Vocabulary-Level Assessment for ESP Texts Used in the Field of Industrial Technology

Vocabulary-Level Assessment for ESP Texts Used in the Field of Industrial Technology

English classes taught at Nihon University, College of Industrial Technology (CIT) consist of three types: English for General Purposes (EGP), English for Specific Purposes (ESP), and, finally, "semi-ESP" courses, which are meant to supply transition between the EGP and ESP courses. The purpose of this study is I) to measure, based on the British National Corpus frequency rates, the graduations among vocabulary levels found within EGP, semi-ESP, and ESP teaching materials used at CIT; 2) to measure the degree in percentages to which junior and senior high texts, EGP teaching materials, and semi-ESP textbooks cover vocabulary presented within three different articles used to teach ESP classes; and 3) to identify "bridge-level" materials that more closely connect EGP teaching materials to ESP articles in terms of vocabulary level. The resulting study confirms the existence of a large gap in vocabulary level between the EGP and the ESP teaching materials. The study also reveals that by themselves the texts used in the semi-ESP classes have only a limited efficacy in bridging this gap, but that when supplemented by a specialized ESP vocabulary list they can be more helpful in doing so.