Effectiveness of Teaching Engineering in English with Specific Purpose

공학교육에 있어 특수목적 영어 교수법의 효과성

This paper presents a comparative study on the effectiveness of teaching an engineering course using English with Specific Purpose(ESP). A study was performed using student groups; one class using ESP, and one class conducted in English with an English text. The course conducted using ESP showed the greatest improvement in English writing and conversation, and the students reported a greatly increased confidence in their ability to function professionally using English. A self-assessment of each student was conducted before and after the courses. Prior to the course less than 10% in each group felt that they are able to: a) understand a textbook, b) write an email, c) generate a project report, or d) follow a lecture given in English. The survey at the end of the course showed that the ESP teaching style resulted in significant improvements in students ability and confidence with writing and speaking in English, whereas reading skills were similar for both groups. This is due to the ESP method, in which students are required to give presentations and keep journals in English. After a brief review of the ESP principles and a discussion of how they were implemented, the background data of the participants(students) are described. Finally, the end-of-semester survey highlights the efficacy of the ESP approach.