ELTWeekly Vol. 3 Issue#98 | September 19 | ISSN 0975-3036

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Dr Shree Deepa works with ELTC, University of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh (India).

Everyone talks about the importance of ‘soft skills.’ It has become the intellectual property of the English teachers (read experts). Any ‘Soft Skill Trainer’ has to have a masters’ degree in English (read literature, and many corporate sectors do not make a distinction between English Language and English Literature). This study explores the definition and scope of the term ‘Soft Skills’ and traces the association of the English teacher with it.

There is no consensus on a precise definition of ‘soft skills,’ but in general the term is used to describe on-the-job abilities that go beyond an employee’s job description. For example, a computer programmer’s ability to create and read programs would generally be described as a hard skill, whereas his or her ability to work effectively with co-workers, communicate with clients and manage projects would be lumped together under the soft skills banner. The term Soft Skills implies critical thinking, interpersonal communication and innovation. These are treated on par with technical skills and expertise. In fact, success in the workplace stems from having these abilities, regardless of what kind of work a person does.  Soft skills are really the hardest skills to learn and to teach. The magic word communication binds the English teacher to this field of learning. It is a sociological term which refers to the cluster of personality traits, social graces, and facility with language, personal habits, friendliness, and optimism that mark people to varying degrees. Soft skills complement hard skills, which are the technical requirements of a job. The study aims at finding out the real meaning of the term and its apparent inseparable nature from the English teachers. The study also looks into the corporate ‘syllabi’ of such training programmes. (more…)