Communicating Science to Specialist and Non-Specialist Audiences: Challenges and Support Needs of Postgraduate STEM Students (Published)
Communicating scientific research to non-specialist audiences presents challenges for postgraduate researchers, yet their specific communication needs require further investigation. This study examined STEM students’ confidence, audience-adaptation challenges and support needs when communicating with specialist and non-specialist audiences. A questionnaire incorporating quantitative and open-ended questions was administered to 30 master’s and PhD students at a research-intensive university in Saudi Arabia. The findings indicated that 76.7% of participants found non-specialist communication more challenging. Key difficulties included simplifying complex concepts without compromising accuracy, assessing audience knowledge and explaining research significance. Participants particularly valued audience-specific presentation practice, individual coaching and guidance on simplifying scientific language. The findings highlight the importance of integrating audience awareness and research-specific communication activities into postgraduate English for Specific Purposes programmes. Targeted practice and feedback may help students communicate complex scientific information more effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
Keywords: English for Specific Purposes (ESP), Scientific communication, audience adaptation, non-specialist audiences’ communication training, postgraduate STEM students