Engineers are facing a communication gap like never before. Companies rely on engineers to put together project presentations and write reports effectively. The problem today is that engineering students are not taught these expected skills. Author Ian Skinner, who holds a master's degree from the Australian National University, has studied the growing communication gap. In his journal, “Embedding Academic Literacy Support within the Electrical Engineering Curriculum: A Case Study,” he identifies how institutions are managing the communication gap. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay To open Skinner begins by identifying what academic literacy is. According to Skinner, academic literacy is also known as “necessary communication skills” (Skinner 547). What it identifies is not the same as the ability to read, write and speak in a widely accepted language. The difference academic literacy provides is that students are able to understand what they are reading or write organized reports. Academic literacy is the set of communication skills that can be directly transferred to work scenarios. The issue Skinner raises is that these are skills that are not directly taught to students (Skinner 547). Basic communication is taught globally to almost all students starting from the elementary level. In many cases it is taught even before then. Students typically complete their basic literacy learning at approximately the high school level. The problem is that very few people know when students are learning academic literacy. Skinner states that “there are not many programs in the world that do an effective job of addressing academic literacy.” Whether it's the lack of experienced communication teachers or the fact that most students do well, academic literacy is not a common topic addressed by institutions. Further elaborating on the topic, Skinner writes that “for most institutions the student is practically assumed to have basic information and skills in academic literacy” (Skinner 548). This shows that there are not many institutions that are taking students' literacy to the next level. Specifically, Skinner writes about his study at the University of New South Wales. For example, Ian Skinner went to the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Australia and looked at what they have done and are doing regarding academic literacy. Speaking to their communications department she learned how UNSW addressed academic literacy. It states that "the most common way to learn academic literacy comes from the expected work and tests provided by the program without much special help or attention directly needed." This has been UNSW's perspective and approach to academic literacy in the past. For many other institutions this is currently the solution to improving students' communication skills (Skinner 550). What these institutions have missed is that the goal of teaching students even at the collegiate level should be to teach students the communication skills expected of them after graduation and in the workplace. But now UNSW has changed its approach to achieving this goal. After a long interview