Lexical Features of Engineering English vs. General English (original) (raw)
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The Journal of Teaching English for Specific and Academic Purposes
2017
The renewed interest in vocabulary research, especially due to its meaningcarrying significance in technical Englishes, has cleared the way to the development of corpus linguistics methods based on real-life texts. As the learning/teaching of general English leads towards the learning/teaching of English for a Specific Purpose (in line with the learner’s needs), so the creation of general English word lists imposes the creation of technical word lists, aiming to achieve a desired level of the target corpus comprehension. In this paper, we discuss the common grounds and specifics of various levels of general and technical English in terms of their lexical coverage of texts, specifically addressing the example of marine engineering technical manuals.
English vocabulary knowledge of EFL engineering students
Reported in this article is research conducted in an Indonesian university to estimate the English vocabulary knowledge of a sample of engineering students. This is a significant topic, because the EFL (English as a foreign language) engineering students are expected to be able to read English language texts in their engineering course, and also create simple oral or written text in English. This is difficult for them to manage without an adequate knowledge of vocabulary. Through two of the instruments, the subjects were tested on their understanding of words that occur frequently in academic writing: the receptive vocabulary level test (RVLT), and the productive vocabulary level test (PVLT). The tests were used to measure not only whether the students knew the words, but also how well they knew them. The results showed that on average the EFL engineering students have sufficient receptive vocabulary sizes, but they struggled to cope with the productive vocabulary test. The implications of the results and suggestions of ways in which the engineering students’ vocabulary knowledge could be improved are discussed.
Lexical behaviour in academic and technical corpora: implications for ESP development
Language Learning & Technology, 2001
Lexical approaches to Academic and Technical English have been well documented by scholars from as early as . More recent work demonstrates how computer technology can assist in the effective analysis of corpus-based data . For teaching purposes, this recent research has shown that the distinction between common coreness and diversity is a crucial issue. This paper outlines a way of dealing with vocabulary in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) instruction in the light of insights provided by empirical observation. Focusing mainly on collocation in the context of English for Specific Purposes (ESP), and, more precisely, within English for Information Science and Technology, we show how the results of the contrastive study of lexical items in small specific corpora can become the basis for teaching / learning ESP at the tertiary level. In the process of this study, an account is given of the functions of academic and technical lexis, aspects of keywords and word frequency are defined, and the value of corpus-derived collocation information is demonstrated for the specific textual environment.
A Study on English Vocabulary Level of II year Engineering Students
In higher education, no in-depth studies have been identified that investigate the vocabulary of undergraduate engineering students. This study investigated undergraduate students’ English vocabulary with special reference to certain sociological factors in an Engineering college located in Tamilnadu, India. The research findings show that the students’ vocabulary strength differs based on gender, locality of living, medium of instruction and general reading habit. Based on the above mentioned factors, hypotheses were formulated and tested in this research study and the findings have been given as the outcome of the study. The research results indicate that students are having only limited vocabulary and much focus to be given to vocabulary else students cannot develop their language proficiency.
2018
English for Specific Purposes (ESP) was designed to fulfil the needs of learners learning languages in specific disciplines. ESP concerns on words or terms that are created specifically or have their own definition in specific fields. As engineering students read abundance of technical texts such as manuals and reports that contain numerous technical terms that have specific meaning in the engineering field, the vocabulary knowledge of technical terms is essential for them in order to understand and comprehend the texts. However, engineering students were found to have difficulties whenever they encountered texts filled with abundance of technical terms. Hence, this study aims to investigate the vocabulary size of technical vocabulary among engineering students at Universiti Malaysia Pahang. This research employs two instruments which are technical vocabulary test and semi-structured interview. The test was used in collecting quantitative data while the semi-structured interview was...
Engineering English: A Critical Evaluation
In the age of globalization, engineering students and practitioners need to enhance their English communication skills and other soft skills in order to cope with increasingly tough competition in the job market. Mere subject knowledge in the chosen field of engineering is not going to be a guarantee for an engineering graduate to get a good job or excel at the workplace. Multinational corporations (MNCs) and major information technology (IT) companies in India recruit engineering candidates who have good English communication skills. In this highly competitive society, proficiency in English is considered one of the employability skills. In other words, English language skills are considere ‘life skills’ or ‘survival skills’ in the twenty-first century. Engineering students need to be able to think critically, solve problems, communicate clearly, be creative and work in a team in order to get placed in a reputed company. As the need for the students of engineering to be trained in a multitude of transferable skills is high (Hatakka, 2005), most private engineering colleges in India hire trainers to train their wards in soft skills including English communication skills and prepare them for on and off campus placement. In many institutes of technology, English language teachers are involved in placement training. As there is an increasing focus on and demand for soft skills, the English for Science and Technology (EST) practitioners in engineering colleges are expected to play the role of communication skills consultants and soft skills trainers. There is a shift from imparting mere linguistic skills to multi-skills in an integrated manner. In this context, the Engineering English course taught during the first year of the four-year engineering programmes in around 300 engineering colleges affiliated to the Anna University in Tamil Nadu, India, is expected to play a vital role in improving students’ communication skills and preparing them to the workplace or making them ‘industry ready’. Though the aim of the course is to enable the students of engineering to learn certain macro- and micro-skills in the English language and use them effectively as students while following other courses and later as engineers/technologists at the work place, most students and professional engineers/technologists who have undergone the course are not proficient enough to communicate effectively in the language. This perceived problem of lack of specific language/communication skills among engineering students and professional engineers and technologists makes the researcher raise a key question whether the English for Engineering course reflects the needs and wants of the learner and whether there are any other factors that affect the successful imparting / learning of the skills required by the target group. It is presumed that there are problems in the teaching of the course at colleges, resulting from inappropriate teaching materials and instructional techniques, lack of English Language Teaching (ELT) – trained professionals and poor teaching methodology. The hypothesis of the study is that if the Engineering English course offered during the first year of the four-year engineering programme at engineering colleges affiliated to the Anna University is redesigned or modified based on the corporate expectations /needs / requirements, delivered (taught) properly by competent English for Science and Technology (EST) practitioners and students’ language skills are assessed effectively during and at the end of the course, then the course will achieve its goal by instilling confidence in the students and preparing them to higher education, campus recruitments and thus to the workplace. In the light of the data for needs assessment collected from different sources, the study identifies the situations that are encountered and the skills which are required by the engineer, as a student and in professional life, evaluates the English course critically and suggests changes to make it effective.
