Despite the various fields of study to which they belong, undergraduate students who study Academic English always have this same question: Why do we have to study Academic English? (-and methods of research too!)
The following lines tell you why:
1- Academic English is all about "formality", and as a graduate who (hopefully) soon after will be working for "a company" (I mean: ANY company), you will need formal English to be able to properly and "politely" address your boss, your supervisors, the members of your team, employees where you work.
N.B.:
"Politely" in the context of English learning and speaking means more words in your sentence/utterance and thus much more formality: Compare: "I disagree with ya!" with "Excuse me, I can see where you are coming from, but I'd like to add..."
2- This all implies that you will be either communicating verbally (speaking, giving presentations, doing interviews...etc.) or nonverbally (writing work emails, exchanging formal conversations via email, sending invitations/promotions to your customers and keeping the "thread of the discussion" going...etc.). That is why you need to know how to stand, how to speak, what words to use and how to project your content to your audience.
3- Maintaining 1 and 2 formally and successfully will communicate to your customers (no matter who they are) and also to all your coworkers an embedded subliminal message that "you are a professional individual" and that "your company is a prestigious and respect-worthy one" - which is exactly what you want to communicate about yourself and what your company wants customers to see and feel. This is the image it wants to create for itself and show through its employees.
4- In case your specialization requires writing reports, you will hugely benefit from what you learn in your Academic English Courses; in terms of language choices (words/collocations...etc.), sentence formation/structuring, punctuation and accuracy, using references to document the pieces of information that you use in your "piece of writing".
5- Seminar and presentation practice will help you with two things:
Firstly, in case you are asked to give a presentation, you will know exactly how to do it "professionally" (another word here for formally) which also implies knowing how to speak to your audience, how to manage your time, how to embed sources, how to use tables and charts to project statistics (which again gives depth and credibility to your presentation and shows how professional, accurate and knowledgeable you are).
Secondly, as long as conversations and serious discussions are inevitable in work environment, you will hugely benefit from the seminar skills (and practices that you have [supposedly] learned and fully mastered during your Academic English Course) in your meeting discussions. It will help you in being able to professionally express your own self; agree/disagree with anyone.
The next time you attend an English class, remember these points, feel lucky, and be sure to make the best out of your Academic experience. :)
Best of luck to you all :)
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