By their problem‐solving nature, communication tasks in engineering require creativity of a special kind.</jats:p>