scholarly journals Vocabulary demands for engineering students studying English in Russia: Comparing ESP course materials across three engineering disciplines

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatiana Nekrasova-Beker
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Chemical Engineering ◽  
Thermal Power ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Unique Challenge ◽  
Language Courses ◽  
Specific Discipline ◽  
Language Needs

With English language instruction becoming increasingly more specialized in higher education institutions around the globe, English for Specific Purposes (ESP) practitioners are facing a unique challenge in developing language courses that require considerable knowledge of a specific discipline in order to make it applicable to students and to meet their specific language needs. In the case of Engineering, which is the target discipline in this study, substantial empirical research has been published describing general discipline-specific requirements as well as common challenges that second language (L2) students face in various pedagogical contexts (e.g., Kaewpet, 2009; Pritchard & Nasr, 2004; Rowley-Jolivet, 2015; Rozycki & Johnson, 2013). Yet research investigating the vocabulary demands of pedagogical materials utilized in various sub-fields within the same discipline is limited. Therefore, the present study examined the extent to which the vocabulary demands of the pedagogical materials employed in ESP courses in Thermal-Power, Computer, and Chemical Engineering in Russia were comparable across the courses and achievable for the students. The results indicated that vocabulary coverage varied considerably across the three disciplines, with Chemical Engineering texts requiring the largest vocabulary size for adequate comprehension. The implications of the study for materials development and teaching ESP courses in various Engineering sub-fields are discussed.

Ambiguities in English Language Teaching: Designing English for Specific Purposes Courses for a Discipline-Specific Context

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mimi Nahariah Azwani Mohamed
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
English For Specific Purposes ◽  
Complex Process ◽  
Language Courses ◽  
Professional Body ◽  
Specific Discipline ◽  
Language Needs

The need for English language teaching to address specific language needs for a discipline has instigated growing demands for English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses in higher education institutions in Malaysia. In the context of a university which focuses on engineering programmes, monitored by an engineering professional body, ESP courses designed and developed for higher education are expected to include learning outcomes which reflect integration between English language and engineering fields. In other words, these English language courses need to address the language needs in the engineering field. Thus, English language educators within this context need to have relevant knowledge and skills to enable them to design and develop appropriate ESP courses. Questions arise in relation to how English language courses developed have addressed this expectation. This paper examines the extent to which this expectation is translated into the ESP courses at one technical university in Malaysia. The findings showcase how this expectation is disseminated to the English language educators. This paper provides insight into the complex process of designing English language courses that could address the language needs of the engineering field. In addition, this paper highlights aspects to consider when designing an ESP course for a specific discipline.

Disciplinary differences in the language needs of engineering students in Iran: a cross-disciplinary analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Razieh Gholaminejad
Keyword(s):  
Educational Level ◽  
English Language ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Chemical Engineering ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Needs Analysis ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Language Needs

PurposeAlthough English for academic purposes (EAP) courses are vital components of engineering disciplines in the universities of Iran, studies investigating engineering students' English language needs are infrequent, and even more infrequent are studies comparing how the students of different engineering disciplines vary in their English language needs. Research demonstrates that students of different disciplines have different language needs, which requires competency in different language skills (Soruç et al., 2018). However, in the majority of Iranian universities, students of different engineering disciplines are taught similar subskills, through similar teaching methodologies and textbooks. With the twofold purpose of identification and comparison of the students' language needs and weaknesses, this study focuses on the perceptions of Iranian students of electrical, mechanical and chemical engineering at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels of their present language abilities and target-situation language needs.Design/methodology/approachOnline surveys regarding language needs and self-assessments were completed by 194 undergraduate students and 189 postgraduate students studying at Sharif University.FindingsWhile only educational level was found to have a significant effect on the perceptions of the respondents of their target needs, both educational level and discipline had a significant effect on the perceptions of the students of their present level of language proficiency. Furthermore, almost equal attention to the four language skills were considered necessary by the respondents, who also held that the number of credits devoted to the EAP courses was insufficient. A further finding was that the majority of the undergraduates required that the EAP courses be oriented toward English for specific purposes (ESP), whereas almost half of the postgraduates preferred that the EAP classes be geared toward general English.Originality/valueResearchers have so far analyzed the language needs of students of a number of academic disciplines. This study adds to the existing literature of needs-analysis by comparing the engineering students' present abilities and target language needs. This study is different from the existing publications on language needs-analysis in two ways. First, through a comparative perspective, a profile of engineering students' language needs is obtained, which can serve as a new database for curriculum developers and material designers of engineering programs. Second, investigating whether the students' perceptions of their language needs are affected by their educational levels and disciplines is a topic for which there is little information at present.

scholarly journals Engineering Students' EFL Needs at the Tertiary Level of Education in Bangladesh: Expectations and Existence

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-126
Author(s):  
Md. Habibur Rahman ◽  
Md. Musrifur Jelane
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
Tertiary Level ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Level Of Education ◽  
Basic Language ◽  
Language Needs ◽  
Mixed Approach

Conducting needs analysis is a prevalent phenomenon in designing curriculum in language teaching and learning. This paper explored the English language needs of engineering students at the tertiary level of education in Bangladesh vis-à-vis four basic language skills. Moreover, this paper tried to shed some light on the gaps between learners’ present level of competence and target needs. This study followed the mixed approach (both quantitative approach and qualitative approach) to collect data through questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and focus group discussions. Under the random stratified sampling method, the study collected data from 99 undergraduate engineering students and 15 EFL teachers from different universities in Bangladesh. The findings of the study revealed that engineering students felt the ardent need for all the four major language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing). The findings also addressed the needs of the subskills regarding each language skill. Additionally, the offered courses were not adequately addressing the language needs of the students. Moreover, the duration and number of English language classes were not sufficient to meet the needs of the engineering students. Based on the findings, this study made some recommendations to minimize the gaps between engineering students’ present and target needs of the English language.