An Analysis of English for Specific Purposes among University Students
Educational Process: International Journal, 2020
The study gives an account of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) within the engineering field, students' willingness to learn professional English vocabulary, and ESP issues related to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The study investigates students´ need to learn English through data analyzed in a descriptive and exploratory study, focusing on the students' perceptions about ESP based on their English language level and ESP learning practices, and its integration within HEIs. A questionnaire was completed by 239 university students and 16 face-to-face interviews were held. The collected data were subjected to SPSS statistical analysis and the results were then analyzed and discussed. The study identified that university students can acquire professional vocabulary in English language classes, providing high levels of stimulus for future job opportunities in the engineering field. The highest priority for the students was learning ESP for employment purposes, with the primary focus being the enhancement of their communicative skills.
8-A Corpus-based Comparative Study of Semi-technical and Technical Vocabulary-new
This study is a corpus-based lexical study that is aimed at comparing semi-technical vocabulary and technical vocabulary to address the specific needs of undergraduates majoring in information engineering in mainland China through the study of bilingual specialized courses. A 1,024,882word corpus of Information Engineering English Corpus (IEEC) was built using texts from ten specialized courses. Semi-technical and technical vocabulary items were profiled using West's (1953) General Service List and Coxhead's (2000) Academic Word List. A quantitative analysis was carried out to find the optimal frequency threshold for high-frequency academic/semitechnical and technical vocabulary specific to the discipline of Information Engineering. As a result, 248 semi-technical and 166 technical word families were extracted covering 9.16% and 4.95% of the total tokens of the corpus. The pilot study further explored the selected vocabulary of varying specificity in terms of their lexical features as well as collocations and found that there is a continuum rather than distinct boundaries between the GSL, discipline-specific academic and technical words when they are manipulated to serve specific purposes.
6. međunarodna konferencija SUVREMENI IZAZOVI U POUČAVANJU JEZIKA STRUKE, 2023
This study primarily aims to assess the efficacy of Technical English courses delivered to Mechanical, Electronics, and Power Engineering undergraduate students at the University Department of Professional Studies of the University of Split. It focuses on the comparative analysis of the effect of Technical English teaching on the linguistic achievement of the abovementioned cohorts and thus their rate of Technical English acquisition. To this end, 22 first-year undergraduate students of Mechanical Engineering, 28 third-year undergraduate students of Mechanical Engineering, and 76 first-year students of Electronics and Power Engineering were taught using the same methods of teaching, provided with the same textbook, and required to take the same tests. The main tools for data collection were a pre-test and post-tests. The pre-test included a present situation analysis (PSA) obtained through a questionnaire, while the post-tests included four practical continuous assessment tests and two progress tests that met the criteria of the courses' learning outcomes. The obtained data were analyzed with SPSS to measure the respective students' linguistic achievement across the tested areas and throughout the tested groups. Thus, students' state matura exam results were used as an independent variable and compared to their achievement in all the assessment tests, as well as the branch of study and year-of-study differences in their linguistic scores. The results indicated students' better performance in the tested presentation skills and two sets of statistically significant differences in respective students' linguistic achievement in regard to their year of study and acquired state matura exam level. The findings that were in favor of the presentations, the 3-year students and A-level state matura exam students corroborated our hypotheses regarding the scope of our students' Technical English knowledge and performance. Our assumptions were based on the provision of the same formal elementary and secondary English language education pertaining to the cohorts, involving largely oral assignments, B-level state matura exams, and merely general English courses. The third-year students' and A-level state matura students' outperformance was predicted due to more exposure to English language study and field-specific contents at the tertiary education level
Profiling Technical English in Engineering Environment
Journal of Teaching English for Specific and Academic Purposes, 2013
Written by a highly respected ESP author, Terry Phillips, the Technical English textbook is bursting with ESP properties which have been extraordinarily designed to capture students who pertain to different engineering profiles. Not surprisingly then, Technical English reaches towards a wide audience of future civil, mechanical and electrical engineers whose practical aspirations are driven not only by gaining an insight into how professional engineers actually utilise technical language to promote their own field, but also in how technical English language may, in turn, shape engineering environment requiring all types of written and spoken communications. However, since some units (e.g. Unit 18 and Unit 19) contain biology-based and chemistry-oriented knowledge, this textbook might be of use also to these professionals as well.