© 1988 by Oxford University Press
Articles |
ESP for engineers: a reassessment
Koh Moy Yin is a Senior Lecturer in Communications Skills in the School of Mechanical and Production Engineering, Nanyang Technological Institute, Singapore. She has a PhD from the University of London, Institute of Education. Her teaching experience has been varied. Before joining NTI, she was the course co-ordinator for the Language and Business Communication courses for students in the Faculty of Accountancy and Business Administration at the National University of Singapore. She has also been involved in company training programmes in both the commercial and industrial sectors.
This article suggests that some engineering undergraduates already have adequate English for the technical part of their academic and professional purposes, and that their problems are more to do with communication and with their management of appropriate interactive, interpersonal skills in English. The article suggests that conventional ESP courses do not meet the needs of such students. It examines the implications of this suggestion, with special reference to the development of communication skills courses for engineering students at Nanyan Technological Institute, Singapore.