scholarly journals Information Technology Students’ Language Needs for their ESP Course

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 197
Author(s):  
Parisa Balaei ◽  
Touran Ahour
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
English Language ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Whole Process ◽  
Technology Students ◽  
Professional Needs ◽  
Language Needs ◽  
Information Technology Students

The purpose of this study was to find the needs of Iranian undergraduate Information Technology (IT) engineering students for their ESP course. To this end, a needs analysis questionnaire was administered to 30 undergraduate IT students to elicit information about their needs in English language at Islamic Azad University, Tabriz Branch. The results of data analysis revealed that among four skills reading was the highly needed skill followed by writing. It was also found that a majority of participants were dissatisfied with the current ESP courses for undergraduate students. This, in fact, indicated that ESP curricula have not yet been successfully developed in satisfying the students’ professional needs in target situations. Findings point to the fact that ESP and its teaching in Iran has to undergo serious rethinking not only in the content of the course but also the whole process of teaching the language. The findings can help course designers to both put much more credit for ESP courses, and consider appropriate and suitable materials which can give useful information to the students. It can also help ESP teachers to meet the language needs of their students. 

scholarly journals Analysis of the English Language Needs of Students at the Russian Technological University

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-100
Author(s):  
Olga G Rossikhina ◽  
Polina V Ermakova ◽  
Olga A Aleshchenko
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Course Design ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Oral Communication ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Language Needs ◽  
Technological Universities ◽  
English Competence

The article looks into the English language needs of engineering students and young graduates at one of the leading technological universities in Russia - NUST MISiS. The authors used a mixed methodology approach to explore how often and in what real-life situations current and former students use the English language. 107 paper questionnaires were completed by master’s degree students in class and the answers were counted; 123 responses were received online from 2015 and 2016 graduates and processed statistically; 17 structured interviews with college administrators and subject professors were recorded and then coded for the main categories. The results demonstrate that despite dramatic changes at NUST MISiS under The Competitiveness Enhancement Program 5-100, good English competence is not a priority, with the majority of young graduates being ‘unsure’ about its benefits for their career and some administrators calling it ‘the least required competence’. However, the English language needs vary across subject departments. Thus, students majoring in new materials and programming use English on a regular basis, while economists and metallurgists might not really need it in both studies and future job. Overall, the most required skill is reading, and the least used ones are oral communication and academic writing in English. The authors discuss how orientation on potential rather than actual needs can affect the ESP/EAP course design in the context of engineering education in Russia.

scholarly journals Addressing English language needs of Economic Development students in Indonesian context

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 80
Author(s):  
Mercya Christ Sita Dewi ◽  
Lilia Indriani
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
English Language ◽  
State Universities ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Need Analysis ◽  
Economics Students ◽  
Language Courses ◽  
Language Needs

The heart of the study is English for Economics purposes as a branch of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). This study is dedicated to addressing the immediate needs of economics students in English language courses. By employing an explanatory survey method, researchers distributed a self-administrated survey and interviewed five first-year students majoring in Economic Development in one of the state universities in Indonesia. In this study, the researchers attempted to analyze Economic Development students’ target situation, present situation, and learning situation in English courses to prepare them to face global competition. The results revealed that most students admitted that English is essential for their future careers. Thus, they expected English courses should include materials related to their discipline and emphasize more authentic activities. Following the discussion, this need analysis can be a consideration in designing English learning materials for economics students.

scholarly journals English Language Use in Malaysian Government and Private Civil Engineering Workplaces

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noor Shahariah Saleh ◽  
Siti Fatimah Murtaza
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Civil Engineering ◽  
Engineering Industry ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Training Experience ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Industrial Training ◽  
Language Courses

Employers in the engineering sector require certain standard of English proficiency among their employees as the language is widely used for numerous job scopes. In order to understand the current demand of the civil engineering industry on the use of the English language in the workplace, this study was conducted on 20 undergraduates of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia who undertook the industrial training. Based on focus group discussions, the participants learned and shared significant use of English language through their industrial training experience. The findings of the study highlighted the activities that were conducted in English for speaking, listening, reading and writing including the language skills. In addition, the amount of time spent on each activity in English was also identified in understanding the importance of English language in the civil engineering sector. The findings of the study are vital in making informed decisions for the design and development of appropriate English language courses for present and future civil engineering students.

scholarly journals The Generalist’s Dilemma: How Accidental Language Teachers Are at the Center of Japanese Pedagogy

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 383-389
Author(s):  
Brian C. Dowdle
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Academic Identity ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Japanese Language ◽  
Interdisciplinary Learning ◽  
Teaching Language ◽  
Language Courses ◽  
Language Competency

This article introduces the role and issues of generalist in Japanese-language education. Generalists teach both Japanese- and English-language courses, across the curriculum. They may be “accidental” Japanese teachers, who were trained in other fields but find themselves teaching language due to the nature of the job market. Hence, unlike specialist Japanese language educators, generalists may lack an academic identity of language teacher. This article shows how the generalist’s dilemma provides a window into larger problems of diversity in Japanese language instruction and its relationship to Japan studies, more broadly. It shows how the place generalists may help us: reconsider the divided between “content courses” and Japanese-language courses; understand the structural disincentives for generalists to identify as language teachers; and appreciate the modes of interdisciplinary learning and language competency modeled by generalsits.

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